Tuition at St. Mary's Academy is $250 per month for students who belong in a participating parish; cost is $275 for those who do not or for non-Catholics. School-bus transportation is available within a 15-mile radius.
For more information, call 298-3372.
Global Fitness Martial Arts in Rouses Point will give free family memberships from September 2010 to June 2011 to those enrolling children at St. Mary's. Regular cost for a family of three is $94 a month.
CHAMPLAIN — School here might be out the end of next week, but class will still be in session at St. Mary's Academy.
"We're going to have non-mandatory school," said Sister Marie Cordata Kelly, principal.
She invites children in grades kindergarten through 6 from anywhere to join St. Mary's own students for the half day that begins at 11 a.m. Thursday, March 11, and the full day Friday, March 12.
It's an open house geared for children, "to let people know we have a very special school," Cordata Kelly said. The parochial school seeks to boost enrollment, for the region's economic woes have meant providing more tuition assistance to students than ever before.
"No family is refused because of finances," she said. "And the parish (of St. Mary's) can only afford to give us so much."
Parents are welcome March 11 and 12, too, Cordata Kelly said, but the day is designed to immerse young guests in school-day staples from class time to gym.
For the latter, there will be games such as Wiffle Ball and Capture the Flag.
"If we have snow, we'll go sledding," promised the principal, who plays tag in the gym with students who arrive before classes start.
CARING ENVIRONMENT
St. Mary's Academy sits within the Northeastern Clinton Central School District, and so shares its calendar — NCCS shuts down classes those days because it hosts the North Country Model United Nations event.
Parents are invited to drop their kids off for free before-school care at 7:30 a.m. Classes run from 8:30 to 2:30 p.m. And there's an after-school program until 5:30 p.m. Cost for after-care is $5; breakfast Friday is $1.50 and lunch is $2.
"They can also bring their own lunches," Cordata Kelley said.
She expects non-St. Mary's students might be curious about the school where they have perhaps attended basketball tournaments, dances.
"Maybe they have friends here."
Fourth-grader Nicolas Wolfe has been a St. Mary's kid since kindergarten, and he bubbles with enthusiasm about the place.
"It's the best school I've gone to. The teachers are nice. The activities are fun."
He has four siblings at St. Mary's, too.
Mona Yang of Champlain sends her three children to the school up on the hill behind St. Mary's Church — Faline in kindergarten, Neil in third grade and Philip in fifth.
"It's a very caring environment," she said. "I find it like a family."
There's no price that can be put on a school whose teachers choose to stay there regardless of the fact that public-school pay is far higher, Yang said.
"They are caring teachers and concerned about raising good citizens."
Except for two teachers, said Cordata Kelly, St. Mary's full-time staff of seven has been there at least 15 years.
"They're dedicated," she said. "They're just outstanding.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Lynn Kelley-Miller, who teaches third grade, is excited about welcoming guest students next week.
"They'll get a sense of what atmosphere is here," she said as her students worked quietly at their desks. "It's not only about learning. It's how you feel when you're in school learning."
Student Heather Chateauneuf stood waiting as Kelley-Miller talked about the emphasis she puts on math with her third-graders, about how she includes Canada in the government unit, since two of her students live in Quebec.
"We have that international community right in our classroom," she said.
"Can I — I mean may I get a drink?" Heather asked during a pause.
Enrollment at St. Mary's totals 84 for prekindergarten through grade 6, with most pupils from the area, six from Quebec and five from Vermont.
About 20 are non-Catholics, among them the Yang children.
Students participate in religious instruction, Cordata Kelly said, including the sacraments.
"The whole concept of God in the Trinity is taught, also the Commandments and the Bible."
"I find it a foundation," Yang said. "Like math and science, the Bible is another book to have a background in."
"Love one another as I have loved you" is a commandment St. Mary's lives by.
"We never raise our voices to the kids, there's no bullying, and Gospel values are taught," Cordata Kelly said.
So are simpler messages, one of which is transmitted by a ban on electronics such as iPods.
"We like our kids to play," said Cordata Kelly, who often joins a game of tag before school starts.
She's also quick to joke with the children, praise them and give them hugs.
Said Nicolas, "Our principal is AWESOME."
E-mail Suzanne Moore at: smoore@pressrepublican.com
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