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"When I am afraid, I put my trust in You." - Psalm 56:3

Who knew when we left school on March 13th that it would be almost six months before we could be together again? 

The year 2020 has certainly thrown us some curve balls.  So much has changed. Almost everything we do is now done differently -- the way we work, grocery shop, get haircuts, attend church services, travel, go to school, and interact with each other.  

On a recent Sunday at Mass, we heard the story of Jesus walking on water to the frightened disciples who were in a boat being tossed about by a storm on the Sea of Galilee. Pete...

Welcome Address

Dr. Amy Sansone, Academic Dean

Good morning! After the unpredictability of the past several months, it truly is a beautiful sight to look out now and see all of our graduates and those who love them, here in person, able to truly share the joy of this commencement ceremony.

We welcome today our chaplain Fr. Michael Sartori, our keynote speaker, Mr. David Thibault; our faculty, our students, our families and our friends. Welcome to you all.

As I look out I realize, everyone here has played a role in assisting these graduates on their path to today.

So in addition to saying welco...

Dear Families and Friends,

As we have been reflecting and preparing our school for the subsequent school year, the myriad of mixing and intersecting realities and narratives presents one simple question: what does it all mean?

In recent months, making meaning out of these moments has been a point of emphasis for our mission. Our remote learning experience prompts and extends this never ending skepticism about our human experience. But there remains a distinction between healthy and unhealthy skepticism.

We should be sure of certain things, yet skeptical of other things. Assessing our own expe...

Dear Families and Friends,

There are those around us who have what we call a “contagious personality”. There is also something to be said for thinking and acting like those we surround ourselves with. On Tuesday of this week, I accepted an invitation from “the man, the myth, the legend”, Mr. Kevin Onnela, to join his weekly conversation on the radio. Mr. Onnela – although he says, just call me Kevin – is a staple in the local community and grandfather to our very own Taylor Goodspeed (6^th grade student). I think he hit me with the talk radio bug, so please pardon me in advance.

After leaving ...

Dear Families, Faculty, and Friends,

Are these unprecedented times? This Triduum, will it be like never before? What will happen when this all ends… the absence, the lack of community, the lack of liturgy?

I made a comment this week along the lines of, “Where are the St. Damien's of Molokai?” My dear friend helped me get to the very consideration of our time.

Yes, we want what is good. We want to be in school. We want the sacraments. We want communion. We want the liturgy.

Our desire for what is good is not unprecedented --- it is natural; our Church has been through this before, and we ought ...

Dear Families, Faculty, and Friends,

As no doubt all of you are aware, Governor Sununu issued a “Stay-at-Home” advisory yesterday and declared all education remote until May 4th.

Mount Royal Academy will therefore remain a remote learning operation until the Governor’s directive expires.

I am honestly kind of running out of phrases to articulate what this all means. Because we are a people of faith, we do not have to look anywhere but the cross for our sense of meaning. I think about the disciples watching their friend and Lord hang on the cross. I think about the intense emotions our Mother ...

Dear Families,

“Today’s dominant educational system, ordered toward the merely pragmatic and utilitarian ends of ‘college and career readiness,’ has no use for wonder or wisdom. We see its consequences in the weary apathy of students who repeatedly ask, ‘Is this going to be on the test?’ When only that which can be quantified or graded is valued, all else falls away. The factory model of teaching and learning is manufacturing the malaise, anxiety, and even despair that burden so many of the young by depriving them of the two elements their innate sense of wonder seeks to find: the meaning and ...