Michael Purvey ’17

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We have many new teachers here at Jesuit this year. They are all unique and come from different backgrounds. I spoke with our new English and theology teacher, Mr. Dan Pepe, about his brief time here so far.

He comes from a smaller school, Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady, NY, that had 275 students from grades 6-12.

When I asked him about his transition, I was surprised given the circumstances when he said, “The transition has been unusually smooth. I moved here from NY a month before school started and despite waiting a full month for my belongings to arrive. The moving company dropped the ball. My family’s belongings, clothes, beds, couches, everything arrived a day or two before school started. The administrative staff here has a very thorough system for getting new faculty acclimated. Though far from home, I feel very at home here and look forward to being here for many years.”

Being able to adjust to situations like these show how great of a fit he is for our school. He says that the main differences between Strake Jesuit and his last school are that Jesuit is bigger and is all boys. He says that he has been enlightened and that Jesuit is his ideal school. The culture of respect stands out to him. Mr. Pepe believes it is essential to our mission and the Christian life in general.

Luckily, he had little to say when asked about his dislikes of the school. “There is little so far that I would say I don’t like,” he explained, “but if I had to pick something, it would be the lack of time I have to get to know my colleagues better. It is a fast-paced environment, which I do appreciate, but the other faculty are tremendous people that I do want to get to know and wish I had more time to do it.”

We hope Mr. Pepe is with us for years to come.