After the 2008/2009 academic year, the Brooklyn Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church made a major change in its school system, converting several former parish schools into Catholic Academies. Among them is Divine Wisdom Catholic Academy, which had, for 80 years, been St. Anastasia School in Douglaston.
The academies are under the educational control of professional educators and overseen by a board of directors. They are also responsible for their own finances.
Fortunately for Divine Wisdom, its highly motivated community of parents includes activists such as Joseph Mattone, Junior and his wife, Peggy, who recently opened their home in Douglas Manor for a reception to benefit the school and fete several teachers.
The affair was attended by many of their neighbors – including patriarch and philanthropist, Joseph Mattone and his wife Mary Ann, as well as several members of the Mattone family, including some who really don’t live nearby.
“It helps to have a big family,” quipped the younger Mattone.
The parents will continue the traditional end-of-summer Carnival in the school yard following the Labor Day weekend, Wednesday through Sunday, September 8-12, Mattone said. A committee including Mattone and Jim Derby recruits the parents who all have a service commitment to fulfill in the Carnival, as well as the summer kick-off Carnival, following the Memorial Day Weekend.
“We’ll start putting our heads together soon – we always come up with something,” Mattone said.
