Response
This week our Parish Response Team will be holding two awareness sessions. We hope to accomplish three things with these meetings:
1. Give a brief synopsis of what has gone on thus far. We are aware that some may have been away and missed the pulpit announcements and/or bulletin announcements.
2. Provide you with information regarding the safe environment protocols which the Archdiocese and Parish have in place and will continue to follow.
3. Answer the questions submitted to to the Response Team, via emails, phone calls and in conversations.
As noted above, there will be two meetings at 7PM in the Church Hall. The August 3rdmeeting will be for the parents of our school community. The August 4thmeeting will be for parishioners and the parents of our children in our Religious Education Program. A second meeting will be held closer to the start of the academic year for parents of children in our school. More details will follow as the meeting gets closer.
These will be private meetings for members of the St. Paul Church and school communities only. We respectfully ask that everything said at these private meetings be kept off the record so that people can speak freely. Please continue to pray for everyone and anyone who has been touched by the events of these last few weeks.
Out of Respect for the wishes of our Parents.
We believe that Parents should have the ultimate say on what is communicated to their children and how it is communicated. We have heard from parents that they would prefer not to have their children learn about Fr. Michael's investigation at Mass. Some have even stopped coming to Mass because of their desire not to have these events communicated with their children. We have been trying to be as transparent as possible and that necessitates open communication and occasional pulpit announcements and bulletin articles. After a lot of thought, we are going to make the following promise. From now on at the 9:00 AM Mass, there will be no reference to anything referring to Fr. Michael's investigation from the pulpit by a priest or a member of our Parish Response Team. We can't publish a different bulletin for the 9:00 AM Mass, but it is our hope that resourceful parents can figure out a way to keep their children from reading the bulletin. We hope this helps and we hope to see you back at Mass.
Vandalism - Playground - New guidelines Coming
Over the summer our playground has become a gathering place for children from the neighborhood. They come here and swing on the swings, play basketball and share each others company. Some of the neighbors have complained about them smoking, cutting through their yards and making noise. There has also been some limited vandalism. This morning we got up to find some of the garage windows broken and a considerable amount of blood on the windows and patio behind the garage.
We immediately called the police because of the amount of blood involved. Sadly, in the near future, we will be publishing new rules for the use of our playground and property. I’ll keep you posted.
Parish Project Updates
I can't remember when I brought you up to speed about our parish projects. Here is a list and the where they stand:
Church Doors – Approved by the Archdiocese, and funded by generous donations. The contract was awarded to our parishioner Mr. Robert Fischer. He presented the absolutely best design at the most reasonable cost.
Church Handrails– The handrails in the front of the Church are being brought up to code and moved to a more convenient location right next to the doors. This will make them within reach when a person comes out of the doors.
New Church Air-conditioner --The main condenser and a few other components in the New Church Air-conditioning unit were recently replaced. The unit was almost 23 years old and past its normal life expectancy. We will now have to keep a close eye on the unit for the Old Church. The cost was around $9,000 when all was said and done. The expense was not budgeted for.
The friary drainage problemis being addressed. Once the friary drains are connected to the parking lot catch basin, we will solve the problem of ice forming in the Parish Center parking lot.
In Our School :
New Pre-K Classroom
Our new Pre-K classroom is under construction on the first floor. The wall between the nurse’s office and reading remediation room has come down in order to create necessary classroom space as we open the door to at least 20 more preschool students this fall. The construction includes a “tree house” reading loft! The classroom includes a sink and two restrooms. Its inviting wall colors and two ceiling fans are sure to make this room an absolute delight for the many young children entering Saint Paul School!
New Health Room
The Nurse’s Office has been moved to the old band room. We are currently in the process of opening the wall to allow access into the handicapped accessible lavatory in the main entrance. During school hours, this lavatory will only be accessible through the Health Room. The larger Health Room will allow for more privacy and comfort for our students. The close proximity to the Main Office is an added plus for parents who need to pick up a sick child.
New Learning Center
I am happy to announce the opening of our Learning Center at Saint Paul School! Mrs. Carol Taft and Mrs. Lori Keleher will share the Learning Center space to provide reading and math support for our students. The Learning Center, located in our old computer lab, will retain 8 computers for student use.
Library / Media Center
Although all of our students will still have the same opportunity to use and explore our library and check out books during their library specials with Mrs. McGuire, we will begin to utilize the space as a true Media Center. Fifteen updated and refurbished computers from the old computer lab will be moved to the Media Center for student use. This change allows teachers and students to
utilize the space for Internet-based research and discovery whilesupporting 21st century skills and preparing our students for the future.
The Ladies Restroom in the Church Basement
I apologize for the appearance of the Women's Restroom in the Church basement. Obviously, I never go in there and did not know how it looked until someone pointed it out to me. Our maintenance staff began the project a while ago and it is simply taking too long to get fixed. I have been promised that it will be finished shortly. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Summer Camp
This week our Summer camp had close to 20 campers. I watched them build forts, make and learn about tornadoes in large soda bottles, play on the playground, slide down the water slide, do arts and crafts and play lots of sports. Today I even had the little ones help me weed the garden by the back door of the school. I'm not sure I am going to do that again. They really meant well, but you could say that we had some collateral damage. All in all the kids seem so happy. I asked one little girl if she liked camp and she said, “I love camp. It’s awesome.” She was all smiles. Families are still signing up for a few remaining sessions and several families have asked for more dates. All in all our first attempt at things are going very well.