Superintendent's Message - February 2008

"I wait for the Lord. In his word do I hope."

Psalm 130.5

The season of Lent is upon us. It is a time for self-examination and a time for renewing our faith as we prepare for the coming feast of the Resurrection of Jesus. During the month of February, as a staff, we look forward to Faith Development Day on Tuesday, February 5. Our theme this year is "Living a Life of Faith in the 21st Century: The Heart of Social Justice." Archbishop Richard Smith will lead our day.

In February our schools begin hosting information evenings, open houses and school visits in preparation for the 2008-2009 school year. Edmonton Catholic Schools offers a wide variety of program choices consistent with our motto of "Faith and Choice." Our belief is that Catholic families in Edmonton want access to a variety of alternative academic, language, sports, and focus programs. For September 2008, our school district will be offering several new program choices. The lists of new and expanding programs, as well as the list of open houses and information sessions, are all available on our website at www.ecsd.net.

We have developed our District Goals and Priorities for 2008-09 and I invite your input into our Three Year Education Plan as well. Please visit our District website in the "Tell Us What You Think" section of the web. This is an online survey that is automatically e-mailed back to us. Your input will become part of our District plan.

The 24th annual Sign of Hope Campaign was a huge success, raising $2,325,000, a 9.6% increase over the $2.12 million goal. With the generous contributions of the staff, students and parents of the Edmonton Catholic School District, the achievements of this year's Campaign have been realized. Edmonton Catholic Schools alone raised $129,080, well exceeding its original goal of $100,000. As part of this total, $63,000 was raised through the efforts of the Kids Care Challenge. This illustrates that our youth do want to make a positive difference in the lives of children and families in need.

As we reach out to grasp God's hand in our Lenten journey, we ask our Lord's blessing to help us walk more readily in faith and open our hearts to love more fully May our lives become centres of new hope in our service to each other.

Sincerely,

Joan Carr
Superintendent