BrandEd conducted a second survey in the Fall of 2010. The original survey, conducted in 2004, was to determine why people send their children to Catholic schools. Both surveys found that faith formation is a top quality indicator as to why people send their children to a Catholic school. The most recent survey found that respondents feel that Catholic schools are doing an excellent job of “promoting Catholic faith and values.” What sets us apart from public schools, charter schools and private schools is our faith. The fact that our Catholic faith is woven throughout every aspect of our day is critical to faith formation and there is no greater expression of our faith than attending mass.

Notre Dame Catholic School opened in 1966 and in all of the years since then, up until December of 2010, our students were not given a weekly opportunity to attend mass during their school day. That has now changed; we now attend 8:00 a.m. mass every Thursday morning when we do not have another All School Liturgy planned during the week. While this has taken some adjustment in family schedules, having to arrive at school by 7:45 instead of 8:00, the majority of our families are committed to getting their children to school early to be able to attend mass. If your children arrive at 8:00 or later on Thursday mornings you are depriving them of attending mass which is an important part of their faith formation.

Mrs. Charlene Molis