WARREN – It was an opportunity to bid an early farewell to Our Lady of Fatima High School for alumni, staff, students and their families of the 47-year-old school, which is set to close in June.
A large crowd attended Mass and a May crowning Sunday before taking tours of the school, where they viewed displays of memorabilia that chronicled Our Lady of Fatima’s colorful history.
The Sisters of St. Dorothy announced in February that the school would close at the end of the academic year as a result of declining enrollments and the religious order’s inability to subsidize the school.
The steady stream of visitors paid tribute to the school’s history and tradition while thanking the Sisters of St. Dorothy for their dedication in providing an excellent values-based education to thousands of students from across Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.
Ellen Rodrigues Contini, a 1992 Our Lady of Fatima graduate, said the education she received at the school instilled confidence and prepared her well to pursue a career as a special education teacher. She emphasized her alma mater’s family spirit and the close bond that graduates continue to maintain years after their graduation.
“When you have friendships in faith they last forever,” she added. “ I always felt very honored to go to school at Fatima. If you ever went to Fatima, you’re part of a family.”
Classmate Lisa Bisson Batista said she would always be grateful to the Dorothean Sisters and lay faculty for their compassion and for instilling strong Christian values.
“The teachers cared for you like you were their own children,” Batista recalled.
Despite a few tears and some feelings of sadness, Sunday was a day filled with faith, love, hope and appreciation for the outstanding contribution that the school has made to the community through the years.
Cynthia Alves, a member of the Class of 1980 and a parishioner of St. Elizabeth Church, Bristol, noted that she first met the Sisters of St. Dorothy who taught her at the parish school.
“I begged to come to school here,” she said, noting that her siblings all attended public schools and that her parents made many sacrifices to pay the tuition so she could attend Our Lady of Fatima High School.
“I got a wonderful education here,” she emphasized, adding that many of her classmates keep in contact and are good friends.
In his homily, Father Scott Pontes, assistant pastor of St. Elizabeth Church, Bristol, offered several reflections shared by Carmelite Sister Lucia Santos, who was one of the three young shepherds to whom the Blessed Mother appeared at Fatima, Portugal in 1916.
“The first call is a call to believe, to faith,” said Father Pontes, who taught foreign languages and justice studies at the high school before entering the seminary. “Faith and belief in God is what the message of Fatima has proclaimed for many years. Fostering faith and belief in God is what the Sisters of St. Dorothy, along with the lay faculty, have done for so many years here at the school.”
Reflecting on the calls of hope and love, Father Pontes told those gathered that as they look to the future in hope, they must also live in the love that they received through their connection with Fatima, where they were always valued as a member of a large family.
“The apparitions in Fatima only lasted several months but the message and effects of that experience of the three shepherd children has lived on,” Father Pontes said. “So, too, here this institution has lived for numerous years, but as the message of Our Lady of Fatima, Portugal, has lived on, so, too, will the message of Our Lady of Fatima High School live on through each one of us, through our experiences, through our example, through our love.”
St. Dorothy Sister Mary Margaret Souza, who has served as principal of the school for 21 years, thanked the Fatima staff for their cooperation, support and unfailing commitment to the students.
“This is a job that could never be done alone,” she said. “It’s God helping us.”
Sister of St. Dorothy Irene Escobar, who taught Portuguese and religion at Fatima for 13 years, noted that she has enjoyed her ministry at the school.
“I’ve had so many beautiful experiences the kids – watching them grow academically and grow in their love for God,” she said.
“We are not dying, it’s a change,” Sister Escobar emphasized, adding that the Sisters of St. Dorothy will continue to enjoy a strong presence in the diocese for many years to come.
Sophomore Nicole D'Andrea of Warwick said that she has truly enjoyed her years at Fatima, which will serve as a solid foundation as she transfers to another school.
“It’s been the best years of my life and I am not going to forget it,” she said. “It’s really been a family. The teachers here are amazing.”
