Religious Education

Kathy Piggott (Grades 1-6)
Hello St. Mary’s Parishioners!My name is Kathy Piggott and I have been involved in Religious Education for about 18 years. My experience includes Youth Ministry/Confirmation, Adult Education and Children’s Education assistant at St. Teresa Parish in Manchester. For the past 7 years, I have been a Director of Faith Formation at St. Josephine Bakhita Parish in Rocky Hill.

I settled in Connecticut from Madawaska, Maine 33 years ago to marry my husband of 32 years. We have raised 4 wonderful children in Manchester and have the added blessing of our son-in-law and our first grandson.  My husband, Dave, and I have strived to be examples of faith to our children and look forward to watching our family grow.

My experiences in raising my family and being part of faith formation have been profound. I have been blessed to serve in this ministry and know I will have many wonderful experiences in faith within the community of St. Mary Parish. 

Lori Ryan (Grades 7-8)
My name is Lori Ryan, and I will be coordinating Religious Education for grades 7-8. I grew up in Waterford, where I attended St. Paul in Chains Church and I received my Sacraments, including the Sacrament of Matrimony to Jeff Ryan almost 34 years ago. Jeff and I met while attending UCONN. After marrying and moving to Simsbury, I worked at CIGNA as a pension administrator and eventually led a team. I enjoyed my work at Cigna, however, God had different plans for me. I left after my second child was born to be home with my children. Jeff and I have four children: Megan, Matthew, Michael and Grace.

We attended St. Bernard’s Church in Tariffville. One Sunday, our Deacon made a plea for help with CCD. He asked us to pray about it, and if we felt peace, to sign up. That is just what I did. I taught eighth graders at St. Bernard’s for 24 years. After a couple of years of teaching, the Religious Ed Coordinator asked if I would take over the CCD program. I went home and prayed on it, and I ran the program for 22 years.

In between coordinating St. Bernard’s CCD program and raising four children, I started a small home business called First Impressions Home Staging, which I ran for about a decade. I helped homeowners prepare their homes for resale, and I did some interior design. I am honored to serve as St. Bernard’s liaison to the Parish Council and excited about the role I will be playing in forming 7th and 8th graders at St. Mary’s Church.

Steve DiMotta (Grades 9-10 & Youth Minister)
My name is Steve DiMotta. I have been working in the field of Youth Ministry and Religious Education for over 13 years. I began my career after high school as an assistant youth minister in East Hartford, then was hired as the youth minister for a parish in Manchester. While continuing this ministry, I was also hired as the director of religious education and youth ministry for a parish in New Haven. After 5 years in New Haven I was offered a program director position at Trinita Retreat Center in New Hartford, and I will continue at Trinita along with youth ministry and confirmation at St. Mary’s. My wife, Jaime, and I have lived in Rocky Hill since we were married 12 years ago, along with our 2 dogs Mattie and Molly and our turtle Franklin. We love to go hiking and kayaking when we have time.

Welcome to the registration for the 2020-2021 school year.  Use the link below to sign up your child(ren) for our program.



We welcome new families and will be adding a Kindergarten program if you know of friends looking to enroll or if you have an incoming Kindergartener. If your child is moving up to 9th grade from Catholic School, they need to enroll in their parish Confirmation Program for preparation for the sacrament.

This year, out of abundance of caution and to ensure we keep with guidelines set by the CDC, state, and local health department, the religious education team will offer classes using a hybrid model. This means the majority of classes will take place virtually. However, there will be some events that will take place in person. Those in-person events will have reduced numbers, face coverings, and social distancing. 

Please use the "Contact Us" links to the right to connect with your Religious Education coordinator. 

Grades 1-6
Communication from Kathy Piggott (7/24/20)
Contact Kathy Piggott for the calendar and class syllabus information.

Middle School Program
Class Syllabus/Dates
Service Hour Log
Service Opportunities

For more detailed information on the MS program, click HERE.


High School Program
For more information click HERE.

Our Sunday Religious Education programs are always bustling with energy and excitement! It is a wonderful place to experience faith through the eyes of children and teens and the joy of partnering with their parents on this formative journey. Thanks to over 60 dedicated catechists, students are welcomed and engaged each week as they are presented the doctrine, scripture and tradition of our faith.   

Religious Education Volunteers:

We greatly appreciate your willingness to volunteer your help during the year and count on it for the success of our program! Please contact our Religious Education Coordinators to express your interest in volunteering in our program.

To ensure a safe environment for the children in our program, Virtus Training is required by the Archdiocese of Hartford for volunteers who are 18 years of age and older.  Training classes are offered at various locations in the diocese for your convenience. Please click on the link below to vist the Archdiocese of Hartford Office of Safe Environment website for the date and location of upcoming classes.

Virtus - Registration/Schedules

For more information, contact our parish office at (860) 658-7627.

Our elementary grade program is for children who will enter kindergarten through sixth grade in the fall. The program is run on Sunday mornings from September through May.

There are two separate sessions offered.  During the registration process, please indicate your preference of session.

• Session 1 :  8:15 AM 

The Middle School and High School programs run on alternating Sunday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. Students gather with their small groups and catechists from September through May.  For more information, click HERE.