Dr. Stritch's Office Connection

Dear Parents and Guardians:

As you probably know by now, on Monday,Septmber 28th, Ms. Reich submitted her resignation and after conferring with Father Corcoran it was accepted effective immediately. Contrary to rumor, Ms. Reich was not asked by this administration to resign. It was her decision and only her decision. When she left school on Thursday, September 24th, I had no idea she was leaving the building or considering resigning.

There are issues of confidentiality involved with this situation that I can not address publicly. What I can address however are the issues of public domain that were involved. Those issues were:
a.Safety…Ms. Reich and I had numerous conversations about “play.” We talked about play that is structured Vs play that is unstructured. Play needed to be defined so that all of the children in the preschool program would remain safe.
b.Attendance…There is no wiggle room on this issue. The State of Illinois and the Archdiocese of Chicago are very specific on this issue. We need to keep accurate records of attendance. Not only for State purposes but for purposes of insurance and tuition as well. Our program is a preschool program where children are registered for daily attendance, it is not a day care center that fluctuates daily.

I can assure you that we will do our best to ensure that the educational process continues and transitions in a non disruptive fashion. During this interum, Ms. Katelyn Krahn will be filling in for Ms. Reich and Mrs. Gute will remain as the Instructional Aide. Finally, replacing Ms. Reich will not be an easy task. In the meantime, I ask for your support and your prayers as we move forward. If you have any other questions, please feel free to call and if I can, I will be happy to answer them.

Respectfully,

Michael P. Stritch, Ed.D.

Since Ms. Reich's departure, I have been observing the activities taking place in the Pre-school room, and I'm pleased to report that I have been very impressed. Ms. Krahn, with the help of Mrs. Gute, has done an outstanding job with the difficult task thrust upon her. Her organizational skills are exemplary, and the activites, both play and instructional, are most definitely age appropriate. I recently met with Ms. Krahn and discussed the possibility of her staying on until a replacement is found and she has, to my delight, agreed. It is comforting to know that while we begin the search process we will have someone in place who will bring continutity and competence to the program.

As you can imagine, finding the RIGHT person to fill the pre-school position will not be an easy task. We will move cautiously to make sure the right decision is made. I would suspect that the timeline will take us into at least the Christmas break. We ask for your prayers as we move through this process.

Please keep in mind when you come to school, that all parents must check in at the office prior to visiting a classroom. Students have been directed not to open any doors for anybody other than their teacher. All visitors should enter through the Main Office doors on Lawler avenue or buzzed in through the gym doors. Any parent entering through the gym doors still needs to come to the office before going to class. Thank you in advance for your coooperation in this matter.

We now have our first confirmed case of the H1N1 virus...Grade six. My guess is that some of the other absences are also H1N1 but are being diagnosed simply the "flu." Pleased keep reminding your children to wash their hands and limit contact. We are currently in the process of trying to schedule a "Vaccination" day through Oak Lawn and the Cook County Health Department. More detailed information is being sent home in today's "Brown Envelope."

Dear Parents/Guardians

We now have our second confirmed case of the H1N1 virus. One student is enrolled in grade six, now back in school, and one in grade four. My guess is that some of the other 13 absences are also H1N1 but are being diagnosed simply the "flu." Please keep reminding your children to wash their hands and limit close contact with friends.

As I posted on my “blog,” earlier, we are currently in the process of trying to schedule a "Vaccination" day through Oak Lawn and the Cook County Health Department. More detailed information regarding that project was sent home in yesterday’s "Brown Envelope."

It should also be pointed out that 13 absences are not unusual for a school of nearly four hundred. So, the rumor of a “pandemic” here at Saint Linus is, at least for the present, unfounded.

Hoping all is well with you and your family…….