Holy Martyrs Armenian Day School:
A Special School In The Heart Of Queens

When my husband and I moved to Long Island shortly after our son was born, we did not give much thought about how and where our children would be educated. As our son grew, I researched nursery schools, visiting programs near our home as well as in various parts of Queens. A friend recommended Holy Martyrs Armenian Day School (HMADS). I remembered attending the Saturday Armenian language school, but I had not given serious thought to educating my children in the day school there. I went for a visit with my husband, who is Greek-American. We were so positively impressed with the experience of that visit that we decided to send our son to the nursery program. We have continued to send both our son and our daughter to HMADS; he is now in first grade and she in nursery school.

My husband and I agree that the benefits of sending our children to HMADS are basic and were obvious from the very beginning. The environment is warm and supportive, which made the initial transition to school easy for our whole family. The classes are small. the teachers and staff are attentive and genuinely caring towards our children. In the few years we have been with HMADS, we have seen our children as well as other children flourish. At Holy Martyrs, our children are learning the Armenian language, history and culture. This is important to us because we want our children to grow up understanding the culture of their ancestors. Yet, the Armenian language instruction is a bonus to the challenging and long-existing English education that meets and goes beyond the New York state standards. I believe that together they add to up an excellent experience.

Our children are now growing up in a society that endorses some values and ideals that are eroding the basic integrity of the family unit and that go against what we want for our children. While our children are in school at HMADS, we know that the teachers are reinforcing the basic set of values that we teach at home.

Parental involvement is part of the HMADS philosophy and can be seen each week on Pizza Day and also throughout the school year when mothers regularly help out with trips and special events. It is hard to describe in words how satisfying it feels on those days when I am helping out. Being part of my children's education at such an important and impressionable time in their lives is just great.

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