First U.S. Pan-Orthodox Christian School Starting Its Second Year September in Boston Area

By Linda M. Thomas

Light spills into a classroom of preschoolers whose voices echo their Middle Eastern and Balkan cultures at what is believed to be the first pan-Orthodox Christian school in America. The classroom is tucked inside the church of St. John of Damascus, just 10 miles outside of Boston—a modern sandstone structure with a traditional Eastern Orthodox dome reminiscent of Byzantine churches found in Old Damascus and on the hills of Lebanon.

Toy cars, trucks and a tool bench dot the floor, and bookshelves filled with a variety of stories to read circle each corner. Signs and labels are trilingual—in Arabic, Greek and English.

For the school’s 17 pupils, just going to school was a big deal. Little did they know they were pioneers at a program conceived by a college student of Lebanese origin who had a vision for a school that would be as strong a spiritual experience as an academic one.

Sonia Daly was impressed with the combined academic and spiritual education she received at Montrose School, which followed a college preparatory curriculum supplemented by Catholic religion courses. She respected the education she received and didn’t know why “we as Orthodox” did not also have such a school.

Establishing one became Daly’s mission, and after three years of intense collaborative work with fellow Orthodox Christians committed to high educational standards, her dream came true with the establishment in 1997 of the Massachusetts Pan-Orthodox Academic Foundation, Inc. It created an independent Orthodox Christian school serve the children of many nationalities who have one religion in common.

Theophany Orthodox Christian School will begin its second year in September with preschool and kindergarten and classes. While it is an independent school, Theophany has ties to both the Antiochian and Greek Archdioceses.

“We’re trying to have a common language of English in our classroom while appreciating our different ethnic backgrounds, recognizing we’re all Orthodox and have far more in common than we have realized living next door to each other,” said one of the founding members, local lawyer Nick Kourtis, whose daughter was a student in the K-1 program.

Kourtis grew up in the outskirts of Boston thinking of himself as a Greek American—while everybody else was American. Living next door was a Syrian family who considered themselves Syrian American—while everybody else was American.

“I realized I shared everything with this family except an ethnic heritage,” Kourtis said. “We were diluting our efforts and diluting the force and strength of our own community to perpetuate our values by making too much of the ethnic divide and not supporting and emphasizing enough the religious connections we share.”

Kourtis said his daughter’s first preschool experience was at a Roman Catholic nursery school. While it was a positive experience, he said there were religious elements different from home and at church. Out of the 20 children in her nursery school class, five were Orthodox Christian children. Kourtis began to wonder if there were Orthodox Christian children at other preschools in the area who might be better served through a single Orthodox Christian school.

“The children were all out there, but they were not together in any unified way,” Kourtis said.

Cynthia Capobianco was more concerned with religious and social development than with academic skills when she decided to enroll her daughter at Theophany. But the five-year-old learned more than her mother expected. She learned how to hold a pencil, write her name, and recognize letters. And she learned her phonics.

Capobianco, who has roots in both Lebanon and Greece, liked the idea of a pan-Orthodox school. She wants to reinforce to her children that Orthodoxy is a religion that embraces both Greeks and Lebanese and many other nationalities.

In the spring of 1997, believing in the concept, other parents took a chance and enrolled their children in a school that wasn’t yet there. Three days before opening day, on Sept. 15, 1997, Theophany was granted its license from the Massachusetts Office for Children.

Initially, parents knew, the school wasn’t going to have all the “bells and whistles” of other preschools in the area. But those others were missing Theophany’s common religious connection that united pupils of Syrian, Lebanese, Greek and Albanian heritage.

“We did more here than I saw done in some public school kindergarten classrooms,” said school director Sheila Tawa, who has a master’s degree in education. Enrolling her daughter at Theophany opened up a new career for this second-generation Syrian American.

Other parents also got involved. They introduced arts and crafts and special projects to the classroom and joined in on field trips. It was an extension of home and family. The children became cousins and best friends. They learned the alphabet and every day was a literary adventure.

In 1997 there were nine children enrolled in the K-1 program and eight in preschool. The older children came on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while the younger ones came on Tuesday and Thursday. Every morning the children kissed the Theophany icon at the entrance of the classroom. Tawa allowed the children some free play, then gathered them in a circle to join in prayer and to share stories before beginning a structured lesson plan.

The curriculum is broken into units with themes relevant to the lives of the children. Subjects include: language arts, reading, spelling, preparation for mathematics, science, music, art, media, cultural awareness and physical education. The thematic units are supplemented with the teachings of the Orthodox Church.

Rev. George Papademetriou, the grandfather of one of the Theophany students, came to America in 1947 from a small village outside of Karpenisi, Greece. He knows the importance of combining academic excellence and developing students’ spirituality.

An associate professor at Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, Papademetriou says the teachings, principles, values and faith of the Orthodox tradition are the base of the children’s formation. What they learn in Sunday School and in church is supported at Theophany. The children’s participation makes them feel they are part of American society yet distinct in their faith by learning and living the Orthodox Christian faith with other Orthodox children.

Theophany has caught the attention of Orthodox educators throughout the country. The administration circulated information about its efforts to several religious publications across the country and responses came from California, Indiana, Ohio and other areas asking: “How are you doing it? Where are you doing it?”

Because of its accessibility to the Greater Boston area, the Church of St. John of Damascus, a parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, was chosen as Theophany’s home. Rev. John Teebagy, pastor of the Dedham, Massachusetts parish, said he is glad his church was able to help provide the school a home. “It’s a worthy endeavor,” he said.

During this past academic year, both the parishioners and school children joined in fellowship. Last fall, parents of the schoolchildren took part in the parish’s annual bazaar and the schoolchildren hosted a luncheon for the bazaar volunteers one morning after school. And in celebration of Pascha (Easter), the children participated in religious services offered every day during Holy Week.

His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of New England has supported the school since its birth and watched it grow. He commends the parents and school administration for working closely together to prepare an Orthodox Christian curriculum which will be a good educational foundation for the children.

Theophany hopes to grow into a full elementary school. But, for now, it is satisfied to serve as a stepping stone.

For the children who will follow in the footsteps of their siblings, cousins and friends this fall, light shines brighter at Theophany School. So, perhaps before long, those sweet voices will echo beyond the hill of St. John of Damascus.

For more information on the Theophany School, contact Sheila Tawa at (781) 326-6434.

Linda M. Thomas, a Boston-based paralegal and profile writer, is a lifelong member of the St. George Orthodox Church in Norwood, MA.