When Resurrection Grammar School students return to classes on September 5, they’ll be met by a new principal, Sister Anne Massell PBVM, and a new assistant principal, John Morash. Both of their predecessors, Harold Nielsen and George Pitula, retired at the end of the school year.

By Sarah Varney

 

When Resurrection Grammar School students return to classes on September 5, they’ll be met by a new principal, Sister Anne Massell PBVM, and a new assistant principal, John Morash. Both of their predecessors, Harold Nielsen and George Pitula, retired at the end of the school year.

 

Most recently, Sister Anne was Associate Superintendent for Personnel for the Archdiocese of New York, where she worked with principals and served as the point person for the unions. “While these three years were invaluable, I really missed being part of a school community,” she said.

 

Before her three-year stint in the city, she spent 21 years as principal at the coed Annunciation School in the Crestwood section of Yonkers. According to Massell, Annunciation and Resurrection have similar student populations and enrollment numbers, 560 and 515, respectively.

 

She is a member of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary order, whose sisters work in the community in various roles, including physician’s assistants. Originally dedicated to education, the order took on a broader mission serving in a number of communities after the doctrines of the Vatican II council were released in 1965.

 

Her first priority as principal will be to continue to provide a Catholic school of excellence. “It’s not that we don’t foresee changes, but we first need to see how things are working,” she said.

 

John Morash, 32, comes to Resurrection from Iona Grammar School, where he served as Director of Admissions and also taught for six years. “This is a great opportunity for me professionally,” said Morash. He and his wife Maura, a kindergarten teacher in Darien, live in Norwalk. They have a 2-year-old daughter, Maeve.