Inducted in 2013
Co-Founder, Covenant School, Bridgeport, CT
Co-Founder, Grace Academy, Hartford, CT
Educator & Administrator, Various Catholic Agencies & Institutions

Induction Video

Among the Fordham Prep Hall of Honor nominations in support of Matthew Fitzsimons was a note that urged the induction of Matt "sooner, rather than later" in order to highlight the need "for graduates to be ‘men for others’ today."  Inducting Fitzsimons, the nominator explained, would not simply be a way to honor the man himself, but could hopefully serve “a catalyst for others to consider taking risks now, lest opportunities to improve the world be lost.”
 
Matthew O. Fitzsimons came to the Prep under somewhat unusual circumstances. For his first three years of high school, he had been a boarding student at Cranwell Preparatory School, a Jesuit institution in Lenox, Massachusetts. Like many Catholic schools then, Cranwell Prep was beset by financial problems during the 1970s, and was forced to close before Matt’s senior year.
 
But Matt was no Massachusettsan. He was New Rochelle-born and lived in Manhasset. His father, Edgar Fitzsimons and his mother, Linda Roach Fitzsimons — Georgetown University grads and owners of a family construction company — had raised Matt and his five brothers and sisters on Long Island: Justine, Eileen, Michael, Brian (Prep Class of 1983) and Darragh. And so, in 1975, with Cranwell permanently shuttered, Matthew found himself back home in Nassau County figuring out with his parents what his senior year would be.
 
Matt made it clear that he would prefer to finish high school at a Jesuit institution — the good fathers up in Massachusetts had made such a positive impact on him. Moreover, a bit of family history would come into play, as well: his maternal grandfather, David J. Roach, Jr., was a Fordham University graduate.  And so, given the relative geographic proximity and the family's Maroon connection, it seems only natural that the Fitzsimonses would decide on Fordham Prep over in the Bronx.
 
By Matt’s own account, his first days at the Prep were “odd,” largely because of the circuitous route he took to and from school: a commute that involved getting dropped off at a gas station, waiting for a ride to Douglaston, and taking a bus the rest of the way to the Prep — a trip of nearly two hours each way (on a good day!).  In no time, however, classmates such as Mike Considine, Mario Biaggi, and fellow Hall of Honor member George Jackson had made Matt feel welcome despite his late membership in the Class of '76.
 
While getting used to his new situation that September, Fitzsimons missed out on more than a few opportunities to sign up for various clubs, activities and other Prep social events.  Having auditioned on a lark, however, the newcomer found himself with a role in the school play, The Front Page: certainly a time commitment for someone who still had to schlep back to the Island after practice, but absolutely worth it in Matt's estimation.  He would became lifelong friends with several castmates, including Ray Keane, Rich Walsh and John Doran.  And on the athletic front as 1975 drew to a close, Fitzsimons had wanted to continue playing soccer as he had at Cranwell, but the game had not yet formally arrived at the Prep.  And so, midyear, Fitzsimons would sign up with the Aquarams, and swam alongside the likes of classmates Dieter Freer, Rich Duke, and Olympic medalist and fellow Hall of Honor member Bob Hackett.
 
Back on dry land, Matt’s other Rose Hill recollections include a calculus class with Mr. Patrick Conway that was “grueling,” as well as English IV with Mr. Joseph Geraghty, a class that would “leave a mark.” There was also Fr. John Leonard, SJ, a 2009 Hall of Honor inductee himself, who more than once reassured the newcomer that he was in exactly the place he should be.  ‘Wake up!" Leonard would encourage him on those sleepy mornings after a particularly tiresome and traffic-snarled commute.  "Discover who you are! Don’t walk through the hallways of life!"
 
Perhaps these encounters with Father would set the stage for what Matt would later describe as the much deeper experience of Fordham Prep: a rich exposure to the Jesuit ethos through dialogues. “Who were we? Who were we supposed to be?” These are the questions and discussions Matt would remember. “We were discovering who we were going to be as men who serve others.”
 
In Matt’s own words, his short time at “Fordham Prep was not only about the academics. It was about social, personal, and spiritual transformation,” Fitzsimons went on six different retreats during his year at the Prep and first year of college — a period of time he recalls as a “Christian awakening,” and a time of continually asking himself, “What am I doing for God?” as he tried to live out the Ignatian spirituality.
 
Fordham Prep not only changed the trajectory of Matt’s spiritual life in an intangible way, but in a here-and-now, God-at-work-in-the-world way as well — “faith in action,” one might say. As part of the school’s graduation requirements, Matt had to perform 40 hours of community service. In the hectickness of figuring out his first, last and only year at Shea Hall, there was some confusion about what Matt’s community service plan should be. Faculty member Fr. Stanley O’Konsky, SJ cleared this up, requiring Fitz to tutor young children at Public School 89 in the Bronx. Almost every day, Matthew worked with 4th graders, helping them learn basic math with the objective of moving them up grade levels as quickly as possible. By his own admission, he dreaded it at first, but as the days went by, he soon regretted not having tutored all year long.

A seed had been planted.

After the Prep, Matt attended Boston College, where he earned a bachelor’s in finance. He then worked for several years at E. F. Hutton and a real estate development firm in New York City. In 1984 he was co-founder of Young New Yorkers for Charity, along with Prep pals Mike Considine and Ray Keane. Under their guidance, Young New Yorkers for Charity raised more than $350,000 for small charities in the greater New York area. He returned to tutoring as well, this time at the original Nativity School on Forsythe Street in Manhattan, again alongside friend and classmate Considine.
 
Shortly thereafter, Matt returned to Boston College and earned two master’s degrees, one in educational administration and another in pastoral ministry. Launching a new career, Matt taught English for a time and was director of development at Catholic Memorial High School in Boston, moving on during the 1990s to become the executive director of Community Counseling Services in New York, a world-wide fundraising, public relations and marketing agency for non-profit health, religious and educational groups.  From 2001 to 2008, Matt would serve as vice president of the Association of Catholic Advancement and Admissions Professionals.  Finally, between June 2006 and June 2009, Matt was president of Northwest Catholic High School in West Hartford, Connecticut.
 
During his time in West Hartford, Fitzsimons became increasingly knowledgeable about the dire educational needs of many young grammar school students living in Hartford, a city that at one time had been home to some of the top public schools in the country, but had long-since seen its educational system become one of the worst-performing in the state. Back in Boston, Matt had met and worked with Barry Hynes, co-founder of Nativity Prep, a Jesuit middle school in Boston; a Nativity school in New Bedford, Massachusetts; and the all-boys Covenant School in Hartford. The goal of those Nativity schools was to meet the needs of people living in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods by providing a quality education to children who have the discipline and desire to learn.  Fitzsimons knew what needed to be done.  The seed, planted long ago at the Prep had grown and was ready to flower.
 
After much discussion, fact-finding, and discernment, Matt, assisted by his wife, would found Grace Academy, a non-denominational, tuition-free, interfaith Christian middle school for girls located on Main Street in Hartford. The Academy opened in 2010 with 30 girls in fifth and sixth grade. By Fitzsimons’ 2013 Hall of Honor induction, the Academy had grown to include grades 5 through 8, with 8 of the first 9 graduates going on to successful careers at private or Catholic high schools.   To call the Grace Academy an agent of change would be an understatement.  It remains an extraordinary beacon of hope for the community.

Twelve years after opening Grace Academy, Fitzsimons would leave his Main Street enterprise in very capable hands to launch his next endeavor: the Covenant School.  What Grace had been for the girls in Hartford, so too, Covenant would be for the underserved boys of Bridgeport, Connecticut.  By all reports, institution is already thriving — as will the deserving students who will someday find themselves on the rosters of Covenant's alums.

Nearly needless to write, Fitzsimons' work is supported by the time and talent of many individuals — too many names to list here. One of those names, however, has been part of the Fitzsimons story since Matt’s singular and singularly important year at Rose Hill: Mike Considine — worth mentioning here yet again for a very good reason. As co-founders of Young New Yorkers for Charity back in the ‘80s, Matt and Mike would attended many functions for the organization. At a fundraiser at the Puck Building, Mike Considine introduced Matt to his sister Kathy’s very close friend, Sarah Lahr.
 
Matt and Sarah were married in 1996 and are the parents of Isabel Sophia and Kateri Eileen. Both Matt and Sarah are nationally recognized for their extraordinary work with the Grace Academy and the Covenant School. Together, Matthew and Sarah Fitzsimons continue live out their shared vocation as husband and wife, parents, educators and exemplars of what it means to answer the Ignatian call to be “men and women for others.”