Catholic Transcript Online

HARTFORD – When you want to be challenged to do something for the Hartford Archdiocese, Archbishop Henry J. Mansell is sure to think of something.

In a recent interview, Archbishop Mansell told the Transcript that earlier this year, a man talked with him for more than 30 minutes about the value of Catholic education. He wanted to know what he could do to help.

"Give me a challenge," the man said.

"Well, you give us $2 million and see what we do in one year," the archbishop replied.

The next day, Archbishop Mansell received an envelope. Inside was a check for $2 million.

It did not take the archbishop long to figure out how to use it. St. Augustine School on Clifford Street in Hartford, which once boasted an enrollment of about 1,000 students, was down to about 80 students. It was in serious trouble. The archbishop contacted the anonymous donor and outlined a proposal to help the school.

"Can they cope with that?" the man wondered. "Can they handle it?"

"Oh, yes, they can handle it very well," the archbishop told him. "They’re great people."

Dale R. Hoyt, superintendent of Catholic schools, said that the archbishop called him up in March and told him about the gift. They went to work immediately, Mr. Hoyt said, putting together a steering committee to see how they could increase enrollment at St. Augustine. They hired parishioner Carmen Rodriguez, a bilingual recruitment coordinator.

"She is Latino, and she went right out to the Latino community and really worked with marketing the school," he said.

They extended the school day by two hours, and it now stands at 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., he said. They ensured that the school would be eligible for a federal hot lunch program. They instituted a music program.

"It’s been absolutely amazing," said Cynthia Niedbala, principal of St. Augustine. "The archbishop called at the end of March, and he said that he had received a telephone call from an anonymous donor who said he was willing to provide this gift to the school specifically for the purposes of offsetting the costs of tuition and as a means to generate interest in the school and to increase enrollment in the school. It is working."

She said that with the help of Ms. Rodriguez, they were able to pay for television and radio commercials and create a marketing campaign that drew people from New Britain, Windsor, Bloomfield, East Hartford, Manchester, Wethersfield and West Hartford.

A prekindergarten program that had been discontinued was reinstated, she said. There are now three fully-staffed prekindergarten classrooms.

"Additionally, we’ve been able to have a world language program," she said. The school has a Spanish language program and will soon acquire Rosetta Stone Spanish language-teaching software. There will also be an English language-learners program, she said.

She is especially excited about the new music program, something the school had years ago and that had fallen by the wayside.

"We’ll have a 60-piece band. Boys and girls in grades four through eight will be studying an instrument of their choice, and the instructional piece is coming through the Connecticut Future Musicians Inc. program that is available to most Catholic schools in the archdiocese," she said.

The school has received about 25 donated instruments from people in the community and from parishes throughout the archdiocese, she said.

Dominican Sisters Maria Bellen and Aurea Torres have been recruited to help children prepare for the sacraments and to work with parents, Ms. Niedbala said.

Maintenance to the roof, gutters and gymnasium has also been aided by the gift, but the ultimate purpose has been to help with tuition and increase enrollment, she said. Everyone pays some tuition, she said, and those who can afford it pay the full amount. Since the gift, enrollment has increased by about 150 percent, to about 200 students, she said.

Mr. Hoyt added, "I hope this will be an incentive for other [potential donors] who are part of Greater Hartford [to] follow not only St. Augustine but also SS. Cyril and Methodius. We have two parochial schools left in Hartford. I really hope that this will stimulate [others] to see what a Catholic school provides and that they will begin to invest in Catholic schools, parochial schools in Hartford."