Sacred Heart School Report

By Tracey Arnone, principal

School began this Fall with 313 students eagerly coming through our doors. Above them, the quote, "We believe children are the future," let our students know how important they are to all of us. Our children are the future of our community, our world, and our Catholic Church. We, at Sacred Heart Church, are very fortunate to have our parish school, and as Joe Weber of the Finance Council appropriately expressed, "an investment in our parish’s future." Our school community realizes and appreciates all of the support Fr. Joe and our larger parish community give to our school. We plan to show our parish in many different ways this coming year our gratitude for supporting our school for so many years.

One of the first big events of our school year was our Grandparents Week. Grandparents and special people like our grandparents came to eat lunch and tour the school with their grandchildren. It was a special week for both the grandparents and their grandchildren.

We also began many activities the first month of school. In the music department, violin lessons, 5th-8th grade band lessons, the Singing Hearts show choir, and the newly formed 5th-8th grade show choir started. This year, for the first time, we joined with Sts. Peter and Paul and St. Augustine’s schools to form a CYO Football Team. They are called "the Deacons." Sacred Heart cheerleaders and a Pep Club were formed to support this first-year team.

Future Cities and Destination Imagination began meeting to prepare for their spring competitions. Chess Club also began, under the directorship of parishioner Jay Bajorek and his helpers, Joe Buccitelli and Frank Jeglic. The Knights of Columbus generously donated $491.00 to the Sacred Heart Chess Club this summer, which enabled us to purchase 20 new chess sets, a chess clock, and some chess books. Our chess club, which meets every Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. in the cafeteria gets an average of 50 players each week. Our school is truly blessed to have the support of our parishioners and the Knights of Columbus for this club.

Our school has many new amenities – thanks to our WHYS organization. Science tables and equipment were purchased and our teachers are teaching science by doing experiments and other hands-on experiences. Lockers were also purchased for 7th and 8th graders to help ease their transition to high school.

Our chapel is about three-fourths complete, and the dedication for our chapel is slated for January. We hope our parents, students, and parishioners will feel welcome to come and visit it. The highlight of our chapel (named St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel, the patron saint of Catholic Schools and the patron saint of Tom Seifert) is the refinished original altar from Sacred Heart Church. The altar was hand-carved by Albon Seifert, father of Tom and grandfather of Matt Seifert. Mark your calendars now for the Dedication Day, which is also the Opening Day of Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 25!