President’s Blog: A Vibrant Start to the New Year
Greetings Scecina Community!
The 2024 -25 school year is underway—the 72nd in Scecina’s grand history!
Enrollment stands at 451 students. These young men and women continue to bring outstanding energy, gifts, and talents to Scecina every day. They hail primarily from the East Deanery Catholic schools. Our international student program includes 23 students from seven countries of Vietnam, China, Spain, Brazil, Italy, Germany, and Rwanda.
2024-25 international students
Your financial partnership is still very important for our students’ lives; only one percent of our students can pay the full tuition of $16,000. We completed the 2023-24 year financially in the black for the 15th consecutive year. Capital campaign on-time pledge fulfillments are an astounding 99 percent, allowing us to have completed millions of dollars of interior and exterior campus construction without borrowing a dollar. We cannot thank you enough for your generosity that powers this mission.
Before the beginning of the school year, all our staff participated in a meaningful professional development day on cultural sensitivity and responsiveness. Alongside the blessing of our diverse community, we need to be sure that our words, decisions, and actions are equally welcoming and inclusive. This day of professional development was a terrific opportunity to step back from the pace and realities of our daily lives and reflect on the beauty of harmonizing a rich variety of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.
The following week, we welcomed new students and their parents and guardians to a day and evening of orientation, followed by orientation sessions for returning students a couple days later. Then, on Thursday, August 8, classes began.
Class of 2028 at New Student Orientation
A week after classes began, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception with an all-school Mass on August 15. The first Senior Retreat of the school year is now complete, and the Freshman Class Retreat will conclude the month of August. My, how time flies!
First senior retreat at Camp Rancho Framasa
Academically, we have added career concentrator pathways in the curriculum in the fields of marketing, accounting, fine arts, and computer science. We also have a small group of students who take classes at Scecina in the mornings and then transition to a local career education center in the afternoon in pursuit of industry certifications in the technical trades.
Students on the first day of classes for the 2024-25 school year
Changes to Indiana high school graduation requirements will likely be voted on at the state level this fall or winter, with the changes taking effect for the freshman class next year. A focal point in these changes will be more career education offerings. Please look for more information about Scecina’s new offerings later this year and/or next year as we guide students along the graduation pathway of their choice.
Your involvement makes a vital difference in the lives of our students. Thank you very much for supporting Scecina through your prayers, encouragement, volunteer efforts, and financial support.
Go Crusaders!
Sincerely,
Joe Therber
President
