News

A High-Five for HyFlex: Holy Family University Special Education Professors are Tag-Teaming Success in Attracting, Preparing and Retaining the Next Generation of Special Educators

For two professionals who have been in the education game for a combined 100 years, Holy Family University’s Dr. Roseanna Wright and Dr. Claire Sullivan have embraced the fairly new phenomenon of HyFlex learning, and the technology and flexibility that comes along with it, with the exuberance of youth.  Step into their classroom in the University’s Education and Technology Center where they co-teach upper-level undergraduate special education students, and graduate students seeking special education certifications, using a HyFlex model, and you will see masterful multitasking and enviable innovation.  In a format they have been teaching in for the past three years, the pair serve as instructors on-site in the classroom.  Some of their students are there with them.  Some of them are participating virtually and are visible on a large white screen.

Holy Family University Professor of Education Dr. Maria Agnew Named Recipient of Patricia J. Creegan Award for Excellence in Inclusive Education

Holy Family University Professor of Education Dr. Maria Agnew was the recent recipient of the Patricia J. Creegan Award for Excellence in Inclusive Education from Pennsylvania’s Education for All Coalition (PEAC). PEAC President Linda Carmona-Bell visited Holy Family’s Northeast Philadelphia campus on February 9 to make the award presentation.

Holy Family University Distinguished Writers Series Welcomes Critically Acclaimed Novelist Liz Moore

Holy Family University welcomes critically acclaimed fiction and creative nonfiction novelist Liz Moore in its Distinguished Writers Series on Tuesday, April 2 at 6:30 p.m. at Holy Family University’s Education and Technology Center Auditorium (9801 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19114).  The event is FREE and open to public. Those wishing to attend should reserve their place through the registration form.

Holy Family University Hosts Bucks County Industrial Development Authority's First Annual Economic Outlook

Holy Family University hosted the First Annual Economic Outlook sponsored by the Bucks County Industrial Development Authority (BCIDA) on January 24 at Holy Family’s Newtown East campus location.

Upbringing, Education and Experiential Learning Gives Daniel Ortiz ’20 a Global Perspective

Perspective is a beautiful thing. Ask Daniel Ortiz. The 2020 Dean’s List and summa cum laude graduate of Holy Family University credits the diversity of his family, the challenges of his autism spectrum disorder, and the experiences of his internship with the Global Philadelphia Association with giving him a unique vantage point of the world, and its endless possibilities, at such a young age.

Honors Program Volunteers at Cradles to Crayons

Seven students from the Honors Program at Holy Family University volunteered at Cradles to Crayons on Saturday, December 16, 2024. After spending several weeks collecting clothing and school supplies from the campus community, the students transported the items to the Cradles to Crayons warehouse facility, and then worked for two hours sorting books for distribution to children.

Holy Family University Set to Launch MFA in Creative Writing Program in Summer 2024

Holy Family University is currently accepting applications for its new low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program, which will welcome its first cohort of students in the summer of 2024.  Created by professor Keith Kopka, Ph.D., associate professor of English and MFA program director, himself an award-winning poet, the hybrid curriculum (online with short residency period) focuses on faculty mentorship and immersive experiential learning as well as rigorous, craft-focused instruction in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, young adult, travel writing, food writing and more.

Holy Family Graduate and Alumni Association Board Member Meghan Rakus ’19, M’22 Hatches Award-Winning Lesson; Grows Love of Learning

At 11 p.m. on a spring evening in 2023, the teacher app on Meghan Rakus’ (’19, M’22) phone started receiving messages.  “The chicks are hatching!” Parents of the Holy Family University graduate’s first-grade students at Saint Mary Interparochial School (SMIPS), a 2023 and 2016 National Blue-Ribbon School of Excellence located in the historic district of Philadelphia, were reaching out with the same excitement as their six-year-old children. Thanks to a livestream set up as a way to engage families, parents were able to share in the school’s annual egg hatching science lesson, which Rakus has bolstered over the last five years.  The lesson, in fact, recently earned the Northeast Philadelphia native recognition as one of five “outstanding teachers honored for their innovation, creativity, and commitment to the students they serve” by FACTS, a Nelnet school management company. Rakus’ distinction, from among more than 100 applicants nationwide, included a $5,000 honorarium, a $1,000 donation to SMIPS, and a free trip to the Elevate 2024 conference in Atlanta, Ga., in June 2024, where she will present her innovative concept to the FACTS community.

STUDENT SNAPSHOT: Aisha Kamara

Undergraduate Senior (2024)

Major: Psychology

Holy Family School of Nursing & Health Sciences Hosts Pinning Ceremony for 72 Students Completing Bachelor of Science Nursing Program

Holy Family University celebrated the accomplishments of 72 nursing students who recently completed the Bachelor of Science Nursing Program during a pinning ceremony on December 19. The ceremony is a symbolic welcoming of the graduated nurses to the nursing profession and a cherished rite of passage at the completion of this rigorous program of study.  The pins are provided as a gift from the Holy Family University Alumni Association.