Dear Parents,
What a week!
On Monday, we learned of the passing of Lynn DeLeon, a long time teacher at the school. Lynn was scheduled to return here this year and work with computers in the library as she had for the past few years. Just before school started, she was diagnosed with liver cancer. She still wasn't ready to give in and she made plans to return to teaching anyway. But, the disease proved too much and despite fighting for several months, she could no longer keep up her battle. Visitation will be next Wednesday from 2:00-4:00 at DeVol Funeral Home at 10 E. Deer Park Drive in Gaithersburg. Her funeral Mass will be at St. Mary’s on Veirs Mill Road in Rockville, at 10:30 next Thursday. Bulldog Bytes will endure and act as a testament to her dedication to the children of Blessed Sacrament. (The school staff will be holding a special Memorial Mass for her in the near future.)
On Tuesday, we learned of the passing of Mike Jacobs. Mike and Allison have been bedrock members of our parish and school community for decades. We grieve for and with Allison and her children (Patrick, Claire, Brendan and Jack). While there is no ‘answer’ in a situation like this, Allison has been incredibly appreciative of all of the support of the school community as she navigates this tragic transition with her family. It’s so hard…it’s so sad. At this time, we can offer comfort to the families through prayer and trust in God's plan for both of them
Supporting families in times of crisis is what we do as a Catholic community and supporting each other in school each day is what we endeavor to do through our CARE theme. Courtesy, Acceptance, and Respect for Everyone. All of those words are chosen carefully. The ‘Everyone’ specifically references that no one is excluded and no one is ignored. In the past couple of weeks, isolated incidents were brought to my attention in which skin color was used as a point of derision between students. In all situations, the administration of the school spoke directly to the parents of the children involved and appropriate consequences were administered. In both of these situations, the administration of the school spoke directly to the parents of the children involved and appropriate consequences were administered. Please understand that we do not tolerate that type of language or behavior within these walls. We understand that there are systemic societal issues that we are dealing with and we understand that, increasingly, there are negative ‘examples’ propagated by popular culture. Recently, critics have argued that Catholic social teaching is counter-cultural. If that is the case, so be it. We will not tolerate any disrespect and we work every day with the children of the school to instill a sense of respect and dignity for Everyone. We will continue to work as a faculty to be sensitive and responsive to these issues as they arise.
Please remember to pray for the DeLeon and Jacobs families.
Faithfully,
Chris Kelly
