Friday Focus
October 10, 2014
Have a GREAT Friday!
I am again hearing lots of positive comments about the "One School, One Book" program that we're hosting again this year. For those of you who don't know, this year's book is "The Cricket in Times Square" and you can even watch and listen to Mr. Hale read a chapter at https://sites.google.com/site/crickettimesquare/chapter-8. I read Chapter Nine--and I'd like no comments about the fact that my chapter had to do with food!
We recently had 450 students and over 40 staff members take an online survey about technology use at school and at home. Thanks to those of you who participated in this survey. I will meet with our technology committee in the near future to discuss the results and share some of those results with you, our board, and our parents. We will do the survey again in the spring to measure the progress that we've made.
Hard to believe that our fall "seasons" are finishing in the next few weeks. Our girls golf team qualified for state last Tuesday at districts;, our softball team (a co-operative program with NPS and LHNE) plays its district yesterday and today. Cross-country districts are next Thursday at home, then volleyball and football will be nearing their district contests. Our fall music concert is set for October 26. Busy time for all! Good luck to our teachers and coaches, our athletes and musicians.
Fund for NC
In a nutshell, we give out $150,000 in tuition assistance to our families. Nearly one in four of our families receive some sort of assistance. We receive about $46,000 from Children's Scholarship Fund (for students in K-8) and the Omaha Archdiocese Educational Fund (students in 9-12).
Quick math shows us that we're giving out more than $100,000 than we bring in. I'm no accountant, but I'd have to say that's NOT good!
In the past, we'd roll up a huge debt and then have a capital campaign to pay off the debt and have a little left over to cover the debt for 2-3 more years. Then, we'd repeat the process.
We have to get out of this cycle. That's why we're trying to do a more efficient job of tracking expenses. And we also have to try to increase our income. That's where the Fund for NC comes in.
We understand that our goal of $175,000 by June 30, 2015 may be unreachable this year. We're up against a number of factors: this is a new program, we're just coming off of a capital campaign, we have the Archbishop's Ignite the Faith campaign. It's a lot on our plates!
All I want from you today is to understand a little better about what The Fund for NC is and to be able to tell people who ask you that this money will be used:
1. to keep tuition from rising too quickly
2. to provide tuition assistance dollars to families who qualify for assistance.
When I read #4, I was reminded of the time we played the "SHAKE" video in the commons area of the elementary school. People couldn't stop watching that video. I remember I had to shut it off so I could go home! Click below to view the 20 ideas.
Tips for Parent/Teacher Conferences
And we MUST accomplish #5!! We HAVE to show that we care about students. Even if eats up the majority of the conference time. If there are more difficult issues that you need to talk about, schedule them with the parent on a different day/time. Chances are, you'll never resolve a "difficult issue" in a 10-15 minute conversation, anyway.
Percussionists perform after the parade
Celebrate NC
We will treat you to burgers and chips around 6 PM and then you can see the unveiling of the new Legacy Wall in the Parish Center about 6:30 PM.
We will have more information and reminders in the next couple of weeks!