schools Archives - Page 72 of 72

Diocesan graduates impress

Posted on June 7, 2018 by Bob Reddy

Bob Reddy – Florida Catholic

In the past month 349 students graduated from four Diocesan schools leaving for the next phase in their lives, armed with a Catholic Education and are leaving behind a legacy that will not be soon forgotten.

Names like Katrina Winkler, Jack Koscho, Isabella McDivitt, Daniel Martin, Channel Wooley, Emma Milbert, Clare Williams, Claire Guernsey, Joseph Dauphinais, are just some of a many that excelled in areas of academics, athletics and service. The combined college scholarship offers for all graduates at Diocesan Catholic High Schools was $26.8 million.

Included here are few of the top academic, athletic and service oriented graduates from Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School, Sarasota; St. John Neumann Catholic High School, Naples; Bishop Verot Catholic High School, Fort Myers; Rhodora J. Donahue Academy, Ave Maria.

Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School

Valedictorian: Katrina Winkler

University of Florida

President of the Mooney Medical Club and National Honor Society; leader of the senior class; Photography Club; Year Book Club; senior captain soccer; volunteered to coach a recreational under eight-year-old soccer team as a sophomore in high school and with Miracle League Club of Manasota.

Salutatorian: Douglas Polk

University of Notre Dame

AP Scholar with Distinction; National Merit Scholarship Letter of Commendation for his high achieving score; Mooney Medical Club, football co-captain; vice president student government organization; volunteer of the Miracle League Club of Manasota serving as a buddy assisting mentally and physically challenged children and adults allowing them the opportunity to play competitive baseball.

Top Athlete: Jack Koscho

Carnegie Mellon University

AP Scholar with the honors award; University of Notre Dame Book award recipient; maintained a 4.0 throughout high school; senior football quarterback; treasurer of NHS; volunteer as after-school peer tutor mentor and assisted teaching young children with autism how to surf.

Top Athlete: Kaitlynn Beckmann

Emmerson College

Basketball, senior captain; track and field; volunteer for the St. Martha Catholic School Girls basketball summer camp program as a counselor to organize and oversee drills, games, and exercises; volunteer for the Manasota Miracle League.

Service: Isabella McDevitt

Marquette University

Varsity soccer, junior and senior captain; Mooney Medical Club; St. Vincent De Paul Community Service club; Earned more than 1,000 hours of community service credit, primarily in developing Sarasota Chapter of Pivotal Directions to bring her peers at Cardinal Mooney High School to help people in Riverton, Jamaica where the community exists in the middle of a landfill surrounded by garbage and debris. Related service included awareness, fundraising, trip planning and other related work.

Service: Lucas Richter

University of North Florida Honors College

Intern for U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan; several community service-based boards including the Boys and Girls Club of Sarasota and the Sarasota Human Services Advisory Council; political debate club president; and co-editor of yearbook.

St. John Neumann Catholic High School

Valedictorian: Daniel Martin

Georgia Tech

National Honors Society; Student Council; Preserving and Researching Ocean Wildlife (PROW); Key Club; Mu Alpa Theta; FGCU Math competitions; Moody Mega Math Competition; 18 AP and 10 honors courses; AP National Scholar; AP Scholar with Distinction; track & field; cross country; tennis, swimming, National Hispanic Recognition Program.

Salutatorian: Andrew Myers

University of Michigan

National Honors Society; Student Council; Salesian Leadership Retreat, Mu Alpha Theta; Scholar Bowl; Peer Ministry; YACHT Club; 12 AP and 10 honors courses; AP Scholar with Distinction; golf captain; soccer; tennis captain.

Top Athlete: Chris “Tank” Kimble

Monmouth College

Football offensive linemen; first team All-District, First Team All Naples Daily News, 2nd Team All-State; Track & Field captain, 5th in state for Shot Put and Discus; Honors Band; Beta Club.

Top Athlete: Chanel Whooley

Jacksonville University

Track & Field captain, high jump, 100m and relays, 1^st Team All-Area Track, District Champion high jump, 5^th place in state for high jump; volleyball; soccer; basketball; Beta Club; YACHT Club; Band/Honors Band; Jazz Band; Honors Choir; Peer Ministry; 10 honors and 2 AP classes.

Service: Emma Milbert

University of South Florida

Student Council; National Youth Leadership Conference; Salesian Leadership Retreat; Beta Club; Ladies of the Mother Frances DeSales Auxiliary to the Homeless; Art Club; volleyball; cheerleading, soccer captain; tennis, Service included: Vacation Bible School; Altar Serving; St. Elizabeth Seton Parish Knights of Columbus functions; Von Liebig Art Center Camp Counselor; Habitat for Humanity; and Neumann Immokalee Service Trip.

Bishop Verot Catholic High School

Summa Cum Laude: Isabella Rodriguez

University of Notre Dame

13 AP and 16 honors classes; Activities: NHS; Life Hacks Club; Academic Quiz Team; Model UN; National Merit Scholarship Program Commended Student; National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar; Florida Bright Futures Academic Scholarship; SWFL Community Foundation Thomson Memorial Scholarship.

Summa Cum Laude: Esaan Azizi

University of Florida

13 AP and 17 honors classes; French Club; Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society; Life Hacks Club, NHS; Catholics in Action; Academic Quiz Team; WHO (We Help Others) Club, National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar, Florida Bright Futures Academic Scholarship, Regis College Presidential Catholic Scholarship, Resident Grant & Sisters of St. Joseph Merit Scholarship, University of Florida Presidential Scholarship.

Top Athlete: Tayli Filla

University of South Florida

Softball, co -captain, shortstop, part of 2016 4A State Championship Team, 1st Team All-Area Fort Myers News-Press. Career .394 batting average, .485 on base percentage, 119 hits, 72 RBI’s, 107 runs.

Top Athlete: Joseph Mera

Samford University

Football, defensive end, co-captain, 4A Defensive Player of the Year, All-Area Honorable Mention & Rotary South All-Star; basketball forward; weightlifting; and Track & Field. Career 141 tackles, 17.6 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Service: Mallory Volz

University of Miami

Summa Cum Laude and with an Honors Diploma as a member of Scholars Academy; Catholic Athletes for Christ; Spanish NHS; Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society, Pre-Med Club, NHS, Student Ambassador, Softball. Service work: with the Scholars Academy and National Honors Society assisted or directed numerous activities in support of the Salvation: volunteer at HealthPark Medical Center; Camp Leader Softball Summer Camp; City of Palms Basketball Tournament Concession; Freshman Retreat; Activities Assistant Volunteer, Gulf Coast Retirement Village.

Service: David Thompson

University of Notre Dame

Summa Cum Laude and with an Honors Diploma as a member of our Scholars Academy; NHS; Student Ambassador; Chess Club; Cross Country; Track & Field. Volunteer Service:
Feed The Homeless, assistant; AFCAAM of Catholic Charities, tutoring; City of Palms Basketball Tournament Volunteer; Special Olympics Volunteer, Assistant Athlete – personally led two athletes to a total of three gold medals and one silver medal over the course of two years in Special Olympics.

Rhodora J. Donahue Academy

Valedictorian: Clare Williams

University of Notre Dame

Graduate of distinction for academic performance, a number of clubs and sports and co-captain of varsity basketball; National Merit Scholarship Finalist; National Honor Society; completed 23-page thesis on the economic implications and ethics of planned obsolescence and the consumer mindset.

Salutatorian: Claire Guernsey

Christendom College

Graduates of distinction with broad academic achievement, service, and involvement in various types of activities; acting in Shakespeare; volunteering in Immokalee; coaching middle school basketball.

Top Athlete: Kaila Joyce

John Carrol University

Summa cum laude graduate; basketball, volleyball, and softball; Shakespeare productions.

Top Athlete: Kenneth Longley

Ave Maria University

Graduate of distinction for outstanding athletics. football captain, basketball and baseball; men’s acapella group, and lead role of Shakespeare production.

Service: Joseph Dauphinais

Benedictine College

An exemplary model of service during his tenure: mission trip in 2016 to Nicaragua interacting with Nicaraguan youth and give them joy; volunteered in Naples coaching a little league baseball team; played in multiple varsity sports and received multiple awards throughout his years in high school.

Donahue Academy graduates

Posted on June 7, 2018 by Bob Reddy

Bob Reddy – Florida Catholic

The final group of Diocesan Catholic High School graduates for 2018 received their diplomas and ceremoniously commenced the next chapter in their lives.

The graduates of the Rhodora J. Donahue Academy in Ave Maria first took part in a Baccalaureate Mass celebrated by Bishop Frank J. Dewane and other priests in the Ave Maria Parish Church.

During the Mass, Bishop Dewane noted that each had been given a gift of a Catholic Education that has fundamentally formed who they are as men and women of God. With a support system of parents, faculty and staff of the Academy, the Parish and the Diocese, the graduates are part of something much greater than themselves and as a result will never be alone in the world.

The graduation ceremony immediately followed the Baccalaureate Mass. Each of the 15 graduates will be going on to college. The group combined to earn $4.05 million in scholarship offers.

Valedictory Address was given by Clare Marie Williams who spoke about the blessings she received by being able to go to a Catholic School. The opportunity provided her with the chance to grow in her faith and gives her great comfort in the knowledge that she is supported by her family, friends, and the Lord. in all that she does.

The diplomas were presented by Academy Principal Dr. Dan Guernsey; Father Cory Mayer, Ave Maria Parish Pastor; and Dr. Kristy Swol, Diocese of Venice Director of Edcuation.

Traditional and Non-traditional Scholarships awarded

Posted on June 7, 2018 by Bob Reddy

By Bob Reddy – Florida Catholic

The 2018 Mary Fran Carroll Scholarships were recently announced by the Catholic Community Foundation of Southwest Florida Inc. This is the second year for the scholarship which was made possible through the Catholic legacy of Mary Fran Carroll and her generous gift to the Foundation.

As a result, seven traditional academic scholarships were awarded to recent high school graduates exclusively from Sarasota County. They are: from Venice High School, Bailey Jordan, Casey Lavalle, Emma Szablowski, and Sarah Zoetman; from Sarasota High School, Matthew Kowalczyk; from Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School, Keri McMahon; and from North Port High School, Samantha Novak. In addition three non-traditional academic scholarships were awarded to adult learners who are returning to school to obtain a degree. They are: Alijah Madkour of Incarnation Parish, Sarasota; Shannon Butler, San Pedro Parish, North Port; and Kristine (Kelli) Ottman, Epiphany Cathedral, Venice.

Matthew Kowalczyk, enrolled at the University of South Florida where he wants to become a physician’s assistant, said in his application that “helping people has been number one for me always. I was taught that in some circumstances it is more important to help others first and then yourself. This scholarship will help me focus on becoming a better student (with more studying time) as well as give me more time to do what I love which is giving back to the community.”

Emma Szablowski plans on majoring in Criminology at Florida State University and chose this particular career path due to her many moves during the last 18 years. Primarily living in the deep south “I have observed numerous situations where individuals were not treated fairly, primarily due to race. I want to make a difference once and for all for such civil rights issues. Also, I believe that a lack of religious life has led the demise of human compassion.”

Kristine “Kelli” Ottman, who was the catechist for the Holy Communion class at Epiphany Cathedral for 17 years, would now like to become a teacher. “My plan to achieve my career goal is to make a difference in the lives of children. I know that creating a strong foundation and a love for learning will offer the best opportunity to children. I have a passion for faith-based teaching. I am confident it builds the foundation for a child’s educational future as well as their character.”

The traditional scholarships were open to Sarasota County graduating seniors and recent high school graduates from private or public high schools who wish to pursue an undergraduate degree at any accredited college or university. In addition, the non-traditional scholarships were open to adult learners who were returning to school to obtain a college degree or vocational certification after being out of high school for several years.

The scholarships are named for a successful businesswoman who dedicated her life to her faith, to fun and to charity. Mary Fran Carroll retired as an executive with Northern Trust Co. in the late 1980s, before serving as CEO of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch for more than a decade. In that role, Carroll was responsible for much of the development of Lakewood Ranch, including the Sarasota Polo Club and the Lakewood Ranch Corporate Business Park.

Carroll gave a gift of $3.6 million to establish the scholarship fund to help others achieve career success through her legacy, explained Catholic Community Foundation Executive Director Michael Morse. Carroll was committed to providing opportunities to those individuals willing to work hard to make a difference in the community. This is the second year the $3,000 scholarships were awarded.

Scholarship applicants were asked to complete an online application and financial needs assessment in addition to submitting a clearly articulated career plan describing their chosen course of study. Traditional students needed to be accepted into an accredited college or university and non-traditional students needed to be accepted into an accredited college, university or vocational program.

The Foundation Scholarship Committee carefully reviewed applications before determining the worthiest applicants. The scholarship can be used for tuition, books and fees. Scholarships may also be renewed annually up to a total of five academic years for students maintaining a minimum unweighted GPA of 3.2 or greater, while also making progress toward their career goal. Scholarship recipients are strongly encouraged to complete an ethics course at some point in their college career.

May dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Posted on May 8, 2018May 11, 2018 by Bob Reddy

Bob Reddy – Florida Catholic

The Blessed Virgin Mary’s path of faith and hope serves as an example to all.

This is just one of the reasons that the Universal Church dedicates the Month of May to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The month serves as an opportunity to reflect upon the season of the Liturgical Year which largely corresponds with the fifty days of Easter. Therefore, time should be taken to reflect on Our Lady’s participation in the Paschal mystery and in Pentecost at which point the Church has its beginning.

Pope Francis said “the message of hope contained in God’s blessing was fully realized in a woman, Mary, who was destined to become the Mother of God, and it was fulfilled in her before any other creature.” The Holy Father added that “our journey of faith is the same as that of Mary, and so we feel that she is particularly close to us.”

For this month of May, Pope Francis has called for lay people to use their creativity for the good of others, especially the most disadvantaged. The Holy Father applauded laity who bravely provide “reasons for hope to the poorest, to the excluded, to the marginalized… Let us pray together this month that the lay faithful may fulfill their specific mission, the mission that they received in Baptism, putting their creativity at the service of the challenges of today’s world.”

May is also the time when young Catholics often receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion for the first time. Parishes and Catholic Schools in the Diocese have May Crowning ceremonies in which a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is given a crown of flowers. On May 4, St. Martha Catholic School and St. Mary Academy in Sarasota joined together for a Mass and May Crowning which was a public commitment by the students to pray for the intercessions of the Blessed Virgin Mary throughout the month. As part of the crowning ceremony, bouquets of flowers gathered from each classroom were brought forward and placed in vases before the altar and statue of Mary. On May 7, Bishop Frank J. Dewane led a May Crowning prayer service for the staff of the Catholic Center in Venice.

To honor Our Lady in a special way in 2018, the Diocese of Venice Office of Evangelization invites everyone to the May 19 “Walk to Our Lady: A Marian Pilgrimage to the May Crowning.” This will be a 6.6-mile walk and public display of the faith from Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, 1301 Center Road, Venice, to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Retreat Center, 3989 South Moon Drive and will be followed by a May Crowning and lunch. (For more details, see information below.)

The Month of May should also be used as a time to renew a commitment to praying the Mysteries of the Rosary (Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous). Our Lady has 117 titles but selected this title at Fatima: “I am the Lady of the Rosary.” St. Francis de Sales said the greatest method of praying is to “Pray the Rosary.”

On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Dec. 24, 2017, Bishop Dewane, in unity with the priests and faithful of the Diocese of Venice, formally consecrated the Diocese to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The consecration was the culmination of the structured 33-day “Diocesan Advent Journey to Jesus through Mary.” By this Act of Consecration, the faithful confided the Diocese and its good works to Our Lady so as to fulfill more readily the will of her Divine Son for His Church.

Our Lady is an important symbol throughout the Diocese. Our Lady of Mercy is the Patroness of the Diocese of Venice and is the name of a Parish in Boca Grande. In addition, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Retreat Center in Venice bears Her name, and numerous other parishes are named in honor Our Lady including: St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Longboat Key; Our Lady of the Angels, Lakewood Ranch; Our Lady of Grace, Avon Park; Our Lady of Guadalupe, Immokalee; Our Lady of Light, Fort Myers; Our Lady of Miraculous Medal, Bokeelia; Our Lady of Lourdes, Venice; Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Osprey; Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, Sarasota; and Our Lady Queen of Heaven, LaBelle.

Pope Paul VI wrote an encyclical in 1965 citing the Month of Mary devotion as a means of obtaining prayers for peace. May is the month during which the piety of the faithful has especially dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Paul VI wrote, and May is the time for a “moving tribute of faith and love which Catholics in every part of the world [pay] to the Queen of Heaven. During this month Christians, both in church and in the privacy of the home, offer up to Mary from their hearts an especially fervent and loving homage of prayer and veneration. In this month, too, the benefits of God’s mercy come down to us from her throne in greater abundance”

The Christian custom of dedicating the month of May to the Blessed Virgin arose at the end of the 13th century. In this way, the Church was able to Christianize the secular feasts which were to take place at that time. In the 16th century, books appeared and fostered this devotion.

Pope Francis notes the Blessed Virgin Mary has always been present in the hearts, the piety and above all the pilgrimage of faith of the Christian people. “Our pilgrimage of faith has been inseparably linked to Mary ever since Jesus, dying on the Cross, gave her to us as our Mother, saying: ‘Behold your Mother!’ These words serve as a testament, bequeathing to the world a Mother. From that moment on, the Mother of God also became our Mother! The “woman” became our Mother when she lost her divine Son. Her sorrowing heart was enlarged to make room for all men and women, whether good or bad, and she loves them as she loved Jesus.”

WALK DETAILS

Walk to Our Lady: A Marian Pilgrimage to the May Crowning: Saturday, May 19, 7:30 a.m. check-in, 8 a.m., walk, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, 1301 Center Road, Venice. In a public display of Faith and Devotion to the Blessed Mother, participants will process while praying the rosary 6.6 miles to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Retreat Center, 3989 S. Moon Drive, Venice. Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office will escort. Water, granola bars and bathrooms along the way. May Crowning prayer service will take place at conclusion of walk. This will be immediately followed by lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers. A bus will be available to provide shuttle transportation back to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. Free, but advanced registration is required at https://dioceseofvenice.org and click on the Upcoming Events link. Contact Gail Ardy, ardy@dioceseofvenice.org, or Susan Laielli, laielli@dioceseofvenice.org, 941-484-9543.

Hour of Remembrance reflects on Holocaust

Posted on April 23, 2018 by Bob Reddy

Bob Reddy – Florida Catholic
Many people in the United States observe Yom HaShoah, which is also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day. It commemorates the lives and heroism of the Jewish people who were slaughtered by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945.

Here in the Diocese of Venice, Bishop Frank J. Dewane hosts an annual interreligious gathering of Yom HaShoah: An Hour of Remembrance. This year the event was held on April 15 at Epiphany Cathedral, Venice, just a few days after April 11, the traditional Remembrance Day.

The powerful hour includes a symbolic reading the names of infamous concentration camps, a moment of silence, the lighting of 13 memorial candles, a guest speaker, presentations, music, and the commissioning of high school students to be a continuing voice for those lost in Holocaust.

Afterwards the guests went to a reception in the Parish Hall where there were also displays of research projects done by middle schoolers from Epiphany Cathedral and St. Martha Catholic schools. These covered topics of research on the stories of those whose lives were taken too soon, or of the incredible story of survivors.

Lisa Arnold said she had never been to a Holocaust Remembrance at a Catholic Church before and was impressed by the entire commemoration. “Millions were lost, but people forget. They forget the voices that were silenced. It is so good for us all to remember such a terrible time in the world. It can never happen again.”

Bishop Dewane spoke briefly about the need for such gatherings which bring together members of the Catholic and Jewish communities to recommit to the promotion of peace and solidarity among all peoples.

Using the example of a recent poll, the Bishop noted that two-thirds of American millennials (18-34), and 41 percent of adults as a whole, cannot identify what Auschwitz is. Another 22 percent of millennials said they haven’t heard of the Holocaust or are not sure whether they’ve heard of it. The numbers are discouraging, meaning the Holocaust is starting to fade for the collective memory.

“As generations inevitably die off, it is our responsibility to continue to raise awareness and that task has become ever greater,” Bishop Dewane continued. “Unless we do something and say something, those numbers will continue to rise and history will be repeated.”

One way to help avoid this is the ongoing effort of the Catholic Schools in the Diocese to have comprehensive program to educate middle and high school students on the Holocaust through various means, explained Dr. Kristy Swol, Diocese Director of Education. “It is hoped that by learning about the Holocaust, they learn about the past and also how to protect the future,” Swol concluded.

This year the featured guest speaker Auxiliary Bishop James Massa of Diocese of Brooklyn, and past-Executive Director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue and later Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and a member of the Joint Working Group between the Holy See and the World Council of Churches.

Bishop Massa spoke about the need to properly develop one’s conscience to respond to injustices such as the Holocaust. Using the example of the White Rose Society, a group of university students who were publicly against the atrocities that the Nazi regime and did so by distributing leaflets at their school and throughout Munich, Germany in early 1943.

Bishop Massa noted that the courage of the group, of whom the most well-known being Sophie Scholl, is remembered for appealing to the conscience of their countryman. Sadly, for their actions, Sophie and others were executed by guillotine. Today they stand as martyrs who show that conscience really is essential in opposing evil and restoring justice in the world.

“Interfaith dialogue has among its great truths, the belief that we can share the richness of our respective traditions and strengthen our own identity within our own tradition,” Bishop Massa stressed. “Christians and Jews need one another. And together we need the followers of the world’s great religions to plant new seeds of interreligious understanding so that the soil of the 21st Century leaves no room for violence to sow. Heart must speak to heart. That is what we need today; to enter the conscience. Why do we do this? So that the world might be healed.”

Cardinal Mooney to reopen Tuesday

Posted on February 26, 2018March 5, 2018 by Bob Reddy

Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School in Sarasota will resume classes on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at its normally scheduled start time after being closed Monday, Feb. 26, while the Sarasota Police Department investigated a concerning social media post.

In a letter sent to parents on Sunday, Feb. 25, Diocese of Venice Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Dr. Kristy Swol, alerted Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School parents to a Snapchat post and closed the school out of an abundance of caution.

The Sarasota Police Department continues to investigate the social media post but confirmed Monday morning that “there is no reason to believe there is a threat to Cardinal Mooney” at this time.

The safety and security of all students in the Diocese of Venice in Florida is always a top priority, and the Diocese appreciates the Sarasota Police Department’s immediate response to this matter.

Below is a letter from Dr. Swol sent to all Cardinal Mooney families on the evening of Feb. 26 which goes into detail about what students and parents can expect when the school reopens tomorrow (Feb. 27).

February 26, 2018

Dear Cougar Families,

Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School values its students and the commitment by the parents to providing a Catholic education, rooted in the Gospel Values of Jesus Christ. The school treasures this relationship and appreciates you entrusting your children to its care.

As is known, the school was closed today, Monday, February 26, 2018, due to an alleged concern regarding a threat to the community. The Sarasota Police Department investigated the social media post and confirmed Monday morning that “there is no reason to believe there is a threat to Cardinal Mooney.” This is great news for our school and community.

On Tuesday, February 27, 2018, the school will be open. For parental peace of mind, the Sarasota Police Department will ensure that an officer is present on the campus during the remainder of the week. Further, Cardinal Mooney will adopt added safety measures beginning tomorrow. These measures include:

Additional faculty/staff will be present at the main entrances to the school during arrival and dismissal times. The additional staff will be in place to monitor those entering and leaving the school.
All gates will be locked at the start of the school day, including the main gate through which visitor’s access the School Office.
A camera/doorbell will be placed at the main gate by Tuesday afternoon, so that anyone wishing access to the school must first announce themselves to the School Office. A staff member will then escort the individual to and from the School Office. Until the completion of the doorbell installation, a staff member will be stationed at the front gate.

The school, as you know, is in the final phases of the Selby Center renovations. These renovations will update the school’s security cameras, gates, fencing, and create a single point of entry for the campus. The anticipated completion of the project is Easter. The contractors have been asked to expedite the remaining construction so as to provide an earlier completion of the new School Office.

As these new safety measures are enacted, your help is requested to limit non-essential traffic at the school. Going forward, please do not bring forgotten homework, lunches, or other items to the school, as the gates will not be opened for these items. If lunches are forgotten, a meal will be provided to the student. Please work with your children to ensure they have the items they need for the day. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

While these past days have been stressful for the entire Cougar community, please know that your prayers, care, and concern are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your dedication to and concern for the community. Mooney is a community who lives by God’s grace and works to ensure the safety and solidarity of all.

May our Heavenly Father bless you during this Lenten Season.

Yours in Christ,

Kristy S. Swol, Ed. D.

Director of Education

Superintendent of Schools