The article was prepared by Snejana Iovtcheva with the kind editorial assistance of Silvia Mihaleva, materials collected from the Cape Cod community, and web design by Didi Hatcher
The Bulgarian Saturday School of Boston and Cape Cod celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Cape Cod branch with a luncheon on September 28 at the Cape Cod Cultural Center in South Yarmouth. Many friends and longtime supporters attended the celebration, which celebrated the first decade of academic achievement, development, and community spirit.
"10 years together...10 years of work...10 years of success for the sake of our children and our culture! Our grown-up students carry the Bulgarian spirit within them and are proud to be part of the Bulgarian school. Let us have hope in the new generation that grows up here!” emotionally shares Mrs. Sylvia Alharthy, a long-time class teacher of the youngest students and a zealous community organizer.
"Thank you for everything you have done, for the path you have trodden, for your determination, purposefulness, and perseverance! Thanks to you, our children will now also continue this wonderful tradition of preserving the Bulgarian in us!", are the words of Mrs. Ivanitsa Nesheva, mother of 4 wonderful children and chief deputy of the new Parents' Organization at the branch.
The idea of a local Bulgarian school came to life in 2013. The Cape Cod community is mainly represented by Bulgarians who have arrived over the years as seasonal workers on the tourist peninsula. As a result, the need arose for a school where children of Bulgarian origin could learn the language and culture of their parents and ancestors. "At that time, there was already an established Bulgarian school in the suburbs of Boston, but the distance between the peninsula and Boston was too much for most families," said the local Bulgarians. Thus, it was decided that the school in Cape Cod would be established as a branch of an already established school in Boston and thus be integrated into an established organizational structure. A major and indisputable credit for this goes to Mrs. Galina L'Heureux, a long-time member of the school's Board of Directors - a zealous supporter of a united Bulgarian community, a person who with love and generosity created and continues to support the school.
On September 14, 2014, the branch opened its doors in the city of Osterville and welcomed the first 45 registered students. The program starts with 4 teachers - Mrs. Diana Radulova, Mrs. Yanislava Moneva, Mrs. Zdravka Nikolova, and Mrs. Daniela Atanasova. From the very beginning, the 4 teachers have been supported by a highly committed group of parents, who fervently help organize numerous cultural holidays and workshops. The motto "School of parents for their children!" establishes a working recipe for the start and the long-term success of the school.
"Thanks to the entire school community of teachers and parents, we managed in the winter of 2014 for the first time to recreate the magical Christmas from our childhood in Bulgaria for the children who were born here!", recalls Zdravka Nikolova. At the beginning of March, the National Holiday of Bulgaria is also celebrated for the first time, the Bulgarian national anthem is played, and martenichki are distributed. The emotion is indescribable, the Bulgarian tricolor flag adorns the walls, and the Bulgarians from the community are filled with patriotic pride. And so, on May 24th, the first students graduated with certificates by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Culture. Like the students from the Boston school, the Cape Cod students also received special t-shirts with the school's name on them as a gift for successfully completing the school year. Today, these first students are now grown-up youths.
In the fall of 2015, the school moved to a larger church building in the town of Harwich, but there the contract with the building was terminated after only one year. Hearing about the difficulties in finding a home, a local church leader named Pastor Edward Healey wrote a heartfelt letter to the Bulgarian community and invited the school to take up residence in his church building in the town of Mashpee.
“Dear friends from the Bulgarian school,
I am disheartened to learn that your lease at Holy Trinity was not renewed by my successor. [...] I believe that what you are doing in your school, passing on your language, culture and faith, is a very important work and while your faith may be Orthodox and ours Roman Catholic, yet we are still all believers in Jesus Christ, and your goals and desires for your young people are not all that different from ours for our religious education students. Not having your school could have unseen but serious consequences down the line, so with that in mind, I am inviting you to consider coming to Christ the King Parish in Mashpee. [...]
With best regards and a promise of prayer for the continued success of your good works.
Sincerely yours,
Fr. Edward Healey
Since the fall of 2016, the branch of the Bulgarian school in Cape Cod has been housed in the beautiful and multifunctional building of the Catholic church "Christ the King Parish" in Mashpee and enjoys warm hospitality and support from the church trustees. The school has managed to create a robust curriculum, establish a core of wonderful teachers, and develop numerous cultural and folk events with the help of numerous teachers, helpers and substitute teachers, such as Elena Mancheva, Nana Stankova, Zlatozara Petkova, Evgeniya Francheskova, Georgi Zhivkov and others.
When the school is forced to close its doors as a result of the global pandemic in 2020, many of the branch's older students manage to join the virtual classes that are organized by the school in Boston. But for the youngest students, Saturday school is sadly interrupted.
But where a fire has burned, a spark remains. Thanks to the sincere desire of the local Bulgarians, the unifying efforts of Mrs. Galina L'Heureux, and the tremendous organizational efforts of Mrs. Zdravka Nikolova, a long-time teacher and administrator in Boston and Cape Cod, the branch reopened in the spring of 2023.
During an entire academic year, Ms. Zdravka Nikolova traveled over 100 miles every Saturday between the two branches and succeeded in reviving and organizing the teacher and parent structure in Cape Cod. Her weekly lessons and meetings with the community and parents are crowned with the desired result and contributed to the revival of the branch. Mrs. Nikolova managed not only to develop the organization but also to fervently remind and invite everyone to engage with responsibility and commitment.
During the celebratory lunch on the occasion of the 10th anniversary, teachers from the Cape Cod branch presented Mrs. Zdravka Nikolova with a heartfelt note of thanks, accompanied by a gold bracelet to symbolize her endless affection and devotion to the Bulgarian community in Cape Cod. "You made me full of happiness! I did not expect so much gratitude and love! Thank you for being here, for knowing you, and for being a part of my life! Thank you for being willing to continue! Count on my support! Stay united and continue to cherish your roots. Without good roots, there is no healthy plant," wrote emotionally Mrs. Nikolova.
This school year, the Cape Cod branch opened its doors to 31 regularly registered students, 4 teachers, and 5 young people - former graduates of the school and now regularly deployed assistants in Saturday classes. More recently, following the example of their predecessors, the parents of the current students also chose their own organizational team with regular responsibilities, their own budget, and a program of cultural events.
The branch of the Bulgarian school in Cape Cod has become a bright example of a revived institution by Bulgarians who care for the preservation of the Bulgarian language and the spread of Bulgarian culture abroad.