His Excellency Celebrates a Unique Catholic School Partnership on the Lower East Side
President Dr. William Hambleton (right) escorted Archbishop Timothy Dolan through the hallways of La Salle’s 6th Street Campus and into several classrooms, including Br. Peter Nguyen’s (left).
La Salle students with the Archbishop.
Archbishop Dolan & Bishop Paul Chomnycky of the Ukrainian Catholic Church overlooking the students and staff of La Salle Academy and St. George Schools.
Principal Dr. William Macatee (right) presents the Archbishop with a La Salle sweater and hat.
2/16/2011 – New York, NY – 6th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues may be considered Manhattan’s Lower East Side, but there’s an East-West relationship that is creating a real buzz in the neighborhood.
Over the summer, La Salle Academy High School moved from 2nd Street and 2nd Avenue, to St. George’s building on 6th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, which is home to an elementary school and a high school. La Salle, a Roman Catholic school, and the St. George Schools, Eastern Catholic schools, invited Archbishop Dolan to the campus to celebrate the schools’ shared efforts in maintaining quality, Catholic education in lower Manhattan.
“Deferred maintenance in our old building, increased operating costs, and changing demographics required strategic thinking on our part in order to maintain our mission,” shared Dr. William Hambleton, La Salle’s President. “St. George was facing similar challenges, just four blocks away. By sharing space, we are able to ensure the viability of our schools and keep alive an educational culture of faith and success.”
Rev. Deacon Peter Shyshka, Principal of St. George, stated, “When Pope John Paul II spoke about the Church, he would often say that the ‘Universal Church is fully alive when it breathes with both lungs that of the East and the West.’ This is most evident here where cooperation between the two traditions continues the Educational Ministry of the Church – To Teach All Nations. This shows that the Church is fully alive and flourishing in the East Village.”
La Salle, founded in 1848 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers and St. George Schools, founded in 1940 by Fathers of the Order of Saint Basil the Great, represent a unified Catholic Church, aimed at preserving their faith-based education that has changed lives for tens of thousands of young people in New York City.
“Our high schools graduate nearly 100% of our seniors each year, and we’ve done so for decades. In addition to successfully educating our students, we are imbuing in them a sense of ethics and responsibility, so that they may be civic minded and thoughtful citizens,” said Dr. William Macatee, La Salle’s Principal.
The schools held a prayer service with Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who was accompanied by the Very Rev. Philip Sandrick, Provincial of the Fathers of the Order of Saint Basil the Great, Brother Dennis Malloy, Visitor of the Christian Brothers District of Eastern North America, Most Rev. Paul Chomnycky, Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, and Most Rev. Basil Losten, Bishop Emeritus Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford.