Any update on St. Bart's?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Trinity Georgetown is up to $15,400 for Catholics, $19,250 for non-Catholics. It's been expensive for a while, though.

Yeah, St. Bart's is now the most expensive ADW school of its size and resources. This is for a reason and may not be the case over the course of time as the school recovers. By comparison, Holy Cross is $9k for Catholics and $10K for non-Catholics. Holy Cross has a full time nurse and a full time counselor, too, which St. Bart's does not.

Does anyone know how the resources of Holy Trinity compare with St. Bart's? Is it expensive just because it is in Georgetown? The archdiocese owns the building, so it's not like they're paying rent. Is there a commitment to small class size? What is the value-added?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic Standard "St. Bartholomew Community Rallies to Keep Bethesda School Open"
https://cathstan.org/news/local/st-bartholomew-community-rallies-to-keep-bethesda-school-open

The article says the school will stay open for the next year (2020-2021). What happens after that year?

Good question. In the long run they'll still need to get their enrollment numbers up and keep them there.

Can anyone in the know fill us in here? Is this a one-year stay of action, or is it a longer commitment?

They're open, with no plans to close. No guarantees of course, just like any other ADW school. There will now be an active governing Board to implement the plan that was approved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Trinity Georgetown is up to $15,400 for Catholics, $19,250 for non-Catholics. It's been expensive for a while, though.

Yeah, St. Bart's is now the most expensive ADW school of its size and resources. This is for a reason and may not be the case over the course of time as the school recovers. By comparison, Holy Cross is $9k for Catholics and $10K for non-Catholics. Holy Cross has a full time nurse and a full time counselor, too, which St. Bart's does not.

Little Flower is under $10k.

Apples to oranges. Little Flower is an excellent school, but with much larger class sizes and nothing like the inclusion program and supports for it at St. Bart's. Very different culture as well. Just different schools, not better or worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Trinity Georgetown is up to $15,400 for Catholics, $19,250 for non-Catholics. It's been expensive for a while, though.

Yeah, St. Bart's is now the most expensive ADW school of its size and resources. This is for a reason and may not be the case over the course of time as the school recovers. By comparison, Holy Cross is $9k for Catholics and $10K for non-Catholics. Holy Cross has a full time nurse and a full time counselor, too, which St. Bart's does not.

According to the ADW Strategic Data Report, St. Bart's is the smallest parochial school in Montgomery County, period. It doesn't currently have any peers in size.
https://adwcatholicschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-2019-Strategic-Data-Portfolio-FINAL.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there any talk among the parish about removing the pastor in seeking better management?

Look, I don't know the pastor personally, but he has a good reputation. His brother is a bishop and their dad was a prominent deacon. The diocesan system asks a lot of its pastors. They are in charge of the spiritual formation of their flock as well as administrative functions, including school management. Very few people have this large skill set. I think that the US is the only country in the world with parochial schools. Thank St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for that. In other countries, religious orders or more recently, lay groups, run schools.

Several other countries, including Canada, Spain, Italy, and Germany funnel public funds towards religious schools. Parents don't have to pay taxes for public schools AND pay additional huge funds for Catholic schools on top of that.

If you have a problem with the pastor's management, it's a US-wide problem, not a personal problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any talk among the parish about removing the pastor in seeking better management?

Look, I don't know the pastor personally, but he has a good reputation. His brother is a bishop and their dad was a prominent deacon. The diocesan system asks a lot of its pastors. They are in charge of the spiritual formation of their flock as well as administrative functions, including school management. Very few people have this large skill set. I think that the US is the only country in the world with parochial schools. Thank St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for that. In other countries, religious orders or more recently, lay groups, run schools.

Several other countries, including Canada, Spain, Italy, and Germany funnel public funds towards religious schools. Parents don't have to pay taxes for public schools AND pay additional huge funds for Catholic schools on top of that.

If you have a problem with the pastor's management, it's a US-wide problem, not a personal problem.

Quite a logical leap to that last statement. There is not talk of removing the pastor. There *is* talk of adding a board to help him to manage the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any talk among the parish about removing the pastor in seeking better management?

Look, I don't know the pastor personally, but he has a good reputation. His brother is a bishop and their dad was a prominent deacon. The diocesan system asks a lot of its pastors. They are in charge of the spiritual formation of their flock as well as administrative functions, including school management. Very few people have this large skill set. I think that the US is the only country in the world with parochial schools. Thank St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for that. In other countries, religious orders or more recently, lay groups, run schools.

Several other countries, including Canada, Spain, Italy, and Germany funnel public funds towards religious schools. Parents don't have to pay taxes for public schools AND pay additional huge funds for Catholic schools on top of that.

If you have a problem with the pastor's management, it's a US-wide problem, not a personal problem.

Quite a logical leap to that last statement. There is not talk of removing the pastor. There *is* talk of adding a board to help him to manage the school.

PP here. I wasn't advocating removing the pastor. I was responding to the earlier question. I think that it's a great idea to add a board to help him.

[Anonymous]

A Board should have been in place many years ago as leadership in the schools/Church changed and parishes took on more. Lay people with their eyes on the demographics have good insight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any talk among the parish about removing the pastor in seeking better management?

Look, I don't know the pastor personally, but he has a good reputation. His brother is a bishop and their dad was a prominent deacon. The diocesan system asks a lot of its pastors. They are in charge of the spiritual formation of their flock as well as administrative functions, including school management. Very few people have this large skill set. I think that the US is the only country in the world with parochial schools. Thank St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for that. In other countries, religious orders or more recently, lay groups, run schools.

Several other countries, including Canada, Spain, Italy, and Germany funnel public funds towards religious schools. Parents don't have to pay taxes for public schools AND pay additional huge funds for Catholic schools on top of that.

If you have a problem with the pastor's management, it's a US-wide problem, not a personal problem.

Amen. I thought the pastor and principal were a bit unfairly attacked in this forum previously.

[Anonymous]

I dont know about that. Clearly there have been long standing issues that lead to the crisis. Only leadership can be blamed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any talk among the parish about removing the pastor in seeking better management?

Look, I don't know the pastor personally, but he has a good reputation. His brother is a bishop and their dad was a prominent deacon. The diocesan system asks a lot of its pastors. They are in charge of the spiritual formation of their flock as well as administrative functions, including school management. Very few people have this large skill set. I think that the US is the only country in the world with parochial schools. Thank St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for that. In other countries, religious orders or more recently, lay groups, run schools.

Several other countries, including Canada, Spain, Italy, and Germany funnel public funds towards religious schools. Parents don't have to pay taxes for public schools AND pay additional huge funds for Catholic schools on top of that.

If you have a problem with the pastor's management, it's a US-wide problem, not a personal problem.

Amen. I thought the pastor and principal were a bit unfairly attacked in this forum previously.

There should have been a board in place years ago. Regardless, neither the pastor nor the principal communicated AT ALL about the fact that the school was on the brink of being closed. There was no warning. Families knew that numbers were low, but we had faith that the principal and admissions staff were on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any talk among the parish about removing the pastor in seeking better management?

Look, I don't know the pastor personally, but he has a good reputation. His brother is a bishop and their dad was a prominent deacon. The diocesan system asks a lot of its pastors. They are in charge of the spiritual formation of their flock as well as administrative functions, including school management. Very few people have this large skill set. I think that the US is the only country in the world with parochial schools. Thank St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for that. In other countries, religious orders or more recently, lay groups, run schools.

Several other countries, including Canada, Spain, Italy, and Germany funnel public funds towards religious schools. Parents don't have to pay taxes for public schools AND pay additional huge funds for Catholic schools on top of that.

If you have a problem with the pastor's management, it's a US-wide problem, not a personal problem.

Amen. I thought the pastor and principal were a bit unfairly attacked in this forum previously.

There should have been a board in place years ago. Regardless, neither the pastor nor the principal communicated AT ALL about the fact that the school was on the brink of being closed. There was no warning. Families knew that numbers were low, but we had faith that the principal and admissions staff were on it.

This is untrue. Have you ever been to a State of the School address? The numbers have been available and it has been a major theme for the past several years that we had to get our numbers up. You are either not an involved parent or have had your head in the sand. Parents have been constantly reminded about the need to recruit friends, family and neighbors in order to keep our school afloat. It doesn’t take a genuine to do the math either. You know what you are paying in tuition...multiply that by the students in your children’s classes and you had no clue about a serious issue with a balance budget?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any talk among the parish about removing the pastor in seeking better management?

Look, I don't know the pastor personally, but he has a good reputation. His brother is a bishop and their dad was a prominent deacon. The diocesan system asks a lot of its pastors. They are in charge of the spiritual formation of their flock as well as administrative functions, including school management. Very few people have this large skill set. I think that the US is the only country in the world with parochial schools. Thank St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for that. In other countries, religious orders or more recently, lay groups, run schools.

Several other countries, including Canada, Spain, Italy, and Germany funnel public funds towards religious schools. Parents don't have to pay taxes for public schools AND pay additional huge funds for Catholic schools on top of that.

If you have a problem with the pastor's management, it's a US-wide problem, not a personal problem.

Amen. I thought the pastor and principal were a bit unfairly attacked in this forum previously.

There should have been a board in place years ago. Regardless, neither the pastor nor the principal communicated AT ALL about the fact that the school was on the brink of being closed. There was no warning. Families knew that numbers were low, but we had faith that the principal and admissions staff were on it.

This is untrue. Have you ever been to a State of the School address? The numbers have been available and it has been a major theme for the past several years that we had to get our numbers up. You are either not an involved parent or have had your head in the sand. Parents have been constantly reminded about the need to recruit friends, family and neighbors in order to keep our school afloat. It doesn’t take a genuine to do the math either. You know what you are paying in tuition...multiply that by the students in your children’s classes and you had no clue about a serious issue with a balance budget?

That's not fair at all. It really depends on how long you've been there. New families came in this year and were given no clue whatsoever. Even coming in last year, if you missed one state of the school address, you didn't know anything. It was never put in writing anywhere and never talked about publicly. If you weren't around the school a lot you didn't know. And also, why spend all that money on the renovation if they expected to close? That was very , very strange.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any talk among the parish about removing the pastor in seeking better management?

Look, I don't know the pastor personally, but he has a good reputation. His brother is a bishop and their dad was a prominent deacon. The diocesan system asks a lot of its pastors. They are in charge of the spiritual formation of their flock as well as administrative functions, including school management. Very few people have this large skill set. I think that the US is the only country in the world with parochial schools. Thank St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for that. In other countries, religious orders or more recently, lay groups, run schools.

Several other countries, including Canada, Spain, Italy, and Germany funnel public funds towards religious schools. Parents don't have to pay taxes for public schools AND pay additional huge funds for Catholic schools on top of that.

If you have a problem with the pastor's management, it's a US-wide problem, not a personal problem.

Amen. I thought the pastor and principal were a bit unfairly attacked in this forum previously.

There should have been a board in place years ago. Regardless, neither the pastor nor the principal communicated AT ALL about the fact that the school was on the brink of being closed. There was no warning. Families knew that numbers were low, but we had faith that the principal and admissions staff were on it.

This is untrue. Have you ever been to a State of the School address? The numbers have been available and it has been a major theme for the past several years that we had to get our numbers up. You are either not an involved parent or have had your head in the sand. Parents have been constantly reminded about the need to recruit friends, family and neighbors in order to keep our school afloat. It doesn’t take a genuine to do the math either. You know what you are paying in tuition...multiply that by the students in your children’s classes and you had no clue about a serious issue with a balance budget?

That's not fair at all. It really depends on how long you've been there. New families came in this year and were given no clue whatsoever. Even coming in last year, if you missed one state of the school address, you didn't know anything. It was never put in writing anywhere and never talked about publicly. If you weren't around the school a lot you didn't know. And also, why spend all that money on the renovation if they expected to close? That was very , very strange.

From what I understand there were some structural issues that needed to be addressed and also a small flood with water damage. The Parish Hall is also used by the Parish - for non-school receptions and meetings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any talk among the parish about removing the pastor in seeking better management?

Look, I don't know the pastor personally, but he has a good reputation. His brother is a bishop and their dad was a prominent deacon. The diocesan system asks a lot of its pastors. They are in charge of the spiritual formation of their flock as well as administrative functions, including school management. Very few people have this large skill set. I think that the US is the only country in the world with parochial schools. Thank St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for that. In other countries, religious orders or more recently, lay groups, run schools.

Several other countries, including Canada, Spain, Italy, and Germany funnel public funds towards religious schools. Parents don't have to pay taxes for public schools AND pay additional huge funds for Catholic schools on top of that.

If you have a problem with the pastor's management, it's a US-wide problem, not a personal problem.

Amen. I thought the pastor and principal were a bit unfairly attacked in this forum previously.

There should have been a board in place years ago. Regardless, neither the pastor nor the principal communicated AT ALL about the fact that the school was on the brink of being closed. There was no warning. Families knew that numbers were low, but we had faith that the principal and admissions staff were on it.

Our Lady of Lourdes needs a board too, then. Maybe that's the answer to all mismanaged schools.