Although all our local elementary private schools are committed to offering quality education, they come from diverse backgrounds and histories.
The oldest of these schools, Gulf Stream School, was started in 1938 by Ada Belle and William Johnson, and originally served seasonal students who came with their families for the winter. It has 250 children enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade, with 130 of them being from the barrier islands.
Trinity Lutheran School is the next oldest. Members of the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church started it in 1948 with 12 children. This school, of the six listed here, has the largest student body, with 399 children from 2 years old to eighth grade, including 12 children from the barrier islands.
St. Vincent Ferrer School started in 1955, when Sisters of Mercy arrived from Ireland to conduct the school’s first classes. Now, 270 children are enrolled in pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, with 35 students from the barrier islands.
St. Joseph’s Episcopal School and St. Mark Catholic School both started in 1958.
St. Mark currently has 220 pre-kindergarten to eighth-grade students, with two or three children from the barrier islands. Four Sisters of Charity from Convent Station, N.J., taught St. Mark’s first students in what is today the Cenacle in Lantana.
“St. Joe’s” serves 250 students in its early childhood academy and pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade classes.
Unity School is the “newest.” It began in 1964. Currently, 334 students, from 2 years old to eighth grade, are enrolled, with about 70 children coming from the barrier islands. The vision of Unity School was conceived at Unity Headquarters in Missouri, where Elizabeth Caspari, who studied under Maria Montessori, conducted an experimental school and helped train teachers in the Montessori method.
— Christine Davis
Meet the Private K-8 Principals and HeadmastersSt. Mark Catholic School
730 NE Sixth Avenue
Boynton Beach, FL 33435
(561) 732-9934
Name and title: Dr. Joseph A. Finley Jr., principal
Hometown: Staten Island, N.Y.
Education: bachelor’s degree in geology; master’s in criminal justice administration; doctorate in education leadership
Past Employment: dean of academic affairs, City College, Fort Lauderdale; dean of the Keller Graduate School of Business Management, Devry University; special agent (retired), Federal Bureau of Investigation
Tenure at school: in fourth year as principal
Family: wife, Catherine; children, Jeannine, Joseph III, Julianne Residence: Catherine, Julianne and I live in Ocean Ridge; Jeannine lives in Delray Beach and Joseph III lives in Washington, D.C.
Hope to accomplish this school year: full implementation of the math and language arts advanced placement program where qualified students will be placed in the next grade for math and language arts enrichment; to continue to teach what it means to be a Christian student, God’s incredible plan for our lives; to create a foundation for communication between parent and student; to encourage healthy and wholesome relationships
Something students may not know about me: While in the FBI, assigned to the FBI Crime Lab in Washington, I conducted forensic examinations on the presidential limo that President Reagan was in hours after the assassination attempt on him in 1980.
St. Vincent Ferrer School
810 George Bush Blvd.
Delray Beach, FL 33483
(561) 278-3868
Name and title: M. Vikki Delgado, principal
Hometown: born in Cuba; left in the 1960s via Spain; ended up in Springfield, Ohio, and later Miami.
Education: bachelor’s degree in music therapy and bachelor’s in education; master’s in educational leadership
Past employment: Montanari Residential School in Hialeah, music therapist; Jan Mann Opportunity School in Opalocka, middle school teacher; St. Vincent Ferrer School, Pre-K teacher.
Tenure at school: Beginning my 10th year at the school; worked as the Pre-K teacher for eight years and became principal last year.
Family: husband, Juan Delgado, MD; Lauren, 20 years old, is a junior at University of Florida at Gainesville and Christine, 17, is a student at Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach. Residence: west Boynton Beach.
Hope to accomplish this school year: continue the increase of communication between home and school; create a professional learning community at St. Vincent Ferrer School, comprised of students, parents, teachers and the administration; continue to develop the community service component of our school program.
Something students may not know about me: I sing in the LifeTeen Mass music ministry on Sundays at 5:30 p.m., and I love to dance.
Unity School
101 NW 22nd St.
Delray Beach, FL 33444
(561) 276-4414
Name and title: Maria Barber, head of school
Hometown: Delray Beach
Education: bachelor’s in education, master’s in education, education specialist in leadership
Past Employment: Pine Grove Elementary School
Tenure at school: entering my 26th year as head of Unity School
Family: All of my family lives in Palm Beach County. My husband worked for FPL and is now retired. My daughters, Joann Conde, Ph.D., and Kathleen Barber, Esq., live in Boynton Beach and Delray Beach.
Residence: Delray Beach
Hope to accomplish this school year: As a school, we hope to accomplish the ability to develop our students skills and talents so that they can use their individual gifts to make a positive difference in their family, community, country and world.
Something students may not know about me: Probably that I married my high school sweetheart at age 21. We exchanged our vows on the second floor of Bethesda Hospital. He was a patient there who had suffered a foot injury four days before our wedding day. We are still happily married, and just celebrated our 35th anniversary.
Gulf Stream School
3600 Gulf Stream Road
Gulf Stream, FL 33483-7499
(561) 276-5225
Name and title: Joseph J. Zaluski, head of school
Hometown: Secaucus, N.J.
Education: bachelor’s and master’s degrees, University of Dayton.
Past employment: Sewickley Academy, Sewickley, Penn., assistant head of school, head of lower school; the Miami Valley School, Dayton, Ohio, head of lower school, sixth-grade teacher
Tenure at school: The 2009-2010 school year is my fifth at Gulf Stream School.
Family: wife, Sally; son Zachary, 27, lives in West Conshohocken, Penn., and works for JPMorgan Chase & Co.; daughter Katelin, 25, lives in Jenkintown, Penn., and is a third-year student at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry
Residence: Gulf Stream
Hope to accomplish this school year: This year, as in years past, Gulf Stream School will remain committed to the school’s mission: “Gulf Stream School empowers students to succeed, inspires intellectual curiosity, and celebrates both effort and accomplishment. The school is distinguished by a sense of family, small size, and respect for its heritage.”
We will also stress our school-year theme of “Branch into Reading” by encouraging families to read together every day and by hosting several authors at school.
One thing the students may not know about me: Most students would not know that in March 1990, along with 30 teachers and parents, I led a group of 90 students from Grades 5 through 12 to what was then Leningrad in the Soviet Union. The trip was an arts exchange, and students performed throughout Leningrad in theater, chorus, poetry and visual arts.
Perhaps of more interest to the students is that long ago (1974 to be exact, my senior year in college and before parachuting with an instructor was the norm), I jumped solo out of an airplane and, fortunately, landed safely — although a long way from the target. That was my first and final jump.
Trinity Lutheran School
400 N. Swinton Ave.
Delray Beach, FL 33444-3999
(561) 276-8458
Name and title: Timothy Guelzow, principal
Hometown: Columbus, Ind.
Education: graduate of Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind.; Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton.
Employment: 32 years in education, as teacher, assistant principal or principal
Tenure at school: 21 years.
Family: Married, four children
Residence: Lake Worth
Hope they hope to accomplish this school year: What I would like to accomplish most is for more children and families to develop a closer relationship with their friend and savior, Jesus Christ.
One thing the students may not know about me: I have two dogs and two cats at home.
St. Joseph’s Episcopal School
3300 S. Seacrest Blvd.
Boynton Beach, FL 33435
(561) 732-2045
Name and title: Tami Pleasanton, head of school
Hometown: Delray Beach.
Education: master’s degree in classroom instruction
Past employment: I am a 30-year teaching veteran who is nearing the completion of a doctoral degree in administrative leadership. My career as an elementary, middle, and high school mathematics and computer teacher has been enhanced by nearly 16 years of administrative work as a head of school, director of admissions, dean of students, and director of community service. Awarded South Carolina’s Teacher of the Year in 1984, I returned to my home state of Florida to teach at Saint Andrew’s School and then Saint Joseph’s Episcopal School.
Tenure at school: three years
Family: I have one son, Cory, who is a recent graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He lives in Charleston, S.C.
Residence: Delray Beach.
Hope to accomplish this school year: By executing the goals and objectives defined for the school year, I hope to continue to inspire and work closely with our amazing faculty to reach each of our students academically, socially, and spiritually. Teamwork such as this will allow our students to grow, as they will be presented with every opportunity to excel and become great leaders of our community.
One thing the students may not know about me: I am an ocean distance swimmer.
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