Unless the Lord builds the house,

in vain do the builders labor.

Psalm 127

A Home of Our Own!

As announced at the Fall Jamboree, GSCM has reached an agreement with St. John Vianney to purchase our facility, with the closing date set for mid-November. The purchase will include the school building, the church building, the St. Joseph house, the garage and shed, and the surrounding property. We will not be purchasing the rectory and its surrounding yard.

This is a great milestone for our school.   We now have a permanent home of our own! Certainly, this opens up many possibilities for improving our program and serving our children and families. Before discussing this, though, many thanks are in order to the GSCM Board of Trustees, who has worked steadily and tirelessly to bring us to this point. All of our trustees are GSCM parents, and they are listed at the end of this article. Please be sure to thank them for their talented and committed efforts on behalf of our current and future students and families.

The Board's efforts have not only focused on purchasing our site, but also the long-term planning that prepares us to move forward in a clear, systematic fashion and to direct our resources judiciously. This long-term planning is evident in a Master Site Plan and a Strategic Plan. The Master Plan was completed in July, 2010 by GBBN Architects. This plan grew out of an in-depth process that included parent and staff surveys, focus groups, and ongoing dialogue. It captures the vision of our school as it relates to our site and facilities, and provides a long-term plan for developing our site.

The Strategic Plan was completed by the Board in February, 2011, and sets a broad framework for the direction of the school. The three main foci of this plan are "Community," "Enduring Sustainability," and "Child Development." We have shared a broad overview of this plan in previous newsletters, and it is again featured in our upcoming Fall 2012 Newsletter/Annual Report.

With these two planning documents in place, and with the purchase of the building imminent, we are eager to turn our attention to the work that lies ahead. We are eager to make the improvements that will bring our facilities on par with the charm of our site, the vigor of our program, and the strength of our school community. Certainly, we all see the deferred maintenance tasks that must be addressed. These include:

• Roof replacement
• Exterior window and curtain wall replacement
• Entry façade replacement

In addition, we are exploring other projects to enhance our program. These include:

• Traffic flow: adjust the drop-off and pick-up traffic flows to separate car traffic and foot traffic.
• Fine Arts Center: develop the interior of the church building to serve as a center for our fine arts programming, including:
• A newly renovated art room
• A newly renovated music space
• Provisions for a community space for parents
• Accommodations for easy access to drama and dance

At the same time, we will continue to use the church as a worship space, including weekly school Mass. We have also agreed to allow the parish to continue weekend Masses in the church, and have asked Archbishop Schnurr for permission to develop a small, beautiful adoration chapel for the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament during the week, where parents and students can spend time in adoration before Jesus.

Longer term, we know that we would like to enlarge our Montessori classrooms and to provide a permanent space for the middle school program.

We do not have a definite timeline for these and other projects. But just as the Board has been thorough and proactive in our planning to this point, it is addressing the site and facility needs in the same careful fashion. We are now interviewing architectural firms to guide us in developing the first phase of our Master Plan. We are working with a development consultant to help us prepare for an eventual capital campaign.

At the Spring Gala in March, we intend to share available details as to how we will be moving forward in the summer of 2013 and beyond. In the meantime, if you would like to see the short slide presentation that Dan Teller gave at the Fall Jamboree last Saturday, please join him at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 7 or Friday, November 9 in the lower elementary middle room. If you are unable to make these times but would like to see the presentation, please contact Dan (dteller@gscmontessori.org), and if there is sufficient interest, he will schedule an evening event.

Please keep our school in your prayers. With God, all things are possible!

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Parent-Child Evening: Thurs., Nov. 8, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Pre-primary and elementary parents are invited to spend an evening in the classroom with their child during our upcoming Parent-Child Evenings. One of the most relaxing and enjoyable parent education opportunities, this is an evening for listening to your child and exploring the fascinating Montessori environment together. Please come and experience the interest and joy of your child's learning in the Montessori classroom.

Although our teachers will be on hand, the focus is on parent-child interactions and the evening is not intended as a time to conference with teachers.  

Community Boutique: Sat. Nov 17, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Please join us at the GSCM Community Boutique on Saturday, November 17 from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. held here at the school. Shop for Christmas gifts among offerings of jewelry, religious articles, kitchen items, and more - many from small businesses owned by families from our school. Invite your friends and enjoy a day of shopping brought to you by the GSCM PTO.

We are looking for student entrepreneurs, so if you make jewelry, candles, hair barrettes or other items, consider hosting a booth. Student booths are $5. (forms available in the office).

Are you interested in being a vendor? Pick up a form in the office with details. For more information or questions, please contact Rhonda Hamall at 238-4459 or  Rhonda@hamall.us 

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Parent Evening: Tues., Dec. 4, 7:00-8:30

How do children learn in the atrium? How they work? How do they pray?

Have you wondered what your child does in the atrium? What is presented? What work do children use? How do they use it? How does all this help the child grow closer to God? How do the children learn and understand basic beliefs? How can the atrium serve both Catholic and non-Catholic children?

Catechist Dan Teller will present a variety of atrium materials to help you better understand the atrium experience for children of all ages. The atrium experience is not only a gift to children - it is also a gift for adults who experience it. It is a conversion experience. Please join us at our CGS Parent Evening to gain insights about, and most of all, to ENJOY the beauty and depth of the atrium experience. The evening is suitable for parents of all children at our school.

Please RSVP to dteller@gscmontessori.org. Grandparents and non-GSCM parents are welcome as well. RSVP is needed to ensure adequate interest to offer this evening program.

What a great time at the Fall Jamboree

Not only did we kick-off the school's Annual Campaign with a wonderful evening of fun and fellowship, we were thrilled to learn that we will finally own our school property!

Over 200 gathered at the Moeller Knights of Columbus Hall on Saturday evening. We danced to the square dance call of Russ Childers and the Rabbit Hash String Band, ate s'mores by the bonfire, and chatted with fellow parents.

Thank you to all our bakers and others who provided food, who shopped and worked the event, and to the team that set up and cleaned up afterwards. So many pitched in to help. What a great school community we have!

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Year of Faith

Catechism of the Catholic Church on Faith...

What is Faith?

We must first ask what "to believe" means. Faith is man's response to God, who reveals himself and gives himself to man, at the same time bringing man a superabundant light as he searches for the ultimate meaning of his life. (CCC, 26)

A Meditation on Faith ...

My God, give me real faith!

Real faith, faith which inspires all one's actions, faith in the supernatural which strips the world of its mask and reveals God in all things; which abolishes the notion of "impossible," and empties the words "anxiety," "danger," and "fear" of their meaning; which gives life calm, peace, deep joy, like a child holding its mother's hand; which detaches the soul so completely from earthly things by showing up their total lack of importance and their childishness; which bestows such confidence in prayer;' the confidence of a child asking its father for something useful; the faith which shows that "apart from doing what is agreeable to God, everything is vanity" ... oh, how rare that is! ... My God, give me real faith! My God, I believe, help the little faith I have!

Blessed Charles de Foucauld

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