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January 25, 2018
Araceli Martinez
San Francisco Católico
STUDENTS FROM ST. RAPHAEL SCHOOL LOOKING ON WHILE HOLDING THEIR WORKBOOKS (COURTESY PHOTO)
Miguel Maldonado said it was Father Paul Rossi, former pastor of St. Raphael Parish in San Rafael, who encouraged him to enroll his oldest child Miguel in the parish preschool.
“Preschool was going to be opening for the first time around 2004 when Father Rossi invited us,” said Maldonado, an immigrant from Guatemala. He remembers the priest saying, “Why don’t you take your son Miguel? The school and the parish belong to you.”
The elder Maldonado was encouraged but worried he might not be able to afford tuition. At the time he was the only provider for his family. His wife Candy did not work.
In the end he decided to enroll Miguel in preschool, with part of the future cost of elementary and high school education covered by a scholarship the school helped him secure. He and his wife paid only partial tuition.
“We’ve had to make sacrifices and didn’t buy many things that weren’t actually a true necessity so we could offer our children a good education,” Maldonado said. “I thought I wasn’t going to be able to but we managed.”
The younger Miguel, 18, graduated from St. Raphael and is a senior at Marin Catholic High School.
His younger brother Marcelo has attended St. Raphael School since preschool and is now in seventh grade.
“One of the things I am really pleased with is the family environment,” the elder Maldonado said. “And I really like to help out in the school, do voluntary work. That is really good for our children, to see their parents involved in the school and helping with everything. That is something they like a lot. It is a good example.”
St. Raphael principal Lydia Collins said that for about seven years a special effort aimed at increasing enrollment of all children and Latino children in particular has been underway.
“We invite Latino families to get to know us, and we tell them that St. Raphael’s is as much their school as the parish is,” she said.
Part of this effort to attract more children to St. Raphael classrooms includes support and education on how to apply for scholarships and financial help. “We want them to understand that Catholic schools are not only for the rich as many parents think – but are open to all,” she said.
Today, more than 60 percent of St. Raphael students are Latino. “The future of Catholic schools in the United States lies in serving Latino and immigrant families. They are the ones who make our schools strong,” Collins said.
The principal encourages families to realize that their goal is to impart to their children a top-notch education, tell them about God and teach them values. “We also want to keep families together,” she said.
Younger children get individualized attention in Catholic schools, she said.
“In public schools, a child feels lost,” she said. “Here we teach them to believe in themselves, we inculcate in them the notion they can do and achieve whatever they set before them. Parents appreciate not only the academic results but the faith we offer them.”
The principal invites parents of Latino children to get to know St. Raphael School and Catholic schools in general. “Think that it is possible for your children to attend these schools and that they deserve an outstanding academic education with Catholic moral values,” Collins said.
A LITTLE GIRL FROM ST. RAPHAEL SCHOOL HOLDING HER COLORING BOOK. (COURTESY PHOTO)