January 29, 2006

Across our nation January 29 - February 4 has been declared Catholic Schools Week. There has probably never been a tougher time to be a parent which is why there has never been a better time to look at a Catholic School for your student's education. Catholic Schools Week is a time of celebration and renewal. It offers us an opportunity to celebrate the success of our school. How our students learn is as important as what our students learn. On Wednesday, February 8 you are invited to tour the school, to see us in action and to see what makes us different!

This year St. Rita School is celebrating 50 years! Fifty years of believing each student is a child of God, challenging each one to achieve academic excellence, embracing the gospel message and making a difference in the world. It is a joy for me to hear about our alums who are making significant contributions to our Catholic church and our society. Our Anniversary Committee is looking for all graduates to return for the Parish Fiesta and for a special mass to be celebrated by Bishop Clark on June 10, 2006. We are excited about celebrating our alums and our school's history.

Our school today has three dimensions: spirituality, excellent academics and works of charity. We will celebrate the spirituality of our present students with a special Family Mass on Wednesday, February 1. All parishioners are invited. Our academic program was celebrated through our recent assessments and report cards. Our works of charity will continue at our Seniors Tea on February 1. All "seniors" are invited. We will also view an excellent video from our sister school, St. Clement of Rome in New Orleans showing how our marathon tithe helped to repair their pre-school after the hurricane. They were able to move back into the building the first week of January with the help of our donation.

We are proud to be Catholic, to belong to a very special faith community and proud to have a parish like St. Rita that has supported us and sacrificed for us for 50 years!

We deeply appreciate what you our parishioners continue to do:

• Model and share your faith with us especially at our monthly school liturgy
• Include us in your daily prayers
• Generously volunteer your time and talent
• Share financial support
• Save "bottles and cans", Boxtops for Education, Campbell Soup labels
• Testify to our "product" by sharing success stories of our alums

We pray for you, our benefactors daily. We thank you for partnering with us in the most effective ministry of our Catholic Church, the Catholic School. In it all are called to be Catholic not just on Sundays or when in church but ALL THE TIME. This means that we not only KNOW our religion but we LIVE our religion. We strive to graduate literate young people with Catholic moral values and integrity - graduates who will continue to make a difference!