Last of Its Kind

 

All Saints Catholic Academy has been the only catholic school in Bayonne, New Jersey since 2008. Prior to the school opening, there were four parishes in Bayonne that had elementary schools attached to their name. In 2006, however, it became apparent that the funding and finance was not enough to support four schools. Discussion began about converting the four schools into one singular catholic elementary school for the city. For the past 15 years, All Saints Catholic Academy (ASCA) has believed in its mission of "Faith, Respect, Service, and Academics". Currently housing just under 300 students, ASCA provides an education for children starting in Pre-K-3 through eighth grade.

ASCA School Logo

While ASCA is a Catholic school, you do not have to be part of a parish, catholic, Christian, or religious at all to attend the school. In fact, there are many students who are Jewish, Muslim, and other types of religions in attendance at All Saints. This factor can be extremely beneficial to people who may not be religious but don't want their children in the public school system for the various reasons that may be.

Considering All Saints is a private, catholic school, there is a tuition cost for each student. There are, however, scholarship and financial aid opportunities available with certain caveats. There are also separate tuition prices for families that belong to a parish and those that do not.

When you walk into All Saints Catholic Academy, you must first be buzzed into the front door by one of the secretaries. Once in the building, you are greeted with a statue of the Virgin Mary on a built-in pedestal. On either side of the statue, there is a set of blue doors that lead to the large gymnasium with a basketball court as well as a large stage which houses many musical play productions and other performances. There's a subtle scent of disinfectant as if you can still smell the cleaning from the night before. The lobby contains a tiled green and white diamond checker floor and a beige tiled wall. If you were to turn to your left, there would be a staircase to lead to the second floor containing classrooms for 4th-8th grade as well as the music and computer rooms. Turning to the right would lead you into the hallway with classrooms for 1st-3rd grade as well as pre-K-3. The first floor also has the secretary, principal, and nurse's office. Turning right in the hallway would lead to a few classrooms, the library, bathrooms, and a staircase. If you were to continue straight down the hall instead, you would pass the offices and a few other classrooms until you ended at another staircase leading up or down and a door leading to the parking lot. The hallways contain the same tiled walls as the lobby as well as the same patterned floor. The only difference is a beige and white color scheme. The basement contains the cafeteria, pre-K-4 and kindergarten classrooms, and the art room. It also has a set of doors that lead into the parking lot.

Main Entrance

The main office contains a small "waiting" area with a small, unoccupied desk, a water cooler, a sign-out booklet, and the teacher's mailboxes. It also has two doors, one to the secretary's office and the other to the principal's office. The secretary's office has two desks; one for each secretary. One desk faces the door while the other faces the wall. Each have a separate phone and computer. There is also a copy machine/printer, TV monitors relaying the security footage, a private bathroom, a couple of filing cabinets, and a door conjoining it with the principal's office. The floors are covered in a gray carpet while the walls have a muted green cinderblock. 

Drawings Above 
Mrs. Jane's Desk

Jane Mattiello has been one of the secretaries at ASCA for the past four years. Having previously worked as a secretary for a law firm, once the firm closed down, she began her job at the school about a year later. Standing at about 5'4" with dark black, straight hair a little below the shoulders, and chocolate brown eyes, she is simply referred to as Mrs. Jane by the students. She wears a nice pair of black pants, a navy blue shirt with some subtle beige detailing, and a pair of black flat loafers; an outfit that is considered to be her "uniform" as it is a joke that she tends to dress in all black. Her desk is littered with a combination of office supplies and family pictures with a stack of papers on the right, and a phone and buzzer for the main door on the left. On the wall above the desk, she has taped up handmade cards or drawings she has received from students expressing their gratitude for her work. 

Jane is a self-proclaimed "over-worker".  While her job title is "Secretary", Jane tends to do much more than is in her job description. She wears a Fitbit to school to track her steps as she is usually running around the school for different tasks. In the mornings, she works outside by the door in the parking lot at "drop-off" where parents can drive through the parking lot and drop their kids off without needing to find a parking spot or get out of the car. Jane and the other faculty members that stand outside during this time help the younger kids out of their cars and make sure they get in the building. Occasionally they will have to help a young student put their backpack on or remind them to take their lunchbox. On Mondays and Tuesdays, Jane also works after-care from 3:00-6:00 where she and one other faculty member chaperone the children whose parents can't pick them up at the end of the school day. During school events, she will help plan the event, sell 50/50 tickets, and other little tasks. Additionally, she also acts as the nurse when the actual nurse is unavailable. While Jane is a very generous person with the amount of time and effort she puts into certain things, she also, admittedly has a hard time saying no.

There have been many instances over the past four years where teachers would need to use the bathroom so they would ask Jane to sit with the kids for a few minutes. This happened one day when one of the second-grade teachers asked if Jane would mind sitting with the class for a few minutes while she used the bathroom. She said "yes" and went into the classroom and sat at the desk. After a minute or two, one of the girls in the class came up to the desk,

"Mrs. Jane, I don't feel good." the little girl, Stella, said as she stood to the side of the desk.

"What's wrong, Stella?" Mrs. Jane asked with concern. 

Stella's 'Thank You" Note

Instead of answering, Stella just grabbed her stomach and bent over a little. Jane immediately picked up the trash can in front of her and held it over Stella as she began to throw up. Once she was finished after what was "a longer time than you'd expect", Jane brought the young girl to the nurse's office who promptly sent her home for the rest of the day. A few days later when Stella came back to school, she stopped by the office to thank Mrs. Jane. Her "thank you" was an Amazon gift card and a handmade card she drew saying "Thank you for catching my puke." 

  

All Saints Catholic Academy has been educating children, whether religious or not, for the past 15 years. While there is no religious requirement to attend ASCA, the importance of having a religious school as an option is still very important in today's world. People like Jane in the school system, with her generosity and helpfulness, are also extremely important and need to be shown the gratitude they deserve. With All Saints Catholic Academy being the only catholic school in Bayonne, it is valuable to understand the importance of a Catholic education.