For Maggie Perez, teaching Kindergarten at Holy Infancy School is a family affair.
She grew up in the South Bethlehem neighborhood near Holy Infancy, and she went to school there. So did her sons, and her granddaughter, and her great granddaughter.
Now, after 37 years of teaching, the kids sitting at the desks in her classroom are often the children of her past students.
“Our families rely on us here at the school,” she said. “They know this is a safe haven for their kids. They know we are here for them.”
“Maggie Perez is an example of dedication and love for our Catholic schools,” said Father Andy Gehringer, the pastor of Holy Infancy and Incarnation of Our Lord parishes. “When our families bring their little ones to our Kindergarten, they know they are in good hands.”
Children are indeed in good hands in Catholic schools, not only in the Kindergarten class at Holy Infancy, but in all grades at the 36 elementary schools, high schools, and special education centers throughout the five counties of the Diocese.
Parents choose diocesan schools for their Catholic identity, their academic excellence, and their affordability. Our schools are unabashedly Catholic, a place where the focus is on Gospel values, not on social theories.
Catholic Schools provide a Christ-centered education in a safe and supportive atmosphere, where all are treated with dignity and where students learn the foundations of living a Christian moral life.
At Holy Infancy, Perez is eagerly awaiting the arrival in her classroom of another grandson, who at age 2 still has a couple of years to wait to join the family legacy at the school.
“I can’t see myself retiring,” Perez says. “My heart is here at the school. My life is these kids.
“In Kindergarten, the kids cry at the beginning of the year because they miss their parents,” Perez said. “But by the end of the year, I’m the one crying because I don’t want them to leave.”
Paul Wirth is the Communications Director of the Diocese of Allentown. He can be reached at pwirth@allentowndiocese.org
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