OLG Newsletter – March 5th

March 5, 2015

Dear OLG Families,

Thanks to everyone who showed up for this year’s annual State of the School presentation! It’s a chance for all of us to communicate with each other about the many successes our school has achieved and challenges that lie ahead in the education of our children. In case you missed it, here are some highlights:

1. Success of Parent Org: Thank you for all you do; what a great auction and other fund- and fun-raisers this year; you are awesome!
2. Accreditation: We’ve worked tremendously hard on our accreditation Self Study and are grateful for this process and in-depth focus on student learning and data-driven instructional and curricular decisions. We had the opportunity to meet our Accreditation Visiting Team recently and look forward to welcoming them back March 24-26 to take a close look at our school in action and review evidence to support our Self Study. Our students tour guides did a terrific job during the team’s pre-visit day, and we were proud of the wonderful feedback we received about them. (The Parent Org is graciously providing hospitality during the visit and has opportunities to sign up to help and earn 2014-15 commitment hours.)
3. Goals: We’ve set robust goals in the areas of: curriculum review; technology; reading; use of student academic performance data; and religion curriculum and assessment. Several of these goals focus on creating systems that will ensure that we are thorough in researching, implementing, and conducting ongoing review and analysis – for example in an ongoing cycle of curriculum review. In the area of reading, we want to ensure the academic success of every student, through extending strong support through the intermediate grades and middle school. In analyzing our reading scores, we recognized that a majority of our students perform in the top quartile, and we’re identifying strategies to ensure that they stay there and meet their ongoing growth goals. Our technology goal will focus on curriculum-driven technology decisions.
4. Surveys: Through our surveys, it was clear that academic excellence and Catholic values are the top reasons for families choosing OLG. Satisfaction with the school was very high overall in these and other areas, including community, staff, and size. In identifying priorities and values, STEM subjects came up multiple times. The staff and School Commission have discussed this extensively and are committed to ensuring that OLG stays strong in these area and keeps growing. We’re excited about the launch of after-school robotics and the intermediate grade robotics offered this spring, as well as our real-world environmental education opportunities. We plan to bring robotics down to the primary grades as well! Our FOSS science program is strong and engaging, and middle school students tie science learning to service and Catholic Social Teaching. The adoption of Math in Focus for K-5 this year has caused us all to stretch, and yet the staff is excited about our students’ ability to articulate math concepts and processes and defend their thinking – and to confidently and competently solve challenging mathematical problems. Susan Sutton, 6-8 math specialist, and I attended informational sessions for the middle school program that is an extension of Math in Focus. The rep told us that their middle school program does not include algebra, and he actually felt that the program we currently use in middle school is challenging and cohesive with Math in Focus and that the transition should be smooth, if we decide to stay with it. We’re still researching and also looking at how we can best use available funds to continue to add enrichment and support throughout the grades, as we gain familiarity with our new curriculum. That process will continue next year. In terms of STEM, we’re also excited about the way technology is used throughout the curriculum, our middle school science fair, some of the coding that is taking place in classrooms, and the training we received this fall in bringing solar energy lessons into the classroom. And…we love that our students get a deep grounding in the Catholic faith and in service, the importance of the arts in our curriculum, and the very strong reading and writing skills that our students have when they graduate – as important in the sciences as in any field, with the demands of reading technical content and writing research articles. As one staff member said, “We teach the STEM processes, and we are so much more than a STEM school.” OLG will also be hosting a STEM teacher training here for the Archdiocese on March 20th.
5. Extra-curricular Programs: After school programs launched this year, and we’re looking forward to expanding! This year’s offerings have been well-attended and successful – robotics, drama, singing, tennis, and healthy cooking. Others will start this spring:  percussion, fashion design, Girls Rock Math, Glee Struck…A separate email will be sent regarding summer program options for students entering grades K-6 during the weeks of July 6th and July 13th.
6. Other achievements: library upgrade; WiFi for the gym in process this week; Math in Focus in K-5; OLG teacher leadership on Archdiocesan curriculum committees; funds raised at the auction to begin window upgrade; accomplishment/significant progress toward nearly all Five Year Plan goals; and much more!
7. Lunch Program: A committee is forming to explore the best way to ensure healthy, nutritious lunch options that are students are excited about! Thank you for your survey feedback to guide this committee’s planning.

Our School Commission also explained OLG’s current financial situation, which includes some new details regarding revenues and costs:

1. Some of the “angel donors” who’ve helped OLG for the past few years through the Fulcrum Foundation have seen our school grow and flourish…and now they’re helping some other schools in the Archdiocese with more urgent needs. This, along with the death of some major donors in recent years means a loss of generous support. We’re confident we can find other donors to fill in but can’t count on that for this year’s budget.
2. This has been a big year of changes to systems within the Archdiocese. While the Archdiocese feels that these changes will improve efficiency and provide long-term cost stabilization, there is a significant initial cost impact to schools and parishes, including a new payroll system that will increase OLG’s processing fees to nearly eight times the cost of the previous system. The Archdiocesan insurance policies have changed as well, which has raised our share of that cost  for 2015-16by one and a half times more than our previous payments. The actual 2015-16 cost to OLG for the new systems was provided in late January, right in the middle of our budgeting process.
3. This was our stretch year to incorporate the new gym costs into our budget. We’ve done a good job, and the gym brings tremendous value and opportunities to our students. However, as we have lived into it, we’ve realized that our expanding facilities have brought increasing maintenance needs, and our costs in that area have increased a little more than anticipated. We do feel that we have a great team in place to maintain our facilities and ensure that they are safe, clean, and in good repair for our students!
4. It’s unfortunate these changes are happening all at once, and please know that everyone in the parish and school are stretching to make things work this year. Due to these challenges, tuition will increase by 8.5% for 2015-2016. For more information or conversation about this, feel free to contact me.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Heidi Ehrenberg

School Counselor

The SLEs

As we move through the final phase of our accreditation process, teachers continue to reflect, and examine closely who we are as a Catholic community of learning. We completed our Self Study, (in-depth investigation of student learning) by gathering and analyzing data, compiling input from OLG School shareholders, and thoroughly examining curriculum instructional practices. We shared our accomplishments, and set clear goals to further improve student leaning over the next six years.

Our School-wide Learning Expectations – SLE’s – are referenced throughout our Self Study. They reflect the heart of OLG, and describe the desired characteristics of an OLG graduate.

Our Lady of Guadalupe School-wide Learning Expectations

A Faith-Inspired Catholic who…

• Seeks communion with God in the ongoing process of personal faith development.
• Examines the Catholic faith, traditions and doctrine and is able to articulate that knowledge.
• Recognizes the document on Catholic Social Teachings as a resource for responsible citizenship, as experienced through servant leadership.
• Demonstrates compassion, acceptance and respect as an active member of a faith family.

A Life-Long Learner who…

• Understands, integrates and applies knowledge in all academic subject areas.
• Experiences and incorporates the arts into his or her school life.
• Communicates confidently through the written and spoken word to a variety of audiences with creativity, clarity and an individual voice.
• Solves problems by using critical and creative thinking.
• Demonstrates and cultivates good organizational skills including effective study habits, time management strategies, skillful research and analysis, and project management.

An Active Member of the Global Community who…

• Recognizes similarities and differences in races, cultures and individuals, and participates in multicultural experiences.
• Resolves conflicts by understanding others’ perspectives, while applying critical thinking skills and effective decision-making models.
• Recognizes the value of all God’s creation and acts as a steward in service to the greater good of His creation.

A Confident and Resilient Individual who…

• Recognizes the mental, spiritual, physical and emotional aspects of life.
• Evaluates personal strengths and weaknesses.
• Demonstrates honesty and integrity with regard to self and others.

As a counselor, this last component is the most important when working with students. It is certainly a life-long endeavor for all of us – to understand the mental, spiritual, physical and emotional aspects of life! If we want our children to be confident and resilient individuals, we can help them identify and understand their challenges, recognize and firmly hold on to their strengths, and help them develop values and integrity that will benefit them and our world.

OLG offers opportunities for students to grow academically, with additional support as needed. We are a spiritual community, demonstrating a clear sense of service and stewardship. Students have opportunities to engage in extracurricular and physical activities. Whatever the sport, team OLG is spirited and strong! Most recently the production of Mary Poppins highlighted just some of our students’ enthusiasm and creative energy…

The accreditation process has been a quest to the very depths of who we are, what we are doing, and where we are going. We’re an amazing community…parents, teachers and students, ALL striving to be: Faith-Inspired  –  Life-Long Learners   –   Active Members of the Global Community  –  Confident and Resilient Individuals.