Cathedral Family | Welcome, Class of 2028!

On Thursday, September 5, we hosted Welcome Day for the freshmen to meet their classmates and teachers, familiarize themselves with the school building and their homerooms, and build community as a class. On this special morning filled with nerves and excitement, new students took pictures in front of the school with the blue and gold balloons that served to decorate the school before walking inside! The day began in prayer led by Principal Aybar, and Dean Garcia touched on Culture and Conduct while Assistant Principal Pipchinski went over Academic Goals and Expectations.  As the ninth graders walked up the stairs for the first time as Cathedralites, they were cheered on by a spirited group of upperclassmen volunteers! 

After spending a couple of hours in ‘mini-classes,’ the new students gathered in their homeroom to pick their own female Catholic patron saint for the year and create a light-hearted chant to go along with their chosen saint. 

The students were inspired by the explanation that Ms. Castello, Director of Admissions and Enrollment Management, gave them about the Saints, “A saint is someone who loved God and others to a heroic degree while on earth; now that they are in Heaven, we can befriend them and they can intercede on our behalf.” The chosen saints included St. Gianna Beretta Molla, a selfless Italian mother and pediatrician and the patron saint of mothers and physicians; St. Joan of Arc, a faithful French woman who defended France in war and is the patron of soldiers; St. Cecilia, a Roman citizen who was killed for her Christian faith and is the patron saint of musicians and singers; and St. Mary Magdalene, one of Christ’s disciples and one of the first to share the good news, and the patron saint of penitents and women. You can read more about these and the other selected female saints here! 

At the end of the day, the energy was high in the gym as the four groups participated in a flower ceremony, announced their patron saints, and performed their chants! For the ceremony, each student picked a freshly cut flower, stated her goal for the school year, and placed the flower in a vase in the center of her group. Although each flower is individually beautiful, by the end of the activity, the combination of flowers in the four lovely bouquets was even more stunning—this message of community and sisterhood will lead our newest Cathedralites into four years of deep and lasting friendships! The freshman students were full of smiles and excitement as they headed out of the building at the end of the day. We are delighted to welcome them into our Cathedral family!