The students, faculty and staff of St. Anthony School in Kalihi pose on campus for a group photo. After educating children in the heart of Kalihi for 90 years, the school is closing on June 1. (HCH photo | Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP)
By Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP, and Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
After 90 years, a hush will fall over St. Anthony School in Kalihi.
“The noise and laughter of the children will be missed,” said Father Arnel Soriano, pastor of St. Anthony Church in Kalihi, when the parish school shuts its doors for the last time on June 1.
Sadly for the urban neighborhood school on Puuhale Road, whose students, parents, teachers and staff had grown into a tight-knit family even as its enrollment continued to shrink, economic realities have forced it to close.
The Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres of St. Anthony School, Sister Jennifer Dayday, Sister Victoria Lavente and Sister Ana De La Cruz. (HCH photo | Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP)
The present number of students is 76.
Nevertheless, “the family spirit is very strong,” said Principal Sister Victoria Lavente, a Sister of St. Paul of Chartres, and the students prepared to move forward.
“We know everybody from their dogs and cats to their grandmothers and uncles,” she said. “We breathe in and out the family. If we see one child, we know who the parents are. If we see parents, we know who their child is. Everyone is known by name.”
The students are smart, she said.
“Because we have prepared our children very well, they will excel academically in their new schools,” she said.
And courteous, she added.
“Our children know how to say, ‘Please.’ ‘Thank you.’ ‘You are welcome.’ ‘I am sorry.’ ‘And forgive me.’ Our children remember that God is always with them, no matter what happens in life.”
Seventh- and eighth-grade teacher Sister Jennifer Dayday, also a Sister of St. Paul of Chartres, agrees about the family spirit.
“You can really see that everyone is ready to support each other,” she said. “If a student needs help, even if it is not their own classmate, students will run to offer assistance.”
Profita Espiritu’s son attended St. Anthony from kindergarten through eighth grade. She called the school “the best” for elementary education. The religious development of the students “really stands out,” she said.
For Espiritu, who has lived across from the school since 1996, St. Anthony was her “second home.”
Blythe Gascon, the school’s athletic director, coach, physical education teacher and computer teacher, was born and raised in the parish. She has worked at the school for 26 years. Her oldest son graduated from there.
“News of the closing broke my heart,” Gascon said. “It is hard to understand progress at times. But the decision was made and God must have a reason.”
Ninety years ago
Ninety years ago, on Sept. 4, 1928, Sacred Hearts Father Hubert Nijs, then pastor of St. Anthony Parish, opened the doors of the parish school to 130 first and second graders. The teachers, Maryknoll Sister Tarcisius and Maryknoll Sister Callista, taught classes in a converted parish hall, the parish’s only available building.
There was no convent. The sisters commuted daily from their home at Maryknoll School, Punahou.
The following September, thanks to the energies of the Holy Name Society, the parish built an eight-room school building and converted another structure into a convent for seven Maryknoll sisters.
When it became evident the convent was too small, a bigger one was erected and blessed in 1931, followed by a new school cafeteria.
The school’s tremendous growth in its early years necessitated the constant addition of new classrooms. In 1947, work began on the present three-story concrete building with its nine classrooms, library, reference and visual aid supply room, meeting room, auditorium and two offices.
St. Anthony School was bursting at the seams in the mid-1950s when the opening of Holy Family School near the airport and St. John the Baptist School in Kalihi Uka helped relieve it of some of its enrollment. It eventually returned to single grades and its original function, to care for the children of St. Anthony Parish.
The early success of the school was attributed to the enthusiasm of the first pastor, Father Nijs, considered a pioneer of Hawaii parochial schools, his successors, and the family spirit of parishioners.
The Maryknoll Sisters left in 1971, replaced by the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary from the Philippines. The RVM sisters, as they were called, administered the school for 30 years, followed in 2006 by the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres.
Father Soriano announced in January the plan to close the school at the end of this school year.
He said the decision was made after discernment with board members of St. Anthony and Hawaii Catholic Schools and consultation with the Hawaii Catholic Schools superintendent and the St. Anthony School community.
“We have to face the reality,” the pastor said. “The situation of the decline in enrollment had been known since 2010.”
This month he said “peaceful transitioning already began and most of those affected already have new jobs and schools in place. My challenge in the future is to make sure that the faith formation and religious education programs are strengthened.”
Sarah Dacua, the school’s Parent Teacher Guild president for 2017-2018, and school secretary since 2007, drove her two daughters to St. Anthony from their home in Kapolei. The girls are continuing their education at Damien Memorial School.
“I have a lot of fond memories,” said Dacua. “We are so sad the school is closing. I wish the students, the lovable sisters and other faculty and staff, and other parents, the best wherever they go forth. They did a lot of good with the kids.”
Kindergarten teacher Sister Ana De La Cruz said that her wish for the children is, “Do not forget that God loves you. And even if we are not together, I will keep you in my heart and prayers.”
Sister Jennifer asks her students to “continue to be bearers of the Gospel wherever you go. Continue to live the values you have learned at St. Anthony School.”
Espiritu wishes her school family “good luck.”
“Life must go on,” she said. “But our faith is still there. God has better plans for us.”
For Gascon, her hopes are that “the students will continue their education in the Catholic faith.”
Father Soriano said the school will mark its 90th anniversary with a “closing ceremony where the community and alumni are invited to gather together for a time of prayer and sharing of memories.”
Graduation for kindergarten and eighth grade is May 26.
On June 10, the parish feast day, “we will send off the Sisters with an aloha party highlighting our parish family party,” he said.
Sister Victoria will be assigned to St. Mary’s Catholic High School in Muhaisnah, Dubai. Sister Jennifer is going to work in Zambales, Philippines. Sister Ana will join the faculty at St. Theresa School in Kalihi.
