January 5, 2006

 

Dear Parish Members,

 

In March of 2005 the pastors of Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, St. Justin Martyr and St. Mary Magdalene announced a feasibility study to examine ways that we can begin greater sharing and collaboration between and among our schools.

 

Our parish communities are committed:

¤       To provide daily Catholic faith formation for our students in a safe and supportive Catholic Christian environment;

¤       To offer an academic program of excellence that is challenging for all students, which supports their individual growth and that exceeds the basic educational standards of the State of Ohio;

¤       To assure a stable financial foundation for the parish and affordable tuition for families;

¤       To provide tuition aid to families with financial need;

¤       To attract new students to enjoy the benefits of a quality Catholic education.

 

Our work began on Thursday, March 10, 2005 with our initial meeting.  The study was comprised of an Executive Council, and the following committees: Communications; Catholicity & Prayer; Finance; Facilities and Academic Programs.  Each parish brought two individuals to each of these committees.  The committees have worked hard to bring together a lot of information over the last months.  The executive council met on Monday, July 18th to review the work of the committees.  At that meeting Immaculate Conception Parish announced they had decided not to participate in any further discussion at this time.  In October 2005 the parish communities of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St. Justin Martyr and St. Mary Magdalene had reconvened to discuss how these three schools could possibly collaborate in the future to meet the above objectives.  We met again in November and at our December 13, 2005 meeting we decided that we need to move forward with a school consolidation.

 

For the school year of 2006-2007 St. Justin Martyr and St. Mary Magdalene schools will enter into a school consolidation.  Our Lady of Mount Carmel will continue to operate as its own parish school.  We are moving to a consolidated school so that we can keep Catholic Education affordable to both parents and parishes; to ensure that Catholic Education is available in our area for those families who seek it; and to create a more secure foundation by having two parishes supporting one school.  St. Justin Martyr, St. Mary Magdalene and Our Lady of Mount Carmel will continue in dialogue for the future.

 

The consolidated school will be operated at St. Justin Martyr.  St. Justin Martyr school building is newer and requires less cost to operate than St. Mary MagdaleneÕs.  Both parishes will have a school, but they will be housed in one building.  St. Mary Magdalene will continue to host preschool.  We pray that this sharing and move toward greater collaboration will allow us to meet the above objectives and also allow us to be a witness to the Gospel of Jesus, who over and over again invites us to share what we have and to be blessed in our sharing.  We also need to remember that the Diocese of Cleveland is one church with many parish communities striving to bring to life the Gospel.  We are all stronger when we work together for the good of the Gospel.

 

Please join us for an information meeting on Thursday, January 19, 2006 at St. Mary Magdalene Church at 7:00 p.m. and a school open house at St. Justin Martyr on Sunday, February 5, 2006 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  A pancake breakfast will be served at 8:00 a.m.

 

Sincerely,

 

Rev. Kevin Liebhardt                                                         Rev. David McCafferty     

St. Justin Martyr                                                                 Our Lady of Mt. Carmel   

 

Rev. Ted Lucas, Rev. Ron Wearsch, Sr. Joan Franklin, OP, Mrs. Darlene Bednarz

St. Mary Magdalene

 

 

 

Summary of School Consolidation 2006-2007 School Year

  1. Stewardship & Spirituality

         We desire to be good stewards with parish, school and endowment resources.  We need to preserve what has been so graciously given to us as long as we can.

 

         We pray that this sharing and move toward greater collaboration will allow us to be a witness to the Gospel of Jesus, who over and over again invites us to share what we have and to be blessed in our sharing.

 

         We also need to remember that the Diocese of Cleveland is one church with many parish communities striving to bring to life the Gospel.

 

        We are all stronger when we work together for the good of the Gospel.

  1. The Announcement

         For the School Year 2006 – 2007, St. Justin Martyr and St. Mary Magdalene schools will enter into a consolidation.

 

        The consolidated school will operate at the St. Justin Martyr location.  It has been determined that St. Justin Martyr is a newer and more compact school and will require less cost to operate.

  1. Benefits

         Consolidation allows us to keep Catholic education affordable to both parents and parishes.

 

         Ensures that Catholic education is available in our community for those families who seek it.

 

        Creates a more secure foundation by having two parishes supporting one school.

 

        More students all for additional curricular classes like band and foreign language.

 

        St. Justin MartyrÕs kitchen is large enough to provide daily hot lunch program.

  1. History

        School consolidation and regional schools has been something we have been discussing for over ten years.

 

         Over the past year, the cost benefits of a consolidated school became more apparent to us.

 

         Both schools enrollment have dropped below 200 students. 

 

2005-2006 School Enrollments

 

K

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Total

SMM

22

20

20

22

24

30

11

19

19

187

SJM

19

22

26

19

20

22

27

17

17

189

Total

41

42

46

41

44

52

38

36

36

376