Montfort in International News

1. Montfort Academy opens its doors to girls in Katona, New York, USA

Montfort Academy opens its doors to girls

By SWAPNA VENUGOPAL RAMASWAMY
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: September 9, 2007)
KATONAH - On a crisp fall morning last week, Montfort Academy, a Roman Catholic high school that, since its inception five years ago, has prided itself on "Forming Men for all Seasons" and catered to "Boys who dream of Harvard and Heaven," had 13 of its students wearing skirts.

Dressed in navy blue V-neck sweaters and gray skirts, the girls were part of the new freshman class, the first females accepted to join the all-male student body.

While the boys and girls will be in the same school building and take the same courses, they will not be sharing classrooms.

"It will be co-institutional, but not co-educational," said David Petrillo, Montfort's president.

The girls' program will be run separately by its own administrator. But the students will share the cafeteria and mingle during extracurricular activities, such as the drama club, said Petrillo, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.

"We believe boys and girls learn differently, and so, while we will have the same curriculum, the emphasis might be different," he said.

Yonkers resident Lavern Lawrence accompanied her daughter, Trianna Nunez, 14, to her first day at the school. Lawrence said she was most impressed by the curriculum and its focus on classical education and Western civilization. With a liberal arts bent, the school also offers courses such as astronomy, theology and even chivalry for boys.

"I want my daughter to be an articulate person and a good conversationalist in real life," said Lawrence, whose daughter had attended Emerson Middle School in Yonkers. "Astronomy is a great conversation piece, but studying biology in great depth does not help with that."

Clarice Chastang, 13, switched to Montfort from St. John the Evangelist School in Mahopac because of the smaller class size.

"Here there will be just 13 students in our class, and we will get all the attention we need," she said.

For Callaghan Bradley, 14, a home-schooled girl from Shrub Oak, not having boys in the same class has definite advantages.

"It will make it easier to concentrate in class," she said. "And it's not like we won't get to see them. We'll see them in the cafeteria."

Parents of boys at the school who were interviewed were also supportive of enrolling girls.

"I think they have to know how to relate to girls. It's a plus to learn to treat them with respect," said Carmen Kearny of Yorktown, whose son Marc is a senior.

Steven Edleson, 17, of Ossining, who attends Montfort's voluntary Mass every day, said he was glad to see the girls would get the same quality of education as the boys.

"I am curious to see how this would affect Montfort life," said Edleson. "It is good to co-mingle. We know how to treat women with respect. Hopefully, they will see us as an example of how they should expect to be treated by men."

Alessandro Marchetti, 16, of Stamford, Conn., saw another perk in having girls at his school.

"At least now the boys will not have to dress up like girls in the plays," he noted.

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2. St Louis de Montfort Craft Fair, Oak Lawn, Illinois USA

http://artsandcrafts.about.com/od/craftshowsinillinoi1/qt/081307b.htm