Dear Parents-

Welcome to another fabulous year at Divine Mercy! We are excited to be just a few short weeks away from a year filled with JOY! We look forward to partnering with each of you as we, together, help prepare your child for the next step in their life. As a team we will work to make this educational experience impactful by teaching strong academics in a community grounded in and guided by faith. We are thrilled to be offering more counseling time and a new SEL program this year along with the Peace of Mind training and support for our teachers. We also continue to focus on our wonderful Believe and Read program as our third-grade students continue the work they began with this program last year. I have every confidence that this will be a great year.

This summer has found the education world in an environment where it is difficult to find staff. Many teachers left the profession after the challenges of the Covid years and there is now a nation-wide shortage of teacher candidates. I know that it has been extremely difficult for me, but it has been worse for many of my principal colleagues in the Archdiocese. Please pray for all our schools as they look for people to fill their openings. 

In this challenging summer, I continue to work to find applicants for our open positions. In the absence of applicants, I have been forced to think outside the box. Yet, even in this, God provides, and He has helped me come up with solutions. Amanda Fox will be joining us in 1^st grade, Hayley O’Connor will be teaching second grade, and I will be teaching one of the 4^th grade classrooms with Sarah Beth Stadler as an assistant. In stepping back into this teaching role while being the principal, I knew that I would need someone who could work beside me and provide continuity when I would be called away for a meeting or emergency. Sarah Beth came and expressed her desire to go back to school to earn her Elementary Education Degree. It was a perfect situation. With us working together, I will have the opportunity to demonstrate for her and mentor her while providing direction and stability for the 4^th grade curriculum. There is still one more position to fill and I am interviewing someone for that open 4^th grade position this Friday. I pray that things will go well, and we will be fully staffed for the Fall. Watch for introductory paragraphs of our new staff over the next few weeks.

We are anxiously awaiting news from the Archdiocese on our building project. They should let us know in a few weeks if we have the green light to move ahead. Please continue to pray for this endeavor.

Finally, as we prepare for the 2022-2023 school year, Covid is still in the news and on some people’s minds. In fact, this is the first time in three years that the back to school letter has not started with Covid information. While Covid continues to be present, our policies are currently aligned with the Infectious Disease guidelines, much like the flu or other communicable diseases. We do not anticipate a change as this disease moves into an endemic phase. However, we will continue to monitor the information and will communicate quickly should anything change. Please refer to our parent/student handbook on our website for more information.

The excitement has begun to build, and we look forward to seeing you soon. Please stop in and check out the uniform give away. There are many great items left. Check out the class lists as of right now attached below.

God is Good!

Mrs. Ashley