The Archdiocese of Philadelphia will join in the national observation of Catholic Schools Week from January 25 to 31, 2009. Catholic Schools Week is an annual celebration of the values-centered, faith-driven education that students receive in Catholic elementary, secondary and special education schools. The national theme for Catholic Schools Week 2009, is "Catholic Schools Celebrate Service." This is the 35th year of the national Catholic Schools Week celebration, which continues today as a joint project of the National Catholic Educational Association and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia there are:
· 182 parish and regional elementary schools
· 20 Archdiocesan high schools
· 5 schools of special education
· Parish elementary school enrollment is 57,537
· High school enrollment is 19,137
· Schools of Special Education enrollment is 258

Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, will bless the new building for the early education program at St. Francis of Assisi Parish School, 601-A Buttonwood Street, Norristown, 19401 (Montgomery County).

During Catholic Schools Week, students, parents and teachers throughout the five-county Archdiocese will celebrate with a variety of special religious, social and recreational activities. Following is a list of some of the activities planned:

Sunday, January 25, 2009
St. Catherine of Siena Parish School- 317 Witmer Road, Horsham, Montgomery County (215-674-1904)
9 a.m. - The "Rose Gerace Award" will be presented to an individual who has faithfully served the school. The service award has been recognizing deserving individuals for 15 years.

St. Frances Cabrini Parish School - 10 Goble Court, Fairless Hills, Bucks County (215-946-6334)
11 a.m. - Mass will be held to honor Sophie Cronin of Fairless Hills and Karen Dorneman of Yardley for their 25 years of service in education
12 p.m. - 2 p.m. - Students will pose in a "wax museum" presentation in the school's gymnasium. During the presentation, students will be dressed up as various people from history, including saints, scientists, humanitarians, educators, politicians, and inventors.

Archbishop Wood Catholic High School- 655 York Road, Warminster, Bucks County (215-672-5050)
2:00 p.m. - An assembly will be held to honor the 24 winners of the Archbishop Wood Writing Contest. The Archbishop Wood administration, including the English Department Chairperson and the Director of Admissions, are scheduled to attend this annual event along with the contest winners and their families.




Monday, January 26, 2009
Pope John Paul II Regional School- 4435 Almond Street, Philadelphia (215-535-3446)
8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. - In appreciation of their service to the community, members of the local fire department and police district will be invited to a breakfast at the school cafeteria.

St. Aloysius Parish School - 220 N. Hanover Street, Pottstown, Montgomery County (215-946-6334)
9:00 a.m. -- All of the students from Kindergarten to eighth grade will prepare "birthday boxes" that will be delivered to the North Coventry Food Pantry. The boxes will include all of the supplies necessary for a birthday celebration.

St. Genevieve Parish School - 1237 Bethlehem Pike, Flourtown, Montgomery County (215-836-5644)
8:00 a.m. - A prayer service will be held for peace, justice and integrity. At the service, Captain Brian Loftus of the Armed Forces will present the flag that was flown in Iraq by Captain Loftus for St. Genevieve Parish School. At each hour throughout the day, a student will read an excerpt from the Preamble, Constitution, Bill of Rights, Gettysburg Address, John F. Kennedy's famous Presidential Address and the Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream" speech.

Resurrection of Our Lord Parish School - 2020 Shelmire Street, Philadelphia (215-742-1127)
1:00 p.m. - In preparation of the students collecting "meals in a can" to be donated to St. Francis Inn throughout Catholic Schools Week, two representatives from St. Francis Inn will speak to the students about their service to the poor.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Bishop Shanahan High School- 220 Woodbine Road, Downingtown, Chester County (610-518-1300)
8:30 a.m. & 9:30 a.m. - As part of Student Appreciation Day, the popular Musicopia group, "Phil-A-Rhythm," will be showing Bishop Shanahan students the art of performing with percussion instruments. Following the assembly, the musicians will be giving a private workshop to Bishop Shanahan's percussion students.

St. Francis De Sales Parish School - 39 New Road, Aston, Delaware County (610-459-0799)
9 a.m. & 10 a.m. - The Science Explorers (www.scienceexplorers.com) will present two assemblies. The first, "Motion Commotion," which explorers Newton's three laws of motion will be for grades K-4 and the second, "Crazy Chemistry," which focuses on the basics of Chemistry will be for grades 5-8. The assemblies will kick-off the school's new after-school science club.

St. Dorothy Parish School - 1225 Burmont Road, Drexel Hill, Delaware County (610-789-4100)
9 a.m. - Students are welcome to invite their grandparents and/or a special person to school for the day. As part of the Grandparents and Special Persons Day, a prayer service will be held, followed by a reception, which includes a performance of patriotic songs by 5th and 6th grade students.

St. Joseph Parish School - 502 Woodlawn Avenue, Collingdale, Delaware County (610-586-0356)
9:30 a.m. - Police, firefighters and service members will be honored during a Liturgy. They will be presented with 'thank you' messages and posters from the children. A reception will follow in the Parish Hall.

Conwell-Egan Catholic High School - 611 Wistar Road, Fairless Hills, Bucks County (215 945-6200)
10:15 a.m. - Students from Archangels' Academy, School of Special Education, will be invited to attend mass at Conwell-Egan Catholic High School. Following mass, light refreshments will be served in the school cafeteria, giving Conwell-Egan Catholic High School and Archangels' Academy students the opportunity to get to know one another.

St. Francis of Assisi Parish School - 601-A Buttonwood Street, Norristown, Montgomery County (610-272-0501)
1:30 p.m. - Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, will bless the school's new addition for its early education program.

Bishop McDevitt High School - 125 Royal Avenue, Wyncote, Montgomery County (215-887-5575)
7 p.m. - Former Mayor of Boston and U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, Ray Flynn, will speak to students about his experiences at the Vatican. This event is a part of the school's Golden Anniversary Speaker Series.


Wednesday, January 28, 2009
St. Athanasius-Immaculate Conception School - 7105 Limekiln Pike, Philadelphia (215-424-5045)
10:30 a.m. - Kindergarten teacher Olenka Zajac, a nominee for the NCEA Distinguished Teacher Award, will be honored with a Certificate of Recognition from the NCEA for her contribution to the school over her 22 year career. She will be recognized during the Mass held in celebration of Catholic Schools Week.

Queen of the Universe Parish School - 2477 Trenton Road, Levittown, Bucks County (215-945-1866)
1:00 p.m. - Students will compete in a Penny Race where each class collects pennies and lines them along the floor of the cafeteria. The classroom with the longest line of pennies will win. The money raised will be used to purchase Valentine's Day gifts for patients at Immaculate Heart of Mary Nursing Home.

St. Isidore Parish School - 603 West Broad Street, Quakertown, Bucks County (215-536-6052)
7 p.m. - Students will celebrate their various heritages and cultures during International Night. Parents will provide dishes representing their heritage and students will perform songs and dances from countries around the world.


St. Maria Goretti Parish School - 2980 Cowpath Road, Hatfield, Montgomery County (215-721-9098)
7 p.m. - Sister Joanne Abate, IHM will speak about Cyber Bullying at the Home & School Meeting

Our Lady of Assumption - 135 Fairfield Lane, Strafford, Chester County (610-688-5277)
9:00 a.m. - Pre Kindergarten and Kindergarten classes at the school will be packing shoe boxes full of personal care and entertainment items for the troops currently serving in Iraq. Two of the students have parents currently serving in Iraq, so the items will be shipped to their platoons.

St. Monica Parish School - 601 First Ave., Berwyn, Chester County (610-644-8848)
1:00 p.m. - Kindergarten through fourth grade students will attend a special assembly, Soren Bennick's "The Power of One." The presentation is a series of skits performed by actors who use boxes, colors and masks to vividly portray what bullying is, what can be done about it and how every child has the power to report bullying when they see it.

Thursday, January 29, 2009
Corpus Christi Parish School - 920 Sumneytown Pike, Lansdale, Montgomery County (215-368-0582)
Published author John McGranaghan, will visit the school for the day. He will read his book "Saturn for My Birthday" to the younger children and will speak to the older children about the writing and publishing process. A drawing will take place and six winners will be selected to eat lunch with Mr. McGranaghan in the library.

St. Aloysius Parish School - 220 N. Hanover Street, Pottstown, Montgomery County (215-946-6334)
8:45 a.m. - All students from Kindergarten to eighth grade will present "birthday boxes" to a representative from the North Coventry Food Pantry. The boxes will be given to underprivileged children, and include all of the supplies necessary for a birthday celebration, including disposable cameras so that the recipient can capture their birthday memories.

Immaculate Conception Parish School - 3810 Bristol Oxford Valley Road, Levittown, Bucks County (215-949-2848)
1:15 p.m. - In the spirit of "Service to our Friends," the school will invite students from Archangels' Academy, a school of special education to join them at a Catholic Schools Week dance.

Friday, January 30, 2009
St. Martha Parish School - 11321 Academy Road, Philadelphia (215-632-5546)
8:30 a.m. - A mass will be held honoring two teachers who have each taught for 25 years. Mrs. Joann Kozak has taught for 25 years in Catholic schools, and Mrs. Pat Green has taught in Catholic schools for 34 years - 25 years of which she spent at St. Martha Parish School.

Nativity of Our Lord Parish School - 585 W. Street Road, Warminster, Bucks County (215-675-2820)
9:00 a.m. - Most Reverend Joseph P. McFadden, Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia, will celebrate Mass in honor of the 50th anniversary of Nativity of Our Lord Parish School. Former faculty, priests and students are invited to attend.

St. Norbert Parish School- 6 Greenlawn Road, Paoli, Chester County (610-644-1670)
9 a.m. - 12 p.m. - A Community Service Fair will be held to teach students about the many careers that involve service to others. The fair will mimic a job fair, and representatives from community service organizations will speak to students. There will be a lecture at 9 a.m., and then the community service fair will begin.

Throughout the Week
Our Lady of Calvary Parish School - 11023 Kipling Lane, Philadelphia (215-637-1648)
Students will receive an "It's Your Serve" card, which instructs them to serve their family, friends, neighbors, community and Jesus. They are asked to perform an act of service their family, friends, neighbors, community and Jesus.

St. Margaret Parish School- 227 N. Narberth Avenue, Narberth, Montgomery County (610-664-2640)
A book drive will be held in each class, and the older students will read the books to the younger students. Afterwards, the books will be donated to Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania.

Assumption B.V.M. Parish School - 55 E. Bristol Road, Feasterville, Bucks County (215-357-5499)
All students will assemble and decorate 'breakfast bags,' which will be given to the Aid for Friends organization.

Lansdale Catholic High School - 700 Lansdale Avenue, Lansdale, Montgomery County (215-362-6160)
Students in the Advanced Computer III course are developing short videos to chronologically document the history of the school. The videos will be shown during the morning broadcast on Lansdale Catholic TV.

St. Christopher Parish School - 13305 Proctor Road, Philadelphia (215-673-5787)
Throughout the week, students at St. Christopher will honor Mrs. Madeline Reid, a teacher at Saint Christopher who passed away last year. In Mrs. Reid's honor, students will hold a book drive to benefit PHILADELPHIA READS.

St. Thomas Aquinas Parish School - 601 Bristol Pike, Croydon, Bucks County (215-785-1130)
Throughout the week, students are collecting coloring books and crayons to donate to St. Jude's Hospital, along with handmade cards.

Contact
Meredith Wilson
Communications Specialist
215-587-3747