General Discussion

Omaha Steve

(99,579 posts) Mon Jun 2, 2014, 10:16 PM Jun 2014

New school going up at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church site (private not a charter no $ 4 thepoor)

Quality education for the poor. Marta and I went to school with one of the Loziers. The unionized company with 1,700 workers is located where there are not many good jobs in the poorest area of Omaha. THIS is how it is done right!!!

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.unmc.edu%2Fpublicrelations%2Fdocs%2FPharmacy_Lozier_Foundation.pdf

OS

http://www.omaha.com/news/new-school-going-up-at-blessed-sacrament-catholic-church-site/article_695829d2-e9aa-11e3-84b2-001a4bcf6878.html

POSTED: MONDAY, JUNE 2, 2014 1:00 AM
By Julie Anderson / World-Herald staff writer

The Lozier Foundation plans to start a private, demonstration school on the site of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church campus beginning in 2015.

The school, which would not charge tuition and would enroll students eligible for free- or reduced-price lunch, aims to start with two sections each of kindergarten and first grade and add a grade annually until it tops out at sixth grade, said Dianne Seeman Lozier of the Lozier Foundation.

While it would include a broad range of instruction, the yet-unnamed school will use evidence-based reading and math curriculums — the phonics-focused Spalding method called “The Writing Road to Reading” for reading and Singapore math for mathematics. Singapore math is a curriculum that focuses more on a deeper understanding of concepts and less on memorization.

The new school also will include character development and offer both an extended day and extended school year in order to bolster student achievement and minimize summer learning loss, or “summer slide.”

FULL story at link.

5 replies

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New school going up at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church site (private not a charter no $ 4 thepoor) (Original Post) Omaha Steve Jun 2014 OP

Very good. 840high Jun 2014 #1

Well, it's still a private school frazzled Jun 2014 #2

I especially appreciate this in light of steps backward the Archdiocese took in other parts of Omaha Algernon Moncrieff Jun 2014 #3

Just to be clear.. Omaha Steve Jun 2014 #4

I realize that. I'm saying I think Lozier is doing what the Church should have been doing. Algernon Moncrieff Jun 2014 #5

840high

(17,196 posts)

1. Very good.

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Mon Jun 2, 2014, 10:20 PM

Jun 2014

frazzled

(18,402 posts)

2. Well, it's still a private school

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Mon Jun 2, 2014, 11:39 PM

Jun 2014

I'm not sure I agree with you entirely. I'm sure the intentions are great, and that it will be a great school. But it has all the issues (and more) that a public charter school would have: it can't serve everyone, it will probably peel away the better students, it's not clear what its hiring and pay and tenure issues will be. It will probably suck away dollars from public schools in the form of speech therapists and other special ed personnel that the state must provide to private schools. In the end, a one-off "charity" private school like this is not the answer to helping education in this country. Unless it can be scaled up to serve the tens of millions of children, it's just an anomaly. Perhaps some good pedagogical techniques will come out of it that can be transferred to the larger public system. But that's what charters are supposed to be for.

I'm sorry to burst the bubble, but I'm not really seeing advancement here. It's just nice for a particular neighborhood.

Algernon Moncrieff

(5,790 posts)

3. I especially appreciate this in light of steps backward the Archdiocese took in other parts of Omaha

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Tue Jun 3, 2014, 12:00 AM

Jun 2014

OMAHA - St. Peter Claver Cristo Rey High School will close in June, just four years after opening with the mission of preparing low-income students for college and careers by using an innovative blend of study and work.

Archdiocese of Omaha officials broke the news Friday morning to parents, teachers and students at the South Omaha school, at 36th and Q Streets. A statement from the archdiocese said the school has a $7 million debt, large operating deficits and a continuing need for outside financial support that cannot be met.

A "soft economy" also was a factor, said the statement from Deacon Timothy F. McNeil, chancellor of the archdiocese.

"Despite the tremendous efforts of school officials and Omaha's business community, we have reached the conclusion that the school's future cannot be financially sustained," said the Rev. James E. Gilg, the archdiocese's superintendent of schools.

http://www.nonpareilonline.com/archive/debt-soft-economy-end-st-peter-claver-school/article_dd031f84-b97b-527c-b7a3-4321c55b5545.html?mode=jqm

OMAHA, Neb. —Thursday marked the last day of school for students at Holy Ghost, which is one of three Omaha Catholic schools that will close for good at the end of the school year.

Holy Ghost opened its doors near 52nd and Q streets in 1925 with hundreds of students, but the Omaha Archdiocese decided to close it down along with Assumption Guadalupe and St. Stanislaus.

Read more: http://www.ketv.com/news/omaha-archdiocese-closes-3-elementary-schools/20279134#ixzz33Xr5nz9l

IMHO, Rev. Gilig (who I freely admit does not have an easy job) did not make the best choices in leading the Catholic schools in Omaha in a direction in keeping with the Church's mission to love and serve the poor.

So I share your enthusiasm for seeing a private school with the mission of serving the poor making use of church property.

Omaha Steve

(99,579 posts)

4. Just to be clear..

Reply to Algernon Moncrieff (Reply #3)

Tue Jun 3, 2014, 06:07 AM

Jun 2014

The Omaha Archdiocese has nothing to do with this. They sold the property to Lozier's foundation.

Algernon Moncrieff

(5,790 posts)

5. I realize that. I'm saying I think Lozier is doing what the Church should have been doing.

Reply to Omaha Steve (Reply #4)

Tue Jun 3, 2014, 09:26 AM

Jun 2014

All of the closed schools I mentioned served lower-middle to low income neighborhoods.

I like that Lozier is making better use of former church property. That's all I meant.

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