Office of
Catholic Schools
March 6, 2020
During Catholic Sisters Week, we pray for all women religious.
May their lives of prayer, service and ministry inspire others to join them in membership and mission.  

March 8-14
Dates at a Glance (articles below or *in previous edition*):

  • March 10 PowerSchool User Group 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM Technology
  • March 10 Spring System/School Presidents Meeting 10:00 AM-2:00 PM 
  • March 12 Spring High School Principals Meeting 10:00 AM-2:00 PM
  • March 19 Feast of St. Joseph in the Year of St. Joseph!
  • March 19 School Business Admin Conf Call DPI Audit 9 AM-10:30 AM
  • March 30 Spring MAP CRF due 2 weeks prior to assessment (MAP dates: April 13-May 8) 
  • March 31 ACRE Assessment Window Closes
  • March 31 Meemic Foundation Grants due 
  • May 5 Principal and Pastor day
 Mark Your Calendar 
 September 24, 2020 - All Schools Mass for grades 3-12 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help.
Catholic Sisters Week
March 8 - 14
Catholic Sisters Week shines a light on the spirituality, mission and community building of women religious. Please consider having your school show their appreciation to our women religious. You can send thank you cards, invite them to lunch, or host a special mass that week for them. If you would like information to put up in your school, there is a website where you can download posters, etc. 


Here are the dates for the second semester Catholic Schools Updates:

March 6 & 20
April 3 & 17
May 1 & 15
June 5

Diocesan Offices Closed

Just a reminder that the Diocesan Offices will be closed April 9 - 13 for Easter Break.
Journey to the Foot of the Cross:
10 Things to Remember for Lent
As we enter into this season of Lent, we are reminded to practice Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. We may start off strong with good intentions, but sometimes we can get overwhelmed or discouraged. To help keep us focused throughout this season, Bishop Ricken offers a list of "10 Things to Remember for Lent." Click here to read more
Long Term Substitute Needed
St. John Nepomucene is looking for a 5th grade teacher to start in April and continue for the remainder of the school year. If you know of anyone, please contact Kevin Flottmeyer at 920-788-9082.
Coronavirus Resources
The Office of Catholic Schools has provided a resource page on our Google Site for the sharing of Coronavirus Resources:

Pastor-Principal End of Year Meeting Registration
You will be receiving the invitation to the end of year celebration in the mail.
Principals, please register and feel free to register your pastor or send them the link to register themselves. The invitation says to email Lisa Gruber, which is fine also!

May 5, 2020
Green Bay Distillery
835 Mike McCarthy Way
Ashwaubenon, WI 54304

Please join us for an end of year celebration luncheon for principals, system presidents, and pastors. The agenda is:

9:30 TO 10:30 AM - Principals Only
  • Diocese Updates
  • Presentation by Jim Bender from Wisconsin School Choice 
10:45 TO 11:45 AM - Principals and Pastors
  • One Body–One Spirit: The Case for Building Systems of Support for Students with Disabilities presented by Dr. Michael Boyle
11:45 AM TO 12:30 PM - Lunch and recognition of the retirement of Deacon Ray DuBois
12:30 TO 1 PM - Principals and Pastors
  • Catholic Leadership Academy Presentation
1 TO 2 PM - Principals (Pastors Optional) 
  • A Framework for an Integrated System of Support presented by Dr. Michael Boyle

Lunch sponsored by FACTS.
Accreditation Team Members Needed
for 2020-2021
Please fill out the FORM and share this with your teachers. We are beginning to build the Accreditation teams for the 2020-2021 school year. Your help is appreciated!
Saturday, May 2nd is the 8th annual Walk to Mary. This 21 mile pilgrimage starts at the Shrine of St. Joseph at Old St. Joe’s Church on the campus of St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI and ends at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, WI.  

Click here to find out more about how your school can get involved.
Sophia Institute This Summer
Sacred Heart GeoBee Competition
The National Geographic Society recently named Bryton Van Gheem, 5th grader at Sacred Heart Catholic School, as one of the semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2020 National Geographic GeoBee State Competition on Friday, March 27, 2020 in Madison, WI. This is the second level of the National Geographic GeoBee competition, which is now in its 32nd year. To determine each school champion, GeoBee competitions were held in schools throughout the state with students in the fourth through eighth grades. This year, an estimated 2.4 million students competed in the GeoBee, with 8,661 students becoming school champions. School champions also took an online qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. Up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories were invited to compete in the State GeoBees.
 
State champions will receive a medal, $1,000 in cash, and other prizes, as well as a trip to Washington, D.C., to represent their state in the National Championship where they will compete for additional cash, awards and college scholarships. Good luck to Bryton as he continues to move forward.
High Schools:
STEUBENVILLE EXTENDED TO ST. LOUIS

Registrations NOW Open 
• Overnight stay at St. Louis University before/after Conference
• Visits to St. Francis DeSales Seminary, St. Louis Basilica, St. Louis Zoo, Holy Hill Basilica, Six Flags, Steubenville Conference!
• Community building with other parishes in the Diocese + student-led leadership Core team, small groups, witness talks! 

Extended Pilgrimage
Dates: July 15-21, 2020
St. Louis, MO

$570/Student  $470/Chaperone
due to your group leader before June 15th

^ ^Please take note that the buttons above will take you to PART ONE of the Registration process; 
instructions for PART TWO are provided upon completion of PART ONE, 
and can be found on the final submission page. Thank you! 
^^For returning students.
^^Scholarship Applications are offered through the 
Archdiocese of St. Louis, on an "as-needed" basis.
Please remember: Registration, Payment, and 
Chaperone coverage are organized by Groups, 
typically through parishes. 

Payment dates and final costs might be different 
based on your group's fundraising and finance schedule. 

Please contact your Group Leader for more information! 

FYI: Our Chaperone Policy is 1 adult chaperone (21 years or older) for every 4 students. 
Chaperones are to be provided by the group that is registering. 
It is encouraged for Safe Environment purposes, that every group send at least 2 chaperones. Individuals looking to attend without a group should register with an adult chaperone. 

Diocese of Green Bay | Families & Schools of Discipleship | 920.272.8309 | youthministry@gbdioc.org
Administrative Assistant Professional Development Day
April 30,2020
8:30 - 2:30
Green Bay Distillery
As the first person many encounter when they enter our schools, our Receptionist/Administrative Assistant is critical in providing amazing hospitality and building relationships. This day will be dedicated to improving customer service skills, keeping school families engaged and happy and growing your school enrollment. The registration will be sent via email through the Families and Schools of Discipleship Office soon!
Legal Reminder 2020 Letter
Please read this legal reminder for school administrators from Fr. Dan Felton, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia.

Bishop Ricken is inviting all parishes, schools, and families in our diocese to join in a special year of prayer in honor of St. Joseph. There have been several resources created for use in our homes, schools, and parishes.   The Holy Year will kick off with a Solemn Nine Day Novena to St. Joseph which will take place March 10-19. 


For additional information and resources, please visit: www.gbdioc.org/stjoseph

  Prayer cards will be delivered in early March . This is what they look like:
Contract Information
On the teacher contracts this year, there is a change in line #4 dealing with Wisconsin License Number. You need to specify the license number. If the employee has a life license, enter the original life license date. If the employee does not yet have a life license, enter the expiration date of the current license.

The "Our Promise to Protect" Acknowledgement form has also been updated. Please make sure you have teachers and staff sign the updated form this year.

Contract forms, directions, and information are found on the diocesan school Google site
( http://site.ed-gbd.org ), under "Governance and Leadership" then “Administrators” heading.
MAP Spring date
The dates for Spring MAP are April 13-May 8 .  We hope that schools will complete testing by May 8 as student engagement for testing drops beyond that. Best practice is to work with students before the assessment to go over the goals for the year and how they can demonstrate their accomplishments in those goals. MAP is only one assessment at one point in time, but it does have indicators of learning along with other tools. As teachers, our goal should be for 100% of our students to make or go beyond the target growth. Just a reminder that when a student only achieves their target growth number, it keeps them at approximately the same percentile (space and place). If you are trying to close gaps, one must exceed the target number. Just a reminder that the assessment can be completed in multiple sessions and math and language may be read to students or use the computer assisted voice. Please don’t hesitate to contact Jane Schuelle r if you have any questions.
Introducing: Awareity
From the Office of Safe Environment
Dear Principals and Catechetical Leaders,

This email is sent to inform you of a new Incident Reporting system being launched diocesan wide. This web-based prevention system called Awareity is a comprehensive platform for reporting, tracking and documenting incidents and concerns. Awareity empowers parents, students, school and religious education staff, families, neighbors, visitors and all other community members to be heard and to safely report warning signs and trouble.

Please find the link below to a letter specific to Principals and RE leaders. This letter provides an overview of the tool and how to include that tool on your websites. This letter can be shared with your staffs and volunteers so they are aware of the tool. Also included is a letter for you to send to parents with similar information. This letter is in Word doc format and needs to be customized for the date you will release and for the website for your school or parish. The pieces to update are highlighted in RED in the document.

Also find linked below information flyers and a poster. You may use them in whatever way you think best. A story on the tool will run in the Feb. 21 issue of The Compass , which is going to all households in the diocese. All the materials above will also be shared in the Feb 26 edition of the Parish Pages, if you are a subscriber.

If you have any questions about the release of information for parents, feel free to contact Justine Lodl in the Office of Communications at jlodl@gbdioc.org or 920-272-8213.

If you have questions regarding the incident reporting tool, contact Courtney Coopman in the Office of Safe Environment at ccoopman@gbdioc.org or 920-272-8174.

Links to supporting documents:
Building Christian Faith with Science:
Two Program Opportunities
Dr. Warren Johnson has graciously offered to present courses that navigate the truths of faith and science and how Christians can boldly purse science without reservation. He has two formats:

  • Science & Christianity (90 minutes) for students (grades 6 and up) and adults
  • Integrating Science & Christianity: (five, 2-hour sessions). This has been approved to serve as Ongoing Formation. Textbook required.


Choice Verification
As you begin to receive your Choice applications, please remember to go in and make sure that you have collected all the documentation required for that student/family. All students must be verified by the Choice Administrator by April 16, 2020 . However - don’t wait! The sooner you get this done, the sooner you will know from a budget standpoint the expected tuition revenue for 2020-2021.  
Engaging Millennial and Gen Z Donors
April 23 from 1:00 - 3:00 at Lourdes High School
Join Brenda Haines from Blue Door Consulting on understanding how generational shifts are affecting giving, how to reach givers through various information sources, and the top 3 tips you need to know to reach the next generation. There is no charge for the presentation.  

Deadline to register is April 17, 2020.
Professional Development 
 Simple K-12
Ten of our schools used the online professional development platform, Simple K-12. There have been positives from the users. We are looking to renew the contract for next year and will need to know if more schools are interested in participating. (more people less cost). This year the participating schools paid approximately $80 per teacher for PD all year. Title II funding can be used. Perhaps you may want to offer it to teachers and allow them to choose. Please email Lisa Gruber, lgruber@gbdioc.org your interest in Simple K12 and the number of subscriptions you might want, by March 17th.
Haven't Had Enough Yet?
There's More!
NCEA webinars cover trending and need-to-know topics relevant to your career in Catholic education. All participants will receive the recorded webinar and presentation files for reference and inclusion among other professional learning resources. 
And more . . .
Click on icon below to read the latest issue of Catholic School Matters Newsletter from NCEA and Dr. Tim Uhl.

Office of Catholic Schools

Questions? Contact us at education@gbdioc.org or (920) 272-8273.
Diocese of Green Bay
The Compass