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Post by Dennis on Jan 22, 2009 1:05:52 GMT -5
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Post by Marcos Rubio on Jan 22, 2009 16:49:34 GMT -5
I hope Blessed Sacrament School does not close.Blessed Sacrament school is where I grew up. All of my friends are like brothers and sister.The teachers are like my mothers.All of the teachers really care for us . In religion class we get to learn a lot of God,Jesus, Mary,and Joseph. Like where Jesus was born. How he sacrificed his lives for us.That is why I do not want Blessed Sacrament school to close.
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Post by Marcos Rubio on Jan 22, 2009 16:57:45 GMT -5
We can kind of host a car wash for only $5.00 per car. The school will not close.Think how many children's wants to come. They will never have their dreams come true.
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Post by victoria1998 on Jan 22, 2009 21:27:43 GMT -5
I think all students at Blessed Sarcrament school should all pitch in to save our school. We should ask our Parents, Grandparents anyone you know help save this school. Students, Parents, and staff should have one huge meeting to discuss all of our ideas. I am sure all students, parents, staff have amazing ideas to save the school. I love Blessed Sacrament School very much and i am sure most of the students love this school too. We cannot see Blessed Sacrament go down without a fight. Please don't give up and lose faith.
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Post by Jada Fletcher on Jan 22, 2009 23:15:01 GMT -5
We could pitch in together to do a scavenger hunt. We could be put into groups and find objects hidden in the school. It would be very fun. We could have hints as we go along. We could start in our classrooms and end in the auditorium. It could be for two hours because the children won't want to leave if thier having a lot of fun. We could charge 5.00 per person and have a blast. At the end we could give out prizes to the groups who found alot. We could give the groups that didn't win a certificate of participation and a N.U.T card.
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Post by victoria1998 on Jan 24, 2009 18:58:16 GMT -5
Another way we could help the school is to have a day where the weather is nice and we could go outside to have an easter egg hunt. We could charge five dollars per person. Children under five will not have to pay. We could ask a parent or a 7th or 8th to dress up in a costume for at least 15 minutes. It would be helpful and fun at the same time. After that we could have a contest for the younger kids. Which ever child has the most easter eggs will win a small basket of chocolate. Children from our school and thier youger relatives could come and enjoy their time at Blessed Sacrament's Easter Egg Hunt.
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Post by zzruben on Jan 26, 2009 12:39:25 GMT -5
I have an idea to be able to raise 300, 000 fairly quickly.... as follows:
Slogan: Lets save the school for only $145 (assuming we have 150 families in the school).
Proposal: Parents need to come up with $2000 per family ($2000 x 150= $300,000 ) The money will be place into an account for the school/church.
The school/church can borrow against this account.(Approx 90% is allowed = 270, 000) We can use that money to keep our school open. Meanwhile we run all kinds of fundraisers to pay back the loan. There are no scheduled payments required, so you can pay whatever you want whenever you want. Assume we can raise the money back within 1 year from the date the loan was taken out and we pay it back. The interest that needs to be payed would be $145 per family. Then the account can be closed and all the families would receive their money back minus the $145 which is a total return of $1865 per family. This is assuming the net interest rate is 7% Net meaning the loan is 9% and the savings account earns 2%. A plus is that as you raise money you can pay back the loan and less interest is accrued. Another plus is that as you pay back the loan that amount becomes AVAILABLE. I spoke with a branch manager in Queens and was in agreement with these numbers. I need to call him Wednesday because he wants to run this by his boss and get his input. We can solicit other banks to see if we can do the same and maybe even get a lower interest rate on the loan. There are other details that need to be ironed out like when the Eigth Grade graduates will we have enough money raised to pay back those families (assuming the graduating class consists of 30 families then we would need to refund about $60,000. or students that do not plan to return, then their money needs to get back to them The numbers are based on 150 families but many variations can be calculated. We dont have to ask for $2000, we can ask for $1000 or we can also try by asking for an amount each family can come up with and work with that number. However we do it we can come up with some quick cash this way. Parents who are interested in saving the school will come up with something. The majority of the money that each family contributes will be returned. This is agreat incentive for families to support the fundraisers since we are raising money to pay ourselves back.
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Post by smaher on Jan 26, 2009 22:44:50 GMT -5
Question - I am confident that funds can be raised and this crisis can be averted - or at the very least delayed (okay here's the question) . . .what timeline are we looking at saving? Is this a one-shot deal - we'll be able to extend the life of BSS for x amount of time, or what. I'm not trying to be a naysayer - quite the contrary - I'm hopeful and optimistic that we can rally and get this done but am curious about logistics. Keep up the fight and know that we are all behind/beside you.
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Post by sdillon on Jan 27, 2009 15:51:13 GMT -5
Many thanks to Dennis and all the partners in this effort. As many of you know, I work in Catholic education, and as we all know, Catholic schools are closing across the country. I heard today that Loretto High School of Sacramento, CA, is closing. I was shocked. It is an order school, so they have different closing procedures than diocesan schools, but, nonetheless. . . a school lost is an opportunity for a Catholic education lost. I spoke at length with the Superintendent of Schools in an area of CA today. He is also dealing with this issue. He asked if we were faced with declining enrollment in a changing neighborhood. I always cringe with the changing neighborhood statement since JHts has enjoyed diversity in race, creed, and language for a long time; anyway, I said yes. He then asked about the pastor's involvement. He said if the pastor is not committed to saving the school then the school may close. Strong pastors who love their schools have sat on bishops' doorstops arguing their cases. It can make all the difference.
I appreciate all the creativity and good will on this board, but we also need the hard work, the time, the face of BSS, past, present, and future to make this work. Please don't get discouraged, don't fade away. Catholic education makes a difference in a child's life, as we are proving on this board. We are called to His service, and, as we know, Jesus loved children. He is also the greatest teacher (rabbi) the world has ever known. Our mission is just and true to Gospel values.
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Post by Jada Fletcher on Jan 27, 2009 22:54:23 GMT -5
Maybe our school could host a valentine party for valentine's day. Students can pick someone as their valentine and dance with them at the party. We could bring food. We could have fun games and activities. We could have a blast.
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Post by Jada Fletcher on Jan 27, 2009 23:00:12 GMT -5
Blessed Sacrament is my childhood i can't let it go. I love this school so much. I've learned alot in this school. If it closes I will lose half of my childhood. Blessed Sacrament is a wonderful school. I love it and i always will.
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Post by Dennis on Jan 28, 2009 14:39:06 GMT -5
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Post by sweetcheekzqnz on Jan 28, 2009 19:32:11 GMT -5
hi everyone my name is nancy acevedo-rosas. i graduated from BSS '93. i am still in shock that the school is closing. i have great memories and until this day i am very close with some of my classmates. i personally think the school system changed since sister mary patrick passed away a few years ago. it's obvious that the student registration dropped because parents cannot afford the tuition but i think raising tuition is not the solution. when i was a student, i remember the auditorium was decorated every other month with different colored streamers to host events, such as, christmas, valentines, st. patricks day, etc....occasionally i walk by the entrance, i see no postings for events. i also remember the school rented the gym space for basketball for public school students on saturdays. during my 8 years in BSS i remember we had a lot of events to raise money and as students we enjoyed, such as, carnival and field day. i just think there are several areas that were overlooked and it's a shame. i am very upset that the school is closing and it's a shame that students would have to go to a crowded school and i know it won't be an easy transition. if anyone is organizing a group to keep this school open, i am all yours. i will let my friends from '93 class know and other alumni. i hope we hear good news within the next few weeks. thank you!
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Post by Dennis on Jan 28, 2009 23:28:54 GMT -5
We discussed our need to develop a detailed Alumni contact list which will be the first phase of our multi-phased initiative to save BSS. Three key components are: message, storage and source. Message: A very impressive letter which was written in April 2005 but just as poignant today will be used as a baseline for our solicitation of Alumni contact information. We may want to make a slight modification to emphasize the urgency of the request and expediency of recipients' replies with the decision date for the proposed closing fast approaching. The message should also stress that EVERYONE should reach-out to their respective network requesting they do the same. (Each one Reach some) (A little corny but its getting late) Storage: BlessedSacramentJH.net has been modified to include a link where Alumni can enter their information. For Alumni without computer access: their data will be entered by a member of this team. I will follow-up with Aleyda Medina (website owner/computer teacher) to see how the data is stored so that it can be in a format where we can use it for mass mailings, etc. Source: Facebook: Dawn Noak has placed several notices on Facebook and will continue to direct people to the BlessedSacramentJH.net. Suzanne Maher, who was not in attendance, has been active on Facebook and asked to participate in our Alumni initiative will assist. Classmates.com: Marlene Fernandez has done some preliminary research and will see where and how notices may be placed to direct BSS Alumni to BlessedSacramentJH.net. Msgr Kutner has approved modest expenditures if necessary to gain appropriate access. Local Sources: Word of Mouth: Debbie DeGiau will take ownership of getting the word out encouraging all Alumni to either enter their info of hand it over for Debbie to enter. Church Bulletin: Barbara Kingston will take on getting the message out either through a insert or bulletin write-up. Dated Printout: Marlene will take a step back in time and try to see who she can contact with this data. Posters/Flyers: Marlene and Barbara will work on local marketing: stores, laundromats, etc. EVERYONE needs to be involved: (Each one Reach some) make calls, reach-out to your network. Increasing Enrollment: The desired end result of all our initiatives is to have a sustainable increase in our enrollment. The team is anxious to move forward with all proposed activities but will have to wait until the decision to stay open has been communicated. In the meanwhile we can work on all preparatory activities such as:
Marketing Material Pitch to CCD students regarding "Fair Ability to Pay" program Open House: timing, agenda, marketing of. Recruitment of parents and students to participate (Open House and Appeal at Mass) Barbara Kingston presented some incredible data where out of all the currently enrolled students all but one family that plans to remain in the Parish will have their children return to BSS: 147 returning, 4 moving, 1 not returning (dissatisfied), and 15 with no response as of yet. ... WOW. The teachers of BSS should be extremely proud. Philanthropy: I have done some preliminary research into sources, requirements, process, etc. I will continue this research and once I have a better handle on it request support from the team. All these activities (Alumni, Enrollment and Philanthropy) should be started immediately. As we did not finalize the details and ownership surrounding the Enrollment initiative we may be able to do that electronically or the teachers will take charge as they so often do ;-} We may want to have a quick status meeting next week: please advise.
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Post by sweety1998 on Jan 29, 2009 21:08:40 GMT -5
Please guys help save our school because i don't wanna lose my friends or any of the teachers because all of them are nice and kind to everyone. I think that if Blessed Sacrament School closses I will be missing a piece of my heart!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS SCHOOL!!!!!!!!PLEASE HELP US SAVE OUR SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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