FROM TEACHER TO LEADER

BACK TO SCHOOL: Criqui starts as new director of St. Francis de Sales in Herkimer

Nellie Criqui, who takes over as director of St. Francis de Sales Early Childhood Learning Center from Rebecca Marzeski and Erin View, said:, “They passed the torch to me, and I’m glad to do it.” (Photo provided)

Nellie Criqui’s school year at St. Francis de Sales Early Childhood Learning Center is starting off with a bang — literally.

“We did have a pipe burst in the bathroom, but it was quickly fixed. I guess that was my christening,” she laughed. “It’s like, welcome to running the school!”

A kindergarten teacher for St. Francis de Sales in Herkimer, Criqui’s christening welcomed in her new role as director for the school.

“This is a special place,” she said, “and I knew that when I started working here.”

Entering her fourth year with St. Francis de Sales, Criqui will continue to teach kindergarten in addition to her role as director, adding that she felt honored to lead a place she deeply cares for: “I just felt like, OK, I can do this.”

Last year, St. Francis de Sales’ Rebecca Marzeski, director, and Erin View, assistant director, retired after working side-by-side for five years. In 2018, St. Francis de Sales shifted focus to early childhood education, offering programs for pre-kindergarten through first grade. Marzeski and View were tasked with registering St. Francis de Sales under New York state daycare and setting up the school for success in its new era.

By last year, both Marzeski and View felt confident that things were looking up for the school — and comfortable enough to leave their work in a new director’s hands.

“They passed the torch to me, and I’m glad to do it,” Criqui said. “It’s hard shoes to fill, but I’m doing my best.”

Originally from Long Island, Criqui grew up with a strong Catholic faith in her family.

“My parents were very involved in our local church,” she said. “They were Eucharistic ministers, (and) we had priests at our table every Sunday for dinner because my grandmother was Italian. Sometimes, we would go on vacation with priests. They would have a beach house and they would invite us to come.”

Criqui always loved the mountains and nature, and “took myself out west” for college where she obtained her bachelor’s in journalism and associate’s in elementary education from Colorado State University.

After a change of heart with her degree, Criqui considered applying to Columbia Teachers College in Manhattan to lean into teaching instead of journalism.

She moved to New York City after graduation and vowed to do a year on the East Coast before moving back to Colorado for good. That was until she met her husband and she changed her plans. The two married and moved to New Jersey, where they raised their three children.

Criqui was happy to help in her children’s Catholic schools, where she helped fundraise and raise awareness for events. When her kids got a little older, she started running her own lifestyle boutique business, helping curate interior design, home furnishings, women’s clothing and jewelry aesthetics.

After her eldest started college at the University of Notre Dame, the family moved permanently into their summer home just outside of Herkimer.

Criqui took it as a good time to step back from her work. “I thought I was going to retire myself, and then I got bored,” she laughed. “I started looking for jobs and I always loved children.”

Marzeski and View hired Criqui as a kindergarten teacher, but with her background in business and love for her students, they were confident she could lead St. Francis de Sales.

Now, Criqui’s hope for the new year is to expand the school she loves so much.

“My goal is to grow the school, get enrollment up, and get the message out there,” she said. Criqui even has a new slogan for the school: “Through Him, great schools are made.”

“I want to make sure our children are children,” she said. “Faith is part of everything we do, so we recognize that every child is a unique gift and so we meet our students where they are. Children are born with all the sense of wonder they need, and sometimes, we’re in a rush and squander it. But here, we want to foster it, we want to let them be creative, lead the way, especially when they’re so young.”

Added Criqui: “Every day I pray for guidance, I pray to let me stay on track. And the point of this (role) is to help children and families. To help people to live in the faith of Jesus Christ and follow his way. I pray every day and night just for guidance with decision-making and to keep me on the right path. … It’s a positive, happy place to work, and how can it not be with all these happy kids to work with? I feel like I was led here, I feel like I was placed here through God.”