Feast of St. Agnes Mass and 175th Celebration Kick-off

Today marked the official beginning of our year-long 175th Anniversary celebration as we gathered for the Feast of St. Agnes! We were honored to have Most Reverend David P. Talley, M.S.W., J.C.D. as our celebrant, along with Bishop Emeritus Terry Steib, Dominican Friars, diocesan priests, and deacons.

We were thrilled to be joined by so many wonderful friends, families, trustees, former educators, and alums who support our mission. Special guests included Dominican Sisters of Peace, Sr. Joye Gros, a St. Agnes alumna and former Trustee, and Sr. Cathy Galaskiewicz, also a former Trustee and Director of Religious Education at the school.

“The Dominican Sisters are our founders and will always be the beacon for our school,” said President Tom Hood. “We are indebted to the Sisters. They are a line of women who have ‘set the world on fire.’”

In his remarks President Hood also challenged our students to use the gifts they are discovering and perfecting to make a difference in our local community and our world. “Every generation faces challenges, but I believe you will face more unique ones than my generation did. We need you, and I know you are up for the challenge. You are our future,” he said.

John Angotti led our worship music with Upper School and Lower School choir members. Today’s Mass was a beautiful celebration of our history and our future, and we look forward to the many opportunities we will have throughout the year to mark this amazing milestone.

To commemorate this joyous anniversary year, we have created an 18-month calendar, filled with student art that will be shared with each school family. We held a contest in the fall, and the following students were chosen to share their art with our community:

ST. AGNES LOWER SCHOOL

Sadie Glaser

Juliette Kilmore

Alli Montoya Vega

Margot Zeanah

ST. DOMINIC

Al Barksdale

Jackson Childress

JUNIOR HIGH

Charlie Dalimata

Yesenia Molina

UPPER SCHOOL

Adie Butler

Margaret Chism

Julie Coker

Claire Csicsila

Sydney Davis

Gabby Gault

Savannah Lepisto

Olivia Perrone

Landry Sanford

Lillian Stock

Sophie Viglietti

Alex Warner

Taniaya Wright

Thank you to all our students that submitted artwork! The way they each individually conveyed what SAA-SDS means to them impressed us all. Look for your family’s copy of the 175^th commemorative calendar, coming to you later this week!