(314) 962-5955
Home > Events > Annunciation News

Dear Friends,

As you know, our parish has been involved in discussions with Our Lady of Providence and St. Michael the Archangel Parishes in order to develop a collaborative approach to providing Catholic education in our parishes. You might also recall that this committee was formed over two years ago when several pastors began these discussions.

As noted when the results of the second Educational survey were presented at the end of February 88% of our parish respondents were in favor of collaboration in general and nearly 81% were in favor of restructuring our schools. Our Lady of Providence and St. Michael's experienced similar support in the survey. As a result, our parishes expanded our committee to include several parishioners from each parish to look at education, finances, and marketing in order to develop a collaborative school model.

We are pleased to announce that the initial phase of this work has been completed and we would like to present this model to our parish in a Parish meeting on Wednesday, May 25th. This meeting will take place in church beginning at 7:00 pm The purpose of this meeting is first, to present the system that has been developed and secondly, to solicit your feedback, and finally to know of your hopes.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Bob Evans
Pastor

 

Meeting Agenda May 25th - 7:00 pm

Opening Prayer

Introduction - Fr. Bob Evans

Education Proposal - Mr. Michael Biggs, Pastor

Finance Proposal - Mr. AJ Henken

Marketing Proposal - Mr. Bill Brasser

Governance Proposal - Fr. Bob Evans

Discussion, Comments, and Questions

Closing Remarks - Fr. Bob Evans

Closing Prayer

Summary of the School Model
Developed through the collaboration of Annunciation, Our Lady of Providence and St. Michael the Archangel Parishes

Overview
Clearly stated, we are here today to because of a shared mission among the three parishes to advance the academic excellence and Catholic education to our children today and in years to come. With that being said:

"OUR MISSION is to provide the highest quality academic program where each student develops spiritually, intellectually, and socially. Rooted in the message of Jesus Christ and in the Catholic tradition, we strive to prepare our students to live a faith-filled life."

To fulfill this mission, we have established 4 subcommittees each tasked with a specific, important role to properly build the foundation to grow our mission and outreach for advancing Catholic education within our three parish boundaries. To accomplish our mission, these subcommittees are proposing next steps in a collaborative effort among the three parish schools to foster the next generation of Catholic education.

While the discussions and planning continue, it is clear that this proposal of collaboration among the three parishes to develop an improved system is desired based upon the overwhelming calls for this movement throughout the parish survey process. With parishioners from each of the three parishes working together, the academic, governance, budgeting and marketing issues have been proposed.

 

Education Proposal
Our three schools come together with intentions of building a new and improved school system that is rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ and is focused on preparing our students for success spiritually, intellectually and socially. With this in mind, we have established five core values that we feel are important for the success of this new system from a curriculum perspective: Faith Formation, Academic Excellence, Community, Social Justice, and Stewardship. We present our Instructional program on the following pages:

Underlying Principles of Education

  • Catholic Identity - Evangelize our faith by developing within each child a personal relationship with Christ - fostering a specifically Catholic identity. Our Catholic faith is infused throughout the day in every aspect of activity and curriculum.
  • Technology - High level of student and teacher technology integration in all subjects at all grade levels.
  • Instruction - High quality instruction based on latest researched best practices. The new staff of educators will use a variety of instructional methods to reach all types and levels of learners.
  • Assessment - Measure what matters most; Diagnose students' strengths/weaknesses so adjustments can be made to future instruction; Utilize a variety of formal and ongoing assessments to measure student learning.

Key Component within our Curriculum

  • Mathematics - Students will work to develop the analytical mind within each child through the application of the principles of mathematics to real world situations. Students will learn to think creatively, logically, and resourcefully to solve problems.
  • Communications Arts - Students will develop as lifelong learners who can effectively research in appropriate ways, read and think critically, and write and communicate effectively.
  • Social Studies - Students will develop an understanding that our past helps create who we are. Students will leave understanding their role as responsible, value-centered citizens of the community and the world with a global understanding and respect for cultural diversity.
  • Science - Students will learn about the principles of science in an inquiry and discovery-based program that encourages students to learn through direct observation of and experimentation in the world around them. Our program will incorporate faith and an understanding of our role as stewards of the earth and our natural world.
  • Foreign Language - Students will be introduced to a foreign language, leading them each year toward greater communication using this language. The program will foster cultural awareness at all grade levels.
  • Fine Arts - Students will develop skills in music, performing, and visual arts. Through this immersion, students will develop an appreciation for the arts as well as learning to use fine arts as a medium for effective communication.
  • Physical Education/Health - Students will develop respect for the human body as expressed through a commitment to health and wellness, promoting healthy values and a lifetime commitment to physical fitness.

Proposed Collaborative Model
The current model being evaluated would involve 1 middle school that would be supported by two K-5th grade programs. The creation of a central middle school would:

  • Allow our system to put the right people in the right positions thus making it a better program,
  • Offer larger class sizes to assist in social development,
  • Ease the transition to larger high school classes with larger middle school classes,
  • And retain Catholic education on each campus.

Currently, we are proposing that K - 5th would be located at Our Lady of Providence campus and St. Michael the Archangel campus feeding into a middle school, 6th - 8th, at the Annunciation campus. Each campus would retain the Pre-Kindergarten programs serving children ages 3 and 4 years.

 

Finance Proposal
The Finance Subcommittee, comprised of members from all three parishes, was tasked with developing a budget to determine the general feasibility of the proposed collaboration plan.

Once the Education Subcommittee developed their vision for the educational program of the combined school system, the Finance group proposed a 3-year budget plan based on what it would take to provide the specific educational components of the proposals.

The resulting budget, which included a middle-of-the-road enrollment projection and a tuition structure very similar to what the schools have today, indicated the proposal was not only feasible, but had the potential to reduce each parish's educational investment.

Key Components of Budget:

  • Enrollment - Assumes year 1 enrollment of 300 students (approximate attrition rate of 17% vs. today's total for all three parishes....in line with typical school combinations). Enrollment assumed to increase each year
  • Tuition - Would be similar to what families are currently paying.
  • Personnel - Teachers, aides, and other personnel based on proposed programs.
  • Fund Raising - Conservative assumptions compared to Annunciation's recent experience.
  • Director of Development - New position to generate additional funds.
  • RESULT - Estimated annual parish investment in education of $250-300k for each parish year 1. Annunciation's investment in the 2009-2010 school year was $437k.

Marketing Proposal
The purpose of this committee is to communicate to multiple segments and remain transparent with our intentions and initiatives. Below outlines the proposed segments for targeting today and in the upcoming years:

  • Current Parish School Families - it is our obligation to present clear, concise, unified, and transparent communications about all aspects of the new school system.
  • Current Parish Families (without school children) - it is our obligation to communicate clearly that Catholic education will remain on each parish's campus and that their continued support of Catholic education to our children is needed through their investments. Parish-based organizations and events will still remain within each parish.
  • Current Parish Families (with non-school children) - it is our obligation to reach out to this segment and invite them to explore our new, improved school system. With an improved curriculum and offerings, our new school system will be positioned to compete with other private schools and public schools.
  • Alumni - it is our obligation to invite the alumni of each school to share in the excitement of creating the next century of Catholic education from the foundations of their school. While the name has changed, the campus identity will remain under the parish's name to keep the tradition of Catholic education alive at each facility, as all three locations enjoy a wonderful history.

Communication outlets are currently being established and will continue to provide outreach as we move forward. Currently, we will propose the following means of communications:

  • Website - currently located at www.stlsccs.com/index.html, we have an initial website that will be updated frequently with information from all committees as we continue to grow in preparation for the 2012 - 2013 school year. Each current parish's website will have a link off the home page to the new website for quick and easy reference.
  • Bulletin - updates and milestones will be communicated through bulletin distribution. This includes both inserts and text in the physical bulletin pages.
  • Brochure - as we finalize the curriculum and branding, our next step would be to develop a brochure to distribute physically and electronically to current and prospective students highlighting our offering.
  • Other - as we move toward the open enrollment period, there are several means of marketing we plan to employ including flyers, PR, yard signs, etc. in order to spread the word and invite families to review our facilities, system and academic offering.