SCHOOL of the HOLY CHILD:
School of the Holy Child continues to build and grow to provide outstanding academic, artistic, and athletic programs and facilities for students.
School of the Holy Child continues to build and grow to provide outstanding academic, artistic, and athletic programs and facilities for students. As they head back to school, Holy Child celebrates all the achievements and new endeavors taking place on campus.
Holy Child proudly welcomes Abigail Doheny as the Head of the Upper School. She brings more than 25 years of teaching, leadership, and administrative experience, as well as a strong background in independent schools, to Holy Child. A native New Yorker, she attended Barnard College and then earned her master’s degree from Columbia Teachers College. Ms. Doheny began her career in education in Westchester County, worked overseas, and spent the last twenty years in Texas, most recently as Dean of Academics and Counseling at an independent school in Houston.
“It is my distinct pleasure to join this very special community,” Ms. Doheny said. “Grounded in an all girls’ Catholic education, committed to a rigorous academic environment where each girl is encouraged to take risks and supported to be successful, and set on a historic and beautiful campus, School of the Holy Child is where I belong.”
Among the talented group of professionals returning and joining Holy Child faculty this year is alumna Kayleigh Hough ’04, who joins ten other alumnae on the staff. She will teach History and serve as Director of the Generoso Pope Italian Cultural Studies Program and History teacher.
As far as facility expansion, Holy Child’s new 22,000 square-foot Field House includes an 11,000 square-foot gymnasium, allowing for two basketball/volleyball courts with bleacher seating suitable for tournament play. A dance studio, athletic training room, fitness room, student common area, locker rooms, and athletic offices are some of the features that make this structure a welcome addition to support the students’ athletic and artistic endeavors.
Additionally, the 700-square-foot Design Studio, where girls immerse themselves in engineering, is home to the E.E. Ford Program for Engineering, Architecture, and Design for the Common Good. The Studio includes a multi-purpose workshop and classrooms for students studying in the STEAM fields: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. The Design Studio promotes creative problem solving using a variety of technologies, including a 3-D printer, laser cutter, and thermoformer, 3-D milling machine, sewing machine, circuit kits, and a variety of hand tools with which to create physical prototypes.
Construction has begun to transform the school’s “gymatorium” into a state-of-the-art, 400-seat Theatre, which will serve as the foundation for a broader and increasingly diverse arts curriculum at Holy Child. Students will have greater opportunity to expand their creative potential with dedicated space for music, dance and drama, rehearsals, and productions. The expansion also includes an enhanced and larger stage, state-of-the-art lighting and sound technology, as well as a workshop space for set-building and design, a dressing room, and wardrobe storage. The Theatre will also be used for school liturgies, assemblies, and a speaker series program.
School of the Holy Child will host its annual Open House Saturday, October 3 from 1-4. For more information, contact Director of Admission Jacqueline Ciaccia ’06 at 967-5622, ext. 227 or j.ciaccia@holychildrye.org.
— Photos courtesy of Chip Riegel Photography
