Our new principal was recently featured in The Tablet with the other new principals in the diocese. Here is the excerpt: 

Providing students with a deeper understanding of their Catholic identity is a top priority for Tara Di Rico, the new principal of St. Helen Catholic Academy in Howard Beach.

“We’re looking to definitely promote more Catholic identity,” she said. “We’re looking to do a project like a wax museum where students would be a saint.” The wax museum is only one aspect of her plans.

Under Di Rico’s watch, saints will become part of school life in other ways. “We’re looking at, instead of doing a Student of the Month, doing a Character Trait of the Month that reflects a saint,” she explained. “We would have a saint of the month, and then a child would get an award for exhibiting one of the saintly traits.”

Howard Beach is “a strong community that is unique and beautiful,” said Di Rico, adding that the community is supportive of St. Helen Catholic Academy. “

There’s a lot of rich history in the neighborhood directly correlated with our school,” she said. “We have people whose grandparents came here and then their parents came here, and now the student who is the grandchild comes here.”

Before becoming principal, Di Rico taught at St. Helen Catholic Academy. Before that, she was a teacher at St. Mathias Catholic Academy in Ridgewood.

“I believe in Catholic education,” she said.