Catholic Schools Week about celebrating blessings, evangelizing – and unity
Jerry Sanderson, superintendent of diocesan schools, said there are a couple of very good reasons why Catholic Schools Week – which has been held for over 40 years – begins on the last Sunday of January. One of those core reasons is about thanksgiving, and the other is about hope.
Invite new families to come and be part of us for the upcoming school year.” – Jerry Sanderson, diocesan superintendent of schools
SHARING THE BLESSINGS
From a practical perspective, this mid-winter week is also when schools “begin to look at how many openings are going to be available for the upcoming school year and . . . begin their formal recruitment of families.”
He indicated that the Catholic Schools Week celebration of the “great mission that we’ve been entrusted with,” naturally leans into the hope that others may benefit from being a part of it.
He described this hope as the “evangelization piece, the need to go forth and let others know about this great opportunity that exists within our Catholic schools, and to invite new families to come and be part of us for the upcoming school year.”
THREE ILLINOIS VALLEY SCHOOLS UNIFY
A week before Catholic Schools Week – on the weekend of Jan. 18-19 – it was made public that three Illinois Valley Catholic Schools had made the decision to pool resources as one school.
Holy Family School in Oglesby, Trinity Catholic Academy in La Salle, and Peru Catholic School will come together in the fall of 2025 in a format that was described by Deb Myers, principal of Trinity Catholic Academy as “unified, not merged or consolidated.” (Shaw Local News Network, Jan. 21)
There will be no layoffs.
NEW SCHOOL NAME FEB. 20
Sanderson said that after Mass at St. Patrick Church in LaSalle at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Bishop Louis Tylka will announce the new name for the unified school.
“As superintendent, I’m very appreciative of how local community leaders came together in support of this new school,” he said.
He added that Bishop Tylka was very supportive as well. “He was thrilled . . . that this was all through a grassroots effort.”
Sanderson emphasized that all agreed on the vital importance of being able to “preserve the mission for generations to come.”
“We’re stronger together.”