Welcome to Our Nurturing Learning Environment
I invite you and your children to join our community of learning and love. The teachers and I believe in the dignity of each and every child. We are dedicated to the student's intellectual, personal, moral, social, and religious development. All of our teachers have training in both "traditional" educational practices and Montessori Pedagogy.
At Holy Family Day Nursery School, we are dedicated to nurturing the whole child. Our mission is to provide a safe, loving environment that fosters growth, creativity, and lifelong learning.
Our Mission
The mission of Holy Family Day Nursery School is to provide a warm, caring, safe and inspiring Catholic based early childhood educational environment for children, ages 2.5 - 5.
A highly qualified staff, including full-time teaching religious sisters and auxiliary staff, provide an environment designed to nurture the whole child encouraging each child's development by providing hands-on, developmentally appropriate educational activities to meet the needs of each individual child in the areas of physical, social, emotional and intellectual growth leading them to become life-long learners.
Our Vision
The vision of Holy Family Day Nursery School is to serve our community with a quality educational program for early childhood level children. Motivated to serve, the Sisters and staff allow the children the freedom to experience and acquire knowledge through the exploration and discovery mode of learning; challenging each child to grow and develop into well-rounded, self-disciplined individuals who have a creative spirit freed through a positive self-image.
Our History
Founded with a commitment to nurturing young minds, our school has been a cornerstone of the community for over two decades. We believe in fostering a supportive environment where children can thrive, learn, and grow together. Our mission is to empower each child through a holistic approach to education, rooted in love, respect, and collaboration.
In the spring of 1954, the Franciscan Sisters of Saint Elizabeth were invited by Monsignor Anthony DeLuca to open a preschool in his parish of Holy Family Church, in Nutley, New Jersey. With the permission of Archbishop Thomas Borland, Archbishop of Newark, the sisters were set up with a small parcel of land with a small house on it. The sisters were given the land and building with the understanding all renovations were their responsibility.
The sisters persevered modernizing the house into a suitable structure to house three beautiful academic classrooms, a coat room, office, kitchen and living quarters for the Sisters, including a chapel for the Sisters. All this was finalized on September 7, 1967.
The first community of Sisters was made up of Superior, Mother Justina Iodice, Sister Cecilia Tozzi, Sister Eileen Woodbury, and Sister Romilda Chiga.
Through the years, the Sisters have dedicated themselves both to the care and education of their small charges as well as being active at Holy Family Church.
Many of the Sisters of the Franciscan Sisters of Saint Elizabeth have served at Holy Family Day Nursery School but the one that served the longest was the beloved Sister Romilda Chiga. Except for brief times of service elsewhere, Sister Romilda faithfully served as school administrator, convent superior and ambassador to the mostly Italian community of the parish of Holy Family Church. She spent most of her religious life serving in Nutely, New Jersey. Sister Romilda faithfully served until her untimely death in August 2018.
Holy Family Day Nursery School continues today to educate children of early childhood ages. Love, respect and care are the basis for the school’s program. The Sisters believe in the theory of blending modern technological tools with good old-fashioned hands-on lessons to assist the children to grow and learn at their own pace to become self-confident, aspiring young students.