We Are St. Pius X Annual Fund Issue - St. Pius X Catholic High School

Spellman’s Words
A Message
From Our
Principal
How do we continue to produce championship
athletic teams with the nation’s number
three basketball recruit in Kelley Cain and
award winning fine arts programs that are
achieving at the highest levels of competition
with Graham Walts and John McNabb
who represented us at the Governor’s Honors
progam?
How do we increase the physical size of our
campus to accommodate the many activities
and programs we offer here and to position
us more strongly for the future and to accommodate
a much needed parking and an
alternate entrance to the campus?
Forty-eight years ago St. Pius X opened its
doors to a growing population of Catholics
in Metro-Atlanta. The founder of our school
was in a very real way the Msgr. Cornelius
Maloney, who served Bishop Francis Hyland
as the first superintendent of schools. Msgr.
Maloney, the pastor of IHM at the time, was
the driving force behind the dream of building
a co-educational Catholic high school in
the city, on what was at that time, basically
farmland. The principal, Father Harrison,
one other priest, 15 sisters (representing four
different orders), and six lay teachers—a total
faculty of 23—welcomed a student body of
418 students and began a legacy of excellence
in Catholic teaching.
As we approach nearly 10,000 graduates, a
current student enrollment of 1072, a faculty
of 88 members, and next year our 50 th
anniversary, we continue to build each day
on Bishop Hyland’s and Msgr. Maloney’s
dream.
future that excites me. As we approach the
50 th anniversary of this school next year, I
truly believe we are on the verge of an exciting
future. With the arrival of Archbishop
Gregory and his enthusiastic leadership and
Ms. Diane Starkovich, the new superintendent
of schools, it is an exciting time to be
a Catholic in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. I
see a bright future for SPX.
My excitement stems from the opportunity
to live my dream in education: a long-held
belief in teaching to the total child. To be
able to appreciate and nurture the spiritual,
intellectual, and physical dimensions of a
child, is a true blessing, and we are proud
of what we are doing at St. Pius.
My vision of this school stems from a collective
and simple question: Where are we
now and where are we going? How can we
continue to improve in every aspect of our
operation?
How do we continue to expand our Annual
Fund and our endowment to ensure the longterm
fiscal health of the school?
Our theme for this school year is “Charting
our Future” and as I shared with the faculty,
we are taking the year to analyze every aspect
of our operation with the goal of continuous
improvement in both the short term and long
range vision.
We have already put committees in place
under the direction of our Advisory Board
and with the leadership of our Development
Office to plan for our future, and I believe
we are poised for the challenges and opportunities
that will keep SPX as one of
the most respected Catholic high schools
in America.
As we forge ahead with planning, let me
remind each of you how appreciative we are
of your untold generosity and dedication to
Catholic education. Your contributions of
As we look back across the years, we find
ourselves thankful yet again to the countless
women and men, religious and lay, who have
labored so unselfishly to give shape to this
wonderful school.
We are especially grateful for the told and
untold ways in which God has touched and
transformed the lives of countless current
and former students, parents, teachers, staff
and administrators.
The world is a better place because of St.
Pius X Catholic High School and its ministry
since 1958.
As proud as we are of our past, it is the
“As proud as we are of our past,
it is the Future that excites me.”
How can we develop Catholic young men and
women who are both strong and proud of their
Catholicity like Andrew LaBudde, a recent
graduate preparing for the priesthood?
How do we continue to improve an academic
program already producing students
like 2006 valedictorian Kathleen Petti who
is a freshman at Harvard?
- SPX Principal Steve Spellman
time, talent, and treasure have allowed us
to take SPX to new levels of excellence.
Please accept my heartfelt thanks for the
many blessings you bestow upon us. You
are special to us. Thank You!
Steve Spellman, Principal
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