Denver Catholic

10 MARCH 11-24, 2017 | DENVER CATHOLIC Around the Archdiocese A s the school's Aug. 21 start date approaches, Frassati Catholic Academy is well on its way to an exciting fi rst day withªthe hiring of its principal. It was announced Feb. 14 thatªSara Alkayali will serve as Frassati's fi rstªprin- cipal. Alkayali has 20 years'ª teaching experience, from the elementary to junior college level, and has spent the last 10 years servingªas both a teacher and assistant principal at Blessed Sac- rament Catholic School in Denver.ª An open house for Frassati will be hosted March 19, which also marks the fi rst of weekly Masses said at the school. Alkayali will be there to meet new families and show prospective stu- dents around the school. Alkayali's journey into Catholic edu- cation was an unexpected o ne for her. She spent the fi rst 10 years of her career as a teacher teaching in public schools and later at Metropolitan State Univer- sity of Denver, and though her husband was Catholic, Catholic education was never on her radar. Once her youngest daughter was old enough to be enrolled in Kindergarten, she began looking at options but was largely unsatisfi ed with what was out there. Her search led her to Blessed Sacrament. "Literally, the moment I walked in the door, I felt that loving embrace of the Catholic school," Alkayali told the Denver Catholic. In addition to enrolling her daughter at the school,ª Alkayali would end up getting a job at Blessed Sacrament as an English teacher, marking the beginning of her road not only toward becoming the new principal of Frassati, but also her conversion to the Catholic faith. "That was the fi rst time I said yes to the call for Catholic education, never expecting that I would be working for the next 10 years for Catholic schools," she said. "Catholic schools didn't just become a part of my career, but also became part of my formation on a personal level." As the new principal of Frassati, Alkayali fully embraces the school's Catholic identity coupled with its model of classical education. She's a strong advocate for the classical track, arguing that it equips students with the proper tools to e' ectively analyze their world, and believes that the classical method integrates seamlessly with a Catholic education. "Classical Catholic education is very elegant, actually, because throughout every level of the child's education it's inspired by the Gospel and integrates all the beauty of the magisterium and the teachings of the Catholic Church, living that day in and day out through their classical education," she explained. As an incentive to increase enroll- ment, those students who enroll before March 31 will be eligible for a 20 percent discount o' their tuition for the life of their attendance at Frassati. Meet Frassati's new principal at open house Sara Alkayali has been named as the new principal of Frassati Catholic Academy. PHOTO BY ANDREW WRIGHT S U N D AY M A S S & O P E N H O U S E MARCH 19TH AT 10 A.M. 3951 COTTONWOOD LAKES BLVD. THORNTON, CO 80023 RSVP & INVITE A FRIEND: FACEBOOK.COM/GOFRASSATI New Name. Same Great Service. Same Catholic Values. is now Eective March 1, 2017 Visit Fideliscu.org for more information. BY AARON LAMBERT aaron.lambert@archden.org @AaronLmbrt Visit gofrassati.org

• Cover