LYNN – St. Mary’s, a Catholic, college-preparatory school educating students in grades 6-12, has added three members to its board of trustees.
Shari (Sagan) McGuirk discovered St. Mary’s when her daughter, Lily, was looking at high schools as an eighth-grader in 2015. After attending an open house, the search was over.
“She came back and said that’s where she wanted to go to school,” McGuirk said. “Something clicked for her, and we were really attracted to the diversity of St. Mary’s and the smaller class sizes.”
Shari and her husband, Steve, became involved in the school, serving as co-chairs of the inaugural Parent Advisory Council (PAC) last year. This fall, Shari was elected to the St. Mary’s board of trustees.
McGuirk previously served as campaign director at the Jewish Federation of the North Shore. She has worked in real estate for the last 18 years and is a co-owner of Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty, a firm founded by her mother, Phyllis, a well-known North Shore Realtor for more than 30 years.
Vivian Iannotti is chief executive officer of Stop and Compare, which is opening its newest supermarket at 43 State St. — directly across the street from St. Mary’s. It will operate in part of the space that previously housed Shaw’s supermarket. When visiting the site, Iannotti met Head of School Dr. John F. Dolan and was impressed with the school and its mission.
“What they’re doing for the students of Lynn is amazing,” said Iannotti, who was elected to the board on Oct. 7.
A family-owned and -operated business, Stop and Compare caters to the growing Latino community by providing a taste of their native homelands. The company has a market on Adams Street in Lynn, which opened in 2005, as well as one in Chelsea. Its newest downtown Lynn location, likely opening in late summer 2021, will not only be convenient for St. Mary’s families, but for the hundreds of residents who live in housing complexes within walking distance.
“There are a lot of bright, eager and hard-working Latino students right here in our Lynn community,” said Iannotti. “If I can be but a steppingstone in that bridge for them to access an opportunity such as an education of the caliber St. Mary’s provides, I will be extremely fortunate.”
Iannotti, along with her husband, Marc, joined the family business in 2004, with the intent of growing it. Her Cuban-born parents, Al and Betty Calvo, were entrepreneurs who found success in the ethnic food wholesale business and opened the company’s first retail store in 1996.
Iannotti earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Williams College and her master’s in physical therapy from the MGH Institute of Health Professions. She spent a decade working as an orthopedic physical therapist. She continues to have an interest in fitness, health and wellness and has integrated healthy eating initiatives in the stores.
Having served three consecutive 3-year terms on the board of trustees, John “J.J.” Green ’67, stepped down in 2019. He was asked to return this year and, as he always does, said “yes” to St. Mary’s.
A former chair of the Governance Committee, Green returned to the board of trustees in October and expects to work with the current Governance chair, Mary Ann Calnan. He said he would also focus on the school’s fundraising efforts.
“Hopefully, we can improve on planned giving,” Green said. “We want people to be thinking about what they can do for St. Mary’s.”
Green’s connection to St. Mary’s dates back to his youth when his mother, Ruth, was the cook at the rectory and convent. He and four of his six siblings all graduated from St. Mary’s High School, and they all went to St. Mary’s Elementary School.
Green credits St. Mary’s for providing a strong educational and moral foundation. A Merrimack College graduate, he is the founder and president of J.J. Green & Associates, a company which represents contract furniture manufacturers in the education, healthcare, hospitality and corporate markets. He worked with St. Mary’s on procuring the furniture for the new STEM building.
Green and his wife, Joanne, have three adult children and eight grandchildren. They live in Glen, N.H., and spend the winters in Naples, Fla.
