Have you ever wondered what keeps The Franciscan School campus functioning and beautiful? The answer isn’t fancy equipment or curated systems, although those do help. The answer is the people.

Director of Facility Operations Joseph Leone leads the team and shares about who makes the engine run. “At the heart of our facilities team are some truly dedicated people: John Pietrzak, Lead Maintenance Technician, who brings incredible skill and reliability to everything he touches; Kyle Petersen, who works alongside John in Maintenance and never shies away from a challenge; Marc Kielty, who keeps so much running quietly in the background; and Paul Koch, who generously volunteers his time in our Maintenance office, something we are very grateful for. Together with me, this is the team that helps keep TFS going.”

Now that you know who is operating behind the scenes every day, we want to bring you along to get an insider’s look at what they do each day.

As you can imagine, no two days look the same. And Mr. Leone argues that it is part of what makes this work so meaningful. Routine maintenance, deliveries, cleaning, and event setups are staples of most days. Other days include challenges such as a surprise HVAC issue or a plumbing problem before anyone else even knows it happened. You’ve probably never noticed all the problems they fix, and that’s intentional. “A lot of what we do is invisible by design,” shares Mr. Leone. “When things are clean, safe, and ready, most people do not have to think about us, and that is exactly how we like it.”

Mr. Leone created the team six years ago with the goal of setting a high standard of excellence and holding to it every day. “It is the family bond within our team that makes us capable of taking on just about any task,” he says.

Hopefully you’ve noticed it: that special attention to detail, genuine care for the people who use the spaces, a willingness to jump in when needed. They tirelessly do the jobs we don’t see, like cleaning up after a long school day, preparing for Mass, clearing a walkway, or making sure every door and lock is secure.

While the students and teachers are away for the summer, the facilities team gears up for their busiest season, even though the campus feels understandably quiet. This past summer, the team took on the following projects: they gutted and remodeled all four Thea Hall bathrooms; painted the exterior of the original school building; installed new carpet in Anthony Hall; refinished the church pews; completed security upgrades; built a new closet in Clare Hall; replaced 15 columns under the covered walkway; updated the TFS Courtyard benches with Trex decking; and finished more than 50 additional work orders.

They worked on all this so that when students and teachers walked back through those doors in August, everything was ready and waiting for them. We could not be more grateful!

The facilities team takes the most pride in the quiet readiness and authentic care they bring to all they do. “We work together to communicate constantly, cover for each other, and push each other to find solutions quickly,” shares Mr. Leone. Despite the challenge of minimizing disruptions on a bustling campus, the team’s care is most evident.

Mr. Leone has been a part of this community for 34 years and is honored to serve it in this way.

On behalf of all of the facilities team members, they say, “To the students, families, staff, and parishioners who call TFS home, please know that this team shows up every day for you. We are deeply proud of this place, and it is an honor to help keep it safe, clean, and ready for everything that happens here.”