Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This past Tuesday, St. Charles Borromeo School welcomed back our students for the start of another academic year. It’s always a welcome sign when school is back in session and the halls come alive with the sounds of learning and fun from students and teachers alike. While it does seem that we were just saying goodbye for the summer break, I’m looking forward to the year ahead. And I hope that’s the case for our families and our faculty as well.
As a pastor, there are certain questions that tend to come up fairly often. How long have you been here and how much longer will you be staying? When are confessions? But by and large, I would guess that the most common one I get is: How is the school doing?
And so, if you’ll allow me, I’d like to address that very question. In short, the school is doing quite well. Over the last several years, we’ve seen some turnover, both in terms of leadership and in the faculty, but here today, we have wonderful, dedicated individuals at all levels; from the principal, to the teachers, some of which are well established and others are new this year, to the support staff as well. I’ve been in situations where that hasn’t always been the case, but I’m quite pleased and confident with where St. Charles is in terms of those working here. And the numbers bear that out. With any parochial school, enrollment is the lifeblood that sustains our success. While we’re far from our historic highest number of students, we’re quite healthy in today’s reality. We have a full PreK program which is approximately 90 students and a good numbers for single classes in our K-8, roughly around 180 overall to bring our total to 270 or so.
You can be quite comfortable at those numbers and we have over the last several years continued to bring new students into grades beyond kindergarten. In terms of longer range goals and continuing to strengthen the school, we are continuing to pursue the idea of an endowment as well as investigate expanding the PreK program with additional class space. We are also still looking into enriching our current curriculum by incorporating elements of a liberal arts or classical model. While we’ll be the first in Burlington County to take this step, there are two other schools in the Diocese, specifically Monmouth County who are also in the midst of moving in this direction. More information about that will be communicated as certain opportunities arise to learn more about it.
And so, with all of that said, at the risk of pride, I feel very good about where our school is. It’s a good school, filled with wonderful people, and has the right goal of educating students about the Truth, Jesus Christ. I believe we are truly blessed to be part of St. Charles Borromeo School.
Peace and Goodness,
Fr. Dan
Recent Comments