New this year, we are starting a series of Faculty/Staff Spotlights featuring the incredible faculty and staff at The Franciscan School. Today, we are showcasing Angela Harrington, TFS’s valuable and compassionate School Nurse, to kick us off.

Angela has always known she wanted to be a nurse. As a child, she would write book reports on Clara Barton and Florence Nightingale. Yet, life winded her down some other roads before she landed in her dream career. 

Growing up in Sugar Land, Texas, Angela loved sports, competing in swimming, diving, and gymnastics. “Gymnastics was always my favorite,” shares Angela, “because I feel it is the sport that taught me the most about resilience and perseverance.” She attended Texas A&M University, where she majored in biomedical science and engineering. She moved to California for her husband’s Marine career. She worked on the Marine Corps Base as the manager of facilities maintenance (over 300 buildings), overseeing a twenty-man crew and helping construct the new commissary on base. 

While working on the base, Angela started prerequisites for nursing school and was accepted to UCLA. Unfortunately, their family received orders to move to Camp Lejeune, so she did not continue. They lived at Topsail Beach for ten years before moving to Raleigh to be closer to Duke Hospital. Their son was being treated for cancer, and Duke’s pediatric transplant team was following their daughter. Angela shares about the impact of that experience: “After seeing how the nurses worked with my children, I knew I wanted to become a nurse.” Not long after, once her children were stable, Angela went back to school for nursing. She is working on her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. 

Angela is in her fourth year as the school nurse at TFS. She loves watching the children grow, learn, and develop as whole people: mind, body, and spirit. She believes children are incredibly resilient and desire to be happy. “Working at TFS means the world to me. I love discussing different situations with our students and teachers and hope to help students feel better,” shares Angela. 

During a typical day, Angela attends Morning Prayer and assesses and evaluates every situation that walks through her door for any individual on campus, whether that’s an injury, illness, or big feelings and emotions. She also partners with parents to create care plans that work with and for their child’s diagnosis, ensure sports physicals are managed properly/current, ensure immunizations are up to date, and triage injuries/splints to determine how to proceed. “Ultimately, I hope to cultivate a space where everyone feels safe and cared for,” says Angela.

While working at TFS, Angela has also worked in the NICU for the last six years. She loves nursing across the lifespan, but especially pediatrics and neonatal. She finds joy in working with families to help them learn how to bond with and care for their little ones.

As a bonus, Angela enjoys growing in her faith alongside the students during Mass and other activities. “What a gift!” she shares. “Watching them during their 8th-grade celebrations/matriculation to high school is beautiful to witness. TFS has helped raise my children alongside me, a true partnership.”

We are grateful for the gift of Angela Harrington, our School Nurse!