‘The life of the school is the classroom’

On a recent weekday morning, Ava Levario smiled wide as she made a beeline for Paul VI High School’s trusted leader.

The freshman pulled out her phone as she and fellow students formed a semicircle around Sister Marianne McCann, MPF, principal of the Haddonfield school.

Opening up TikTok, Levario asked the group’s burning question to be used for a class history project. “Credit or Debit?”

“Credit,” the longtime educator said, her smiling face and cheerful resolve captured on the video app.

In the waning days of the school year, students were eager to soak up any wisdom they could before Sister Marianne departed Paul VI’s halls. Sister Marianne – whose 48-year tenure included serving as an English teacher, vice principal, and for the last 21 years, principal – announced in February that she would be stepping down.

“She’s been an amazing principal,” Levario said as two members of the student council standing next to her concurred.

“Sister’s always been a role model for me, in stepping up, taking leadership, and doing the best for the school,” said freshman vice president Kodie Malone. “[I’m] going to miss her presence; she’s always able to give us such good ideas and new perspectives to consider. I wish her the best.”

Quinton Cunningham, freshman secretary, was grateful for Sister Marianne “steering me in the right direction [and teaching] life lessons that I’ll always carry with me. It’s going to be different without her.”

Leading by Example

For almost six decades, the Religious Teacher Filippini has been a guiding force for Catholic education at Paul VI and the continued success of its students. Now, Sister Marianne is ready to pursue another challenge.

“I’ve been blessed with good health; I have the greatest job in the world. Nothing [before] ever made me think about leaving,” she explained. “But when I came back this year, I kind of felt, maybe it is time. We were at the right time in the life of Paul VI High School. … We have a good teaching faculty; we [completed] Middle States Accreditation; we have another seven-year plan for going forward with the Board of Trustees. It’s a good time to say, ‘Somebody else should have a chance at this.’”

“It’s going to be a great opportunity, a great spiritual experience,” for her successor, she said. On June 6, it was announced that Philip J. Gianfortune, principal of Saint Michael the Archangel School, Clayton, had been appointed to that role.

Since 1974, Sister Marianne has enjoyed and contributed to the spiritual atmosphere at 901 Hopkins Road, motivated by a faith that blossomed in her Brooklyn home, parish and school. The oldest child to a devout fireman and homemaker, she remembers the Sunday Masses at Saint Bernadette Church and, even more vividly, the Religious Teachers Filippini who staffed the parish school.

“They were some of the greatest examples of wonderful, understanding teachers,” she explained, singling out her sixth, seventh and eighth-grade teacher, Sister Almerina.

“Every class, she would read to us from a certain book, be it ‘Lives of the Saints,’ etc. …” and then pick it up the next day, she said. It was this captivating reading, and creating suspense and curiosity for the next day, that has stuck with her.

“I learned to teach from how she taught us. She never raised her voice,” Sister Marianne said.

Desiring to live a life like her education models, she entered the Filippini order at age 14, and six years later made her first vows. She was first sent to North Jersey’s Catholic schools, before making her way down the Turnpike to Paul VI’s classrooms to teach English.

Lessons Beyond Classroom

In 1978, she became vice principal, and since 2001 has been principal. All along, she has carried the work and mission of the Religious Teachers Filippini, who have been a part of the school since its 1966 founding, when 18 sisters began ministry to students.

The close-knit nature of the classroom remains Sister Marianne’s passion, however, as evidenced by a sign in her office that reads “To Teach is To Touch A Soul Forever.”

“The life of the school is the classroom,” she said. “The kids here are like sponges, wanting to learn. … When you look out at all of those eyes looking back, you know you have a special opportunity to form, or help to form, another person.”

The best teachers she knows, and what she’s tried to do as an educator, is “make [students] see things from all sides, from different perspectives. … You’re not just teaching them facts, you’re helping them develop their thought process. You’re making them think; you’re making them grow.”

That learning has gone both ways, she said. “There were ideas that students have presented in my classes, that I thought, ‘Wow, there is another way of thinking.’ That’s a great part of teaching … the students add to you.”

There have been obstacles over the years, too. Sister Marianne is quick to mention the recent COVID pandemic, which necessitated a period of virtual learning and distanced classroom activity.

“It was the greatest challenge,” she explained, proud in the fact that “everybody in the school community stepped up,” and grateful “to my faculty and administrators who were up to the challenge. They were able to adapt on a dime, in changing school protocols.”

Even through difficulties, Sister Marianne has done her best to keep a hopeful demeanor for the countless students who have passed through the school’s halls. Individuals might wear their own lives, interests and passions in their hearts, but together, the student body wears the blue and white of the Paul VI uniform, a mark of Catholic faith, excellence and opportunity.

“I believe in people … everyone is lovable in their own way,” Sister Marianne affirmed. “I’m optimistic about students’ ability to learn and understand. I know some struggle, but I know that even in their struggle, they are capable of so much.”

A Friend and Mentor

Those who know Sister Marianne say they will miss a wise, dedicated servant with an eye for detail and a heart for students.

Saying that Sister Marianne “always taught with the mission of her order in mind and the mission of Paul VI in her heart,” Paul VI President Michael Chambers called her legacy “one of vision … [she’s] always been at the forefront of education.”

He first began working with Sister Marianne in 1999, when he became assistant principal for athletics and student life. She “did not shy away from assisting all the Catholic high schools in the Diocese, by sharing best practices in education and the historical knowledge of Catholic education in the Diocese,” Chambers said, recalling fondly her level of preparedness and candid, honest advice.

Mary Boyle, former diocesan superintendent of Catholic schools, said the Diocese owes a great debt to Sister Marianne, and to her religious community.

Having worked with Sister Marianne for 15 years, Boyle recalled “an incredibly visionary woman [who] does everything possible because she believes in young people. She leaves a legacy that the young people of South Jersey are worth our efforts, to provide a quality Catholic education for them.”

Dr. Bill Watson, current superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese and an alumnus of Paul VI, said he will miss her wisdom, experience and commitment to excellence.

Privy to Sister Marianne’s expertise while a student in her AP English class, he praised the “gentle yet firm way that she persisted in setting her sights on lofty goals – whether for Paul VI or for an individual student – and pursuing them until they were accomplished.”

Sister Marianne is unsure of what’s next, but is positive not only for her future, but for the young women and men, present and future, who will spend formative years at Paul VI.

“They’re the future Church, the future community, the future government,” she said.