Look at What God Has Wrought!

Scary times indeed

Amidst the anger and resentment we are witnessing in cities across the country, the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., remain true when he said riots were the voice of the unheard.  He wasn't justifying them he was explaining them.  Even Jesus turned over the tables outside the temple!  The pandemic is a lens focusing on all that is in trouble in our world.  I read an article this morning which touched me.  It is the story of  George Floyd and what he stood for, click here to read it.  Many of my friends have said that they are not racists and that these incidents are about the bad apples in our society. Perhaps they are right.  However, I came across a clip of James Baldwin from a 1968 interview on the Dick Cavett show.  He doesn't focus on how an individual white person feels but rather on the institutions that he had experienced in his life.  It is a challenging video, but it may present a side that we don't hear that often, click here to watch.  Whatever you may think, I firmly believe we must resolve this reality in love and true dialogue.  It has been said that the Civil War itself is unresolved.  The recent History Channel 3 part documentary on U. S. Grant shows that after Grant's presidency the notion of a new free society for enslaved peoples was lost for the foreseeable future.

Generosity of Cleveland community wins the day!

If you have been following our progress to bring Partnership Schools to Cleveland, you know that we needed to raise $3M by June 1.  As of Thursday, May 28, at 12:09 PM we did just that!  The

Education is the answer!

Partnership Board will vote on June 10 to officially accept our proposal to replicate here in Cleveland.  We are also waiting for a final vote by a national foundation for a significant gift on June 2.  I am sleeping soundly!  Next week's blog will confirm these decisions.  There is little doubt that the outcome will be resoundingly positive.

This could not have happened without the many people who believed in the mission and in the middle of all that is going on took a resounding yes vote to the future!

Seen as a blessing...enrollment story

On Wednesday, May 27, I picked up tri-fold brochures and half sheet notices for enrollment in Archbishop Lyke and St. Thomas Aquinas.  I  then spent the day dropping leaflets in the Lee-Harvard neighborhood and Warrensville Heights (Archbishop Lyke territory).  I hit laundromats, 7-11's,

daycare centers, Dave's Markets, you name it!  Sometimes people ask me why do you do this, are you crazy?  Well, I may be crazy, but this is an email we received two hours after I dropped those leaflets:

"Good afternoon I picked up a flier at Daves Grocery store on Lee-Harvard today 05-27-20 and read it very impress about how sincere your teachers are about teaching and also what stood out was the relationship with the Lord that is taught to the children I am a Faith believer in our lord and savior Jesus Christ and my Husband and I are raising our 7 yr old daughter the same way.  I tried to call the number on the brochure but the number remained busy if some one can get in touch with me on how to enroll my daughter I would greatly appreciate it.  Thank you and have a Blessed afternoon."

She came in the next day and enrolled her daughter!  We fixed the phone problem too!  Enrollment in both schools continues to grow.  Whenever I encounter someone about what we are doing in these two neighborhoods I am greeted with great enthusiasm.  A woman at a daycare center said it best, "This is what we need!"

Life After Catholic Schools

Life After Catholic Grade Schools

The History Chanel's show, Life After People, imagines a world one year, five years, 10 years, 50 years, and more after people disappear from the earth.  The show premiered in 2008.  Recent news from Newark (closing 9 schools at the end of this year) and rumblings from many archdioceses and diocese across the country about more school closings has caused me to think about what life would be without Catholic grade schools.  Please don't let this happen in Cleveland...see below for our status towards our goal.

Well, for one thing, we would not have this recent pre-K graduate's experience:

This post was from a friend of mine who quoted her daughter's thoughts!  I can't quite make out the medal she is wearing, but I am certain it is hanging with pride in her bedroom.  Partnership Schools, managing 7 Catholic grade schools in NYC (Bronx and Harlem), never skipped a beat!  The superintendent of Partnership Schools said early on that they are not forming a task force...they are delivering content centered lessons by any means necessary.  You can keep up with regular updates and thought pieces at the Partnership Blog. The mission of Catholic schools has not changed, just how we deliver it.  But the young girl above got it...it is about a loving community delivering instruction and life lessons ("because that's what kindergarteners do.")

Catholic grade schools are nimble and driven by mission.  We can change on a dime and still keep working towards our mission.  

We will not return to the past.  We are, however, on the front lines, learning daily lessons.  I'm of the belief that we will actually get better!

Large metropolitan districts across the country are failing to deliver learning.  A headline from this past week read:  "One in five Boston public school children may be virtual dropouts."

This is not just the case in the pasts few months, it has really been the case for decades in large city public school districts.  The fact that in present-day Cleveland 66% of adults are functionally illiterate really remonstrated that the education received over long periods of time has been poor.  There is a song by Iris DeMent called Living in the Wasteland of the Free, it is a protest song written in 1996 containing this lyric, "We got high-school kids running around in Calvin Klein and Guess who cannot pass a sixth-grade reading test." Fashions have changed, but the reading results haven't!

Life without Catholic schools is a scary thought.  In total, 52,944 students in Ohio’s Catholic schools have been awarded state scholarships for the current school year to fund tuition through the EdChoice Scholarship, EdChoice Expansion, or the Cleveland Scholarship, at a cost of approximately $160 million. Because nonpublic schools supplement the scholarships in order to provide education, the educational value that those students receive is in excess of $280 million. According to the state’s own calculations, that same education would cost taxpayers over $514 million at the ODE’s published cost of $9,724 per pupil. And these are just the students whose families the state gives direct support to choose private schools.  

 Ohio’s Catholic schools also educate more than 74,000 Ohio students in grades K-12 who receive no support from the state. This gift of Catholic education is a saving to taxpayers who would require another $719 million to educate these students were they to be in public schools. One could almost say that Catholic schools are twice as good (Ok, I'm biased) for half the cost!

Six Days to go to reach our goal!

This past week we received gifts and pledges of $225,000 to get us to within $205, 000 of our $3,000,000 goal by June 1!!  We still have active asks out and any gift, of any size, will obviously get us closer!

If you have any questions or wish to make a pledge payable by June , 2021, please contact me at richardfclark@gmail.com. The urgency of this mission increases each day.  A recent article (click on this link for full story) this way:  "More than 600 of the nation's Catholic schools may have to permanently close because of this pandemic’s economic fallout. Family wages are dropping due to widespread furloughs and unemployment. The tuition payments, difficult for families to bear before, have become burdens that are simply impossible for many families to carry. For American children who rely on Catholic schools, our health crisis has become an economic crisis, and our economic crisis has become an education crisis that wounds the family, the nation, and the church."

Please help us, as my young friend said, "Because that is what kindergartners would do!"

Subscribe to my Nuzzel

I curate and comment on the past week's news through an app called Nuzzel.  Over 200 people subscribe.  I hope you would consider doing the same at https://nuzzel.com/richardfclark.

School of the Future!

When we go back, we go forward!

Today's Plain Dealer (yes, I actually get the Sunday print edition) had a lead story about what schools will look like this coming school year.  My wife, Moira, is president of Magnificat High School in Rocky River.  This morning she has left for a day of each individual graduate, in a gown, walking across the stage, and receiving her diploma.  This is part of an evolving plan for prom, graduation, end of year awards and events as well as summer school and camps and reopening in some fashion in August. She and her team have been working 7 days a week since the middle of March while managing online learning for this school year!  The guidance from Governor DeWine and the Ohio Department of Education has helped, but each school, up to this point, has been left in limbo regarding graduation events and the like.  One local high school is going to have graduation at a drive-in movie venue!  Others have gone all virtual.  My daughter, who received two masters from Kent State graduated last Friday and Saturday on line.  KSU sent a mortarboard and tassel so that the graduates could move the tassel from one side to the other.  She received hers two days after the event!

Partnership Schools, coming to Cleveland this July, has been designing several different scenarios for the coming school year and are presently delivering instruction to 7 schools in New York City!  My hope is that educators and public health experts will lead the way.  As one preeminent health official said, "The virus will tell us the timeline."  It's time to listen!

Content in your PJ's

We are made for this!

Here is a link (click here) to the latest blog from Partnership Schools.  Within the blog there is also a link to an interview from earlier this week with Fr. Matt Malone, S.J., of America Magazine and Executive Director Jill Kafka.

Fourteen Days!

I have been updating our march towards meeting our fundraising goal of $3,000,000.  This past week we had some wonderfully generous gifts and pledges totaling $350,000!  We will get some more notifications of decisions this week so please keep us in your prayers. 
If you want to consider a gift, remember it needs to be a pledge made by June 2020 but can be paid over time up to June 2022!  You may contact me at richardfclark@gmail for further information or to pledge.

Life is Riche

My California family consisting of my brother and two nieces with their families has encouraged me to keep making my cooking videos.  So I forge on!  Here's the link (click here).

TWENTY-ONE DAYS!

Happy Mother's Day!

Lawn signs beginning to bring students to schools!  Grandmother registered her twin grandkids as first response!  More and more, parents are beginning to see how Catholic city grade schools are still teaching!  Cleveland public schools have seemingly punted to next year.  We are hearing how the public district's budget has been cut by 2%.  Clearly, this crisis will be felt for months and years.  Our schools are not going to stop teaching and forming relationships with families and students!  We will find a way!

Last Friday, Jill Kafka, Executive Director of  Partnership Schools, was scheduled for an interview on Youtube by America Magazine (Jesuit national magazine).  Streaming difficulties have pushed that to this Monday, May 11, at noon....here's the link https://youtu.be/hW578e87rm0.  You can set a reminder on the site.

TWENTY-ONE DAYS!

We have committed to raising $3M in pledges and cash to be used from now until June 2022.  Last week were notified that we are in line for a large grant from a national foundation.  We have asks out now to get to the finish line.  If you are considering a gift it can be structured as a pledge, payable from now until June 2022.  Stock transfers can, and have been accepted.  Payments can be made in equal or unequal payments along the way.  For more information, pledge forms, or instructions on payments please email me at richardfclark@gmail.com or phone me at 216.409.7018.  The news out of Newark last week (10 Catholic schools are closing at end of this year, including a Cristo Rey high school) is a stark reminder that one of our greatest assets, our Catholic city grade schools, is on the brink...WE NEED HELP!

Life is Riche

Enjoy my efforts at a cooking show on youtube https://youtu.be/RJJUb10IK6w

Frankie says it all!

Forward!

Seth Godin's latest blog says it all.  We aren't going back, in fact, we have always known we can't go home again.  Disruption always seems to come out of nowhere.  If I look at the reality of pandemic it has many of the characteristics of disruption.

As we get ready to introduce the Partnership School model to Cleveland we certainly are faced with a new set of challenges on top of the already daunting task of urban education in America.  Recently some people have asked if we are still going ahead given the crisis.  My answer is given the crisis we are committed more than ever!

Go into the city and 

you will be told what to do!

Last Thursday, Scott Jeckering and I picked up 100 lawn signs promoting Archbishop Lyke School and St. Thomas School.

It was beginning to pour rain, but we headed up to St. Thomas Aquinas and were planting a sign and lo and behold Bishop Roger popped out of the door!  He has been keenly aware of what we are doing and has asked to be our chaplain!  He lives in the old convent at St. Thomas Aquinas so he will be willing and able to become the chaplain for our growing network!!

Last week was also the reading from the Acts of the Apostles concerning the conversion of Saul.  When he was knocked on the ground and blinded he was told to go into the city and he would be told what to do.  Well, last Thursday we went into the city and were told what to do in no uncertain terms by the honking of horns, the friendly waves, and the one man, Frankie, I met at an ATM.  He saw the sign and called out that his mother used to work at Archbishop Lyke!  His kids were adults now but he said with a firm tone, "Education is the only way!"  He promised to spread the word. I wanted to hug him, but of course, I think my hugging days are over, sadly.

Later Christian Davallis was on a Zoom call with faculty of St. Thomas and two of the staff were so excited that they saw lawn signs promoting their school when they were out!  Easter is upon us!

Generosity begins the flow!

This past week we received gifts from individuals totaling $233,000!  Our foundation support remains strong as we close in on our June 1 goal of $3,000,000!  We still need to raise close to $500,000.  These first two school years ahead of us are really about building a foundation for the long term success of 6 Catholic schools in the city.  This is the first and in many ways the biggest step along the journey.  Gifts can be in cash or pledges.  The pledges can be payable from now until July of 2022.  If you have any questions please give me a text, call, or email.  Recall what Frankie said, "Education is the only way!"