John Paul II Center 2019-2020 Annual Report Mission In a safe and nurturing Christian environment, John Paul II Center serves children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities by providing diversified programs. We acknowledge the dignity of all learners while challenging them on a daily basis to reach their God-given potential. Our mission is an expression of the Catholic Church’s teaching on the sanctity of human life. About JPII Everyone has a purpose in life. As a values-based with special needs, so we’ve made transition as seamless organization, John Paul II Center for Special Learning as possible. encourages children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to explore their purpose and After graduation, students may have the option to reach for goals through unique special education and move directly to our 21+ Adult Program, giving them the social programming. opportunity to continue developing skills while making individual needs a priority. Students ages three to 21 are able to learn and grow throughout our school-age program, with the later years Like everyone else, people with disabilities have focusing on transition and life skills. the capacity to make significant contributions to the community and to the world by utilizing their God-given We know stability and continuity are important to those talents. We’re here to help them along the way. 2 Board Members We can’t speak of the success we’ve seen throughout the years without praising the fantastic work our Board of Directors has done. We’ve always found strength in our board, and remain faithful that they will continue to steer our Center in the right direction and do what is best for our students and adults. W. Bradford White, Jr. – Chairman, Senior VP Wealth Michael Herr – Managing Director, Tompkins Insurance Management, Morgan Stanley Carla Leibold – CFO, Customers Bank Michael A. Duff – Vice Chairman, Senior VP, Daniel Langdon – Retired, CEO, East Penn Manufacturing Co, Inc. Government Relations & Chief Compliance Officer, Penske Kathleen Nevel, PhD – Adjunct Faculty Alvernia University Gretchen Naso - Treasurer, Principal, Reinsel Kuntz Lesher, LLP Kathleen O’Brien Ellis, PhD – Secondary Special Education Ginny Close – Secretary, Community Volunteer Teacher, Twin Valley School District Joseph Albright - Retired, Project Director, Industrial Craig Perrotty – Retired, Sr. VP Fixed Income Sales, Development Vining Sparks IBG Theodore Bassano – Treasurer, Vice President Emeritus, RACC Craig Poole – General Manager, DoubleTree by Hilton Dr. Patti Brown – Encompass Health and Penn State Health/ Rebecca Shemanski – Custom Processing Services St. Josephs Chester Winters – Director of Information Technology, RACC Anthony DeMarco - Vice President of College Advancement, Reading Area Community College Mary Adams – Principal Virginia Frederick Dodge – Executive Producer, Melissah Jablonski – Director of Advancement VA Productions, Inc. Brooke Cortese Tesche, EdD. – Deputy Superintendent, The Honorable Eleni Dimitriou Geishauser – Diocese of Allentown Berks County Judge Michael Mizak – Business Manager Rev. Edward J. Essig, M. Div. – Pastor, St. Francis de Sales Principal’s Note unfamiliar waters to hold a new kind of Legacy Gala. It was a Dear Friends, huge success! Our sponsors, supporters, auction winners were all committed to our mission. Everyone was on board with the new The 2019 -2020 fiscal year has been nothing but unbelievable! format. Not that it could ever replace seeing our students and adults There was a lot of upheaval at the end of the school year, but we in person, but health and safety were of the utmost importance to persevered and continue to pivot without wavering from our mission. everyone. We all were going about our typical school year with the usual Unfortunately, we didn’t have the opportunity to present the Halo cadence and celebratory events until March 13 and everyone’s world Award to Nanette and Sal Cutrona our honorees this year. We will changed. I remember that day well. I pulled the teachers in for a have something special planned with them and our students when quick meeting to tell them we will be closed for two weeks until the we can come together again. The new award we were going to pandemic passes. I thought two weeks was enough time for us to get present was not able to be presented live either. We were excited a handle on the virus. Little did we know at the time that it would turn about the new recognition award and what it represents. We want into four weeks, and then six weeks, and then completely closing to honor someone who quietly but with their whole heart dedicated for the remainder of the school year. Our adult program quickly their time and talent to JPII. They share their gifts with JPII on many followed the same directive. Our teachers, aides, and direct care staff levels for many years. We named the award Peggy’s Legacy of Faith all stepped right up to continue the great care and programming we Award after our dear friend Peggy Horrigan. Her faith and staunch always provide. We wanted to continue the education but also be support were admired, and she set a precedence for all to follow. their support during this turmoil. We utilized all the technology we In our inaugural year it was an easy choice. We knew we had to could to stay connected to our families and it worked! recognize one of our own teachers, Mary A. Maher. She has been with us since the day we opened our doors in 1982. She has shown up A new class was started this school year to address social skills for every day and embraced all the changes and growth of JPII. We have some of our students. We know how important social skills are during such admiration for Mary. We can’t begin to express our gratitude for the early school years. Establishing these skills positions them for her faithfulness. success when interacting with their peers and staff and being better prepared to learn. Our behavior specialist is leading the class for the As we begin the 2020-2021 school year in person, I pray that we all younger students who could benefit from a little more time spent on remain safe and well. We want to reconnect on many levels and those skills. We feel it’s an important part of their development. hope to be able to do that again soon. Many blessings to you and your family during these challenging times. As many of you know our Legacy Gala moved to virtual mode. Our physical event was certainly missed by our families, staff and Yours in Christ, donors. We knew early on when COVID hit we would not have our Legacy Gala in April, but we were hoping to reschedule it in the summer. When we saw circumstances were not going to change, we Mary A Adams went virtual. Without hesitation our Advancement Team chartered 3 Our building was closed, but we were still learning. On March 16, 2020, education and programming went from lives by providing them with some of their favorite activities. in-person to virtual when JPII was closed because of the COVID We taped staff reading books and posted the videos online. pandemic. When the world became a scary place for our Every Thursday, Mrs. K. continued providing liturgical music students and adults, our staff rallied to continue to find ways to via Facebook just as she would if we were in session. We held reassure them through new online tools, including Facebook weekly Prayer Zoom Circles where we came together to pray and Zoom. and support one another. We tapped into our inner-artists and musicians through videos recorded by our art and music We never missed a beat, learning that although we had to therapists. When we needed to let our students and adults remain socially distant, it didn’t mean that we couldn’t remain know how much we missed them, we sent them a #happymail connected to one another until we could all safely return to JPII message from Principal Adams that included a coupon for a and be together again. treat from our friends at Chick-Fil-A Broadcasting Square. And just like the end of every school year, staff put together Teachers jumped right into action, ensuring that our students and delivered pizza kits, so we held our end-of-year could continue their education remotely using Zoom and pizza party via Zoom. Google Classroom. Our adult staff began holding small group sessions also using Zoom to see one another during these On the surface, this school year may not have looked the same unprecedented times. as it has in the past, but one thing was very much the same. The dedication of the entire staff to be present when our Although our doors were closed, JPII’s staff was determined students and adults needed us the most. to bring a sense of “normalcy” into our students’ and adults’ 4 Our building was closed, Revenue and Expenses but we were still learning. Excess revenue over expenses before depreciation = $129,000 for the fiscal year July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. Revenue $2,611,000 1% each Tuition & Services $1,572,000 15% Contributions & Fund Raising $602,000 Scholarship Funding 60% 23% $372,000 Because We Are Catholic Appeal $35,000 Investment Income $30,000 Expenses $2,482,000 School Age Program $915,000 20% Adult Program 37% $823,000 10% Building & General Operations $506,000 (Includes depreciation of $294,000) 33% Development & Marketing Expenses $238,000 To make a donation to John Paul II Center, please visit us online: johnpauliicenter.org 5 Report We at John Paul II Center are continually able to do what we do because of the generous donations from our supporters.