The President’s Page
“…the unrelenting pursuit of excellence.”
November 2, 2009
- Good morning and Happy Feast of All Souls! It’s a gorgeous morning in Saint Cloud, MN as the sun rises over the Mississippi River and our new bridge is filled with traffic.
- As I continue to get organized and learn how to use the phone, I’m adding a few people to my list. If this is the first month you’ve received this communication, welcome! The President’s Page, edited and published monthly, will contain news and information suited for those who care deeply about our school and for those who want us to grow ever stronger.
- Troy Fritz is joining the CHS Team today. He is a major, positive addition to our staff and will serve as Director of Development – an important position that has been vacant for nearly two years. I welcome him and I especially look forward to his presence as we greatly accelerate the involvement, participation, and investment of alumni/ae and friends.
- The Board hosted a presentation by our auditors on October 22nd, Miller, Welle, Heiser CPAs. We received a clean audit for both of our organizations, The Cathedral High School and The Cathedral High School Education Foundation. The numbers I reported to you last month -- $10,953 cost per pupil for school year 2008-2009 were reaffirmed by the audit. That number includes all expenditures except food service and capital improvements.
- We are in the final year of preparation for re-accreditation from the North Central Association. During school year 2010-2011 we will host an on-site accreditation visitation team to have our mission, vision, goals, and operation scrutinized and hopefully affirmed.
- The Catholic elementary schools are enormously important to our success at Cathedral and I thank the leadership at the parish level for preparing excellent students for us, most matriculating at grade #7 and the Sts. Peter, Paul and Michael students at grade #9. We enroll a few additional students at all grade levels annually from as many as 25 different schools around the metro area.
- After 90 days in the job I’m starting to get a better understanding of the 2004 campaign and the pieces of it that still need to be completed and reported. I’ve asked retired president, Bob Stewart, to assist me with completing the recognition of donors, including some naming opportunities that were promised. I’ve seen a draft roster of the more than 1,000 contributors to this campaign. When completed, proofed, and framed it will have a permanent place of honor here at your school. Thank you for your generosity and for making it possible to complete several projects as a result.
- The 2004 campaign made it possible to completely renovate the kitchen, install fire protection and electrical upgrades in the Central and South buildings, install a 3-floor passenger elevator in the South building, renovate the foyers of the South building and the North gym, purchase new bleachers for the North gym, repair and replace the South building roof, and retire some debt. In addition to these capital improvement projects, hundreds of thousands of dollars were added to our Trust Fund, the Cathedral High School Education Foundation. The purpose of the Trust is to assist the school in the achievement of its mission. I will report more to you on this subject in the months ahead.
- Peter Spaniol ’76 is serving very capably as the Chair of the Board of Directors this year. John Herges ’68 is serving as Chair of the CHS Education Board of Trustees. Bishop John Kinney is President of the Corporation and Chairs the meetings of the Corporation. I staff all three with able assistance from my team. The members of the Corporation include the 13 parishes of the Central Minnesota metro area; i.e., The Churches of Holy Spirit, Sacred Heart, St. Anthony, St. Augustine, St. Francis Xavier, St. John Cantius, St. Joseph, St. Joseph (Waite Park), St. Mary, St. Mary Help of Christians, St. Michael, St. Paul, St. Peter. Ironically, Holy Angels, the founding parish/ Pro-Cathedral, is no longer a parish and hence no longer a member.
- The latest draft of the Vision – which I want to be a shared vision, reads: Cathedral’s effectiveness will be unmatched in its education, preparation and formation of young men and women for adulthood; we deliver social, intellectual, financial, leadership, and religious capital to Central Minnesota and the world.
- If you enjoy high quality vocal and strings music be sure to come to the November 12th concert at St. Mary’s featuring our students and St. John’s Prep in our 3rd year of collaboration.
- Four of our autumn teams have thus far made it to State competition: Girls’ Tennis, Boys’ Soccer, and both Girls’ and Boys’ Cross Country. Congratulations to them and to all of our coaches and students, State or not.
- Mark it on your calendar: The 4th day of Christmas (December 28th) is Christmas at Cathedral. We’ll open our campus in the evening for all alumni/ae and friends to gather for conversation, music, food, beverages, and reconnection.
- Important dates: November 12th = Share the Spirit concert at St. Mary’s ~ December 5th = An Advent evening of service and celebration ~ December 28th = Christmas at Cathedral ~ August 13th-14th-15th = Reunion Weekend on campus. October 29th = The Heritage Dinner.
The President’s Page is written and edited monthly by Michael A. Mullin, President of The Cathedral High School/ John XXIII Middle School ~ 312 7th Avenue North ~ St. Cloud, MN 56303 Direct Dial: 320-257-2114
Mobile: 320-266-3999 ~ www.chsj23.org
Flowing from the working draft of the vision are several possible strategic imperatives – big picture directions that must happen if the vision is to be transformed into action and sustained. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and overall critiques are encouraged.
Click the following link to read the Shared Vision Draft.
A Shared Vision - and Strategic Directions
Updated November 17, 2009
Please reply directly to Mike Mullin.