Catholic Central building on culture, pride
Fall at Catholic Central School has been busy. As we prepared for the 2021-2022 school year, we added new members to our team, initiated new programs, and made investments for our school and for the families we serve. We have resourced and put new energy into ways to share our Catholic faith and our student-centered programming, as well as enhanced the value of the academic product we offer to our students and families. Although we offer a newness or a renewal to efforts in educating and leading in this Springfield community, we do so by continually building upon the culture and pride of the Catholic Central Irish.
On Aug. 13, prior to the start of school, we invited the Irish alumni and special friends back to campus to celebrate Catholic Central and the Irish. Alumni from the Class of 1940 to the Class of 2017 represented us on this evening. In all, we had representation from every decade, beginning in the 1940’s through to 2010’s, with a roster of 227 Catholic Central alumni and special friends, laughing and celebrating. Special shoutout to the Class of 1981 for hosting the first night of their reunion weekend back on campus.
Key alumni businesses took part, such as Home City Tent & Awning owned by John Fleeger ‘79, Mother Stewart’s Brewing owned by John ‘90 and Kevin Loftis ‘88, as well as the support of Fisher Beverage owned by Maria Fisher ‘93. Promotional billboards advertised 1 Irish Weekend, in addition to the benchmark anniversaries of the 1996 state championship basketball team (25th), 1991 state runner-up football team (30th), and the 2001 men’s soccer state championship team (20th). Please mark your calendars for Aug. 12, 2022 for next year’s 1 Irish Weekend!
We unveiled a new scoreboard at Hallinean Field this fall. The scoreboard brought the Irish good luck as it recorded the homecoming victory over Cedarville by a score of 35-0. The season went well, as the Irish returned to the playoffs.
We have reinvested into our facilities, which includes the renovation of our men’s and women’s locker rooms, made possible through many generous donors and capped through a large signature gift from the Woeber family.
Jason Collier Gymnasium also got a makeover with the addition of two new scoreboards and new signage recognizing the rich heritage of success for the Irish.
Through the generosity of the Kerns and Strapp Education Fund, Catholic Central will be opening the second semester with state-of-the-art science labs to serve our K-12 students.
Catholic Central added many key new educators and leaders to our faculty and staff to serve our students as we began the 2021-2022 school year. We have focused intently on supporting our students by resourcing many of our key initiatives created through our City Connects programs. Each week, Catholic Central provides a Backpack Program for many of our students and families. This past summer, we also gleaned and harvested fruits and vegetables through our service-directed efforts. In addition, we have put together a concerted plan to reach out to many of the Hispanic parishioner families of St. Teresa’s.
A significant investment has been made to make academic improvements that include the addition of College Credit Plus classes, such as Fundamentals of Engineering through the University of Cincinnati and Architecture and Energy Management through Sinclair College. We have added a fully-staffed Intervention Program to best serve our students. In addition, our tutoring and educational support programs are strengthening our grade school students and preparing them for the rigors of our college prep high school program.
Catholic Central has taken a forward position of the consolidation plans of the Beacons of Light plan of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. We have hired two full-time campus ministers to serve our students throughout the pre-k-12 grades. We look forward to continuing our partnership with parishes in serving our community and providing assistance to the sacramental preparation for our students.
God Bless and Go Irish!