Good morning, Kristin,

As July draws to a close, we are in our final preparations for what promises to be a great week at Seattle University next week. We will be on campus for Kickstart and Inspire, and our new principals will be on campus on Monday for their orientation.

We are finalizing our numbers, so if you haven’t already registered, please do so by the end of today.

We received positive news at the end of last week, as I am sure many of you are aware, that the U.S. Department of Education would unfreeze all frozen Title funds. With those funds released, it is a good reminder to each of us of the importance of our stewardship of these funds to advance the learning of students and professional development of our staffs. Please take time to review your plan for using these funds over the course of the next calendar year.

See you next week!

With gratitude,

NICHOLAS FORD | Superintendent

Office for Catholic Schools | Archdiocese of Seattle

OPERATIONS CALENDAR & MONTHLY TASK LIST

Click here & log into mycatholicschool.org

Principal Weekly Meetings

09/11/2025 - Welcome/Welcome Back with Superintendent Nicholas Ford

09/17-19/2025 - Christ in the Classroom Leadership Retreat at the Seabeck Conference Center. Register HERE!

09/25/2025 - Christ in the Classroom Toolkit with Connor Geraghty

10/02/2025 - GRACE with Justyna King

Upcoming Events

August 1, 2025

New Principal and Pastor Retreat

9:00am-3:00pm

Archbishop Brunett Retreat Center

August 4, 2025

New Principal Orientation

8:00am-3:00pm

Seattle University

August 5-7, 2025

Kickstart/INSPIRE

7:30am Doors Open

Seattle University

Kickstart Registration!

INSPIRE Registration!

August 12&19, 2025

New School Employee Orientation

South: August 12 @ St. Charles Borromeo School

North: August 19 @ Holy Rosary, Edmonds

August 21, 2025

New Teacher Induction Training

More information here.

Assistant Principal Meeting

September 12, 2025

GRACE Kickoff Meeting

1:00pm-3:00pm

Online

Registration coming soon...

MISSION & CATHOLIC IDENTITY

Serving Our Diversified Learners

Please read this article from Our Sunday Visitor and published in Northwest Catholic, which examines how students with disabilities are being served in our Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Seattle and throughout our nation.

CIC Leadership Retreat Registration

If you have yet to do so, please register here for the 2025 Christ in the Classroom Leadership Retreat at the Seabeck Conference Center from September 17-19, 2025.

2025-26 Missionary Discipleship Institute

All 7th grade teachers are invited to participate in the Missionary Discipleship Institute for the upcoming school year! MDI Teacher Formation Day is scheduled for August 18th from 9am-2pm at Our Lady of Guadalupe School. Learn more and register here.

Unplug with the Lord: High School Retreat

High school juniors, seniors, and recent graduates are invited to attend this prayerful 3-day/2-night retreat at the beautiful Archbishop Brunett Retreat Center! Retreat leader Fr. Chad Hill will offer a variety of approaches to prayer as a way of growing closer to God and discerning His plan. Click here to learn more.

GOVERNANCE & LEADERSHIP

Personnel & Policy Notes for the Week of 07/21/25

Included this week: Hooray!!! Title funding to be released this week! Also included this week...hiring reminders.

Click here to read more.

Register for the Leadership Academy

A leadership development cohort for aspiring administrators. 5 Leadership sessions, beginning October 10th. Contact Kelly Surapaneni (kelly.surapaneni@seattlearch.org) with questions.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

GRACE Registration for 2025-26

Please register your GRACE teacher leaders for the 2025-26 school year NOW!

Curriculum Committees for 2025-26

Social Studies, Science and new Artificial Intelligence committee will be formed this year. We meet four times (in person) throughout the year. Learn more here.

NWEA MAP Testing Dates & Information

Check out our NWEA MAP testing page to learn more about our assessment dates and expectations.

WCEA Accreditation Information

The WCEA has updated their webpage with current resources for schools who are engaged in the self-study process and those who are hosting visiting teams this year.

Early Learning Newsletter

Important resources and reminders for Early Learning Program. Click here for more information!

OPERATIONAL VITALITY

Innovative Housing Rooms

Rooms are still available at our Innovative Housing sites in Ballard and Maple Leaf! See the form or contact Kelly Surapaneni. (kelly.surapaneni@seattlearch.org)

Multi-Year Budget Template

Standard 10 of the NSBECS advise us to have a three to five year portion of our Budget Plan each year. Where does your school stand? Questions - ask John Sullivan. (sullivanj@seattlearch.org)

2025/2026 Salary Scale

Each school develops its own Salary Scale for the 2025/2026 school year. Please share your Scale with assumptions to John Sullivan (sullivanj@seattlearch.org).

School Staff Changes

Please email Synthiea Kaldi (synthiea.kaldi@seattlearch.org) staffing changes so we can get them set up in Frontline. For new employees, please send name, email and phone number!

Update Job Postings

Please make sure your job postings are current. Synthiea Kaldi can close jobs for you (synthiea.kaldi@seattlearch.org).

E-rate Technology Funding Updates

Important E-rate technology updates for the 2026-2030 funding cycle. Questions? Ask Tom O'Callahan. (tom.ocallahan@seattlearch.org)

Moves to Sub Pool

Synthiea Kaldi is happy to submit the PAF for any 2024-25 staff that would like to be in the sub pool. Your name and personal email are all that's needed!

Fulcrum Foundation News & Updates

Designate a TAP Coordinator

Please designate at least one Fulcrum Tuition Assistance Grant Program (TAP) Coordinator, who will be the main contact at your school for all questions or communications with Fulcrum concerning TA for the 2025-26 school year. For some schools, the principal is the sole TAP Coordinator. For others, multiple people at the school are designated as TAP Coordinators. You may designate up to four people for this role at your school.

Link to form: https://forms.gle/K4X3SXDVijizEhcS7

Please submit this information by no later than Friday, August 29th. We are very grateful for your partnership in administering this program and helping us advance our mission of providing access to high quality Catholic education in Western Washington!

News & Resources

FREE Chairs!

Sacred Heart school has thirty navy stacking chairs and nineteen 15" tall chairs up for grabs! Please contact Val Bromfield if you are interested or have any questions. (vbromfield@sacredheart.org)

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