Will Our Lady School Be Using Common Core? Our Lady School Will Not Be Using Anything

Our Lady School is going to be a “Classical Liberal Arts School.” What does that mean exactly? Classical liberal arts education is geared toward the pursuit of two goals: wisdom and virtue. It inspires students to contemplate all that is true, good, and beautiful, and to apply those lessons to their lives. It seeks for academic excellence, while avoiding an educational process which presents unrelated information and which may overemphasize grades and test scores. To this end, teachers at Our Lady School will incorporate, for example, an integrated approach to education. In other words, instead of a stratification of subjects, teachers will incorporate many disciplines into single lessons. This also has the great benefit of being able to incorporate the Catholic faith more easily into every lesson. Also, although textbooks will be used when necessary, a preference for using primary texts over textbooks will be utilized.

Will Our Lady School be using Common Core? Our Lady School will not be using anything affiliated with Common Core.

Is Our Lady School independent from the Diocese? No, Our Lady School is a regular parish grade school and will be following all diocesan norms regarding schools.

Will the Our Lady School students be taking the ISTEP test? Yes, all students in the State of Indiana are required by law to participate in ISTEP testing.

Will Our Lady School really be ready to open in Fall of 2016? Yes! Everything is well underway to ensure that the school will be ready to open in Fall of 2016. Renovations to the building are being completed, proper inspections are being sought, State accreditation is being properly pursued through the Diocese, a school number will soon be acquired from the State, and the school will become eligible to be a Choice Scholarship School.

What were the preregistration numbers? 160 students pregistered for the school. How many students will the school hold? The maximum number for the school will be around 160 students. This will vary depending on the size of specific classes.

Does preregistration guarantee my children a spot in the school? No, preregistration was done as a courtesy to parents to allow us to gather financial information from families so that we can help determine how tuition will be best handled for that family (vouchers, financial aid, etc). Preregistration was also done as a help to the school to better anticipate numbers of families who most likely will send their children to the school, numbers of students in each class, etc.

When can I guarantee my children a spot in the school? Through the normal registration process (which will take place in January), spots in the school will be secured.

What if there are more children who wish to have spots in the school than the number of spots available? Like all other schools in our diocese, Our Lady School will have an admissions policy by which admission to the school will be regulated when there are more children than spots available. That policy will be as follows:

“In the event there are more children registered than can be admitted after the early registration deadline, children will be admitted to OL School based on the following preference categories:

A) Siblings of Catholic students currently enrolled at OLS (living within the parish boundaries) AND siblings of Catholic students currently enrolled at OLS (living outside of the parish boundaries but who are active at OLGH*)

B) Children of Catholic families who live in the parish boundaries AND children of Catholic families who live outside the parish boundaries but are active at OLGH* for over a year prior to the annual registration deadline.

C) Children of Catholic families who live outside the parish but are active at OLGH* for less than a year prior to the annual registration deadline.

D) Children of Catholic families from other parishes

E) Children of non-Catholic families.

If there are available spots after the early registration deadline, rolling admission will take place.

*the Pastor shall make the determination as to whether the family can be considered ‘active’” Please note that category “A” will not be used for the inaugural year as it would not apply. If after applying the admission policy categories, there are still too many children for particular spots, a lottery system will be utilized.

What will the tuition be for Our Lady School? For the first child in a family, tuition is $5400. Second child is $5300. Third child is $5200. Fourth child is $5100. Fifth child is $5000. For those who are eligible, State Vouchers and SGO scholarships can be applied. Financial assistance will also to available from the parish. Using all the financial resources available, our goal is to make tuition affordable for every family.

What is happening in the school building currently? Currently some renovation and improvements are happening in the school to prepare for our Fall 2016 opening. New flooring is being installed in almost the entirety of the school space. A few walls are being moved in order to gain the proper classroom size. The entire school area is being painted. A new secure interior entrance is being added. New outside doors and windows are being added to comply with Homeland Security requirements. A new science lab is being added as well as computer system wiring throughout the school.

How is all this being funded? All startup costs, including building renovations, are being funded by donations from private individuals and from private foundations. Special thanks go to the Mary Cross Tippmann Foundation for their generosity to Our Lady School. No parish money and no New Church Building Project funds are being used for startup costs. Private donations to help with start up costs are still welcome.

Have teachers been hired yet? No teachers have been hired yet, but that process will begin shortly.

What will be the school schedule? That has not yet been determined. However, the schedule will be coordinated with the Bishop Dwenger start and end times so that parents who have children in both schools can easily manage drop-off and pick- up for both.

Will the children attend Mass every day? All students will attend the regular parish daily Mass from 9 a.m. – 9:25 a.m., 4 days a week.

Will the children go to Confession regularly? Students who have already made their first confession will be given the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Confession at least once a month.

Is there a School Board yet? Yes, a preliminary school board has been chosen by Father Mark. Once the school is running, a school board will be selected according to diocesan norms. How will Our Lady School participate in sports? Except for football, Our Lady School will be fielding its own teams and competing in the Fort Wayne area CYO. The sports offered will be: Soccer (boys and girls), Basketball (boys and girls), Track (boys and girls), Cross Country (boys and girls), Volleyball (girls only). (If the pastor gets the gumption, we may even field a golf team). For football, the CYO will assign us to participate with another school each year according to what is needed to complete football teams across the CYO system.

How can I currently get involved in Our Lady School? Hold tight. There will many opportunities for parents and for friends of the school to become involved in the daily working of the school including through Home and School Association (HASA), volunteer coaching, SCRIP, school board committees, etc. We especially welcome parental involvement and input in the life of the school.