Whew! We made it!
Thank you for your support during our accreditation process and site visit. We received our “Report of Findings” after school last Friday and it was excellent. Our Action Plan was accepted without any changes and many times in the report our school program was described as “highly effective”, the highest level awarded. Following the initial reading of the report with the WCEA Commissioner present, she remarked, “Congratulations! This is amazing. I wish all school reports I review were as positive as this one, but it just doesn’t happen.” We were thrilled… If you would like to read the report it will be available on our school website once we receive the final document this week.
So many parents stepped forward to help with tasks during the site visit. We can’t thank them enough. Special thanks to Alitha Regalia for organizing the food and to Robin O’Flaherty, Jayson Levich, Carrie Vanderslice, Kate Youngblood, Kelly Jaeger, Edna Maddalena, Kari Minas, Becky Pelletier and Shelly Carroll for providing delicious food and drink that kept the team well fed.
We will wait until late May to learn of our term of Accreditation but all indications are that we should receive the maximum six-year term.
Congratulations to our 7th and 8th grade mathematicians who recently spent two Saturdays competing in math tournaments held at two of our local Catholic high schools, Seattle Prep and Bishop Blanchet. Representing our school were 8th graders: Charlie Cook , Sofia Kalafatis, Nick Pickel, Cole Roeser, and Jane Turner, along with 7th graders: Will Ayres, Jackson Fields, Hank Flandreau, Dominc Giuzio, Rhys Harnett, Luke Malzewski, Natalia Peng, and Ava Pitts. We are very proud of all of them.
As I mentioned last week, the parish is in the midst of its annual Stewardship Giving campaign. The parish sets its budget for staffing, programs and operating expenses (including the subsidy to the school) according to how much is pledged by the parishioners each year. Contributions by parishioners are the only source of income. The archdiocese does not subsidize the parish. Please review the materials that have been sent to you and prayerfully consider your Sunday collection amount. It can be pledged weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly, and electronic funds transfer (EFT) is available so you don’t have to remember an envelope each week. All families who receive in-parish tuition must have a new or updated card on file each year. Last year’s pledge expires on 12/31/18.
In-parish tuition offers a significant savings—$8,145 per year, per child when compared with the out-of-parish tuition of $10,210. We would hope that a family receiving the benefit of in-parish tuition would make a pledge of at least $25 per week ($1300.00 per year). While this level of giving is not a requirement, it is an expectation that we consider a fair amount for families benefitting from in-parish tuition. Those who are able to commit to more are asked to do so, to help the parish and school meet their needs.
Finally, next Tuesday, November 20th, the Pacific Science Center, “Science on Wheels” will be bringing a day of physics to our school. We will have an all-school assembly, individual classroom workshops and a physics exhibit with numerous hands-on activities in the library. Thank you to our wonderful SCRIP program for providing the funds to bring this day of Science to our school! The kids love it and we couldn’t do it without the revenue from SCRIP.
Have a great week!
