(This is the second part of an article on the Academy of the Holy Angels' origins in New Jersey. It was originally published in the Summer, 1965 edition of “The Notre Dame Sister, Baltimore Province”)
The construction [in Demarest, New Jersey] comprises a modem and completely functional 20-classroom building and a convent. Provision has been made for the latest equipment and educational innovations demanded by the times. Aside from the academic area, the new Academy will also serve the cultural, social and recreational needs of the student body.
Interior features include an auditorium, gym, library, cafeteria, science and language labs. Other interior units will house an audio-visual room, home ec lab, art, music, typing and activity rooms. A three-acre lake, tennis courts, athletic field, and park areas will provide ample exterior recreational facilities.
The new school is an outstanding example of modern design and construction in pre-case and pre-stressed concrete. The roof is formed of pre-stressed concrete tees, which constitute an important decorative element in the exterior. The arched aluminum cathedral windows add to the beauty of the whole. In the back of the building, the lower-level rooms form a two-story building with a one-story wing extending in a westerly direction.
Following the natural course of the 43-acre site, the curved room layout affords a view of the distant hills from the classrooms. The beautiful carrara marble statues of Our Lady of the Angels and of St. Michael grace the entrance to the convent and the school, respectively.
The exterior of the convent, a two-story steel structure, has been planned to blend with the white and buff of the school. The convent houses 40 Sisters. Interior design includes a chapel, community and recreation rooms, refectory, laundry and other service units.
J. G. Phelan and Associates of Bridgeport, Connecticut, are the architects, with Robert H. Mutrux, AIA, the associate in charge. The buildings were erected by Joseph L. Muscarelle, Inc., of Maywood, New Jersey, general contractors. Under the general supervision of Sister Superior Marv Brigid and the chairmanship of Mr. James Rice, the Holy Angels Academy Appeal was organized to help to finance the undertaking. As a result of the hard work of captains and their teams of workers, the drive totaled $260,000 in pledges. For this generous assistance on the part of parents, alumnae and friends, the Sisters expressed their gratitude and promise of continued prayers at a farewell supper for all the workers at the close of the drive.
Construction at the new site began on March 9, 1964. The actual moving process commenced with the transfer of kitchen and laundry equipment on April 28, 1965. The school will be ready for the opening of classes in September.
Friends of the Sisters held a farewell shower in the rotunda on May 16. The committee headed by Mrs. Thomas Cooney presented bedspreads, towel sets and linens to each Sister personally. Other gifts included a color television and a set of dishes complete with bed tray for the infirmary. Parents, officers of the Fathers' Club and Mothers' Guild, alumnae and local officials from Fort Lee and neighboring towns honored the Sisters with their presence.
After a meeting of the parents to form a Moving Committee, plans got underway for the major hauls from May 22 to June 5 on specified dates. A 45-car motorcade with police escort moved the library of some 7000 books to Demarest on May 22. Parents, students and friends collaborated in the undertaking. Pictured in The New York Times with a feature story, the project was completed within an hour and a half.
Mothers assisted Sister Superior Mary Brigid in preparing the convent for the arrival of the Sisters. Complete with rice-throwing and the good wishes of friends, the Sisters set out in the school bus for their new home on the afternoon of June 1. Greeted at the entrance by Sister Superior, the Community went to the chapel to recite the Magnificat in thanksgiving, before going on a tour of the convent, where everything was in readiness for their arrival. As they sat down to their first supper at the tastefully decorated tables in the spotless refectory, truthfully could they say "Lord, it is good for us to be here."
Professional movers completed the transfer of equipment from Fort Lee by handling the organ, pianos and other heavy furniture on June 7-8. Builders of the Mediterranean Towers, the twin apartments which will occupy the former campus site, set June 9 for the beginning of the demolition of the old Holy Angels. As Holy Angels Academy, after 86 years in historic Fort Lee, prepares to strike new roots at Demarest, it is evident that the years have brought many changes since the time of its foundress, Sister Mary Nonna.
Yet its ideals expressed in the school motto, Vitae Via Virtus, have not changed, nor has its purpose altered. May the spirit of Sister Mary Nonna and her trust in Divine Providence aid her followers to enter on this new venture with her vision and her spirit of faith. May we continue to educate young women in Christian living according to the ideal of Notre Dame.