OLBS is so very fortunate to have the following Trustees of our Academy volunteer their time and talents to benefit our school.
Eileen Baginski is a lifelong member of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament parish. She is a graduate of the OLBS school and all three of her children also graduated from OLBS. She attended St. Helena High School, now Msgr. Scanlon, Misericordia University, and had post graduate studies at Queens College and St. John’s University. Eileen is involved in many organizations within the parish, has served on the parish council and was a parish trustee. She spent 35 years in Catholic education. Upon her retirement from teaching she was the director of the Pre-K for All program at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Academy and was a mentor for the Diocese in helping other schools set up the Pre-K for All programs in their schools. Eileen is pleased to be a member of the Board of Trustees and to help with the mission of promoting quality Catholic education to the children in our Academy.
Maura McCarthy has been a member of the OLBS parish community for many decades. She and her husband Jeremiah have been married for 40+ years. Her husband and his 4 siblings graduated from OLBS. Maura and Jerry have 11 nieces, 8 nephews, 2 grand nephews and 4 grand nieces. Maura spent 34 years in NYC government and is currently happily retired now volunteering on the Board of the Academy. She has benefitted from both the Catholic and public education systems attending St. Andrew Avellino, The Mary Louis Academy, Hunter College, St. John’s University, Columbia University and New York University. She holds a B.A. in Economics, an MBA in Finance and Executive Management certificates from the Police Management Institute at Columbia University and the Rudin Center for Transportation Studies at New York University.
Peter McNally has been an OLBS parishioner for over fifty years and is a former student of the OLBS School. Both of his children were also educated here at OLBS. He has worked in both parochial and public education for over forty years. For twenty-four of those years as a Principal, twelve serving in a school and twelve serving as the Vice President of the union that represents all Principals and Assistant Principals in NYC public schools. He is looking forward to helping to insure a quality education as a member of the OLBS Academy Board.
Vincent T. Peluso lives in Little Neck with his wife and two beautiful daughters. He attended OLBS from kindergarten through his graduation in 1991. After graduating from Holy Cross High School, Vincent was an electrician before establishing a construction and real estate development business in 2001. He has been working with catholic academies within the Brooklyn Diocese to improve their campuses. Vincent hopes that the academy will bring the school closer to the community and bring more families to the Catholic School Experience.
Alfonso (Al) Pistone is a parishioner who is also the leader of our lector program. He has a BA in Engineering from Manhattan College and holds degrees from St. John’s University School of Law and an MBA from Pace University. Al served as a New York State Small Claims Court Pro Bono Arbitrator for 5 years and also served as a Board of Directors Member to the Architectural Capital Equipment and Engineering Summit Advisory Board, which provides input and guidance in developing and establishing a core foundation for collaboration among healthcare’s architectural, capital equipment, and engineering sectors.
Domenick (Nick) Ranieri has been an OLBS parishioner for over 25 years. During that time he has seen his 3 children graduate from the OLBS School, has served on the parish Finance Council, is a former Parish Trustee and Home School treasurer and has served in a number of other volunteer roles including fundraising for the parish. Nick has over 35 years of experience in management and finance, has built organizations, developed strategic business plans and led complex projects. Nick has served on and worked with boards of directors which provided him with valuable leadership and collaboration experiences that will aid his role on the Academy Board. He has always taken a strong interest in training and developing teams which he hopes to draw on to guide the continuing success of our Academy.
Robert (Bob) M. Reid, Sr. has been married to his wife Angela for 55 years. They have four children and eight grandchildren. Bob has resided in Bayside since 1978. After completing 34 years of service, Bob retired from the NYPD as a Detective. He has been the President of the Bayside Little League since 1991, overseeing a program that has over 500 children with 23 Board members and 75 managers and coaches. Bob also previously served as the Director of Youth Programs at St. Bartholomew Church in Elmhurst. Bob is currently the Facilitator for VIRTUS at OLBS.
Michael F. Reilly and his wife, Judy, have been members of OLBS since 1991. He has over 40 years of experience managing large commercial mortgage loan portfolios and real estate joint ventures, including real estate opportunity funds. During his career, he worked for insurance companies, savings banks, mortgage companies and the New York State Common Retirement Fund (“CRF”), the third largest public pension fund, with approximately $160 billion in assets. While at the CRF, he was a Senior Real Estate Investment Officer, and in his final year, the Director of the Real Estate Bureau with approximately $13 billion in real estate and mortgage loan assets.
John Scolaro has been a parishioner of OLBS for the past 25 years. Married to his wife Paula, John’s step daughter is a graduate of St. Johns Law School and works for the Department of Justice. John is also Catholic school educated at Sacred Heart/Saint Stephens parish in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn through High School. He earned a BA in Criminal Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and completed an Executive Development Program at Columbia University’s Police Management Institute. John retired from the NYPD after 32 years of service achieving the rank of Deputy Inspector.
JoAnn Wagner is a lifelong parishioner of OLBSCA. She was Baptized here and received all the Sacraments while attending OLBS school. Each of her six children is an OLBS graduate. She has a BS degree in Elementary/Special Education and a MA from St John’s University in Elementary Education. JoAnn works at St. Francis Preparatory High School in the Physical Education Department and is the Director of the Women’s Basketball Program and a Varsity Coach. Through various community activities that her family has been involved with, she has always held a commitment to the Christian mission and kept Catholic values in the forefront. She believes that the opportunity to be a a Board Member is a perfect way to continue this lifelong belief and mission.