At St. Ambrose School in Annandale, students in kindergarten through eighth grade are praying one decade of the rosary each day in English and Spanish during Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15-Oct. 15. Principal Arànzazu Ascunce leads the five-minute prayer at the start of lunch as students reflect on Scripture and come to know Jesus more deeply through Mary.
Rooted in the school’s mission to follow the example and teachings of Jesus Christ, St. Ambrose is working toward implementing the devotion into every school day.
The initiative reflects the community the school serves. Of the school’s 192 students, 60 identify as Hispanic, more than 40 families speak Spanish as their home language, and more than 60% of the faculty and staff identify as Hispanic.
St. Ambrose is the only Catholic school in Virginia offering a Spanish-English dual language immersion program. Students learn academic content through both languages, with approximately half of the curriculum taught in English and half through full Spanish immersion. Developed with Boston College’s Two-Way Immersion Network for Catholic Schools, the program is in its fifth year. Enrollment has increased about 20 percent this school year.
This year’s theme is “Pursuing Excellence. Growing in Purpose. United in Mission.”
“For us, those are not simply words,” Ascunce said. “They describe what we hope our children experience when Catholic identity, academic excellence, bilingualism, culture and community come together in one school.”
