St. Mary High School Rutherford Alumni

The 90 years of football celebration drew hundreds of alumni, former players and coaches back to their alma-mater. Pregame, Mayor Frank Nunziato and councilman Mark Golsack presented a proclamation to Principal Frank Viteritti declaring the day St. Mary HS Football Day in the Borough of Rutherford.

At halftime of a fiercely fought game between the Gaels and the Boilmarkers of Garfield H.S family members of the first SM Gaels of 1932 were recognized and presented with a photo of that team. Former players and coaches were then called out to the field by their respected decade of participation led by Jerry Breslin and Jerry Frain graduates of the class of 1955 and members of the Back to Back State Championship teams of 1953 and 1945.

The proud tradition of St. Mary high school football was on full display for current players, coaches, students and families to see and feel.

Forever Road Warriors

If you previously went to, currently go to, or at the very least have been to our beloved St. Mary’s school, you know our gymnasium. While this gym has given us all that we need to practice, (the good and the bad), it has also enabled us to be one of the most consistent “road warrior” teams our league has ever seen for years.

The 2022 Gaels Volleyball team already had their eyes set on improving from a breakout season in 2021. This year, our “road warrior” team finally had the opportunity to host a few home matches this year, all thanks to Felician University. This new home allowed us to host 4 regular season games, more than we’ve ever seen before, which helped us to reach our incredible 21-3 regular season. A season which saw a major league realignment, in an even more competitive league, at that.

This year’s St. Mary’s girls’ volleyball team has seen a lot of firsts to say the least. In the forefront of these firsts are the team’s co-captains, Krystal Pozo & Alex Griesbauer, who reached 300 and 250 career kills respectively. These girls have been the glue of the team, exemplifying leadership & comradery throughout the season for the younger players who, for some, may have had their first ever Varsity starts this year. With that being said, each of our players have demonstrated their own individual skills throughout the year, which in simplest terms, have led us to our position today.

The Gaels enter their first state tournament game this Tuesday, November 1st at 4:15PM at their new home court. The team plans to continue their positive season going & look to bring the school their first state title in Volleyball. After completing the season undefeated in league play and capturing the league title this year, St. Mary’s has most definitely been put on the map for future Volleyball prospects. The program looks to continue to recruit future players to carry a dynasty that was created from the ground up. Let’s go Road Warriors!

Back in 2015, Paul Connolly, Class of 1955, passed away and bequeathed St. Mary High School $250,000. Paul’s gift allowed us to make upgrades to the technology our students use in various classes, such asIntroduction to Technology and Graphic Design. Over the years, the student’s reliance on technology has grown and the programs they use, like Photoshop, grew past the limitations of the hardware of 2015.

It's been seven years since Paul’s gift helped usher in a new generation of technology here at SMHS. Recently, the interest alone that we accrued on the gift has allowed us to purchase upgraded computers for our library and the Paul J. Connolly Technology Center. Paul's generosity continues to allow St. Mary
High School to stay on the cutting edge of technology without having to add that expense to the cost of tuition. We began the process this week of upgrading 24 computers in the Technology Center, and we will begin the process of upgrading the library computers in a few weeks.

Were it not for the generosity of Paul, we would not have been able to provide our students with the technology necessary to learn in the 21st century. Paul understood that technology is an ever-present part of our lives, both inside and outside of the classroom. His gift all those years ago has set us up with the ability to provide our students with the tools necessary to learn in a modern world.

Congratulations to the Boys’ Varsity Basketball team, who has started their season off with a 7-1 record. Visit our website to watch all basketball games live-streamed.