Irish Fest Raises Funds for School

A capacity crowd filled the social hall below in Hyattsville yesterday as part of the third annual Irish Festival. 

The festival features Irish music, food and drink. It also features a healthy dose of socialization for young school children attending , the K-8th grade school linked to the church. 

"Many of the new families and prospective families got to experience the festival for the first time this year," said Mary Pat Donoghue, third-year principal at St. Jerome Academy. "This event was joyful and hopeful."

But it was not always so. 

The festival was born out of what seemed like a monumental challenge, one which threatened the very existence of the private elementary and middle school. Three years ago, the school was the subject of an Archdiocesan Consultation, an administrative process to determine wether or not the school should be shut down. The Archdiocese said the school could only continue if it raised $170,000 to right the ship. 

That required a massive fundraising effort for which the Irish Festival was created. 

According to Chris Currie, Director of Institutional Advancement for St. Jerome Academy, the Irish Festival has become the biggest single event fundraiser for the school. 

Currie said that the school and the parish community came together and said that they wanted to keep the school going as an integral part of its mission. As a result, the St. Jerome Education Plan was created, laying the foundation for the first Catholic classical primary school education curriculum in the nation. The curriculum has won the school widespread recognition and interest from families of youngsters. 

Now, , said Currie. "The school is making progress."

This year, the school had 80 new students enroll across all of its grades, the biggest jump in quite some time, said Currie. 

One of the groups which helped enormously over the years was the St. Jerome Council of the Knights of Columbus. 

"We've made it a priority to support this school," said Steven Matera, head of the St. Jerome KoC chapter. "Saint Hughes, Saint Marks and Saint James all had to close their school doors, but we pulled through for Saint Jerome school."