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June 4,
2007 
VOL.
45, NO. 11Oakland,
CA
Tony Aiello lauded for 44 years at SJND
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| Tony Aiello smiles during the May 12 celebration
honoring him for his 44 years of service at St. Joseph Notre Dame
High in Alameda. Bishop Emeritus John Cummins (left) joined students,
faculty, past and present staff, and the parish community in thanking
Aiello for his leadership, especially his 38 years as principal. CHRIS DUFFEY PHOTO |
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| Tony Aiello teaches an economics class in 1977.
After becoming principal in 1970, he continued to teach at least one
class. SJND FILE PHOTO |
Newspaper
headlines in 1962 heralded a number of firsts: John Glenn became the first
American to orbit the earth. The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson premiered
on late night television. Jack Nicklaus won his first major golf tournament
(the U.S. Open). And Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council.
Closer to home, the Holy See created the Diocese of Oakland from part
of the San Francisco Archdiocese in January of that year. And in the fall,
Tony Aiello, a new graduate of St. Mary’s College in Moraga, was
hired as a social studies teacher and coach at St. Joseph High School
in Alameda.
This month, as he retires as principal from the school which merged in
1985 with Notre Dame High School to become St. Joseph Notre Dame High
School, Aiello himself is the headliner. He leaves the campus as an esteemed
educator-administrator who quietly and gradually became a major player
in the school’s 126-year history.
His 44-year career far exceeds the modest dream Aiello had as a sports-mad
youngster growing up in Pittsburg, where the local Boys and Girls Club
became a home away from home. He took his passion for sports to Pittsburg
High School where he competed in baseball, basketball and football.
But reality kicked in. His athletic skills were “all right”
but not “quite there,” not enough for an athletic career,
he told The Voice. Realizing that he had benefited in so many ways from
good coaching at the Boys and Girls Club, he was inspired to become a
coach himself.
He wanted to pass on the values of discipline and a good work ethic that
he learned from his coaches. “It was a way that I could contribute,
share my skills, share my knowledge and make a difference,” he said.
The fact that many of his coaches were also substitute or part-time teachers
was not lost on him. “The connection was planted in my subconscious,”
Aiello said.
Teaching is another form of coaching, he said. There is instruction, follow-up
drills and exercise, and the constant attention to signs of improvement.
During his first years at St. Joseph, Aiello coached basketball (1962-66)
and baseball (1962-70), and served as athletic director (1965-67).
In 1967 he was named the school’s vice principal and three years
later became the school’s first lay principal when the Marianist
Brothers left the campus.
By the mid-1970s St. Joseph, an all-boys school, and neighboring all-girls
Notre Dame High School began their slow walk toward a merger. The first
step involved the sharing of teachers in two upper division classes. St.
Joseph students took chemistry classes at Notre Dame and the Notre Dame
girls took physics classes at the boys’ school.
Gradually juniors and seniors in both schools took science, math and foreign
language classes together. That sharing opened the two schools to joining
together in other academic areas and some extra- curricular activities.
“So that by the time the schools began to consider a complete merger,
the academic changes were not as difficult to complete as some other things,
like traditions at the formerly separate schools,” said Aiello,
who became principal in 1985 of the newly combined school, which remained
a parish school.
Policies had to be developed that were sensitive to the needs of both
the male and female students, he said, and the administration had to learn
how to manage a larger school. Aiello recalled that there were about 250
students each from the former schools. “It was large to us, maybe
not to others,” he said with a laugh. The school’s current
enrollment is 450 students.
The school expanded its academic program to give students more choices
in the core curriculum as well as elective choices. This initially resulted
in a six-period day, but later a seventh period was added. “With
a seven-period day, you create more opportunities for the students to
enrich the curriculum,” Aiello said. “That was a major one.”
A more recent innovation was introduction of a block schedule. “You
don’t have the seven-period, every day, five days. It is staggered
out. It helps with learning of the students as well as the preparation
for the students.”
Aiello admits that one of his biggest challenges over the years has been
the economics of Catholic education. “It’s hard,” he
said. “Tuition goes up – it doesn’t go down. And how
can we provide financial opportunities to our families that are challenged?”
When Aiello started working at St. Joseph’s, there were more religious
and clergy on the teaching staff than there were lay people. The situation
has reversed over the years and the school is committed to providing all
its teachers with equitable and competitive compensation.
Aiello has overseen the creation and development of a $9 million capital
campaign that reestablished relationships with alums and enlisted their
support for the school. As a result, there is a new music center, a renovated
gymnasium, a modern library, and a state-of-the-art science center named
in Aiello’s honor.
About 30 percent of SJND students receive tuition assistance and Aiello
said, “I would like to provide more.” To that end, the school
established the Anthony V. Aiello Scholarship Fund as a way for the campus,
alumnae and friends to honor the long-time educator.
After 44 years at SJND, Aiello, who turns 67 in July, plans to spend some
quiet time with his family. “In some ways I’m kind of going
back home,” he said with a laugh. “My family had to share
me with the school. So even though my children are grown, they are still
around, and I want to give some time back to them.”
But the retiring principal will not step away from SJND entirely. He will
serve on a recently created 20-member board of trustees overseeing both
the high school and parish’s elementary school.
“I hope that whatever I bring I can continue to make – as
one person in 20 working together – a positive difference in the
school,” he said.
Aiello is optimistic about the school’s future and his successor,
Simon Chiu, who has been vice principal at Moreau Catholic High in Hayward.
“He brings a freshness, another level of enthusiasm, youth, experience,
and desire to move the school forward and I think that’s great,”
he said. “He is up for the challenge.”
