2016-17 school annual reportschool.iccsonline.org/documents/2017/7/2016-17 school annual...

Immaculate Conception School | Annual Report 2016-2017


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CONTENTS

From the Pastor .............................................................. 3

School Theme .................................................................. 4

Enrollment ....................................................................... 4

Accreditation and Strategic Plan ................................... 5

Professional Growth and Development ....................... 6

Marketing, Outreach and Advancement ...................... 7

Faith ................................................................................ 8

Academics ..................................................................... 9

Service .......................................................................... 10

Activities ...................................................................... 10

Governance ................................................................. 11

Looking Ahead ........................................................... 11

Celebrations and Success ..................................12-13

Financial Statement ................................................. 11


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Dear Friends in Christ,

Immaculate Conception Church in Columbia Heights, Minnesota was blessed in 1939 when Father Joseph Lapinski broke ground for Immaculate Conception School. Ever since we opened our school doors to students and families in the Fall of 1939, we have carried on the tradition of providing a strong Catholic education for the children of our parish and surrounding area. We have grown, improved and continued to learn as faculty members, administrators, parents and clergy about the best way to foster Catholic and moral virtues as well as to provide an excellent academic education. As we continue to implement our School Strategic Plan developed during our 2016 MNSAA Accreditation, we ask God to guide our work, ministry, and the education we offer to the children and families of our community.

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Father John Mitchell Pastor

From the Pastor


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“Love one another as I have loved you.” John 13:34

Serve one another through love. The theme outlined above was our inspiration for the 2016-17 school year at Immaculate Conception School (ICS). The theme of love and service is at the very heart of what we believe and continue to strive toward each day in our parish school. In the spring of 1939, the parish broke ground for our school and opened its doors in the Fall of 1939. ICS has been welcoming students for 77 years!

School Theme

Our students returned to the halls of Immaculate Con-ception School (ICS) on September 6, 2016 with anticipa-tion for the school year to begin. We view each child as a gift and work to enable each of them to realize their many God-given talents and how they can share those with the world. Throughout this report, I will share how our foundation in faith, academics, and service are inte-gral to the education we provide at ICS.

Our work as a school is guided by our Mission State-ment that is developed as a part of the accreditation process. Our Mission is displayed in the entryway of the school, in offices, on communications and in class-rooms. It reads:

Enrollment

Pre-K: 28 Kindergarten: 10

1st Grade: 19 2nd Grade: 18

3rd Grade: 10 4th Grade: 11

5th Grade: 13 6th Grade: 10

7th Grade: 16 8th Grade: 16

2016-17 Enrollment

Total: 151

The school of the Immaculate Conception is a Catholic community ministering to the

children within the parish and throughout the surrounding neighborhoods. In the name of Jesus Christ, we are dedicated to fostering academic excellence, Spiritual growth, and a strong commitment to living Gospel values.


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Accreditation and Strategic Plan

Immaculate Conception is accredited through the Minnesota Nonpublic School Accrediting Association (MNSAA). Within this process, a strategic plan is devel-oped with objectives, strategies and action steps that ensure we are making continued progress toward goals established during the accreditation process. At the con-clusion of each school year, there is an annual report made to MNSAA that summarizes the progress we have made in the strategic plan.

During the 2015-16 school year, the school staff hosted a visit from a site accreditation team. A great deal of self-study was put into this process, all aspects of the school are studied and a new strategic plan is developed for the upcoming years. During the period of self-study, we ex-amine the work we do and how well it aligns with the standards of MNSAA. Within each standard, a narrative is created and evidence is provided that demonstrates how the standard is met. We also write our strengths and challenges within each standard in order to create the new strategic plan for the upcoming years. The visit by the MNSAA Accreditation Team held in April of 2016 went extremely well and laid the ground work for the year we are now completing as well as for the upcoming years.

Our Strategic Plan is shared with leadership groups in the parish, including the School Advisory Council, the Parish Council and the Pastor, along with the Trustees. The school faculty developed the Strategic Plan and re-views it during the school year, checking on our progress and considering how it may need adjustments. The plan has Objectives, Strategies and Action Steps. Below are the four main Objectives that we are continually working toward:

The school will provide a technologically supported learning path which meets the academic needs of all students.

The school will enhance partnerships and communi-cation with families in the community.

The school will continue to increase fundraising and marketing efforts to increase enrollment and sus-tainability.

The school will encourage professional growth that is financially sustainable.

Accreditation for our Preschool Program is maintained through a separate organization entitled NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children). We also have had two years of maintaining a 4 Star Parent Aware Rating in the state of Minnesota. This rating allows us to apply for funding to offer our Preschool families. To run a fully licensed, accredited and Parent Aware Rated Preschool is truly a fine accomplishment!

With support through CSCOE, Catholic Schools Center of Excellence, we changed our preschool name to Faithful Beginnings Preschool at Immaculate Conception. Throughout the Archdiocese, a number of preschools have made that shift and it unifies our marketing efforts.


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Professional Growth and Development

Throughout the school year, the principal and teachers work to enrich their professional growth through com-pleting college course work, participating in workshops both in and outside of the school, reading professional journals, and planning in-service/workshop days that offer activities centered around the goals outlined below. The goals are SMART – Strategic/Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Results-Oriented/Realistic, and Timely.

Staff Development Goals Goal #1: To continually improve student achievement and ensure deeper understanding of the academic standards measured in our standards-based report cards, reading and mathematics data (NWEA MAP, OL-SAT, educational technology, formal and informal assess-ments) will be monitored and utilized in curriculum and instruction decisions. School curriculum will be aligned and/or maintained with standards through the accredita-tion process, using a curriculum mapping process during the 2016-17 school year.

Goal #2: Provide opportunities for professional growth and development in the areas of Blended Learning, tech-nology integration, cultural proficiency, and differentiat-ed instruction to meet the unique needs of staff and stu-dents during the 2016-17 school year.

Goal #3: Provide professional development opportuni-ties that further the understanding and implementation of classroom management approaches, with special em-phasis in Responsive Classroom/Developmental Designs and intentional school culture during the 2016-17 school year.

In Goal # 2, technology integration is emphasized and to facilitate that we have added laptops this past year for the teaching staff. Thus, with SMART Boards in class-rooms, iPads, and two computer labs, we are able to in-tegrate technology successfully and provide children and professionals what they need. Enough iPads were pur-chased over the years so that a 1:1 program was put in place this year in Grades 5-8. The SMART Boards allow for interactive lessons as much of the curricula we pur-chase has electronic portions for the teachers to use for instruction. As stated, we have two computer labs, one Macintosh and the other Windows based, allowing stu-dents to learn both platforms.


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An important element of our school is communicating the excellence we offer through marketing and outreach. In celebrating a Community Night in December, the staff and school families share good news of the school, invit-ing school families and community members to learn more about the school.

A theme that we adopted throughout the past three years is one of Beautification. A small committee of vol-unteers and employees sought to identify areas that needed improvement and beautify our school environ-ment. This beautification process also serves to effective-ly market the school and parish.

We continued to implement new and exciting marketing strategies during the school year. In participation with CSCOE the Catholic Schools Center of Excellence, we have learned a lot about admissions strategies. With par-ticipation on the Admissions Squad, we added two Pre-school and Kindergarten Play Dates and Open Houses. When new families visited, they were given private tours and offered a promotional gift of an ICS sweatshirt or a stuffed animal. We also added an Open House morning in which families could come to learn about the online application process that was put in place just this year through TADS. One of our most exciting ventures was the renting of billboard space during the past year and the upcoming summer. The billboard is on the University Avenue NE and St. Anthony Blvd. It featured a beautiful photo of students and contact information of our school.

Marketing, Outreach and Advancement:

Funding through the GHR Foundation for our Blended Learning program was partially earmarked for marketing needs. We utilized those funds to pay for the billboard, create a new video focused on Blended Learning and what that looks like in the classroom, development of an updated brochure, infographic and a banner design.

In celebrating the 77th anniversary of the school, we work to enhance connections with our outstanding alumni. We communicate with them prior to the Marathon, Give to the Max and Fun Fest. This school has made a significant difference in the lives of over 6,500 students in 77 years!

We do ask for the alumni to support the school by asking for contributions to our Marathon for Nonpublic Educa-tion. The monetary goal for this year’s Marathon was $25,000.00, which we did achieve. Our alumni also give generously to our Give to the Max Campaign. We invite them to visit the school and parish for the Nordeast Fun Fest Summer Jam.


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Faith

Children participate in religion class daily and faith is an integral part of our day at ICS. The children attend Mass weekly and learn about the Stations of the Cross during Lent through their teachers and visiting the church with Fr. John Mitchell. The middle school students participated in a special presenta-tion of Living Stations. Twelve of our school children received the sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Eucharist. As a school, we prayed the Rosary by our beautiful Shrine in October and May. Father John Mitchell visits the classrooms preparing religion lessons and answering questions the children have about our Catholic Faith.

To add further beauty to the school hallways and entryways, Catholic art-work was added and we continually seek sponsors for the artwork. It is an opportunity for an individual or family to leave a legacy for the school by do-nating artwork. These beautiful artworks have been important to the strengthening of our Catholic Identity.

An accreditation team focused on the Catholic Identity of the school visited in March of 2016. The team examined and observed our work in the Faith and teaching of it to our students. We earned a Distinguished rating, and they provided areas for us in which we wrote goals for growth in this year and the years ahead.


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Academics

We had the tremendous opportunity this past school year to work with the Data and Instructional Coach trained through the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) with the University of Notre Dame. As part of a grant we received from the GHR Foundation, ICS along with two other schools in the Archdiocese implemented a Blended Learning Model for the last three years. Blended Learn-ing strengthens the school through implementing the core elements of: Leadership Capacity, Intentional School Culture, Data Driven Instruction, Instructional Coaching, Professional Learning Communities, Enrollment and Mar-keting, and Professional Development.

This exciting program continues to challenge our teach-ers in positive ways to work on integrating technology so we can find the “just right level of learning” for every child. This is accomplished through studying the data made available to us from the assessments we have in place and the software that students work with in class for portions of the school day. Our students have made academic strides in this model and the teachers have had a great deal of professional development. We have been successful in the program and as a result, were invited to speak at the MNSAA Conference in 2015 and the Bush Foundation’s Conference on Personalized Learning in February of 2017.

Our students are assessed in achievement in Reading and Mathematics by the NWEA MAP. This Measures of Academic Progress is a unique assessment in that it adapts to each student’s learning level as they are taking the computerized test. The data provided through the NWEA MAP is measured by national norms and has be-come invaluable to us as we make instructional decisions for each child, seeking their “just right learning level”. Our students in grades 3-8 take an assessment entitled the OLSAT. This assessment informs us about the students’ cognitive skills that are essential for successful learning.

A unique feature to our school location is the relatively close proximity to the Columbia Heights Library. The li-brary provides our children the opportunity to visit the library to check books out and utilize a Bulk Loan Pro-gram for projects in which teachers request a wide selec-tion of books that may assist with a unit or project. With the new library opened on Central Avenue, we combined classes for their walks to the local library.

One of the academic highlights of each school year is our annual Science Fair in which middle school students demonstrate their exceptional science knowledge through projects judged by local scientists and visiting science teachers and high school students. Middle school students conclude the year in Mathematics with a Proba-bility Carnival. All students visit and do their best at play-ing games that teach them about probability.

2017 Spring Honor Roll Students


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ICS students receive Crest View Youth Service Award

Service

Reaching out to the local and global community is part of the school’s mission. Again in 2016-17, students and staff collected food and it was donated to our local food shelf at SACA. The food collected is enough to feed hundreds of families. During Lent, we collected money that was donated to Cross Catholic Outreach. We mailed a check for $608.00 which will assist a small community in need, most likely in the Central American region.

Students have opportunities to participate in activities beyond the classroom in athletics. Our school hosts teams in Soccer, beginning in grade 1. Our A Squad Soccer team placed first in the Twin Cities Soc-cer championship! Volleyball and Basketball continue to be very pop-ular sports for both girls and boys. The spring season is when our stu-dents join baseball and softball. The girl’s team this year learned a lot with the introduction of fast-pitch. It was a very suc-cessful season!

Chorus also has become an important avenue for chil-dren to express themselves in the arts. The numbers in our school chorus have grown significantly this year with 32 students in grades 4-8.

Students may elect to participate in an instrumental Band program once they enter 4th grade. We are pleased

Activities

Weekly visits to Crest View on 42nd and Central continued for the children as they share in games and conversation with the Crest View residents. These intergenerational bonds are examples of service, and also make a lasting impact on the students’ understanding of outreach. Crest View honored our children this year with the Youth Ser-vice Award. Four students accompanied me to receive the award. Students have been asked to be Church Serv-ants after the weekly Mass. This involves them staying after Mass and assisting with cleaning tasks in the church. On a regular basis, rotating grade levels stay after in the lunchroom and assist with cleaning tables. All of these small tasks add up to learning how to integrate a servant’s heart into our daily lives.

Students are also asked to serve as Ambassadors for our school at special events such as the Celebration we held in November and the Queen of May Dinner and Auction.

to offer band lessons through the Totino-Grace Fine Arts Academy. Our band students had individual and group lessons weekly here at the school from a Totino-Grace teacher, Jessica Giers, and they per-form at our Christmas and Spring Concerts.

As part of the music curriculum, students perform in two concerts, Christmas and spring. Middle

school students, grades 6-8, per-formed School House Rock Live! Jr. This musical was di-rected by our music teacher, Amanda McGivern. These artistic performances and course opportunities enhance the students’ educational experience.

We also added a Chess Club this year coached by parent and staff volunteers. The children in grades 1-8 were able to participate every other week. A great deal of learning took place!

ICS Twin Cities Soccer Championship Winners


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Governance

Our School Advisory Council met monthly striving toward making decisions that will benefit the school. The follow-ing parents and parishioners were members during the 2016-17 school year: Chairperson-Jan Beers; Vice Chair-person-Jim Totzke; Secretary-Ivy Skrade, Dursitu Agamso, Jared Hendrickson, Lynda Kemayah, Chad Munsterman,

Pam Patnode, Ana Robles, Jane Bona, Father John Mitch-ell. As the School Advisory Council membership transi-tions, there will be openings. Please contact Jane Bona to learn more about the work of the council. The school community is grateful for these volunteers who give of their time and talent!

Looking Ahead

Our school was awarded a third year of working with the Data and Instructional Coach trained by the University of Notre Dame to continue our Blended Learning program. We are excited to have received the GHR Foundation funding during 2014-15, 15-16 and 16-17. We have been asked to consider software needs to expand the Blended

Learning model to other content areas or enhance what we currently do in Mathematics, Language Arts and Sci-ence. The GHR Foundation communicates with the prin-cipal to evaluate our progress. They sent representatives from a research firm called Rainbow Research to evalu-ate the progress of our program.

Financial Statement

July 2016 - June 2017 Income July 2016 - June 2017 Expense


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Celebrations and Success

During November of 2016, we again participated in the unique program offered in Minnesota entitled Give To The Max. This program offers online giving to non-profits for a 24 hour period of time. We asked parishioners, alumni and Friends of ICS to donate to our school during the one day in November so that we can support the var-ious Blended Learning curriculum. This event was a suc-cess! We achieved our goal and are also able to pay for additional instructional expenses.

Parishioners and community foundations are instrumen-tal in helping the school raise money that is set aside for students’ tuition assistance. 73 students of the 151 received tuition assistance during 2016-17 and another 8 received Early Learning Scholarships in the Preschool Program because of our 4 Star Parent Aware Rating. The families are grateful for this opportunity.

Our eighth annual Queen of May Dinner and Auction to Benefit Catholic Education was a wonderful night! We served 215 guests and almost 50 volunteers joined the effort, including 13 students. The Sun Focus visited that evening and published a front page article about the event, bringing attention to the success of this as a fund-raiser and community builder. This is the kind of event that means so much to the parish and school communi-ty. Because of the generous donations of the guests, we plan to update our software used for Blended Learning and replace window blinds in the classrooms. Once again, we as a school community are honored to know that many people believe in our school. Catholic educa-tion is a vital ministry of this parish.

An exciting new partnership has developed between schools in the Twin Cities area that implement Personal-ized Learning for students with the Bush Foundation. The Bush Foundation has made it part of their work to enable schools to provide personalized learning paths. We are a part of that through Blended Learning. I have attended meetings with the Foundation for two years making up a Community of Practice and they are very supportive of our efforts, offering us a grant for our work. In February of 2017, two teachers and I presented our Blended Learning work at a Bush Foundation conference called Power and Possibility of Individualized Learning.

2017 Queen of May Dinner and Auction


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The last year and a half has been one of great joy for the honors of awards received. I was honored to receive the Lead. Learn. Proclaim. Award for Principal through the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) and at-tended the conference in March of 2016 in San Diego to accept the award. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minne-apolis named me Principal of the Year at the conclusion of the 2015-16 school year. NCEA asked me to apply for the Distinguished Principal Award through the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP). Once again, I was blessed with the honor to accept one of these awards at a ceremony and meeting in Washing-ton D.C. in October of 2016. The local Sun Focus identi-fied me as the Best Principal in our local area for two years. Mr. Couillard was named Best Teacher in early 2016 as well. These awards have been tremendous hon-ors and blessings for our school and speak to the great spirit and Faith of our school and parish community. We are humbly grateful!

As principal of this growing and vibrant school, I certainly know what it is like to be a part of a bright parish and school community. I often compare our parish and school community to a beacon in the Columbia Heights Community. Thank you for being with our school chil-dren, families and staff in prayer, and in our mission to do the work of educating children in academics, service and the Catholic Faith.

Celebrations and Success


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Photos courtesy of: John Ashmore, Susan Ashmore, Jane Bona, Cathleen Cary, Immaculate Conception Parish and School


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Immaculate Conception School

4030 JACKSON STREET NE COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, MINNESOTA 55421

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