Sitting Down with Eileen Ellis

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Eileen Ellis’s influence on the JCDSRI community is undeniable. During her 25 years’ tenure at JCDSRI, she contributed to the school’s progress, always displaying positivity and reliability in her role.

Dianne Newman, a parent of the school’s graduates and a former board president and chair of the Educational Policy Committee, identified Ellis as the “in-house historical memory of the school.” Newman praised Ellis’s skill in helping to ease the transitions and administrative changes that JCDSRI experienced over the years. “Eileen is such an honest, straight-thinking, no-baggage person! There’s not anyone – former teachers, administrators, parents, kids – who would have anything but a kind word to say about her.”

Barbara Feldstein, a former administrator who hired Ellis, said, “She was an excellent assistant to me, as well as always being there for the entire staff. With her warm personality, she very quickly became a member of the school family and was wonderful with the children and their families. The school has been blessed to have her.”

Ellis kindly agreed to answer some questions about herself.

 

Q: Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school?

A: I’m a native Rhode Islander, grew up in Coventry, went to Coventry High School, then to CCRI. Back when I graduated from high school, not too many students went to four-year colleges. We usually went to a trade school or a junior college, because you could find employment then at that stage of your life, which is so unusual now. Now you have to have a four-year degree. I just had an associate’s degree and the school of hard knocks… . Previously, I worked at a Catholic school, the Father John V. Doyle School in Coventry, for six years as a classroom assistant.

Q: How many children and grandchildren do you have?

A: I have two sons, Ryan and Matt, and five grandchildren. Ryan lives in Virginia with his wife, Sandy, and three daughters: Molly, Lucy and Katie. Matt lives in Cranston; he and his wife, Jennifer have two sons: Will and Jake.

Q: What event or day at JCDSRI have you always looked forward to?

A: Special Visitors Day has become my baby through the years. Each year you get older, your family gets older and your life situation gets older. So I relate to many of the grandparents who visit here. And the repeat visitors are always so happy when they come back – it’s always like a reunion. Everyone leaves happy – they’ve spent time with the children; they’ve watched Zimriyah the night before. It’s just a wonderful day, and I really enjoy it.

Q: What are your current responsibilities at JCDSRI?

A: I’ve been nicknamed “the quilt maker” because I have my hands in many areas. My first and foremost role is to help the head of school. But then I need to be anywhere and everywhere in the school and make myself available to the administrators. I also meet and greet the families and the children every morning.

Another main job I have is during the summer; we work four days a week, and I choreograph the cleaning of all three floors of the building. We tear it apart, clean it and put it back together.

And I, the little Catholic girl, consider myself the mashgiah [a guard against any Kosher violations] of the school. I have been doing that for years and years. I’m the person who checks to make sure the food that comes into the school is Kosher; through practice, I have learned how to do that.

Q: Why is the Eileen Ellis scholarship fund important?

A: Scholarship is so important to me because of the way financial support has affected my life and my sons’ lives. If it weren’t for the scholarships they received, they wouldn’t have been able to go to the schools of their choice. So I became the queen of financial aid when my boys were in college. I want students to be able to come to JCDSRI no matter what their family’s income is.