Dear SKS Families,

I hope you had a great Easter holiday. I hope it was one that was faith-filled and a time to spend with your loved ones.

I ask you to keep in your prayers Blake Buckley (3rd grade)  and the Buckley family.  Blake’s grandfather, Dr. Michael Buckley, a highly respected doctor for his loving compassionate care, and a wonderful family man passed away last week. Mike and his wife, Sally,  were longtime parishioners at SKS and Brian and his sisters attended SKS as well. Also I ask for prayers for Nick Canuso (6th grade) and the Canuso family. Nick’s grandfather, John Nolan, also a wonderful family man, passed away earlier this spring.  

Our Middle States Re-Accreditation visit concluded on Friday, April 6th with Middle States Chairperson, Dolores Ballintyn,  giving a twenty minute oral report to Msgr. Brouwers, our faculty/staff, representatives from our SKS Home and School, SKS BLJ, and members from the Middle States  Steering Committee. In her presentation, Dolores commended our school for many things she witnessed in her three day visit. She also said that her recommendation would be for the Middle States Board to re-accreditate SKS for another seven years contingent on our commitment to following up on our school action plans.  Although we worked hard for this and expected a positive result, it was nonetheless great news for us to hear. We will await the formal reaccreditation next fall from the Middle States office.   

The action plans that will chart a course for school improvement are threefold. As a Catholic institution, one plan is required to have a faith element. The other two action plans will be science and technology related.  Working together as a team, the teachers are excited about bringing these plans to fruition over a timeline that has been carefully laid out for the years ahead.

Since Easter was late in the calendar, the rest of the school year tends to fly by quite quickly. I refer to this time as the “beginning of the end.” It is the busiest time for teachers and for us as a school. Teachers will be focusing on getting students ready for finishing the final trimester and preparing for final exams. At the same time they will be asked to do a number of tasks to get things lined up for next year. 

When the new principal search was completed, I  told Msgr. Brouwers, the principal search committee, and the faculty/staff how happy and excited I was regarding the hiring of Adria Crowley as our next school principal. From my perspective,  I believe the school has made an excellent choice going forward.  Adria is a gifted educator to lead SKS.  She is organized, energetic yet very calm, and an excellent communicator. With the help and support of the faculty/staff and the SKS community, I have no doubt  she will lead the school to a bright future.  Adria and I will be meeting on a regular basis between now and the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition.

I plan to enjoy these last several weeks with my SKS family starting with the Annual Fund Party this Friday evening.   There are many wonderful events taking place between now and June 17th and I plan to take it all in with this community I care so deeply about.

Take care,

Bud