Hello St. Ignatius Parish School Parents!

In September you received an email from me introducing you to our school’s Catholic School Advisory Council (“CSAC”) and the important role it serves in advising our Pastor (Fr. Tom Lucas, S.J.) and Principal (Ms. Patty Kochis) on school-related matters.  CSAC has been meeting regularly since, and we would like to take this opportunity to update you on various matters CSAC is involved with and to highlight various accomplishments.

Marketing/Communications Committee

CSAC’s Marketing/Communications Committee is headed by Debbie Broderick and Sarah Colwell.  Along with last year’s CSAC member, Jason Wister, the committee finalized the 2020-21 Annual Report, which was distributed last fall and can be found here.

The committee has begun the 2021-22 Annual Report, which coincides with the Year of Ignatius. They have also worked with S.I. staff to create an editorial calendar for the school and have plans to create an editorial style guide. The hope is that this style guide will be a helpful tool for volunteer and full-time staff alike as they create communication pieces to promote the school and the good work it is doing.

Annual Fund/Development Committee

CSAC’s Annual Fund/Development Committee is headed by Darrell Parsons and Ryan Wilgus, with the valuable assistance of Debra Russell, the school’s Director of Advancement.  They have been busy coordinating the collection and reporting of your Annual Fund contributions throughout the year. 

As of January 5, 2022, the Annual Fund shows a total collection of $226,976.69, as compared to $203,548.73 collected around this time last year.  School family participation in this year’s Annual Fund is at 76%, with the rates of participation for each class as follows: 

Of course, we would all love to see a full, 100% participation in the Annual Fund by the end of this school year.  Remember that any contribution will count!

Catholicity/Mission Effectiveness Committee

CSAC’s Catholicity/Mission Effective Committee is headed by Kyle Hansen.  The goals of this committee are to promote Ignatian Spirituality at the school and to promote synergy and cooperation between the school and parish.  To that extent, the committee has worked towards keeping school families aware of parish activities in hopes that they will become more integrated in the life of the parish. 

In particular, the committee has worked to promote the New Hospitality Minister Program, Magis Dinner, Super Bowl Square Fundraiser and the weekly cleaning of the church.  Additionally, thanks to the efforts of the school’s Magis Club, we have seen strong participation in the monthly Feeding God’s Bounty dinners.  All of this is done with the goal of becoming a closer-knit community and promoting a “oneness” between the parish and school.

Facilities

This year’s Facilities Chair is Daniel Baker, with advisory responsibilities regarding the school facilities, grounds and security.  Tiger Field’s new sod was installed in October and is being enjoyed by all the kids! 

The Safety and Security Committee continues to meet on the last Tuesday of each month at        8 a.m.  The meeting is open for anyone interested in attending.  Noticeable every morning and throughout the day, Smartguard is helping to keep our campus safe.

The school has hired MAK Properties for property management.  Since their hiring, they have been evaluating vendor contracts/services and making their professional recommendations.  As a result of their efforts, the maintenance of the school and our vendor relationships are running more smoothly and efficiently.

Parent Club

This year’s Parent Club representative on CSAC is Jenniffer MacDonald.  She is proud to report that all of the school’s fundraisers so far this year have brought in more money than originally budgeted.  These events include Amazing Grapes, See’s Candy and Christmas wreaths.  Fundraisers that are still to occur are the Annual Auction (April 2) and the Fun Run (May 4).

In lieu of Breakfast with Santa this year, the Parent Club sponsored a Candy Cane Christmas.  Students enjoyed a day of holiday fun in their favorite pajamas!  Parents helped provide yummy holiday sweets and treats, Christmas crafts, holiday movies and a special visit from Santa.

Enrollment

Enrollment in the school continues to be solid.  We have applications for every grade for the 2022-2023 school year.   In February, Ms. Lisa Hilton will start the assessments for next year’s Kindergarten class and expects a full class.  Administration anticipates about twenty-five new families joining the school next year.    

Curriculum

The faculty is in the midst of reviewing Religion textbooks for adoption and have been meeting monthly to review our options.  Any publishers that we consider, must be pre approved by the Bishop.  The faculty is leaning towards adopting the series, “Finding God,” from Loyola Press.  We are very pleased to find a publisher that we have used in the past, that uses a model of catechesis that is clearly Ignatian, and responds to the ongoing invitation to enter into a deeper relationship with God. 

Staffing

This year we welcomed new faculty and staff. 

• 3^rd grade – Kasey Dixon
• 6^th grade – Courtney Larson
• 7th/8th Advanced Math and Algebra 1 – David Hills
• Librarian – Kit Cancilla
• 5th grade aide – Brittney Bruschera 
• 6^th grade aide – Lindsay Kassis
• Extended Day – Nadia Dabkoski and Anna Neeley

General Updates

• Together with a steering committee consisting of staff, alumni, parents and parishioners, I will continue working on developing a long-term Strategic Plan for our school – a big goal now that the new school has been built.
• Please save the date of Saturday, March 12 to celebrate the 500^th anniversary of the canonization of St. Ignatius.  Plans are underway for the school and parish communities to come together for mass and a picnic.

As you can see, CSAC and its various committees have been quite busy throughout the school year.  If you have any questions or would like to be involved in any of these projects, please feel free to reach out to me or Principal Kochis.

Kind regards,

Erin Weeden
CSAC President (2021-2022)