An article in the Rochester City Newspaper questions the long term viability of even the remaining 11 schools in the Diocesan school system. It's interesting reading.
Click here for the article
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Our Documents Are Online...
Check out the "Important Documents" link on the left hand side of the page (below the "Blog Archive"). There are links to the meeting minutes from the two group meetings, along with the marketing PowerPoint presentation put together by the R.I.T. students. They are there in their native Microsoft formats. I hope to have them up in Adobe Acrobat format (PDF) soon, so those without the Microsoft Suite can view them also.
*** UPDATE: PDFs are now uploaded. Thanks to Jim Stack! ***
*** UPDATE: PDFs are now uploaded. Thanks to Jim Stack! ***
A Quick, Unscientific Poll.
I added a quick poll to the bottom of the page on the left. After reading the minutes from Tuesday's meeting I saw the idea of current students paying a higher tuition for a year or two to keep the school in the black while the student population is increasing. So I thought that I would throw that idea out and see what the masses think. Scroll down and give you opinion to our unscientific poll.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Meeting Tonight!
Tonight, Tuesday January 29th, there will be a School Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting in the teachers lounge. ALL are invited to attend. Please bring your ideas after digesting last weeks' meeting. Let's keep the momentum going!
Bishop's letter in the Rochester D&C...
Bishop Matthew Clark was a guest essayist in the Rochester D&C yesterday, with an article entitled "Closing 13 schools is the way to save the others, cut tuition".
Read the article here.
Read the article here.
Monroe County Catholic Schools Open House Schedule..
The schedule for elementary school open houses is on the Diocesan web page.
No need to go looking, here is a link
No need to go looking, here is a link
Catholic Alternatives
Since most of the information we have and will continue to receive will be from the Diocese and about other Diocesan Schools, I thought I would try to collect up some information on the non-diocesan schools.
Archangel School: Open houses will be held at Archangel School, 95 Stanton Lane, Irondequoit, from 10 a.m. to noon, Tuesday 2/7 and Thursday 2/9, as well as from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Feb. 7. For more information, call the school at (585) 426-5990. I can't find a website for the school, but there is a D&C guest essay here.
Nazareth Hall Elementary: There are "prospective family" meetings February 7th (7:00 PM)and 12th (6:00 PM). For more information, see their website.
Archangel School: Open houses will be held at Archangel School, 95 Stanton Lane, Irondequoit, from 10 a.m. to noon, Tuesday 2/7 and Thursday 2/9, as well as from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Feb. 7. For more information, call the school at (585) 426-5990. I can't find a website for the school, but there is a D&C guest essay here.
Nazareth Hall Elementary: There are "prospective family" meetings February 7th (7:00 PM)and 12th (6:00 PM). For more information, see their website.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
One Heart, One Voice
You may have seen Andrea Colaruotolo O'Neill, a parent from Saint John's of Rochester in Fairport, on the news over the last week. Well, Andrea is starting to organize a single protest place for all displaced families to work together. A website with a petition, a rally, a press conference, a vigil, a massive prayer service, a meeting at the convention center, etc.
Use the Comments link below to post any ideas you may have.
(By the way, click here for one of Andrea's interviews)
Use the Comments link below to post any ideas you may have.
(By the way, click here for one of Andrea's interviews)
SMM Teachers featured in article about job loss
Channel 10 did a story about the 197 teachers who will be out of jobs come June. The article prominently features Saint Margaret Mary School Teachers Joanne Knorr and Tricia Sadler.
Click here for the story
Click here for the story
Thursday, January 24, 2008
What do you want here?
So far, I have been consolidating media reports and such that I can find from around the web into this blog.
What else do you want to do here? Do we want to use this as a sounding board for ideas for our plan to the Diocese? Want to post minutes from our meetings? In addition, I can add Google Ads down the right side of this blog to try to raise a little money. Click the Comments link below and let me know what you think. The more input and feedback we can get here, the better tool we can make this for everyone.
What else do you want to do here? Do we want to use this as a sounding board for ideas for our plan to the Diocese? Want to post minutes from our meetings? In addition, I can add Google Ads down the right side of this blog to try to raise a little money. Click the Comments link below and let me know what you think. The more input and feedback we can get here, the better tool we can make this for everyone.
Bob Lonsberry's Video blog..
Bob Lonsberry, local conservative radio talk-show host, has a great Bobcast on the Wham 1180 website. Check out his Bobcast below.
Click here for the video
Click here for the video
Vigil at Saint John's of Fairport
Video at Channel 13 Site, from Wednesday 11/23, 11:00 PM news :
Click here for the video
At the end of the vidoe, our Meeting at SMM School is also mentioned.
Click here for the video
At the end of the vidoe, our Meeting at SMM School is also mentioned.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Doug Mandelaro, Diocese spokesman, wants to meet?
From the WHAM 1180 Article:
Click here for the article
The Rochester Catholic Diocese says it wants to hear from people who might be affected by the recent announcement that 13 Catholic schools in Monroe County will be closing. The Diocese is putting together a team of its top officials, and it hopes to meet with smaller groups like principals, pastors, and parish parent representatives. Diocese spokesman Doug Mandelaro says it's gotten a number of proposals from parishes about ways to save their school. He says, "whole purpose here is to hear them out, see if these plans are viable, no guarantees, but we obviously want to hear these proposals and ideas." Mandelaro says this has been an incredibly painful situation for people. He says Bishop Matthew Clark knows what they are going through. Meantime, it's not known, at this point, whether Bishop Clark will appear at any of these meetings.
Click here for the article
The Rochester Catholic Diocese says it wants to hear from people who might be affected by the recent announcement that 13 Catholic schools in Monroe County will be closing. The Diocese is putting together a team of its top officials, and it hopes to meet with smaller groups like principals, pastors, and parish parent representatives. Diocese spokesman Doug Mandelaro says it's gotten a number of proposals from parishes about ways to save their school. He says, "whole purpose here is to hear them out, see if these plans are viable, no guarantees, but we obviously want to hear these proposals and ideas." Mandelaro says this has been an incredibly painful situation for people. He says Bishop Matthew Clark knows what they are going through. Meantime, it's not known, at this point, whether Bishop Clark will appear at any of these meetings.
Diocesan Press Release..
Here is the actual press release from the diocese on the task for findings. For what it's worth.
Click for Press Release at DOR Website
Click for Press Release at DOR Website
First 'Parents of SMM School' Meeting
Tonight, Mr. Marty Swenson, Principal, held a meeting for parents interested in submitting a plan to the Diocese of Rochester to keep Saint Margaret Mary School opened. There was a lot of emotion tonight, as it was one of the first times for many of us parents to really speak out. Ideas were taken for how to develop the plan (I hope to post them here, if anyone wants to e-mail them to me). Next meeting is the SAC Meeting, Tuesday, January 29th at 6:30 PM in the teachers lounge.
If anyone has items they would like to post here, or if you would like to be a blog author here, shoot me an e-mail. Let's get as much information as we can up here
If anyone has items they would like to post here, or if you would like to be a blog author here, shoot me an e-mail. Let's get as much information as we can up here
Diocese Officials Speak..
Video and Article on the Channel 10 website:
Click here for the article and video
"I feel it's the best we could do," said Vicar General Joseph Hart while sitting in the Bishop's office at the Diocese.
"We took the data and made the best choices we could," said Hart.
Father Hart and Chief Financial Officer for the Diocese Lisa Passero spoke out Wednesday after five days of major criticism from the community.
It's the first time the Diocese took questions after Bishop Matthew Clark announced the closure of 13 Catholic schools in Monroe County.
"The decision on the specific schools involved a huge amount of detail," said Passero.
She says the Task Force considered the cost per student, enrollment, facility and location.
"It was not an easy process they struggled with these decisions," said Passero. "It was really a balancing act of these factors."
Here's a breakdown of the savings to the Diocese: It will save $11 million in expenses, but $8 million in revenue will be lost. That amounts to a net savings of $3 million. Passero says some of that money will be used to help displaced faculty and staff.
"We will do everything we can to help faculty and staff find positions," said Passero. The Diocese is also offering continued health coverage.
And we confirmed the decision to close the 13 schools is final.
They will not be run by the Monroe County Catholic Schools again.
However, there is a 'but.'
"If people have a plan that seems viable we'll be more than willing both to listen and to explore that," said Hart.
Click here for the article and video
"I feel it's the best we could do," said Vicar General Joseph Hart while sitting in the Bishop's office at the Diocese.
"We took the data and made the best choices we could," said Hart.
Father Hart and Chief Financial Officer for the Diocese Lisa Passero spoke out Wednesday after five days of major criticism from the community.
It's the first time the Diocese took questions after Bishop Matthew Clark announced the closure of 13 Catholic schools in Monroe County.
"The decision on the specific schools involved a huge amount of detail," said Passero.
She says the Task Force considered the cost per student, enrollment, facility and location.
"It was not an easy process they struggled with these decisions," said Passero. "It was really a balancing act of these factors."
Here's a breakdown of the savings to the Diocese: It will save $11 million in expenses, but $8 million in revenue will be lost. That amounts to a net savings of $3 million. Passero says some of that money will be used to help displaced faculty and staff.
"We will do everything we can to help faculty and staff find positions," said Passero. The Diocese is also offering continued health coverage.
And we confirmed the decision to close the 13 schools is final.
They will not be run by the Monroe County Catholic Schools again.
However, there is a 'but.'
"If people have a plan that seems viable we'll be more than willing both to listen and to explore that," said Hart.