What’s New at SJA
Message from the President
As I reflect on the 2008-09 school year, I am both impressed with our accomplishments and inspired by our challenges. We have reason to celebrate some significant changes that serve to enhance our mission:
In the spirit of St. Joan Antida Throuret, we prepare young women to lead and serve in a global society through a values-based Catholic education.
In spite of significant changes in the economic environment, we were able to complete three new science labs which opened EARLY. At our annual auction/dinner in April, we dedicated our new labs. Representatives from the Todd Wehr Foundation were on hand to celebrate with us. Their generous gift of $525,000 was the main support for this new commitment to promoting an enhanced, enriched science program for our girls. We all know that women are under represented in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) fields. At SJA, we are focused on preparing our girls to compete in these fields. Our Engineering program, Project Lead The Way, continues to grow in enrollment.
The Freshwomen Academy finished its fledgling year. The commitment of the dedicated staff and administrations to this new way of transitioning 9th graders into high school has been remarkable. I am in awe of their devotions and tireless efforts to ensure the success of the program. They had barely finished the first quarter of school when they were already working on plans for the 2009-10 school year. Many visitors have spent time observing the Academy and all leave impressed and optimistic about the impact of this new approach. Sr. Jennifer Daul, former Provincial of the Sisters of Charity, joined the Academy team in the role of counselor. We are blessed that she chose to return to SJA after a year long sabbatical in California.
Our existing and new partnerships have continued to support our efforts to prepare our girls for a future as leaders both in our community and beyond. This past year, we finalized a partnership with Three Holy Women Parish. Fr. Brian Mason joined our Board of Directors and became the regular celebrant at our masses. Both he and Fr. Tim Kitzke have been most supportive of our goal to enhance our Catholic identity. Since we had no prior parish affiliation, this was a much needed partnership. RAINBOWS was introduced as a new program to offer our 9th graders support in dealing with grief and loss. RAPPORT LEADERSHIP offered a two day retreat for our students and some of our faculty/staff. During this time, barriers to achieving personal goals and success were identified and broken. PEARLS for Teen Girls, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and Boys and Girls Club continue to offer a variety of opportunities for our girls. Our volunteer program administered by our volunteer coordinator, Kathy Thome, continues to expand into new areas. The St. Joan Antida High School family is always growing.
All of us have been impacted by the dismal economy and its ripple effect on so many aspects of our lives. SJA is no exception. Besides the overall loss of financial support from individuals and foundations based on the economic factors, the announcement that CHOICE, the state funded voucher program, would be reducing per pupil financial allotment, came at an already difficult time. Since almost 90% of our students depend on vouchers to attend SJA, this has a significant impact on our operations. Like all businesses and organizations, we have had to make some tough decisions as we go forward. Our students and their needs must guide all decisions. We remained committed to this.
In closing, thank you for your continued support during good times and not so good times. We could not do it without you. You have given of your time and resources and we are grateful always. We keep you in our thoughts and prayers and welcome you into our school family.
Sincerely,
Cynthia A. Marino
President