It’s an exciting year for students at Resurrection Catholic School in downtown Lancaster.
From a red-carpet welcome on the first day of school in August and Italian ice treats in September, to an outdoor fall fest last week, school administrators and teachers are treating students to a special activity each month to mark Resurrection’s 30th anniversary.
The school was established in 1991 upon the consolidation of St. Mary, St. Joseph and St. Anthony of Padua Schools, which have a rich history of serving families and educating students for more than 166 years.
Resurrection Catholic School is located in the former St. Anthony’s School building, constructed in 1895. It is the oldest continuously operating Catholic school building in Lancaster County.
Today, Resurrection is supported by Assumption BVM, St. Joseph, St. Anthony of Padua and San Juan Bautista parishes in Lancaster, and St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Quarryville.
Current and former pastors of the supporting parishes joined Bishop Ronald Gainer in concelebrating a special Mass for the school’s anniversary on Thursday, November 11, gathering students, faculty and supporters at St. Anthony of Padua Church for the liturgy. Concelebrants were father Bernardo Pistone, Father Matthew Morelli, Father Leo Goodman, Father Allan Wolfe and Father Pang Tcheou.
“Inviting the bishop to celebrate our 30th anniversary Mass is an invitation to celebrate this milestone within the precepts of our faith, and what better celebration to have as a Catholic school,” said Principal Jeffrey Hughes.
“I’m excited for our children to be able to have Bishop Gainer as our celebrant for Mass. The students appreciate our pastors, too. We want them to know how awesome this occasion is. We’ve talked to them about how this anniversary is such an exciting day and time,” he added.
Resurrection Catholic School is a PreK-8 school, with 115 students and growing.
The school has a robust 1-to-1 program, in which students in grades 2-8 are supplied with their own Chromebook, and students in kindergarten and first grade have their own iPads.
Hughes said he hopes this anniversary year, provides students with a sense of being part of a connected Catholic family.
“The celebrations surrounding our anniversary give us a chance to be together and celebrate as an entire school community,” he said. “We have a wonderful family here.”
Learn more about Resurrection Catholic School at www.rcspa.org.
(Photos by Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
