Good morning Kristin,

During this week of Teacher and Staff Appreciation in many of our schools, I share my gratitude with each of you for nurturing the vocations of so many. It is in your care for your faculty and staff daily that they are able to thrive in our Catholic schools and extend Jesus’ example of love to each of our students.

A mentor of mine in college often reminded us in the School of Education of a quote from Lee Iacocca that, “in a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have.” I reflect on that now as a Catholic school leader, and replace “civilization” with “faith,” and I recognize how distinguished and privileged a position it is to be able to impact the lives of so many children in such a complete way. My appreciation abounds.

We gather on Thursday for our final meeting of the year. Our agenda focuses on three core elements: recognizing those principals who will be departing for new chapters at the end of this year, working together to develop attainable next steps at the local, regional, and archdiocesan levels to continue to develop an integrated, PK-12 approach to serving all learners, and learning from those who recently completed their accreditation to better understand our collective efforts and where there may be opportunities for us to align our resources. I look forward to being with you on Thursday.

Two final reminders: please be sure to share the information related to Archbishop Etienne’s presentation on Co-Responsibility and Collaborative Leadership with your School Boards and Commissions. It will be offered on two different evenings: Wednesday, May 15 from 7-8pm, and Monday, May 20 from 7-8pm. Arrangements are being made to provide simultaneous Spanish translation. Please register through this

link: https://archseattle.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2453/responses/new

We are also in Open Enrollment Season. Please be sure that all employees - including you! - take time to go in and renew their benefits, even if they do not anticipate making any changes. Enrollment must be complete by May 15 at 10pm. This last point — the time — is important to note as our Benefits Office has reported that there is considerable volume that has historically enrolled at the last hour.

With gratitude, 

NICHOLAS FORD | Superintendent

Office for Catholic Schools | Archdiocese of Seattle