Students, faculty report back to diocesan schools
By Bee Goodman
Just as quickly as summer arrived, we are finding autumn leaves falling into place, Tennessee football not-so-subtly creeping back into play, and schools have started across the diocese.
Though summer is a shorter break than we realize, many things have already been planned for the new school year ahead.
Many schools are celebrating anniversaries this academic year. St. Dominic in Kingsport is commemorating 80 years, with a Mass and Memories event set for Saturday, Sept. 27, that begins with a vigil Mass at 5:30 p.m. and will be followed by a reception for memorabilia-viewing and tour of the school.
Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga celebrates 150 years in 2026, while St. Mary in Johnson City celebrates 115 years, Sacred Heart Cathedral School (and parish) 70 years, St. Mary in Oak Ridge its 75th jubilee, and St. Jude of Chattanooga 60 years.
New leaders
In addition to the celebrations, some schools welcome new administration. St. Mary in Oak Ridge has both a new principal and assistant principal.
Sister Catherine Marie Hopkins, OP, is the new principal at St. Mary. She comes from St. Rose of Lima School in Murfreesboro after eight years leading its administration as principal. Sister Catherine Marie has more than 40 years of experience in education. Prior to her role as principal, she also served as the director of advancement, where she oversaw building projects, fundraising, alumni, and public relations. She has served several schools from Washington, D.C., to Nashville.
In addition to Sister Catherine Marie, the school is also welcoming another new leader.
Zachary Sizemore, assistant principal of St. Mary School in Oak Ridge, has exuberant, youthful assistance on the first day of class on Aug. 7. (Photo courtesy St. Mary School-Oak Ridge)
Zachary Sizemore is the school’s assistant principal and previously taught social studies in North Carolina. He served 11 years as an infantry officer. During his time in the National Guard, he also served as a NATO liaison in 2022. He has a master’s degree in education and is studying to complete a master’s in administration. Born in Kentucky, he is resettling into the area as his family moves to East Tennessee. He is devoted to the St. Michael Prayer, a prayer of spiritual protection.
In March, Father David Boettner, rector of the Cathedral of the Most Sacred of Jesus, announced principal Mary Sue Kosky was leaving Sacred Heart Cathedral School to dedicate herself to caring for her elderly parents in Florida. In her absence, the school named assistant principal Valerie Hanks as the new principal at Sacred Heart.
Mrs. Hanks stated in April, “As I embrace this new role, I do so with great excitement and a deep sense of purpose. Our mission at SHCS is more than academic excellence; it is about nurturing the hearts and minds of our students so that they may become the best versions of themselves, rooted in faith, knowledge, and service. Ultimately, our greatest goal is to form disciples of Christ—young men and women who will go out into the world as beacons of His love and truth.”
Before her new role as principal, Mrs. Hanks served at the school for 13 years as a teacher, an academic dean, and an assistant principal. She shares that her experience with SHCS has deepened her appreciation and love for the school and its dedication to children’s ability to learn both academically and spiritually.
Kendall Doogan is the new assistant principal of academics at SHCS. Ms. Doogan got her start in the public-school system as an elementary teacher and served as a grade-level chair. She also served as a librarian, where she helped curate a collection of over 10,000 books. She served 10 years at St. Mary School in Oak Ridge. In 2017, she became the Anderson County school’s assistant principal.
She has an extended education background as well, with a master’s in educational leadership from Trevecca Nazarene University and a master’s in elementary education from the University of Tennessee.
In addition to Ms. Doogan joining the school, her son will also be attending as a third-grade student. Ms. Doogan shared her excitement for the new setting: “Sacred Heart is the largest school that I will serve in my career thus far. I am excited about the opportunities the school and the well-established community offer.”
Students on the first day of school at Notre Dame High School. (Photo courtesy Notre Dame High School)
She said she used to teach in an inner-city school in downtown Knoxville, but 10 years ago she felt God pulling her in another direction. “God led me to St. Mary’s in Oak Ridge. Now, God has led me to Sacred Heart Cathedral School, and I am blessed to be able to serve this community.”
While she takes the role as the new assistant principal at SHCS, she said her significant blessings came from the classroom.
“By far, the biggest blessing is being able to work closely with children. Even though I have been an assistant principal for eight years in another school, I was still teaching either as a general-education teacher or special-area teacher. I loved every minute of it. By having both roles, I truly knew every student in the building,” Ms. Doogan said.
With a new environment comes new challenges. Ms. Doogan’s key challenge aligns with her most important blessing.
“Establishing and building those relationships now that I am out of the classroom will now be a big challenge. I will certainly miss being in the classroom,” she said. “However, I am excited to serve Sacred Heart in my new role and look forward to getting to know all the students and families by being visible, open, and available.”
Starting back at Chesterton Academy
Students and faculty of the Chesterton Academy of St. Margaret Clitherow in Knoxville started the academic year with a two-day retreat at Christ Prince of Peace Retreat Center in Benton, Tenn. From Aug. 6-8, retreatants took part in the sacraments, camping, hiking, and swimming, inaugurating the year in Christ while building relationships with one another. The retreat was organized by deputy headmaster Jared Kimutis.
Father Neil Blatchford, spiritual moderator for the school, celebrated Mass and holy hours of eucharistic adoration daily and offered opportunities for the sacrament of reconciliation.
The school, a Catholic classical academy, is now in its third year and has seen its enrollment double to 18 students in grades nine through 12. In fall 2024, the school moved to a new location on Fox Road in West Knoxville after starting out on the east side of town.
“Classical education presents the best that has been thought and taught in the best way for most of history,” said headmaster Zach Summers. “It doesn’t shy away from the beautiful just because it’s beautiful. It is common sense, and when properly understood it’s fun. It doesn’t reduce learning to a technical manual but emphasizes the pursuit of wisdom, like the search for the Holy Grail.
“It is not so much about what to learn but how to learn—not what to think but how to think. Classical education goes far beyond mere career preparation, but in the end, even that is thrown in. It prepares you for so much more than this age. It prepares you for heaven. And you get earth thrown in.”
Classical education is rooted in timeless truths and focuses on the development of critical thinking, effective communication, and a deep appreciation for history, literature, and philosophy, Mr. Summers said. All Chesterton Academy students study literature, Latin, math, art, the natural sciences, history, theology, philosophy, and music.
In February 2025, the school received official recognition by Bishop Mark Beckman as being “one unique form among many” Catholic schools in the diocese. The academy’s faculty now participates in diocesan-wide teacher training and in-service days.
In addition to their focus on faith and academics, Chesterton Academy students are actively involved in the community and can take part in a range of extracurricular activities such as tennis, golf, cross country, and chess.
Upcoming events include four convocations—days of academic and athletic competition—as well as a masquerade ball in November, a fine-arts night in December to showcase students’ artistic and musical work, and a road trip to the national March for Life in January.
In September, the school will celebrate a votive Mass of the Holy Spirit, during which students will profess and sign an oath of conduct and faculty will profess an oath of fidelity to the magisterium of the Catholic Church.
The Mass of the Holy Spirit is an ancient tradition in Catholic education, particularly among the great Catholic universities of Europe, dating to the 13th century. It invokes the guidance and gifts of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the academic year. The Jesuits formally adopted the practice in 1599, and it became a normative part of the Catholic academic calendar around the world. Over time, the Mass became a way for Catholic schools, colleges, and seminaries to dedicate the entire year to God’s providence and truth.
Other yearly activities include participation in Knoxville’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the Catholic Dad’s Golf Tournament. The academy also offers its annual Cultura Vitae Lecture Series to the community. This year, the series will include expert presentations on making schools beautiful, the call of Catholics to participate in the fight for human life, the history of chalk artists, and classical education and STEM careers.
The talks are intended to educate, inspire, and help build what Pope St. John Paul II called “the culture of life” by bringing scholars and other accomplished individuals to speak on issues that directly affect the protection of the human person, the family, and the common good.
Voucher program debuts
Young students at St. John Neumann School in Farragut (Photo courtesy St. John Neumann School).
This school year is the first under the Tennessee Educational Freedom Scholarship program. The Education Freedom Act (EFA) voucher program provides financial assistance to students for tuition and fees to eligible schools. All 10 of diocesan schools are eligible for assistance.
Interim schools superintendent George Valadie shared information on the number of students enrolled with EFA vouchers. As of July 15, a total of 757 families across the diocese were awarded voucher scholarships for Catholic schooling, benefiting about 1,100 students. Of those students, nearly 500 were qualified recipients, which means they were required to meet an income threshold to be awarded a scholarship. The rest were universally awarded, without an income restriction, on a first-come, first-served basis.
More than $7 million in scholarships went to Catholic students. The scholarships are not limited to Catholics students, with some non-Catholic kids within the diocese awarded grants as well.
Sacred Heart Cathedral School had among the largest number of students using the scholarship vouchers. Knoxville Catholic High School had among the highest number of qualifying students.
School building projects
As schools have grown exponentially over the years, the space they need has been more demanding. A few schools have begun to build upward. In Chattanooga, Our Lady of Perpetual Help has completed renovations to both the church sanctuary and nave, and OLPH School.
The church started with a roof leak that revealed water leaking into the sanctuary as well. This revealed yet another leak and led to plans to remodel the church. As the church’s old carpet was removed, beautiful marble floors were uncovered. The renovation was expanded and became a restoration of the church’s original look when it first opened in the 1930s.
Construction is now finished, and the church nave and sanctuary were rededicated by Bishop Mark Beckman on Aug. 16.
In addition to OLPH Church’s renovation, the parish school also needed several repairs. The school converted storage space into usable classroom space, replacing old windows and making roofing repairs.
St. John Neumann Parish and School in Farragut have received a generous donation for a middle-school expansion from Lydia Melli. Lydia and her late husband, Claude Melli, were longtime parishioners of St. John Neumann and gave continuous support to the parish and school. In 2021, an endowment from the Mellis was named in honor of Claude Melli and provided tuition assistance and financial resources for the school.
The 8,000-square-foot expansion is aimed at creating new innovative learning spaces accommodating students’ evolving needs. Expansion plans include a new classroom, collaborative study areas, a STEM research lab, and new student gathering spaces. The expansion will also embrace sustainable and energy-efficient designs.