Annual State of the Catholic

School ReportTuesday, January 6, 2015

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Annual State of the Catholic School Report

Rev. Jeffrey V. Romans, Pastor

Rev. Roberto D. McCarthy, Parochial Vicar

Mrs. Margaret Whalen, Principal

Mrs. Judith Rowinski, Asst. Principal

Mr. Eric Bauer, School Board Chair

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Mission Statement

Where We Attend To The

Spiritual, intellectual, social, emotional, and physical needs of our students

Based upon the gospel message of Jesus to “love one another as I have loved you”

With the goal of empowering each of us to serve the parish and community and make a positive difference in the lives of others.

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Hallmarks

Family Oriented School

Experienced and stable faculty

Partnership with parents

Updated / online text books and materials

Active and supportive H.S.A.

Experienced School Board

Three-year strategic plan

Co-curricular activities including sports, chorus, drama, violin, piano, FMI/CMI band, Student Council, NJHS, Math Counts Club, Garden Club and Homework Club.

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Hallmarks (cont.)

Professional faculty learning communities - weekly

Before/after school academic enrichment - Chess Club, Technology Club, and Lego Club

Safety Drills: Lockdown, weather and fire

Special Events:

Fall Festival, Celebration of Catholic Schools month, Concerts, Halloween Party, Christmas and Easter Celebrations, Flag Day, middle school socials, monthly grade led meditations, Play Day and the Cheshire Memorial Day Parade with float, band, marching students.

Technology – Computer cart, iPADS, smart boards, primary computer lab

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Legacy of Catholic Education at St. Bridget Catholic School

1963 – Opened as a junior high staffed by Sisters of Charity

1985 – Closed due to lack of enrollment

1994 – Re-opened as only parochial school in Cheshire with Pre-K, K & 1st

1997 – All 10 classrooms are full

1998 – 12 classroom wing added

2002 – 1st graduation class

2005 – Library and office upgrades

2008 – Gym, parish center, music and art rooms added and field upgraded

2014– Continues to flourish as a Pre-K thru 8 school accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges

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Cities / Towns2014-2015

2013-2014

2012-2013

2011-2012

2010-2011

2009-2010

Cheshire, 06410 197 252 265 257 259 232Beacon Falls, 06403 1 1 1 1 1 1Bethany, 06524 2 0  - -  -  1Bristol, 06010 2 5 2 5 5 3Cromwell, 06416 0 0  - 3 3 3East Haven, 06473 1 1 4 3 3 2East Hampton, 06424 0 0  - -  1 1Haddam 06438 0 1 - - - -Hamden, 06514 16 16 13 12 11 13Meriden, 06451 32 28 22 20 23 14Middlebury, 06762 4 1 1 2 2 2Middlefield, 06455 0 0  - -  1 1Middletown, 06457 3 0 1 1 1  -Naugatuck, 06770 14 12 11 5 2 3New Haven, 06516 0 0  - -  -   -North Haven, 06473 3 0 1 4 1 1Oxford, 06478 0 0  - -  -  2Prospect, 06712 21 26 24 24 27 31Southington, 06489 28 35 38 46 44 48Thomaston, 06787 2 0  -  -  - - Wallingford, 06492 40 35 35 37 37 32Waterbury, 06705 14 8 8 8 8 6Weston, 06883 0 0  - -  -  - Wolcott, 06716 3 2 4 6 8 9Woodbridge, 06525 2 0  - -  1 1 Total 385 423 430 434 438 406

DEMOGRAPHICS

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Enrollment History

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Year Enrollment (# of Students)

03-04 421

04-05 400

05-06 395

06-07 389

07-08 391

08-09 386

09-10 408

10-11 441

11-12 436

12-13 430

13-14 423

14-15 385

Initiatives to Increase Enrollment

•Active recruitment plan & rolling enrollment plan

•Community and Parish outreach through events and ads

•Advertising / Promotion / Public Relations-Weekly goal

•Weekly open door school tours

•Parent Ambassador Program

•Enhanced Facebook page & website updated weekly

•Visiting local organizations such as daycares & libraries, outreach to CCD parents

•iPAD program for all Middle School students and throughout the school

•Solicit new grant ideas

•Encouraging the benefits of word of mouth advertising

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Initiatives to Increase Enrollment

Special Events:

• Annual Open House

• Grandparents / Special Guest Day

• 20 Year Anniversary Celebration

• Alumni Reunion

• Alumni Newsletter

• Active Pre-K and Kindergarten transition to primary grade curriculum program for parents

• Middle School presentation for current and prospective 5th grade parents detailing curriculum

• Mrs. Judith Rowinski Annual Student Scholarship

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Curriculum Objectives

To graduate students who are:

- Productive, moral citizens

- Critical thinkers with emphasis on:

• Recognition and appreciation of God being the creator of everything good in the universe

• Problem solving applications to everyday life

• Logical and abstract thinking

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Curriculum – Pre-K

Full and Half day classes

Religion• Integrated throughout the curriculum

Kindergarten Readiness• - Math, Language Arts, Social Studies, Science

Weekly Enrichment

• Spanish, Library, Physical Education, Music, Art and Computer Lab

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Pre – K (continued) 3 and 4

Religion: children brought to church to show them the altar and Tabernacle, weekly Mass,Stations of the Cross, Tabernacle; Gospel Weeklies; celebrating the liturgical season

Math: making patterns with concrete materials; sorting by color; basic addition and subtraction sentences

Language Arts: letter of the week; sight words, name writing, books created and colored by students.

Social Studies: family tree, community helpers, special holiday celebration

Multicultural music and dancing; Spanish

Science: experiments, investigations, making predictions, graphing

Physical Education: Coordination, respect of personal space, following directions, cooperation.

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Curriculum - Kindergarten

Full Day Classes

Religion• Integrated throughout the day, weekly Mass

Language Arts• Phonics, reading, writing and speaking, grammar, penmanship

Math• Basic math computation, math concepts

Science / Social Studies• Hands-on lessons with real world applications

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Curriculum - KindergartenReligion

• God gives us many gifts

◦ Light, water, land, animals

• God is our creator

◦ God made all people

◦ God helps us to discover

• We learn about God with our families and friends

◦ Jesus shows us God’s love

◦ Jesus’ life and teachings

• Jesus wants us to share God’s love

• Liturgical seasons

• Saints

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Curriculum - KindergartenLanguage Arts

• Whole group and small group instruction

• Use of various assessments to guide instruction

• 2-3 new sight words every other week

• Short vowel words

• Words with blends

• Rhyming words

• syllables

• Identify nouns, verbs, and adjectives

• Write sentences and questions

• Author and illustrator

• Characters, setting, plot, and main idea of a story

• Differentiate between reality and fantasy

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Curriculum - KindergartenMath

• Whole group and small group instruction

• Use of manipulatives

• Recognize and write numbers to 30 in order

• Count to 100

• Add and subtract to 20

• Identify greater than, less than, and equal to

• Money

• Time to hour and half hour

• Fractions

• Measurement

• Graphs

• Plane and solid figures

• Patterns

• Sort by different attributes

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Curriculum - KindergartenScience Social Studies• Weather and Seasons

• Plant parts, needs, and life cycle

• Animal characteristics, habitats, and life cycle

• States of matter

• Natural resources

• Sun and shadows

• Moon and stars

• Senses

• Movement and force

• Magnets

• Sink and float

• Past and present

• Maps and globes

• Transportation

• Rules and responsibilities

• Wants and needs

• Goods and services

• Caring for the environment

• Symbols of the U.S.

• Holidays

• Important historical figures

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Curriculum - KindergartenTechnology

• Integrated across all curriculum areas• SMART board • iPads used for small group activities• Computer lab utilized 2-3 times per week• Use Kidspiration for various activities as well as

other software programs. • Phonics program – Read, Write, & Type• Websites:

• starfall.com• abcya.com • pbskids.org • primarygames.com

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Kindergarten

Math: sorting, patterns, addition and subtraction, time to hour and ½ hour; introduction to money, measurement, graphing

Science: weather, clouds, sun and shadows, night and day, life cycles, animal characteristics, sink and float, magnets, seasons

Social Studies: maps and globes, why rules are important, community helpers, needs and wants, goods and services, holidays, symbols of the U.S., how people around the world are the same and different

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Curriculum – Primary Grades 1-321st Century learning is incorporated throughout the curriculum, building a sense of community and Catholic identity.

Religion• Taught daily and integrated throughout all areas of curriculum;

sacramental preparation (grade 3); Participation in the Living Rosary; Gospel Weeklies, weekly mass; prayer meditations, Child Lures Program, family life

• Student Ministry activities

Language Arts• Phonics, Reading, Spelling, Writing, Oral Language,

Handwriting, Grammar, Listening Skills, Smartboard, iPAD, computer lab integration

• Small group instruction – differentiated activities

• Book Reports with Oral Presentations

• Writing across the curriculum

• Research projects 21

Curriculum-Primary Grades 1-3 (cont’d)

Math• Hands-on use of manipulatives

• Critical thinking

• Real world application of skills-through games, iPADS and Smartboard lessons

• Fact fluency skill building

• Differentiated instruction

• Whole group, small group and partner instruction

Social Studies• Geography-Maps and continents• World cultures : Family report, & Christmas around the world• Government and Community-Study of Cheshire

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Curriculum – Primary Grades (cont.)

Science• Hands-on skills development • Problem solving and the use of the scientific method• Life, earth and physical science/Science Fair boards

Weekly Enrichment• Spanish, Art, Music, Library, and Physical Education• Technology integrated across all curriculum areas via

Smartboards, iPADS,Webquests• Use of computer lab-word processing, keyboard, math &

Language Arts activities

Field TripsTo enhance our curriculum such as: Visiting community sites, Literature-based performances, Science Museum & Art Museum

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Intermediate Grades 4-5 Overview of methods used in all subject areas:

• Technology infused

• Differentiation at all levels

• 21st Century fluencies: creativity, problem solving, perseverance, critical thinking, collaboration, and global citizenship

• Cooperative Learning

• Responsibility and Accountability

Our hope is to guide the students to be self-directed, life-long learners who can work both independently and cooperatively and for them to grow into spiritual, intelligent, compassionate and productive members of society.

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Curriculum – Grades 4-5

Religion• 10 Commandments • 7 Sacraments• Liturgical Year• Parts of the Mass • Beatitudes• Works of Mercy• Family Life

• Child Lures Program

• Service Projects

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Curriculum – Grades 4-5

Language Arts

- Reading of fiction/non-fiction material

books, articles, magazines, poetry, etc.

- Writing for different purposes and lengths

paragraphs, letters, essays, poetry, journal entries, etc.

- Grammar, Mechanics and Spelling – integrated into curriculum

- Oral and Communication Skills

presentations, both live and video

- Responses to Literature

Literature Book Clubs, Book Reports, Projects, Response Journals

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Curriculum – Grades 4-5 (cont.)Math

• Basic operations and skillsAddition, subtraction, multiplication, division of money, whole numbers, integers, decimals, fractions, and percents

• Algebra/Computation and MeasurementEquations, Measurement of time, volume, mass, distance,

• Geometry • Data Statistics and Graphing• Writing and Technology integrated throughout• Use of Smartboard, iPADs and Laptops• Thinking Process: concrete to abstract, accessing deeper

analysis of topic

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Curriculum – Grades 4-5 (cont.)

Science• Life, physical and earth science

• 1 Lab report/marking period

• Using interactive software – SMART, Apps, websites to enhance

• 5th grade renewable energy research boards

• Science Fair boards – display of concrete science experiments

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Curriculum – Grades 4-5 (cont.)

Social Studies• Study of the United States

- US Regions, State of CT

- People, Geography, Famous Landmarks, Resources and Products, History, Culture, Growth, Impact of Technology, Government, Qualities of Citizens

• - Online research projects, essays, biographies, presentations, etc.

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Curriculum – Middle School 6-8:Emphasis on high school preparationReligion

• Old Testament, symbols, rituals, and Sacraments, morality, church history and becoming witnesses to our faith

Language Arts

• Variety of genre, short stories, novels

• Grammar instruction including composition, parts of speech, research papers, SAT prompts, document based question

Spanish Language

• Emphasis is on distinguishing and producing the sound patterns of Spanish. Students learn to make the correct correspondence between the written and the spoken word. Concentration is on vocabulary, grammar, expression of ideas, pronunciation and listening skills.

• Culture is learned through listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Cultural traditions are compared and contrasted among numerous Spanish-speaking countries, as well as to our own culture.

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Curriculum – Middle School (Cont.)

Geography

• Students in grades 7 and 8 gain an understanding of the world around us.

• Current environmental issues are discussed.

• Different types of governments and cultures are studied.

• Catholic Social Teachings are integrated throughout the curriculum.

• Students participate in the National Geographic Society Bee.

• A Geography Fair highlights landmarks and locations around the world.

Science

• Life, Physical, and Earth Science

• Use of science lab with inquiry based weekly lab activities

• Annual science fair (school-wide)

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Curriculum – Middle School (Cont.)

MathGrade 6: differentiation – (2 groups for 2nd ½ of year)

Grade 7: Algebra Readiness/Pre-Algebra

Grade 8: Pre-Algebra/Algebra

Some students placed into Geometry or Honors Geometry

MathCounts competitive club meets weekly

Math peer tutoring 3x a week

Varied set of math web tools (i.e. Thatqiz.org, ALEKS.com

Social Studies / History• Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome

• American History from colonial period to the present time

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Technology

Technology is integrated across all grade levels to:

• Design and develop lessons and activities in a variety of instructional settings for all students

• Optimize learning

• Differentiate instruction

• Create multi-media presentations

Professional Development:

• Current research on new technologies in order to plan learning environments and experiences

• Gather curriculum specific information

• Integrate technology into the curriculum/subject

• Use portal to communicate to community

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3 4 5 6 70

2

4

6

8

10

12IOWA Assessment - Mathematics

National

ADH

SBS

Grade Level

Grade Equivalent

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3 4 5 6 70

2

4

6

8

10

12

14IOWA Assessment: English Language Arts

National

ADH

SBS

Grade Level

Grade Equivalent

Student Ministry

All based on the Catholic Social teaching and bringing dignity and justice for all life that God has created. We follow in the words of Jesus “Love one another as I have loved you.” Our prayers go with every project and we are God’s hands on this earth. “We are called”

Cheshire Food Pantry: “Stuff-a-bus”, Easter bags, Mitten Tree

“Cure” Support – Cheshire Relay for Life, Cheshire Lights of Hope

Military Groups – Vet toiletries, card making, candy collection, Memorial Day Parade, Flag Day Services

Infant Support – Carolyn’s Place/Waterbury, Birthright rose sale

Parish Service – Shoppers Delite, Lenten suppers

Hospital – chorus to Midstate Medical

Safety/Health – Primary grades Fire Truck/Dental visits36

St. Bridget Parish - 2014

Marriages - 9

Baptisms - 60

Funerals – 60

Annual Weekly Collection: $12,121.20

Cathedraticum to the Archdiocese: $755.48

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Financials

Average K – 8 Tuition last five years

• K-8 cost per student based on Budget & Financial Report

- 10-11 $3,722 based on 401 students

- 11-12 $3,846 based on 398 students

- 12-13 $3,905 based on 389 students

- 13-14 Cost: $5,176 Income: $4,021 based on 370students

- 14-15 Budgeted Cost: 5,870 Income: $4,235based on 328 students

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Financials 2014-2015

Archdiocese of Hartford Support

Archbishop’s Annual Appeal Grants $15,000

CSSP – Catholic School Support $10,000

HOPES - $1,000

Archbishop’s Breakfast $6,500

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Financials

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Parish Subsidy – Past Five Years

Year Subsidy ($) Bingo ($)

10-11 0 7,500

11-12 0 7,000

12-13 0 16,000

13-14 0 13,122

14-15 Budget $40,000 $12,500

Financial OverviewSchool Income 2014-2015 Budget

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83%

1% 2%

1%7%

6%

Tuition and Fees Assessment

Parish Support Grants

Advancement Others

Financial OverviewSchool Expenses 2014-2015 Budget

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76%

7%

13%

2% 2%

Payroll Instructional

Operational Student Services

Advancement

Financial Programs to Maintain Stability

Rigorous Budget Development & Tracking

Monthly Cash Flow Analysis

Annual reconciliation of 3 Year Strategic Plan with Financial Outlook

New Development Initiatives

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Completed Initiatives

•Emergency Alert System

•100 iPADS- 1:1 computing with each middle school student having an iPad to use

•55 iPADS on carts

•30 laptops

•Fencing around blacktop and field

•New lighting in parking lot

•Window blinds in all classrooms

•Playscape

•Wireless technology throughout building

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Planned Near Term Capital Initiatives

•Further upgrades to school wide security system

•Expand intercom system to music and art rooms and parish center

•Additional security camera

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Strategic Plan• Strong partnership with parish community

• Continued strong Catholic Identity

• Increased outreach

• Increased co-curricular activities

• Expand e-book learning

•Increase mobile device learning

•Increase professional development

•Increase endowment for scholarships

•Investigate need for special education teacher and part time resource teacher (part time)

•Pave the parking lots

•Electric screen for gym

•Sound system for gym46

St. Bridget School

Fostering Academic Excellence, Community Awareness

and Spiritual Growth

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