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Catholic education system in spotlight for revamp

Thirty years after he left in 1984, Brother Donald Texeiria, the former head of the Marist Brothers all boys Catholic School in Atu’u has returned to the territory to conduct an overall assessment of the local Catholic school system

 

Brother Donald along with Brother Kevin arrived in American Samoa this past Thursday and were greeted at the airport by the leader of the Diocese of Samoa Pago Pago Bishop Peter Hugh Brown, Vicar General Father Kelemete Puaauli, and some of the Marist Brothers alumni.

 

Brother Donald is here for the next three weeks at the request of Bishop Peter Brown to conduct an overall assessment of the local Catholic school system, to include classrooms, campus grounds, and the curriculum. Brother Donald is currently the Director of Education in the Kiribati Islands.

 

Victor Langkilde, former principal of Faasao Marist High School, told Samoa News that he is excited about Brother Donald’s arrival and confirmed that another Brother is expected to arrive in the territory in January.

 

Samoa News understands that the unnamed Brother will serve as the new Director of Education for the Catholic school system.

 

Some members of the local community who say they are hopeful that the Brothers and Sisters will return to take over the reins for the Catholic schools have welcomed news about the possibility of having the Brothers return to the territory.

 

BACKGROUND

 

Some years ago, the Catholic schools were separated by gender - Marist Elementary School and High School for boys and St. Francis Elementary School and Faasao High School for girls. After the departure of the Brothers and Sisters (nuns) who oversaw and operated the schools, the schools combined and became co-ed, as they are today with Marist St. Francis in Lepua and Fa’asao Marist in Lepuapua.

 

Currently, the school grounds for the former Marist Elementary School - located in the hills of Atu’u - has become nothing more than an abandoned building. The campus featured classrooms housed in a single two-story structure with the Brothers residing in a home only a few feet away.

 

A handful of hurricanes and tropical cyclones since the 1980s caused landslides in the area and access to the campus was cut off after big trees broke and fell onto the narrow pathway that leads to the school.

 

In Malaeloa, the former Marist High School campus is now home to the Catholic Sports Center where inter-parish games and sporting activities are held.