Friday Feature: St. Edward Catholic School

Colleen Hroncich“After extensive discussion, with truly a heavy heart both for all of us and the Diocese, it has been decided thatSt. Edward School and Pre ‐​School will close, effective immediately,” Fr. Keith Walder, pastor of St. Edward Parish in Chillicothe, IL, announced inJuly 2016. Emergency repairs and not enough money to cover them had led to the surprising announcement.But families, parishioners, and alumni leapt into action, raising more than $400,000 in just three days —an impressive feat in a small town. Dubbed the “Miracle in Chillicothe, ” the donations enabled the school to undertake the needed repairs and remain open.A few years later, principal Mike Domico and the new pastor, Fr. Matthew Deptula, realized they needed to right ‐​size the school to ensure it stayed academically and financially strong. Mike realized implementing multiage classrooms could work, so he began investigating them.The data on outcomes from multiage classrooms was very encouraging. As Mike thought about it, he realized it made sense. He ’d been a band director for 27 years, so he ’d been teaching in multiage classrooms his whole career. Once he was convinced it could work, he started researching best practices to bring to St. Edward.In January 2020, Mike and Fr. Matt announced the school would transition to a multiage approach in the fall. They planned a series of meetings to help staff and families understand the benefits and ho...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs