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Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills Catholic schools ready to celebrate
Logan Melia, second grade, checks to make sure his answer is correct. Notre Dame Parish School children work in class on a smart board. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media
Catholic Schools Week activities:
St. Isaac Jogues
421 S. Clay St., Hinsdale, (630) 323-3244
Jan. 27: Parishioners can visit the school from 10 a.m. to noon
Jan. 29: Open houses for incoming freshmen, 9:30 to 11 a.m.; 1 to 2 p.m.; and 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Jan. 31: Curriculum Fair; Parents and children visit the classrooms where the students display their work
Feb. 1: All-school Mass at 8:45 a.m., followed by Wheel of Wisdom at which students answer academic questions
Notre Dame
66 Norfolk Ave., Clarendon Hills (630) 323-1642
Jan. 26: a 5 p.m. Pack the Pews Kick Off
Jan. 28: Teacher Swap — Teachers will teach a class in a different grade
Jan. 29: Mock Newbery Breakfast from 7:30 to 8:10 a.m. This is for students in sixth to eighth grades who read a minimum of five Mock Newbery books. Afternoon movie. All-school private roller skating party from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Lombard Roller Rink.
Jan. 30: Seventh- and eighth-grade students take a field trip to ski at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin.
Jan. 31: Open House
Feb. 1: School Mass prepared by the fifth grade; Spirit Day for which students wear Notre Dame spirit wear; A volleyball game between eighth-grade students and faculty; sock hop for students in fifth to eighth grades. Students will donate canned goods for admission to sock hop.
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Updated: February 25, 2013 6:12AM
CLARENDON HILLS — Catholic elementary schools will celebrate the beliefs and standards they share.
Both St. Isaac Jogues in Hinsdale and Notre Dame School in Clarendon Hills have a variety of activities planned for the Jan. 27-Feb. 2 National Catholic School Week, which has Catholic Schools Raise the Standards as its theme for 2013.
The theme supports the recent launch of the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools, which ensure the effective operation and responsible governance of Catholic schools across the country, reports the National Catholic Education Association. These standards and benchmarks help to promote high academic standards and the Catholic identity.
St. Isaac Jogues School in Hinsdale has about 480 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
“We are pretty large by Catholic school standards,” said Principal Richard Cronquist.
Still enrollment is down from about 720 students six to eight years ago. Then, “parents knew from when their child was born, that they were going to Catholic schools for their entire education,” Cronquist said.
But more recently, perhaps due to financial considerations, some children are starting St. Isaac in second and third grade, when they receive the sacraments, Cronquist said.
Parents also may want their children in a Catholic elementary school to help them get accepted at a Catholic high school, Cronquist said. St. Isaac students go on to Nazareth Academy in LaGrange Park, Benet Academy in Lisle, Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Montini Catholic High School in Lombard, and St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago.
But, fundamentally, Catholic elementary schools offer “moral theology,” not only in daily religion classes, but in all subjects, Cronquist said.
“Catholic education is the greatest gift that God enables the Catholic Church to provide,” Notre Dame Principal Mary Ann Feeney said. “Our families commit themselves to the mission of Catholic education. Our parents provide a great act of love by sending their children to Notre Dame, and we take time out each year to celebrate our faith, family, friendships, morals and service.”
