On May 22, 2024, an Aquinite (graduate of Aquinas High School, Bronx) called Dominican Convent to enquire about Sisters who had taught at Aquinas during 1981,1982,1983, 1984. The reason for the inquiry was that members of the Class of 1984 planned to celebrate their 40th anniversary of graduation and wondered if some of the Sisters they remembered could attend. The date of the event was planned for June 29 and they wished to hold the event at Aquinas. Plans were finalized with the current Cardinal McCloskey Community Charter Elementary School and the Dominican Sisters Leadership Team, invitations were sent out, and a good number of responses were received to celebrate in Aquinas’ gym on June 29.
After the initial call, I contacted the Reunion Committee, and they filled me in on their plans. They invited me to join an evening Zoom, enabling us to meet “face-to-face” and questioned me about the Sisters. It was a heartwarming conversation. Immediately into the Zoom, a member of the group who was putting together an event program said, “We never knew about those two ladies coming over from Europe.” Taken aback a bit, I recouped and gave them a short antiquity about Alice and Lucy Thorpe coming to America and founding the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of the Rosary in 1876.
I gently stated what to expect when they entered the Aquinas building. There would be nothing on the walls, offices, and classrooms that hinted at the past 100 years. The one thing remaining was the large “A” on the gym floor. The colors were no longer blue and gold but had been replaced with red and white. The hallway terrazzo floors had decals of the alphabet for the current kindergarteners to step on while learning and walking the building.
Another committee member responded that brick and mortar was not important to them; “It was the legacy,” and touching her chest with her fist, she said, “They cared about us.”
They invited me to attend their reunion on June 29, and I was happy to do so. I asked some of our Sisters who taught there during the early 1980s if they would write notes to the class. Loaded with some Aquinas memorabilia and the Sisters’ notes displayed on poster board, I arrived and helped set up for the guests. They were having a double celebration, Saturday brunch at the former Aquinas High School and Sunday dinner at Maria Del Rey, their senior prom restaurant. It was wonderful! As people were parting, some said they would love to come to Sparkill someday to visit the Sisters which we are working on arranging.
The Aquinas 1984 Yearbook shows a group of wide-eyed, hope-filled teenagers, and now they were a group of women who like their educators worked persistently to make a positive difference.
We received a note a few days after the celebrations that read:
Dear Stephanie and the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill,
It is with great pleasure that we, the planning committee for the Aquinas High School 40th Reunion, thank you for the beautiful and inspiring letters you wrote to us. The alumnae were amazed that you remembered our class and still cared about us after all these years. As a group, we shared many fond memories of the faculty and administrators during our time at Aquinas H.S. As a result, we realized that Aquinas created a loving and secure sisterhood, and we owe some of that to you.
Our team would like to express a special thank you to Stephanie Carpentieri for working with us to create an event that we will treasure for a lifetime—the cape worn by the Aquinites in 1923, along with the video and the mascot costume, made a splash!
To the staff who 40 years ago offered us an education and with our families helped produce an NYC Criminal Court judge, an engineer, a movie producer, doctors, lawyers, several educators, and business executives (to name a few!), we pray that we will keep in touch and that this will not be the last time we see each other.
We are something special! The Class of 1984!
Love, Khadejha, Karen, Ester, Dawn, Cristina, Tracy, Tawana, Vanissa, and Yolanda
– Stephanie Carpentieri, Associate
Stephanie is a proud Aquinite who serves as an administrative assistant to the Leadership Team of the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill.