Pay to Play

Interesting to see the way the Hoops Madness played out, wouldn't you say?

There was a belief that the older kids weren't interested in the "Race for Education", so an alternative was attempted, but apparently fell short of expectations. In a letter that seemed to indicate someone was really pissed off, the whole thing was scuttled and replaced with only those turning in fund raising sheets getting to play....and there weren't that many of them, either. Certainly not the intent of one of the major spring fund raisers.

Sometimes when you reinvent the wheel it doesn't come out quite as good as the original, and this was a perfect example. What made the "Race for Education", or any fund raiser in any group successful is making it more than a tin cup shake-down for money. BJ (Before Jacono) the race wasn't the focus, but rather the end of a celebration/educational process of the need for physical fitness. Everybody participated, regardless of whether or not they raised enough to ante up to play, and getting the parents to participate was part of how the money got raised.

Another hint...what makes fund raisers successful at elementary schools is NOT as much what the kids want to do as much as how the parents feel about the event, and the purpose of the fund raiser. I overhead someone (a Jacono loyalist) bemoaning the lack of spirit in the school...and as active as this person is it is proof positive that sometimes you can't see the forest from the trees. The lack of participation in this, and other events, means that you are getting more and more people who are simply less excited about the school. They may hang around for a while, but it becomes more of a duty, something to be tolerated but not enjoyed.

Mission and Beliefs

First, here is the text of the report that I've been getting the comments from....

http://www.hcs.pvt.k12.de.us/hcs/News/_zumu_sidebar/Middle%20States%20Report/Middle%20States%20Report.pdf/_top

And I probably should include the mission statement of the school, which is to "provide Christ-Centered Catholic education and educate and nurture their students emotionally, intelectually, and spirtually." The report furtuer assures us that this was compiled after "extensive" polling...which is odd, as I haven't found people who have been polled. I guess it could have been done more than 10 years ago, but it seems...weak, at best. How does it differe from any other Catholic school?

Comments are a bit different, this time, in that I have just one. After reading the academic gobblygook, is it unfair to say that what they are saying is that, yes, you have a mission statement, but it isn't really used?

The visiting team commends:

• The spirit and process of collaboration that took place while designing the mission and belief statements

• The school leadership for including the mission and belief statements in the community handbooks

The visiting team recommends:

• The faculty design a means of incorporating and modeling the school’s mission statement both in the classroom environment and in classroom instruction

• The school mission statement and belief statements be posted and easily accessible on the school’s website
• The mission statement of the school be visible to all visitors in the greeting and entry
areas of each building