Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, St. Philip the Apostle Catholic School in Camp Springs, Maryland, is “a real gem hidden in plain sight,” according to its principal.

“I keep telling everybody that this school is a hidden gem right in the center of Prince George’s County,” said Deanna Johnson, who this year is completing her second year as principal of the school. “The best kept secret about us is that we are small, but we are mighty.” 

St. Philip the Apostle Catholic School, originally staffed by the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters, opened in 1960, just three years after the founding of the parish. Classes were held in nearby La Reine High School in Suitland, which has since closed. The present school building was completed in 1962, and by 1964 the school had students enrolled in the first through the eighth grades. Kindergarten classes were offered beginning in 1986, and pre-kindergarten classes began in 1997. 

Through the years, the school has been staffed not just by the Bernardine Sisters, but also by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Currently a religious sister of the Daughters of St. Ann teaches at the school.

“We are making a real strong effort to keep at least one (religious) sister’s presence in the school, because that is important to us,” Johnson said. “Our Catholic identity pretty much makes us who we are.”

That Catholic identity was stressed by Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who celebrated a May 3 Mass on the Feast of St. Philip and St. James, and in honor of the school’s 60th anniversary.

“Feast days are very much like birthdays … and today we give thanks for the birthday of this school. For 60 years you have proclaimed the Gospel and educated young people,” Cardinal Gregory said.

Because of social distancing, in person attendance was limited, but the Mass was livestreamed via Zoom and on the school’s Facebook page.

The cardinal called the anniversary of the school “an opportunity to look at the many wonderful things that St. Philip (School) has accomplished over 60 years – students and teachers talk to each other, and students raise questions and teachers have the answers and explain things.”

Cardinal Gregory reminded the students that it was in response to a question from the school’s patron St. Philip that Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

“Jesus was called ‘rabbi’ – teacher – and Philip was the star pupil who asked the question that allowed Jesus to reveal the truth that He was one with His Father,” Cardinal Gregory said. “To listen to Jesus and to listen to His teaching and to see His works is to see God. Jesus is the perfect image of His Father, and whenever we hear the voice of Jesus, we hear God.”

Principal Johnson said St. Philip the Apostle Catholic School “thrives in our ability to teach our children to walk in the footsteps of the greatest teacher, Jesus Christ.”

“The minute you walk in this school, you sense the Catholic presence. We are a community of faith, and faith is where we begin and end every day,” she said. “Each day we ask for grace from our patron saint to know the Father and Jesus Christ. Our Catholic identity follows us throughout the day in every class and with every teacher.”

She added that the school offers a schoolwide Mass on the first day of every school week and that “our children know that Christ is at the center of everything we do, and they can call upon Him and rely on Him. Our school motto is ‘To Seek God in All Things.’”

Right now, about 150 students attend pre-K3 through the eighth grade classes at the school. About 95 percent of the students go on to a Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Washington.

In addition to a core curriculum that includes religious education, mathematics, reading, language arts, social studies, and science, the school offers computer instruction, pre-algebra for sixth- and seventh-graders, and algebra for eighth graders. There is also a before- and after-school extended care program. The school also offers art, physical education, music, and Spanish, and resource teachers for math and reading.

Johnson said her school “teaches in the natural way of doing things.”

“We do not have all the glitz and glam of other schools, but we have Jesus and our Holy Mother to whom we entrust our school and our students, and that is enough for us,” she said.

Like most schools, St. Philip the Apostle School faced what Johnson called “a very difficult year” coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and adjusting to distance learning. She said the school rose to the challenge and faced it with “perseverance and resilience.”

“We had been really shaken by the pandemic, and we lost one of our own,” Johnson said. “Connie Madden, a 20-year teacher, died (of COVID-related causes) last April. She was a staple of the community and practically every student went through her reading program. We miss her dearly because she not only taught the children how to read, but how to be good little boys and girls.”

Despite the loss of a beloved educator and the difficulties of teaching during a time of pandemic, Johnson said “we were successful because I have the best faculty in the world. They struggled, but they persevered.”

Johnson noted that when the school closed its doors on Friday, March 13, 2020, students were prepared to continue their lessons virtually on Monday, March 15. “I had a feeling we would be closing, so about two weeks before we began putting packets together for the children to take home and training them on how to use the technology,” she said.

“Through all of this, we maintained our sense of hope and our very strict high standards for our school,” she said. “The children have done very well and as a matter of fact, we inducted 13 new members into Junior Honor Society this year.”

With its blended learning model, right now a little more than one-half of St. Philip the Apostle Catholic School students are attending class in person. Johnson said that “we are hoping to start with a full spread (of students) in the fall.” She also plans for the next school year to broaden after-school enrichment programs by offering programs on “entrepreneurship, music and arts, and CYO sports ­– all those things that stretch your brain and broaden your horizons.”

The school is located in an area that has seen a recent increase in community expansion and renovation. Located quite near Joint Base Andrews and the Metro’s Green Line Branch Avenue Station, the school is within walking distance of the newly opened headquarters of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Also within the parish and school boundaries are newly constructed townhouses and apartments.

Johnson’s goal for the summer, she said, “is to strengthen our enrollment. With all the new construction and growth in this community, I want people to know that our school offers something different, something better and something spiritual for their children.”

Father Patrick Lewis, pastor of St. Philip the Apostle Parish, said that he and Deacon Darryl Kelley will be working together to “make sure Catholic education remains strong here in Camp Springs.”

 “We are open to new ideas and new opportunities that the broader community might offer,” he said.

While Cardinal Gregory celebrated the May 3 Mass to mark the school’s 60th anniversary, Johnson said that other anniversary events, including a gala and other activities, “have been pushed back a year until hopefully we are over this pandemic.”

At the anniversary Mass, Father Lewis told Cardinal Gregory that “our school and parish rejoices” in the cardinal’s visit, and thanked him “for being such an advocate for Catholic education and caring so much about our schools and our communities.”

During that Mass, Cardinal Gregory prayed that the school would “stay strong, loving and generous for many, many years to come,” and prayed students “would take delight in their studies.” He also urged the faculty of the school to “share your knowledge with gentle patience, and strive to follow Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth and the life.”

 “On the 60th anniversary of the school, it is my prayer and the prayer of all the teachers and parents and grandparents that you, their children and grandchildren, will always grow in the love of Christ and that in this school teachers and students will help each other understand how perfectly Jesus reflects His father and invites us to listen to Him and to know that when He speaks we hear the Father,” Cardinal Gregory said.