IT WAS 1949 WHEN fourth-grader Pete Rabbitt switched to a new campus that was just opening: St. Joachim Catholic School in Costa Mesa. Now, 75 years later, Rabbitt returned to his alma mater to celebrate with his family and grandchildren: one a current Sea King, and one an alumnus and valedictorian to boot.
ST. JOACHIM CATHOLIC SCHOOL FOUNDING STUDENT PETE RABBITT, 83, WITH HIS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW SHELLEY RABBITT AND GRANDSON HUGH RABBITT, AT THE SCHOOL’S FIRST ALUMNI HOMECOMING AND PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT. PHOTOS BY YUAN WANG/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
“It was a great experience,” Rabbitt, 83, said, adding that it has been fun having his grandchildren attend his alma mater. “The good news is they got a great education.”
The Rabbitt family was among about 240 current students, alumni, friends and family who came out on a Saturday night for the school’s first Alumni Homecoming Pickleball Event and Mass. The event on Sept. 28 featured five pickleball courts, a bake sale, a bounce house obstacle course and TK Burgers truck.
The homecoming was a chance for alumni throughout the years to return to campus, celebrate the gift of a Catholic education, and raise money for the school’s endowment, said Principal Kelly Botto.
Seeing so many alumni return “moves my heart,” she added.
OVER 200 CURRENT STUDENTS, ALUMNI, FRIENDS AND FAMILY ATTENDED ST. JOACHIM CATHOLIC SCHOOL’S FIRST ALUMNI HOMECOMING PICKLEBALL EVENT AND MASS ON SEPT. 28.
“It’s great to see them and it’s great to see that it still feels like home for them,” Botto said. “For so many of our kids, they’re here for 10 years, from preschool all the way through eighth grade. It was their home for so many years. To see them come back and connect, it’s amazing.”
For 16-year-old Ava Farao, St. Joachim felt like that. She attended from kindergarten through eighth grade.
“I really loved it,” Farao said. “It was really community oriented, and I just love coming back because of that. It’s almost like we never left. I see everyone and it’s nice to reconnect.”
For Rabbitt, the current campus is very different from his own school days. Rabbitt said he remembers there was only one building and the church during his time. A special breakfast also brought back happy memories.
“I think the one thing I remember was they used to give us cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate,” Rabbitt said. “I still remember that.”
Sea King parent Frank Calabretta also remembers a very different campus from his daughter’s times at the school.
“Back then it was nothing like this,” Calabretta said. “Nothing like this. We were still in barracks, old barracks from the army air base.”
Calabretta, who lives in the neighborhood and attends St. Joachim parish, said he is pleased to see his daughters and now his grandchildren attend school there.
“It is very rewarding to me, because Isee the values that we raised our children with being passed on to their children,” Calabretta said.
Alumna Elizabeth Leahy started in first grade — then the youngest grade offered at the school — and graduated from eighth grade in 1993. Leahy said they tried public school for their oldest child before switching. Now she has three kids in Catholic school: two at St. Joachim and one who graduated from St. Joachim before continuing on at Mater Dei High School.
“Something was missing,” Leahy said. “We ended up switching her over here, which was amazing and has been the best thing for [my oldest daughter] and our family. It definitely helped me build my faith. If I wasn’t surrounded by that, I’m not sure faith would be as important as it is today. So, it definitely shaped me and I feel, for our kids, faith is something that is very important to instill in them.”
Her oldest daughter at Mater Dei, 15-year-old Grace Leahy, said the community is her favorite aspect of St. Joachim, but her teachers also prepared her well for the academic and social challenges of high school.
“St. Joachim taught me a lot of lifelong lessons I’ll keep with me,” Grace said.
Calabretta’s wife, Sue Calabretta, a retired St. Joachim teacher, said it’s the school’s shared vision and mission focused on academics and spiritual life that give it strength.
“It was a small community, so it was a really good collaboration with students and parents. That’s what I liked,” Sue Calabretta said.
It was also a time to remember Sr. Kathleen Marie Pughe, principal at St. Joachim from 2006-2019, whose efforts are greatly credited for the school’s success. Sr. Kathleen was killed in a vehicular accident in March of 2022.
As students ran around the field, parents and alumni chatted and caught up, the distinctive pop of pickleball was in the background as teams prepared for the competition. Grace Leahy and Ava Farao, still friends after leaving St. Joachim, said they were excited to team up on the court. They had a simple strategy for success.
“To win,” Grace Leahy laughed, “just hit the ball over the net.”