On Sept. 6, 2000, the doors of Bishop McHugh Regional Catholic School in Cape May Court House officially opened for the first time to serve the needs of local Catholic families in Cape May County.
A quarter-century later, the school community still nourishes young minds with the Catholic faith.
This month, Bishop Joseph Williams joined the celebratory occasion for a 25th anniversary Mass with school clergy, students, families, faculty and staff.
Reflecting on the Gospel of the lost sheep, Bishop Williams recalled getting lost in Ecuador one time during his priestly ministry and encountering a local peer.
“This priest said, ‘Hola, padre,’ and I felt found in that moment,” he remembered.
When people celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, they, too, are found by God, Bishop Williams said.
“What makes us lost, is when we sin,” he told all those gathered. In confessing one’s sins, “we let ourselves be found. We’re back in His flock.”
Joining Bishop at the Mass were concelebrating priests Father Perry Cherubini, pastor of Saint Joseph Parish in Sea Isle City; Father Piotr Szamocki, pastor of Saint Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Marmora; and Father Thomas Barcellona, pastor of Our Lady of the Angels in Cape May Court House.
After the liturgy, the third-grade class shared joy and inspiration through their annual Parade of Saints, dressed as their chosen holy women and men, and telling their blessed stories.
Bishop Williams then joined the school’s Team Mercy student service group for lunch and conversation, and a tour of the school.
Leighton Hill, an eighth-grade student at Bishop McHugh and one of the members of Team Mercy, most appreciated Bishop’s lunchtime interactions, particularly learning that he enjoys skiing and biking and, like her, enjoys the beach.
“It’s nice to know that he’s a normal person, and he likes what we like,” she said.
A student at the school since her Pre-K 2 days, Hill is part of her family’s Bishop McHugh tradition, which also includes siblings Kelly (seventh grade), Mary (fifth grade), Karlyn (third grade) and John (first grade).
“It’s been a fun journey,” she said. “I’m surrounded by supportive people who encourage me. I’m so grateful.”
Hill is also thankful for the values she’s learning every day. “We start school with morning prayer, which always reminds me that it’s going to be a good day.”
Her classmate, eighth-grader Riley Reich, also part of Team Mercy, knows that “everyone here has brought me closer to my faith.”
Reich is the last of three siblings to go to the school – C.J. is Class of 2022, and Cooper is Class of 2024 – and she enjoys sharing the faith with her brothers at home.
“Whenever we talk about God, we grow together,” she added.
One of the longest-tenured teachers at the school is Laurie Moore, who currently teaches second grade. In her 19 years at Bishop McHugh, Moore has seen the school grow from an institution that began with 21 classrooms, a computer lab, science lab and library-media center, to one that now includes a piano lab, music room, tech lab, and fruit and vegetable garden.
Over the years, she’s also taught Pre-K 3 and 4, as well as third, fourth and fifth grades.
“It’s beautiful to see” the growth of the school, she said, noting the number of past Bishop McHugh students she’s seen who now send their own children there, and also the alumni who help coach the sports teams.
“The graduates from here know that the door’s always open,” Moore continued. “This is a beautiful place to be.”
She was also pleased that Bishop’s visit on Nov. 6 brought “excitable energy” to the student body.
“Their voices during the music, their saint costumes, all shined.”
Principal Alicia Farren noted the strong sense of community at the school.
“Families are willing to pass the Bishop McHugh tradition onto their own families,” she said, adding that the “students, families, faculty and staff continue to strengthen us.”
Bishop Williams taking the time to meet with students, Farren continued, showed the children a pastoral, relatable leader, who, like them, enjoys not only the beach, but walking the path to holiness, as the Bishop McHugh community has done for the past 25 years.
“The students don’t have to be anyone but themselves,” she said. “Just continue to do God’s work in your own way, and you will be a saint.”
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