ST. MARK CATHOLIC SCHOOL
St. Mark Catholic School is off to a great start for the 2018-2019 school year! Located at 541 E Edgewood Ave., St. Mark Catholic School has been a leader in Catholic education for over 70 years on the Southside. This school year brings another increase in our school population as we continue to grow to our current enrollment of 400 students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade. Over the last four years St. Mark Catholic School has doubled its enrollment.
With our recent growth we have added an additional class in each of our grades and our teaching staff has grown to support our increase in students. Our student population is one of the most diverse on the Southside of Indianapolis with 18 countries represented by our students and their families. We are proud of the wide array of cultural differences that our students represent and embrace the unity that it brings to our school.
St. Mark Catholic School has been an Indiana “A” grade school for the last two years but our opportunities for growing our faith in God is what we embrace the most. Through prayer, service to others, teaching of religion and the sharing of our faith, our students, staff and parents learn about Christ and his teachings and in turn grow closer to God. The way we treat each other, the words that we speak, the actions we take for those in need, are all a part of our fabric as a Catholic School.
At St. Mark Catholic School we try to put Christ in everything we do. Whether it is at recess, in the classroom, at lunch, or in church, we put Christ at the center. We attend Eucharistic adoration, have opportunities to say the rosary, attend reconciliation, and pray for intentions of others. We look forward to the chances to grow in our faith.
As a result of our strong academic rigor St. Mark Catholic School has produced numerous valedictorians and salutatorians at area high schools over the years. Our students have gone on to win individual and team athletic and academic championships at the local and state levels. Our students are broadened by our large offering of classes in the art, choir and band. We are blessed to have two teachers for special needs students and two teachers that assist our over 160 language learner students. Our after school tutoring program is one of the largest in this area with 16 teachers tutoring over 110 students each week.
St. Mark Catholic School has students from all walks of life and all religious backgrounds that come here to grow in their faith. We are blessed to have parents that partner with us to help build a foundation of academics, service to others and faith in each child. Please feel free to stop and visit our school at 541 E Edgewood if you are interested in learning more about St. Mark Catholic School.
Thanks and God Bless,
Rusty Albertson
Principal
St. Mark Catholic School
SAINTS FRANCIS AND CLARE CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Happy New Year!
Saints Francis and Clare Catholic School opened our doors to 532 students on Aug. 3, 2018. This year we will have a special focus on the 9 Fruits of The Holy Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Each month the school will closely examine one of the attributes and how it is seen in our everyday lives.
We are also thrilled to be the first Catholic school in the U.S. to be awarded a Project Fit America Grant. The school received new outdoor fitness equipment and a curriculum to implement fitness and wellbeing education for our students in grades K – 8. We will host a celebration of this new grant opportunity on Sept. 20 at 2 p.m. with our school families, community groups and the LIDS Foundation who sponsored the grant.
Our school mission focuses on our Catholic Identity and helping our students become leaders in a global society. Students, teachers and families participate each month by putting our faith into action through specific service projects. These projects have varied from helping stock our campus food pantry to donating hair for patients with cancer.
We are looking forward to a wonderful year with our staff, students and families. You may visit our website at ss-fc.org to find more information on our parish and school. Tours are available for individuals that are interested in enrolling their children in either our Early Childhood Ministry or our K – 8 school.
Betty Popp
Principal
Saints Francis & Clare Catholic School
CENTRAL CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Greetings from Central Catholic School!
We are welcoming the new school year with excitement and anticipation as our school continues to excel and grow. In November, we will celebrate the completion of our expansion project that is adding two classrooms and a secure entry to the school office on the north entrance off of Cameron Street. The new classroom space will be for our youngest learners as we expand to offer a full preschool and pre-Kindergarten program for the Class of 2032 and 2033 (Current 3- and 4-year-olds).
While our physical plant is building and growing, the growth in our classrooms is even more exciting. The Central Catholic teachers and staff continue to amaze me by their commitment to mastering best practices to launch our students on the path to college and heaven. We expanded our Blended Learning program at Central Catholic to better engage our students in math and reading at all grade levels. Teachers spend more time in small group instruction with students and students are mastering material and providing rich data through software programs to better inform their learning goals.
My favorite time of year is our student-led conferences, a chance for our students to share their goals and success with their families and to name how they have lived our core values as a Notre Dame ACE Academy; seek, persist, excel, love and serve. Our Catholic identity and formation of the whole student continues to be at the heart of our mission as a school and it is beautiful to witness our students striving to be saints.
As we build the path to excellence in 2018-19, we welcome you to visit our campus to see the amazing accomplishments of our students in the classroom, on the athletic fields and in extra-curricular activities. Join us for a CYO football game played on our field or for our upcoming Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebration on Wednesday, Dec. 12. We also invite alumni of Central Catholic, St. Catherine, St. James, Holy Rosary, Sacred Heart and St. Patrick to speak at a morning assembly. Please contact the school office for more information.
Go Saints!
Ruth Hurrle
Principal
Central Catholic School
HOLY NAME CATHOIC SCHOOL
Welcome to the 2018-2019 school year! After a busy summer, we are so glad to have the smiling, eager faces of the students back in the building! We are off to a great start with our new eighth-graders taking part in a leadership retreat and have taken their place as student leaders. We have welcomed over 40 new students to our school this year and still have room for more in certain grades. Our theme this year is “Let me be your servant.” We are working to live that out in service within our school community as well as outside the building into the greater community. Among the other new things here is a new, comprehensive K-8 math curriculum, increased technology access including 75 new Chromebooks and small group sets of iPads, to help our students become 21st century learners. We have wasted no time getting down to what we do best – creating lifelong learners committed to knowing, loving and serving God! It is great to be a Holy Name Giant!
Robert Kitchens
Principal
Holy Name Catholic School
NATIVITY CATHOLIC SCHOOL
We are so excited to announce the addition of a STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics – lab to Nativity this year! This lab was the result of extreme generosity from an anonymous donor in the Nativity family and will serve students in grades K-5. With the donated funds, the library has been transformed into a part-time STEM lab, with new collaborative-learning desks and stools that are designed to make our learning space interactive and innovative beyond the feel of the traditional classroom setting. Additionally, Ryan Eldridge and the Solvonex company have generously donated a Yamaha based sound system and Sony Blu-ray player to enhance the lab.
Mrs. Marissa Garza, who has been a teacher at Nativity since 2012, has taken on the role of piloting the STEM program for our school. In 2012, she co-founded the “Nativity Tech Trek” with 5th grade teacher Mrs. Katie Jones, knowing that there was a need for more technology resources within the school. Mrs. Garza and Mrs. Jones also initiated a 21st Century Skills Pledge that all teachers signed, signifying that each teacher understood the importance of using teaching tools and techniques that most adequately match the students’ evolving literacies in our technological society. Outdated methods of teaching and projects were replaced with techniques that incorporated more forms of technology. Now, Mrs. Garza, who is passionate about creating hands-on lessons and incorporating technology, is so excited to have a designated space within the school to focus on such 21st century learning skills.
The students in grades K-5 will have an opportunity to be engineers as they brainstorm blueprints and build things from scratch using various materials. After reading a story, students may be presented with a problem to collectively solve by making a plan and sharing ideas. Students will work with iPads and computer programs to build upon their coding scheme already established in the technology lab and will even have a chance to work with programming and generating robot activity! Through researching, observing, experimenting, calculating, measuring and exploring, these future scientists will tap into countless skills with endless possibilities!
The Indianapolis Star recently published an article on the importance of STEM in education, saying, “STEM skills are the same 21st century skills we seek to nurture in all of our students. They help students cultivate curiosity while improving problem-solving skills and critical thinking skills.” The article also stated, “If we’re going to keep pace with the economy of the future, however, we must prepare more of our students for careers in STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering & Math.” At Nativity, we are continually striving to best prepare our next generation and feel that this STEM lab will help us to accomplish that goal!
Terri Bianchini
Principal
Nativity Catholic School
OUR LADY OF THE GREENWOOD CATHOLIC SCHOOL
From sacraments to sports events and from incredible learning opportunities to all-school assemblies, this year promises to be one filled with possibilities to grow spiritually, academically and socially. Please check the back-to-school packets for specific information, procedures and changes for this school year. We welcomed our new and returning families at our back-to-school open house on Sunday, Aug. 5, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Class lists were posted on this day.
Students in kindergarten through eighth grade started classes on Aug. 8 with all programs in operation on the first day. School commission members and staff greeted parents and students on opening day.
Preschool for 4-year-olds began on Friday, Aug. 10. Preschool for 3-year-olds began on Tuesday, Aug. 14. We celebrated our first school liturgy on Friday, Aug. 10 with many parents and parishioners.
Our School Commission welcomes new members: Ron Bajuyo, Eric Moster and Pat Mahin. The School Commission provides vital leadership to the school and parish. We thank them for their commitment to this ministry.
We are always happy to share what is happening at Our Lady of the Greenwood Catholic School. Contact Principal Kent Clady at kclady@ol-g.org to find out more.
Kent Clady
Principal
Our Lady of Greenwood School
RONCALLI HIGH SCHOOL
At the beginning of a new school year, it is appropriate to consider the many opportunities offered to students who get a great education during their high school years. The competition that is emerging as a result of the globalization of our economy makes these opportunities even more important for the future of our youth.
After years of planning, fundraising, design and construction, our school plant continues to emerge as one of the finest private school facilities in the state of Indiana. Recent fundraising efforts have been successful and this year Roncalli is preparing to embark upon the construction of a new gymnasium for the school community. Current plans are for the construction to be completed in the 2019-20 school year.
However, it is the exceptional quality of the education that our students receive while here that is most unique about our school. That quality has always been the result of the extraordinary commitment of our teachers and staff working alongside students from families who put a high priority on the education of their children. As a result of this combined effort, Roncalli graduates are making an impact on the greater good of societies all across the world.
The academic accomplishments of our staff and students continue to reach new heights. For the sixth year in a row, Roncalli has been designated a Four-Star School by the Indiana Department of Education. As an indication of the excellent foundation our students receive for college, our recently graduated class of 2018 earned an all-time high of $29.3 million in merit-based college scholarships!
The professionalism and dedication of our teachers translate into exceptional performance by our students, highlighted by our recent notification by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation that Roncalli will have 15 students recognized by the National Merit program as commended students and semifinalists, which matches an all-time high for the school as well.
Our enrollment will be nearly 1,200 students at the start of the year. We are excited to welcome the gifts and talents of so many young people. Our efforts to ensure that every student is engaged in the life of the school have been enhanced in recent years. We feel it is imperative that our students take full advantage of the many extracurricular programs and clubs that are offered at Roncalli. Research has consistently shown that students engaged in the extracurricular life of their school are much more likely to succeed in all areas of school life — especially the classroom.
Our mission has long centered on working to develop life-long learners in service to others. Inspiring students to truly become life-long learners requires gifted teachers with a passion for their subject matter and an enthusiasm for teaching their students. Inspired teaching leads to inspired students and inspired students become their own best teachers. It is a successful formula for optimizing student achievement upon which we continue to rely. We are so thankful for the abundance of inspiring teachers who are plying their craft at Roncalli. We look forward to a fantastic year!
Dr. Joseph D. Hollowell
President
Roncalli High School
