Holy Redeemer School marks 125 years
Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published August 31, 2007
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Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
Sr. Elizabeth Fleckenstein, principal of Holy Redeemer Grade School, and Msgr. Donald Hanchon, pastor of Most Holy Redeemer Parish, talk about the history of the school. |
Detroit — Probably none of the families who sent their children to Holy Redeemer Grade School back in 1882 still have descendants in the school's southwest Detroit neighborhood, but the school is still there and the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary still provide a Catholic education.
"We're an urban Catholic grade school that offers an alternative educational setting, which will enhance the spiritual life of our students as well as their academic pursuits — a school where Catholic faith and every subject in our curriculum come together," says Sr. Elizabeth Fleckenstein, IHM, principal.
Sr. Fleckenstein has been principal for 25 of those 125 years, having served at the school's helm from 1976-80, and again since 1986. She taught there from 1972-76.
"There has always been an IHM as principal, and it's a privilege for me to carry on this tradition," she says.
In a day when few women religious can still be found teaching at the K-8 level, Holy Redeemer's faculty includes two IHM sisters, as well as one Mercy sister and one member of the Congregation of St. Joseph.
Besides that, three retired IHM sisters serve as tutors in the school's Getting Educationally Motivated after-school program.
"I think it's pretty significant that a school should reach 125 years, and that the IHM Sisters should have been here all this time," says Msgr. Donald Hanchon, pastor of Most Holy Redeemer Parish.
"The school has been here to serve succeeding waves of immigrants — Irish, Maltese and Arab, and now Hispanic," he continues.
Current enrollment is 197, and Sr. Fleckenstein estimates it will rise to about 210 as school gets under way after Labor Day. Although nowhere near the approximately 800 pupils the school had back in the 1950s, she says the current figures are sustainable.
Holy Redeemer Grade School started out in a wooden building near its present site on Junction Avenue south of West Vernor Highway. But any students today will only have memories of the current building, which was built in 1901.
Dan Ewald, who finished the eighth grade in 1959, looks back fondly now on his years at Holy Redeemer and the education he received there, even if he did not always appreciate it at the time. "The sisters taught me basic values, and I'm very grateful for the foundation they instilled in me," he says.
Ewald, who now lives in Troy and belongs to St. Anastasia Parish there, has been helping promote the anniversary celebrations. He says visiting the school is a nostalgic experience: "You walk in the doors, and it's the same wooden floor, the same rooms. It's a step back into the past."
He says he wants to see the school continue "as a place where parents can send kids with a confidence they're not only going to be given a good education bookwise, but also receive a strong moral education so they learn how to live their lives."
Jean Krystyniak, née Grech, who finished eighth grade in 1968, says visits to the old building take her back to those days.
"I'm amazed at how good the building still looks after all these years, and every time I go in, the memories are just wonderful. You walk in there, and there's the statue of the Blessed Mother in the classroom, or you go into the library and remember how special it was to go into the library as a kid. Plus you still see IHM nuns there," says Krystyniak.
"The ethics, the values that were taught to me by the nuns have stayed with me all these years," says Krystyniak, who now lives in northwest Detroit and belongs to Christ the King Parish.
Krystyniak has more reason than most alumnae to go back to her old grade school; she coordinates the English as a Second Language program University of Detroit Mercy offers to immigrant children there.
She remembers what the school meant to her own immigrant family: "My parents were from Malta, and to be able to provide their kids a better life was just great."
Today, Holy Redeemer's pupils include not only Hispanics, but also non-Hispanic white and black children.
Mari Kirkendoll has twin sons entering the eighth grade in September and an older daughter who graduated in 2003. "It's a wonderful school. It's culturally diverse, and the main theme is that everyone is there to help one another. Christian values are emphasized," she says.
Kirkendoll, a member of Most Holy Redeemer Parish, says she has an "inside perspective" on the school, because she coordinates the hot lunch program.
"Holy Redeemer has had a very positive impact on my three children. They've been encouraged to think and to do their best, and the values they've learned will follow them throughout their lives," she adds.
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