August Update from the President

Dear Parents of La Salle Students,

I hope that you are enjoying your summer as you make plans for your sons and daughters to return to school in just over five weeks.  We are preparing our school for opening day with great anticipation as we implement our Mission Expansion Initiative.  As mentioned previously, it is our intent to have all of our students at school and in the classrooms.  I do anticipate that we will be required to follow CDC COVID guidelines to include 3 feet of social distance and the requirement for all students, faculty, staff and visitors to be fully masked in the building. We are waiting for specific mandates from the state and/or county authorities on mask requirements. Mr. Sgambelluri will continue to provide updates during the month of August.

Part of our reopening plan is an option for parents to choose remote learning if they absolutely feel that is the best decision for their son or daughter due to health reasons. However, this option is not recommended as we believe that it is essential for students to attend school for social interactions, participation in after school and extracurricular activities, for excelling in academics, and for experiencing all that La Salle has to offer. Mr. Sgambelluri will provide additional information on specific guidelines for parents choosing the remote option which will include certain restrictions that were not in place last year.

There is a lot of construction taking place in the school as part of our Mission Expansion Initiative.  As of today, the construction of locker rooms and women’s bathrooms is on schedule and we will be completed for opening day.  As part of our Capital Campaign, we are completely revitalizing our chemistry room and developing plans to revitalize our physics room next summer.  We will also be re-opening our art room and offering art classes to our students.

Our new student enrollment is going very well. We expect to enroll one of the largest groups of new students in 18 years and the largest group in the last eight years.

Our Capital Campaign is also going very well.  As you may know, at the end of May we made our announcement and initiated the public phase of the campaign. At that time, our campaign was at $4.85 million raised towards our $5.8 million goal. Since that time, we have received over $200 thousand in additional gifts and pledges, and we have now raised $5.055 million. We are very pleased with the financial support that we are receiving from our alumni, current and past parents, and friends. We are looking forward to exceeding our goal and assuring our future.

As we look forward to the start of the new school year, I would like to encourage all of our parents to have their sons and daughters vaccinated if they are at least 12 years of age. However, I understand that this may be a difficult and complicated choice for some families, so all I can do is encourage you. Mr. Sgambelluri and I will continue to keep in touch as we get closer to our school opening day.  In the meantime, please enjoy the rest of the summer – we are really looking forward to seeing your sons and daughters in September.

My best wishes to you and your family!
 
Joseph B. Raczkowski, ’72
President
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