Gift from Tracy Family Foundation invests in future of Catholic education
Eight Catholic parish schools and two Catholic high schools in the west central Springfield diocese start work this month with a national development firm to begin a self-assessment process that will lead to a long range plan. The Tracy Family Foundation, a not-for-profit private foundation supported by the Mt. Sterling-based Dot Foods, Inc., is covering the costs of Institute School and Parish Development, (ISPD), the Metairie, La.- based consulting firm, chosen to lead the project.
“All the second generation Tracy family members had the benefit of a parochial school education,” said Pat Tracy, chairman of the board of directors of Dot Foods and trustee of the foundation. He and his 11 brothers and sisters all were educated at St. Mary School in Mt. Sterling. “We value that experience, and recognize its worth.”
Over a year ago the Tracy Family Foundation established a planning committee to look into the challenges facing Catholic schools today — “education, evangelization, just surviving in this very difficult environment,” said Tracy. “As we studied this, we noticed many, many schools really struggling. Enrollment was declining, tuition was increasing. Our concern for the future of parochial schools motivated us to assist these schools to develop a solid plan for the future.”
On the planning committee were three foundation members plus members from the community who also were asked to serve — Charlotte Koch, principal at St. Mary in Mt. Sterling; Ray Heilmann, principal of Quincy Notre Dame High School; Rita Carney, principal at Our Saviour in Jacksonville; Jane Tracy, parochial school parent; and Father Kurt Hartrich, OFM, pastor at St. Francis Solanus in Quincy.
“We looked at what ways could we best impact Catholic education,” said Koch. “The committee researched for over a year, brainstormed, looked into all kinds of ideas as to what best we could do, and narrowed it down to what were the ways to best help the schools. We chose to start with a long-range plan, focus in on areas of need, and from there we could target what each school individually needed to work on. Each school will have a different area.”
The committee looked into consulting firms that did this sort of work, and chose ISPD, which has done work in the Springfield diocese before. “It specializes in working with Catholic schools, parishes, dioceses and archdioceses, doing work such as this,” said Jean Johnson, superintendent of Catholic Schools in the diocesan Office for Catechesis.
“One of the things we saw when we looked at ISPD is they engage people — lots of people, people excited about the parish, about the school,” said Koch. “You get them engaged, and all that does is foster growth. They look at everything — demographics, spirituality. There are nine planning areas in all. They engage faculty, parents, parishioners, alumni and community members.” It is not just for teachers. People are welcome to volunteer to serve, she said.
On Feb. 12, a presentation was given to representatives from the parishes and two high schools, and they had 30 days to discuss it within their own parish or school community, to decide. “Everyone was eager to participate in the program,” said Heilmann.
Schools participating in the project are all located within the 10 counties defined as the foundation’s region. They are: Blessed Sacrament, St. Dominic, St. Francis Solanus, and St. Peter Schools, and Quincy Notre Dame High School, in Quincy; St. Mary School in Mt. Sterling; Our Saviour School and Routt Catholic High School in Jacksonville; St. John the Evangelist School in Carrollton, and St. Francis/Holy Ghost School in Jerseyville.
“The dedication and ministry of the Tracy Family Foundation, and their belief in and support of Catholic schools is unmatched,” Heilmann said. “They are not looking for a quick fix thing, but a systemic approach that makes the Catholic schools more viable, better, and existing far into the future. They invest in things that are proactive and can be assessed. They don’t just say, ‘Here’s some money, do what you want.’ They invest money that affects students and schools. The ISPD assessment and long-range planning will be incredibly beneficial to Quincy Notre Dame and the other nine schools.”
Pat Tracy acknowledged, “This is a very expensive project for us, but we’re excited about the impact it will have. We want to do it because we think parochial schools go with the foundation’s primary values: youth and education, family and Christian values. There is no better environment to foster those than parochial schools.”