A Message from Msgr. McDermott

Dear Christ the King Families,

As we approach the middle of May and the end of our second month of distance learning I want to take this opportunity to thank you for you incredible support and dedication in very challenging times.  I believe that you have all partnered incredibly well with our faculty and staff to make sure your children, our students, continue to receive an excellent education in a Catholic community of love and care.

I also want to try to address some concerns which have been raised about the 2020-2021 school year.  Some parents asked if we are going to be returning to on-campus learning. Some parents worried about registering their students for next year and worried that distance learning will have to continue for the new school year. Some are wondering if tuition payments will be lost to them if they decide to home school their students rather than engage in distance learning for another year.

First, I want you all to know that it is our firm intention to return to on-campus learning for the start of the 2020-2021 school year.  We are using  this present time to prepare our buildings to welcome back all of our students at the end of August.  It is my fervent hope and prayer that the decision will be made at the State and Diocesan level to let our students come back for the Fall.  I invite you all to join me in praying for this too.

With this in mind, I encourage all of our families to complete the registration process, including FACTS.  In order for us to prepare staffing for the Fall it is important for us to have as accurate a picture of enrollment as possible. For those who have already registered and made requests for financial aid, Dr. Dwyer and I are working on reviewing requests for financial assistance and will announce the first round of awards next week.  If you have not yet applied for financial aid, please do so as soon as possible because we do have a limit on what we can award in reductions.

While it is my belief that a decision regarding the return to on campus learning will be made well before the start of the school year, for those who are worried about registering for school and FACTS and then learning the new school year will be through distance learning rather than on-campus learning, I am making a commitment to offer these families refunds of any fees and tuition paid before the start of the new school year.    I believe this to be the just approach when there is so much uncertainty.  So if a family is on the fence about registering at this time, I encourage you to register now.

Be assured of my daily prayers for our entire school community, but especially our students.  They are the reason our school exists.  Please pray for me and our entire school faculty and staff as we prepare ourselves for the end of this school year and the beginning of the next.

In Christ the Good Shepherd,

Msgr. John J. McDermott, VG