2020–2021 Messages From the President

The following is the state of the school letter published in the most recent issue of the Eagle Magazine.

Dear East Catholic Family,

It has been my distinct honor to be back on the Hill leading our wonderful school. While I had been back on campus a few times since graduating in 1985, I will admit that I had not stayed as strongly connected over the years. For those of you who have lost touch, I hope this update may get you reconnected. For those of you who have stayed close, I hope you get some reassurance that we are making substantial progress, continuing the work begun in 1961.

As we begin to see some light at the end of this pandemic tunnel, I would like to provide our students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, and friends with a state of the school update.

COVID-19
We are very proud of our school community and the way they have handled themselves during the pandemic. One way hallways and staircases, socially distant seating arrangements, hand washing, sanitizing, and most importantly mask wearing, have been the norm all year. On September 8 we opened school with a planned hybrid training period of 14 days. On September 25 we began full in-person learning, and with the exception of three short periods of fully remote learning, we have managed to remain mostly in person. We have allowed students who need to be fully remote to make that choice.

90% of our faculty and staff are fully vaccinated, and now that the state of Connecticut has opened vaccines to those 16 years old and older, we are beginning to get some of our students vaccinated as well.

Financial Situation
Last year East Catholic put out a letter to some of our community about financial difficulties the school was having. The letter inferred that East Catholic was four million dollars in debt and appealed to alumni, parents, and friends to give to East Catholic to help bridge that deficit. Many thanks to all who came forward and continue to do so. Please allow me to provide an update on where we now stand.

We are incredibly grateful to the Archdiocese of Hartford and to the five area parishes who were able to put together four million dollars and formed the St. Thomas Aquinas Trust to assist East Catholic. Currently, we have used $1,200,000 to pay off the bank loan that remained from the science and math addition completed in 2015. We have budgeted for the debt service needed, including balloon payments. We are fortunate to have emergency funds set aside if needed, but we are working hard to avoid using them.

As of April 1, 2021, we have been fiscally responsible without compromising the overall student experience. We are well under budget for the 2020–2021 school year and expect to finish the year with a balanced budget, if not a small surplus. I am thankful to the budget holders in our academic, athletic, facilities, technology, admissions, and advancement departments for their responsible approach to spending. As we head into 2021–2022, we are on much more solid footing financially.

Inclusion
Each year I select a theme for the year, and for the 2020–2021 school year, East Catholic has focused on the theme of inclusion. At the beginning of the year I had the chance to speak with each class on the topic citing the importance of kindness and respect towards all with whom we come into contact. I reminded them of the ECHS mission statement which closes with, “Guided by the teachings of Jesus Christ, East Catholic is a welcoming environment for all students.” To help with this important messaging, I asked two seniors, Jencih Manhertz and Mackenzie Talavera, to speak with each class on this topic, and they did a great job speaking out against racism, implicit bias, micro aggressions, and cultural appreciation. Throughout the year their leadership has proven to be a blessing with the formation of a Students of Color Union and a robust celebration of Black History Month. We are fortunate to have such thoughtful and passionate students at our school.

Admissions
Enrollment remains a challenge for many Catholic schools, and we are working hard to attract as many mission-appropriate students as we can for the 2021–2022 school year. We have had a number of information nights and virtual open house opportunities. The Admissions office has worked tirelessly to ensure that we will have another strong class of freshmen, as well as transfer students who will join the rising sophomore and junior classes. Many families have noted that East Catholic’s ability to primarily remain in person, five days per week significantly influenced their decision.

We are still accepting applications for next year; so if you know of anyone who might be a good fit, please have them contact our Admissions office.

Advancement
One of the terrific benefits of being an alumnus in the position of president is that I have been able to reconnect with many alumni from my era, as well as get to know alums from before and after my time at East. The pandemic has provided many challenges for events and gatherings, but we were able to have a successful walk-a-thon in the fall, and we are looking forward to our spring event coming up on May 1. Our Taste of East event will be virtual but fun! Please see information on the back cover of this publication. Coming up on June 11 we will be having our 30th anniversary golf tournament. Hope to see many of you there!

While we have strengthened our financial footing, we certainly still need a great deal of philanthropic support from our East Catholic family. Please consider a gift to our annual fund, Future in Focus, or other fundraising opportunities here on the Hill!

As we head into spring, please know that we continue to do great work here at East Catholic. I have never been more proud of our students and entire ECHS family. My “door” is always open, so please reach out by phone, email, or in person with any thoughts, questions, or concerns you have. I look forward to hearing from you!

Stay safe, and be well!

Peace,

Sean P. Brennan ’85
President

To the East Catholic Family,

I hope everyone had a blessed and enjoyable Easter. It finally feels like spring has arrived! Trees are blooming on campus, and the fields are greening up. We would like to thank the Parents Association for providing funds for some plantings on campus. I hope everyone gets to enjoy the flowers throughout the spring. Thanks also to Rick and Osman for their tireless efforts to keep our campus looking great!

While there is light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, the past two weeks saw an uptick in positive COVID cases and the need to quarantine a number of students. At the advisement of our medical experts, we did go remote for Holy Thursday and the four days between Easter break and spring break.

I would like to thank all students, parents, faculty, and staff for their cooperation and patience as we continue to put the safety of our family first. Things seem to be calming down, and we are planning to be back in person on Monday, April 19. Spring sports and extracurricular activities are back in person on Friday, April 9 unless a student is still quarantining.

Please make note of the following travel protocols as we head into spring break:

• If you are traveling out of state, after returning to Connecticut get tested three to five days after travel and self-quarantine for a full seven days.
• Continue to stay at home and self-quarantine for the full seven days, even if your test is negative.
• If your test is positive, isolate for 10 days.
• If you do not get tested, stay home and self quarantine for 10 days.
• If you are fully vaccinated or have tested positive for COVID-19 within the last 90 days, you are exempt from testing and quarantining.
• Please visit the Travel Advisory for Connecticut During the COVID-19 Pandemic page for full guidance.

As always, there is a lot happening on "The Hill", but please do not hesitate to reach out via email with any comments, questions, or concerns.

Wishing everyone a safe, healthy, and enjoyable spring break!

Peace,

Sean P. Brennan ‘85
President

To the East Catholic Family,

The third academic quarter closed today. For such an unusual and challenging year, it is certainly flying by! 

In the past two weeks, we have had two new positive cases (bringing the total to 40 for the entire year). Unfortunately, contact tracing led to a significant number of students who needed to quarantine. We continue to follow our protocols as advised by our medical advisors. The biggest impact came to our boys’ hockey team, as a whole, who had to cut short their season as the playoffs were about to begin. They were ranked number one in Division II. Congratulations on a great season! Other sports were unfortunately impacted as well.

Best of luck to all of our winter sports teams who are finishing up the post season this week! Good luck to all starting spring sports this weekend.

Following meetings with the Archdiocese, health professionals, and our administrators, we plan to open school in the fall without a remote learning option. As a way of preparing for the fall, we are encouraging all students to return to in-person learning during the fourth quarter. If there are extenuating circumstances that require a student to be fully remote, please be in touch with the office directly. We especially would like to avoid students choosing to be remote on one day and not the next. We remain confident that there has been extremely little to no transmission issues at school.

Thank you to all returning students for their due diligence in completing course request forms for next year. We have all of the information we need, and we are currently reviewing those forms. However, in order to be officially scheduled, we need to have a signed enrollment contract and the $250.00 registration fee to be officially scheduled for next year.

We have a few changes to the calendar coming up over the next month that I wanted to highlight for you. Next week, we will dismiss at 11:30 a.m. on Holy Thursday, April 1. There is no school and offices will be closed on Good Friday, April 2. We will not have school on Easter Monday, April 5. Please understand that we are balancing the need to fulfill our obligated number of school days while also keeping in mind that breaks are needed, especially around holidays.

Scot Haney, from Better Connecticut on WFSB, was on campus with a film crew last week, and they will be airing a segment on Monday, March 29 between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. Please check it out, and let us know what you think!

Lastly, but very exciting, we are looking ahead to the end of the year and the culminating events for the class of 2021. Much still depends on what the state mandates in regards to the pandemic, but we have dates secured and are praying that we get to have as many events as possible!

Senior End of Year Events

• April 7: 50 Days Until Graduation Lunch
• May 19: Senior Awards
• May 21: Senior Farewell
  
  • Graduation Rehearsal from 9:30–11:30 a.m.
  • Last Day of School for Seniors
• May 24–27: Senior Exams
• May 28: Prom
• June 1: Senior Picnic
• June 2: Baccalaureate Mass - St Mary’s at 7:00 p.m.
• June 3: Commencement - St. Joseph’s Cathedral
  
  • Rehearsal at 9:30 a.m.
  • Commencement at 6:00 p.m.

To the East Catholic Family,

It is hard to believe that we have reached the end of February. With all of the year’s challenges, time continues to move along quite quickly. It has been great to see our winter sports teams in action. I wish we could have more fans at games, but based on health and safety protocols, we have to limit the numbers. Please respect those rules and understand that much is beyond our control.

The COVID update is very brief for this newsletter. As of February 13, we had 38 total cases dating back to September. Since then we have not had a positive case reported! Keep up the great work. Wear masks, stay socially distant, and wash your hands, both in and out of school.

We have a few changes to the calendar coming up over the next month that I wanted to highlight for you. We will have an 11:30 a.m. dismissal on Friday, March 5 (originally a Professional Development day for teachers) in order to get another day in so we can complete the year as early as possible in June. We will also dismiss at 11:30 a.m. on Holy Thursday, April 1. Finally, we will not have school on Easter Monday, April 5. Please understand that we are balancing the need to fulfill our obligated number of school days while also keeping in mind that breaks are needed, especially around holidays.

As Black History Month comes to a close, I would like to thank all of the teachers and staff who posted on their classroom and office doors influential members from the black community. It was great to see such a wide array of accomplished and inspirational figures. I would also like to thank the Students of Color Union for their work on the big bulletin board outside the cafeteria. They will also be debuting a video next Tuesday that they have been working on all month. We will be streaming to all classrooms on Tuesday, March 2nd at 9:20 a.m. Many thanks to Jencih Manhertz ‘21 and Mackenzie Talavera ‘21 for taking the lead on that project.

Lastly, but very exciting, we are looking ahead to the end of the year and the culminating events for the Class of 2021. Much still depends on what the state mandates in regards to the pandemic, but we have dates secured and are praying that we get to have as many events as possible!

Senior End of Year Events

• April 7: 50 Days Until Graduation Lunch
• May 19: Senior Awards
• May 21: Senior Farewell
  • Graduation rehearsal 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
  • Last day of school for Seniors
• May 24 to 27: Senior Exams
• May 28: Senior Prom
• June 1: Senior Picnic
• June 2: Baccalaureate Mass - St Mary’s at 7:00 p.m.
• June 3: Commencement - St. Joseph’s Cathedral
  • 9:30 a.m. rehearsal
  • 6:00 p.m. Commencement

As always, there is a lot happening on The Hill, but please do not hesitate to reach out with any comments, questions, or concerns. Stay safe and be well!

Peace,

Sean P. Brennan ‘85
President 

Good Afternoon to our East Catholic Family,

I hope you all have had a restful, safe, and healthy break. As we prepare to return to school on Monday, I am sending out the Connecticut state travel requirements below. Please follow their guidelines to help keep our students, faculty, and staff safe.

Travel: If a student or faculty/staff member travels to a “red” state:

• If you have traveled to any state other than NY, NJ, or RI, you must provide a negative PCR - COVID test (non rapid) to Mrs. DeCarlo prior to returning to school.
• You can bring test results to school, if you wish.
• The test can be done in another state within 72 hours of your return to CT or after you return to CT.
• If you do not get tested, you must quarantine for 10 days.

News from the Hill Letter - January 15, 2021

Dear East Catholic Family,

I am reaching out to connect with all of you as the nation rises above the divisiveness that led to unthinkable violence at the U.S. Capitol this week, and that still marks too much of our interactions with one other. As our country processes the shock of what transpired in Washington, D.C., our community stands together in the condemnation of violence and the call for prayer as we move forward. We pray for those hurt or killed, those who remain angry or dispirited, and those who seek healing and reconciliation as we move forward as a country.

This year’s community theme of inclusion seems an appropriate lens through which we can view recent events. We encourage members of our community, students and their families, faculty, staff, and alumni to speak with their peers about what they are feeling, and to do so with respect and openness to the views of others. As we work to process and heal during these difficult times, I would like to remind our students that they can reach out to teachers, coaches, counselors, or parents if they need help processing what they are witnessing.

I remain optimistic about the future of the United States of America. While we have significant work to do, I hope we can come together as a nation and reclaim the vision laid out by our forefathers: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” May we live up to this aspirational goal.

Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
President

News from the Hill Letter - December 18, 2020