Holy Cross staff, students eager to start in new building

By Vicki Kalina Marvin, Principal

Holy Cross School

Not only is the changing of seasons just around the corner, there are many changes in store for Holy Cross this coming school year.

The most noticeable change from the outside will be the fact that we will be opening brand new doors this fall. The dream of having a new facility is becoming a reality as the dirt starts to settle at 6100 37th Street West, and each day we watch the sun set on a building that is closer to opening every day. Hundreds of volunteers began this project several years ago, and within a month, the beginning of many generations to come will benefit from the work they have done.

More than 30 years ago, the three parishes of Immaculate Conception, Most Holy Trinity, and St. Nicholas consolidated their schools and housed students and staff in three different buildings. This will be the first time since that consolidation that all age groups and staff will be back in one building. The building we are opening will have one preschool room, two kindergarten rooms, one classroom per grade level in grades 1 through 8, a computer lab, a media center, a music and art room, a kitchen, and a gymnasium. We are looking forward to a school year that will yield fewer maintenance challenges, more opportunities to foster a strong school community, and continue to expand in our efforts to provide an education enlightened by faith.

This school year, we are able to offer several new sections of preschool options and two kindergarten sections. Our preschool options include two full days, two mornings, and three afternoons for children who are four and five. For three-year-olds, we are offering one morning per week. We felt these options would maximize our space, while providing parents with many different options for their preschool age child. At the next level, we continue with our all-day, every-day kindergarten program. We are also excited to announce a second section of kindergarten due to the number of children enrolled for fall! We have added this section in order to keep our small class size a priority; kindergarten will have a student-teacher ratio of 14:1.

Although many things will be new this school year, there is one thing that will remain the same. We will continue to offer quality programs, where the Catholic faith encompasses them. At Holy Cross, we strive to offer a solid curriculum that includes the traditional core classes, along with Spanish, art, music, computer, and physical education. Each year, teachers continue their education and implement research based teaching strategies, attempting to meet individual needs within each classroom. A high quality, Catholic-based education will always be a priority for our school community, and we look forward to being able to focus on this priority together, under one roof.

The Holy Cross Teaching Staff for 2005-2006 includes:

Rochelle Thorman – Preschool

Nan Senjem – Kindergarten

Mary Jakes – Kindergarten

Nicole Farley – First Grade

Becky Malecha – Second Grade

Nancy Heinen – Third Grade

Sheila Kalina – Presch/Third Gr. Aide

Kris Minalovsky – Fourth Grade

Emily Borene – Fifth Grade

Cathy Kodada – Sixth Grade

Cathy Mikel – Seventh Grade

Kathy Friedges – Eighth Gr./Spanish

Tom Kalina – Social Studies/PE

Lynn Havlicek – Music

Denise Kulig – Art