For the past 12 years, St. Nicholas of Tolentine School, 3741 W. 62nd St., has continuously increased its enrollment. In 2004, they had 240 students and now have 375. How did they do it? They got to know their community. “We became more culturally sensitive. A lot of our practices in school were more geared toward the European culture. With the many Hispanic families who were coming through our doors we started to become more culturally sensitive and really getting to know our Hispanic families and their needs,” said Principal Mariagnes Menden. They also made most things bilingual, such as the library collection and materials for parents. “We value their language,” Menden said. The school also introduced more Mexican traditions like devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. In most Catholic schools, families are part of the community, but St. Nicholas of Tolentine has really made them welcome with events like regular taco dinners and dances. “We always invite the families for anything,” she said. They also accommodate their needs like providing child care during parent meetings. “We allow parents to bring their children with them. Then we have something for the children to do while the parents are attending our parents’ focus group,” Menden said. They’ve also opened up the school as a center for the community and allowed parents to come in on certain evenings to use the computer lab. The school offers English as a second language classes for parents three days a week in both the mornings and evenings. Staff works with each family individually to find financial assistance to make a Catholic education possible for their children. In St. Nicholas of Tolentine’s case, it’s more of a question of what they aren’t doing. It’s also a fine-arts school and offer music and dance classes, including ballroom dance and ballet and guitar, violin and piano classes. Grants cover most of the cost of instruments. This year they are starting a mariachi band. “We’re a very welcoming community,” Menden said. “I think that’s what Catholic schools do best. They build that family atmosphere in the school. That’s really what a parent wants when they send their child to a Catholic school. We’re almost an extension of their home.”
Students at Chicago Jesuit Academy learning culinary skills On a Tuesday afternoon in January, about 20 students in fifth through eighth grade at Chicago Jesuit Academy, 5058 W. Jackson Blvd., crowded around Chef Sebastian White at a table in the cafeteria for their weekly culinary lesson.
St. Ferdinand students pack 300 lunches for people in need Students at St. Ferdinand School took time out from their classes on Jan. 27 to make 300 packed lunches to feed people in Chicago over the next 24 hours.
Josephinum Academy making plans to stay in Wicker Park Josephinum Academy of the Sacred Heart, a 134-year-old high school for girls, is hoping to take control of its future with an agreement to buy the property on which its facilities stand and launching a capital campaign with a goal of $23 million.