Dear Mater Christi Families,

In just a few days, the eighth grade class will graduate from Mater Christi. For these students and their families, this event signifies the successful completion of a learning experience that will inevitably provide a solid foundation for the remainder of these young people’s lives.

In fact, this morning I was feeling quite nostalgic as I dropped off my youngest daughter for the last time at her Catholic high school in Arlington, Virginia before she graduates tomorrow following a thirteen-year journey through Catholic schools. While our family prepares to celebrate our daughter’s graduation, we are thankful for the faith-based school communities we’ve been part of for 22 years. We are optimistic about our daughter’s future because of the strong foundation that has been provided spiritually, intellectually, and interpersonally. It is my hope that whether you have a graduating eighth grader or your child is completing a grade level at Mater Christi that you see and continually experience the multitude of gifts that come from being part of a vibrant, faith-based school community.

Quite often when we think about the meaning of graduation, we celebrate the completion of a course of study, but another meaning of commencement is to begin or start. As Mater Christi prepares to graduate another outstanding class of students, we are also beginning preparations for the 2016-2017 academic year. Over the next few weeks, our school’s faculty will be closing up their classrooms for the summer and enjoying a few months of reflection, planning, and professional development. Mater Christi is blessed with a highly knowledgeable and dedicated faculty and staff, and the upcoming months of summer will be spent planning and preparing for your children’s return to our school in August.

As we look to next year, we will be welcoming several new faces to the Mater Christi faculty and staff. We are in the final stages of interviewing candidates for our preschool, physical education, and part-time middle school math positions. We are beginning a search for a development associate who can work with me to solicit and secure financial gifts for our school. In addition, we are commencing a search to find someone to lead our marketing and enrollment efforts, as last week Kaitlyn Dorey informed me that she has decided to accept a position with a previous employer in the area. Over the past few years, Kaitlyn has done a wonderful job welcoming new families into our school community as we have experienced enrollment increases. I am optimistic we will find someone who can work with me to continue our enrollment growth. Finally, we will begin a search for a new fourth grade teacher as well as determining the composition of the intermediate team after the resignation of Megen Perkins, who has decided to accept a position with another school. Although Megen’s tenure at our school has been over four short years, she has touched the minds and hearts of the students in her classes, and she will be missed.

Please know that all employment opportunities at Mater Christi are posted on our school’s website under the “About” tab. Despite these staffing changes, the core of our faculty and staff is committed to returning next year as we work together to move Mater Christi forward so that students continually encounter a loving God as they grow in their faith and knowledge.

As we approach the summer months, I will be reaching out to you to request your time, talent, and treasure to complete some beautification projects in and around our school buildings. Our grounds and school buildings are in need of a little TLC, and I am hoping that together we can carry out an Extreme School Makeover Project that will beautify, as well as create more functional and attractive learning spaces for your children. More details will be provided in the next few weeks as we organize this community-based, multi-month project. I look forward to working alongside you as we carry out on this project.

In closing, I look forward to returning to Burlington and spending time at Mater Christi from June 6-17 before I begin serving as your school’s president on July 5. In the meantime, if you should have any questions or would like to share any thoughts you may reach me at plofton@materchristischool.net.

I hope that our paths will cross over the next few weeks.

Pat Lofton, Ed.S
President