Although students will be enjoying their Summer vacation starting at the end of the month, the school
will be a fury of activity beginning June 1st.
We received approval from the Village Building Department [including
the Fire Department] to proceed with our plans to move the Computer Lab to the second floor of the Annex [old Convent].
This involves minor electrical and heating work as well as an outside stairway for ingress and egress.
Students will enter through the stairway rather than going through the Kindergarten area.
We will need
12 more computers so an entire class can be instructed at the same time. We were fortunate in that the PTU and
Wagner Machine [through the courtesy of Courtney Dannemiller] have already underwritten the cost of two computers; hence,
we need only ten more. The President will continue to seek out other donors, either corporate or private.
With our new Science and Math series, having access to the Computer Lab as a class will be necessary since many of the newer
delivery systems for both subjects require computer support. Teachers will be able to take the entire class to the Lab
when appropriate for the material being presented.
We had originally hoped we could have subscribed to a
Math program that could be beamed to parents as well as students so the parents would have immediate access to what is being
taught and HOW it is being taught. Unfortunately, the cost was prohibitive, but, with a bit of creativity, we might
be able to construct a program to effect this, albeit on a local basis rather than through the publisher. Details must
still be studied.
With the present Computer Lab moving, we will use that room for the new music room. The
music teacher is excited about this since she presently must teach in the gym where there is not the privacy she needs since
so many activities are always in progress around her.
Work on the renovation will begin as soon as the students
are no longer present and will be provided by parishioners who have volunteered their services or will charge as little
as possible for materials.
Also, the Library will be doubled in size by expanding into a room in
the basement [adjacent to the present Library] of the Convent that is presently used for storage. As is the case
with all of us in our own homes, many of the items in storage have been there for years and have limited or no usefulness
left. The Library expansion is essential to the expanded programs we will have in the Language Arts, Science and Mathematics.
This will be particularly advantageous for the Language Arts program since we will be publishing a school newspaper on a regular
basis. The first issue of the paper will be ready for distribution this week.
In the main building,
the PTU is going to paint the entire hallway to cover the institutional green that has been the standard for school colors
for decades. [To those who precede green, we admit that green was a giant step over the two-tone light and dark
brown of yester-Century.] There are suggestions the color will be decorator colors that comply with the safety standards
prescribed by the Wayne County Health Department. Again, the only cost will be the paint, since the PTU will supply
the labor as it did with the lunch room. [Incidentally, the new tables for the lunch room have arrived and are now in
place. The old tables were sold for $5.00 each and were nearly gone by the end of the first day we advertised them.
The new tables came at NO cost to the school nor the PTU; the Diocese has a fund that covers lunch room furniture. As
a result, we were given about $2300 worth of tables for free.]
Also, in the main building, we will beautify
the front entrance by treating the wall by the lunch room [the first thing one sees when entering] with either a mural, an
arrangement of the statuary presently on the walls of the entrance-way or an arrangement of historical scenes depicting the
history of the school from 1862. Additionally, with the permission of the Finance Committee, we will increase the wattage
of the lights in the present fixtures to add an inviting brightness to the entire building. We want the first step into
the building to say "Welcome, we are really glad you're here."
The present office hosts a continuous
line of students, parents, visitors, teachers and anything else that walks. Although we cannot enlarge it, we are going
to redesign it so it also blares a welcome to anyone entering. To do this, we are going to treat the cement block walls
with a vinyl covering that makes the walls look as if they are perfectly smooth. After the covering is installed, it
can be painted or papered, whichever is chosen. We already have a person who will underwrite this portion of the renovation.
Then, we will replace some of the cupboard/shelving, a change that will result in improved efficiency.
When the students return in August, they will be greeted by a new-school look that will give them an uplift from
the moment they enter, while they excite their minds with several new curricular delivery systems we have planned.
We have received several applications for the Principalship, among which are some that describe promising candidates.
We will begin the interviews beginning the week of May 26th and will probably conclude them by the second week in June.
When the Committee [comprised of parents -- chosen from those who volunteered, teachers, the President,the Pastor and a Diocesan
representative] makes its final decision, we will have a reception for the parents to meet him/her. During the Summer,
the new choice will make contact -- either by phone or in person -- to every family, providing time permits. It
might be necessary for him/her to do as the President did when he arrived, i.e., to hold meetings with about twenty families
at a time. We will share details as they present themselves. The important feature we want to emphasize is that
the school and the family are one in spirit: You are the first teachers; we are the second, prepared to provide a systematic
and professional strategy to fulfill your child's education. We must all be together and need to have a free and
respectful vehicle of communication between us with our ONLY focus being the child.
Please keep up the prayers;
we can't move to the next second without God's permission.
