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Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published October 13, 2006

Grosse Pointe Farms — For students at St. Paul Elementary School, the U.S. Department of Education's designation of their school as a Blue Ribbon Exemplary School only confirmed how they already felt about it.

"St. Paul's is a great school, because everyone is very nice here," says Caroline Wilkinson, an eighth-grader.

"The teachers are very skilled and know what they're talking about, and it's a cheerful place," she says.

Photo by Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic With a blue ribbon tied to the statue of St. Paul to markthe parish school’s designation as “exemplary” are (fromleft) Msgr. Patrick Halfpenny, pastor of St. Paul on the Lake Parish, and Mary Miller, principal of the school.

Tommy McBrien, also in grade eight, says, "It definitely deserves to be a Blue Ribbon Exemplary School. The whole school works together to make this a better school."

And with St. Paul Elementary the only Michigan school among the 200 schools nationwide to receive the designation this year, "getting the Blue Ribbon is a big thing," Tommy adds.

To third-grader Lilly Blake, St. Paul Elementary is an exemplary school, "because we have good teachers and good staff, and we learn good stuff, and we are caring and kind to each other."

And they say they like the size of the school, 474 students, as opposed to much larger public schools. "It's kinda nice to know everybody. You have a better sense of community," Tommy says.

Caroline agrees, and adds that there seems to be less strife among the students at St. Paul Elementary than what she hears about public schools.

Another great thing about the school, in Caroline's view, is the Thursday Advisory Program for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.

The program involves service projects, fund-raising activities, hearing speakers on topics such as world hunger or homeless shelters, and field trips to places such as soup kitchens, or just opportunities for students to get to know each other, explains Patty McNeill, the school's librarian.

McNeill has been librarian for eight years, but her association with the school goes back even further, having had three daughters go through the school, "so I was a mom long before I was on the faculty – I'm just so proud to be a part of this family," she says.

Mike Novak, who teaches seventh- and eighth-grade science and history, says the designation didn't surprise him, because he knew the school was exemplary: "That's why I'm here."

But it's not just a matter of a quality education, but the fact it is a Catholic education that has kept Novak on the faculty for 20-some years. "It's good to pray with the kids – you can't do that at a public school," he says.

Novak has seen three of his children go through the school, and daughter Shannon is now a fifth-grader. His son, Adam, is back at St. Paul School this semester as a substitute teacher.

Miller – with 26 years at Catholic schools, but only in her second year at St. Paul's – says everything needed to earn the Blue Ribbon had been done before her arrival. "I just said, 'This is a fabulous school, let's get the recognition,' and filled out the application," she says.

Msgr. Patrick Halfpenny, pastor of St. Paul on the Lake Parish, says he is glad to see the "federal government acknowledge what I've known all along – that we have a Blue Ribbon school."

He says he views St. Paul's parish school "is an integral part of our mission of passing on the message of Jesus Christ to our kids."

Msgr. Halfpenny also disclaims any credit for himself in the school's accomplishment, but Miller says he does deserve some of it.

"It makes a real difference in the success of a Catholic school to have the full support and involvement of the pastor, and Msgr. Halfpenny is over here for at least a while almost every day," she says.

Miller and a teacher from St. Paul Elementary will travel to Washington, D.C., Nov. 9-10 to receive a plaque and banner proclaiming the Blue Ribbon designation from Margaret Spellings, U.S. Secretary of Education, and to attend a reception for the 43 Catholic schools among this year's 200 designees at the National Catholic Education Association.

For more information on St. Paul Elementary School, call (313) 885-3430.