As Our Lady of Lourdes parish, under the direction of Father Michael Schneider, nears its 75th anniversary, and the school its 70th, community members prepare for some exciting events. Leading the school into the fall is Catholic School administrator, Sarah Zook. Zook brings with her 15 years of teaching, 3 years of Catholic school administration experience, and 3 years dedicated to leading teachers in professional development. She is excited to join the team at Lourdes, a Catholic school she notes as “well-known in the area for its strong Catholic identity and rigorous academics.” The development department will be led by the vibrant team of marketing specialist Heather Johnson and long-time parent and supporter Tami Zaremski who are already looking for ways to share Lourdes’ qualities with the community. They will be planning several events to mark this historic year as alumni and community members look back on April 20, 1941, as the date the parish opened its doors for the first time, thanks to generous supporters, Bishop Condon, and the Ursuline Sisters.
A few large projects will mark the year: technology upgrades, Pre-K shifts, and religion curriculum alignment. Thanks to the generosity of the Wiegand Foundation and others, the teachers are excited to kick off the fall with the installation of new and like-new technology for every classroom. With only two new full-time teachers, Lourdes’ returning staff will be delighted to see their older computers replaced with new ones and display technology including projectors and document cameras added to each room. This will allow students to easily see shared digital content and to take adventures such as field trips to the Vatican. The new computers will allow teachers to embrace a new web-based school management program that allows easy parent access to information. This is great since enrollment is up over the summer, so more families will need access to this information. In addition, Sister Angela, who will be teaching religion 5-8 for the school and K-12 for the parish, spent two days this summer helping teachers align the religion curriculum to new texts. The Pre-K program enhanced its offerings from 3-day to 5-day for four-year-olds including a research-based reading program that will have the young students dazzling their parents with reading skills well before the Thanksgiving break. Zook is well-prepared to guide teachers in both the technology training as well as curriculum mapping as she has been formally training teachers her entire professional career. 
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