Partnership Schools Cleveland is born!!

Diocesan Announcement

            

Click here!!!

Thank you to Dr. Frank O'Linn and Fr. Don Oleksiak for believing in this model.  To cast their nets out into the deep at this time demonstrates how faith can indeed move mountains.  Here is a link to the Partnership Schools NY announcement:  https://www.partnershipnyc.org/the-partnership-expands/.

My first contact with Partnership Schools was in December of 2017.  As of this week, two and a half years later, we have officially launched Partnership Schools Cleveland!  Here is the first mention of our new entity in a national publication, The Washington Post on June 12.  The article was talking about how closures of Catholic schools are hurting the minorities that attend them:

Here is why we do it!

Twenty percent of students in the nation’s 6,000 Catholic schools are minorities, including Hispanics, African Americans and Asians. The numbers are much higher in what’s called the Partnership Schools, a network of nine Catholic schools in Harlem and the South Bronx in New York and in Cleveland. In addition to the coursework usually found in public schools, schools in the partnership stress four core values — integrity, humility, hard work and service. 

Enrollees at these nine schools are 67 percent Hispanic and 31 percent African American.

So at a most crucial time in Catholic education, particularly in city settings, Cleveland brings a new model to bear on the problem!  Starting with two schools this coming year, our hope is to grow to as many as six!

Thank you!!

As many of you know we needed to secure in cash or pledges a total of $3M by June 1.  We could only begin actually asking for significant gifts once the agreement was approved by then Bishop Perez which he did on February 13, 2020.  Three and one-half months later we got our last commitment on  May 28 to get over the mark!

What now?

We are working on several fronts.  Next week we will begin to work on some of the physical improvements and repairs that we have identified.  Our hope is to have our buildings ready by August!

Enrollment is also a front-burner item.  Presently both schools have strong re-enrollment numbers (~90%) and total enrollment is at last year's level.  As with many city schools, summer is still a time where more families enroll.  Our hope is to increase enrollment at both schools and it appears we are on track. Professional development of leadership and faculty will continue with more emphasis on the new curriculum in the upcoming weeks.

Upcoming weeks

I will begin to set up shop in St. Thomas and Archbishop Lyke!  Our hope is to bring people for visits, practicing the latest safety guidelines from the CDC (bring your mask).  We are considering some sort of digital town hall.  Let me know what you think about that.  We would present more specific plans and begin to introduce our team.

Final Reflection

In response to the trauma and pain, we rely on our belief that we are made for each other in the image and likeness of God. The Trinity, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are the epitome of community; no one is greater than the other as they all serve a specific purpose. The world needs more of this idea of solidarity.

Read more from Vincent Hale, a teacher from New York Partnership Schools  https://www.partnershipnyc.org/whats-going-on/.