CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte Foundation manages 75 endowments with a total market value of approximately $15 million that directly aid the diocese’s 19 schools and their students:
- American Schlafhorst Scholarship Endowment Fund: Scholarship assistance for students at Charlotte Catholic High School.
- Asheville Catholic School Foundation Endowment Fund: Financial support to enable the school to retain quality teachers, offer scholarship assistance, provide continuing education for teachers, and enhance the school’s curriculum.
- Joseph and Margaret Baldi Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for children of St. Leo Parish families to attend St. Leo School in Winston-Salem.
- Bishop McGuinness High School Endowment Fund: Financial support for the education of students at this school in Kernersville.
- Joan W. Books Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for children of Immaculate Conception Parish to attend Immaculata School in Hendersonville.
- Elizabeth Allen Brown Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students at Asheville Catholic School.
- Molly Cassidy Scholarship Fund: Tuition assistance for Triad area Catholic school students.
- Catholic Education Endowment Fund: Scholarships for students attending Catholic elementary schools in the diocese.
- Charlotte Catholic High School Alumni Association Scholarship Endowment Fund: Scholarships for graduating seniors to attend a college of their choice.
- Charlotte Catholic High School Alumni Association Board Discretionary Endowment Fund: Financial assistance, at the board’s discretion, to Charlotte Catholic High School students.
- Charlotte Catholic High School Endowment Fund: Benefits Charlotte Catholic High School.
- James P. and Eunice S. Cherry Scholarship Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students to attend St. Michael School in Gastonia.
- Cornelius Alexander Davis Fund: Tuition assistance for students at St. Leo School in Winston-Salem.
- Digger Dawson Scholarship Endowment Fund: Scholarship assistance for students from Immaculate Conception Church attending Immaculata School in Hendersonville.
- Derhofer Endowment Fund: For drama department productions, capital needs related to the drama department, and tuition assistance for students at Bishop McGuinness High School.
- Deussen Scholarship Endowment Fund: Scholarships for Catholic high school education in the greater Charlotte area.
- Stephen and Jessica Dey Options Endowment Fund: Benefits the “Options” programs at the diocese’s schools.
- Faucette Endowment Fund: Financial assistance for the educational ministry of the diocese’s schools.
- ‘Forward in Faith, Hope, and Love’ campaign endowment: Tuition assistance
- Gayden and Janell Gauthier Fund: Tuition scholarship assistance for students at Immaculata School in Hendersonville.
- O’Brien and William Edwards Gibbs Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students at Asheville Catholic School.
- Gismondi Family Endowment Fund: Scholarship assistance for children of St. Mark Church parishioners to attend Christ the King High School in Huntersville.
- Megan Healy Scholarship Endowment Fund: Scholarship assistance for students at St. Patrick School in Charlotte.
- Edith and George Hilbert Endowment Fund for Asheville Catholic School: Financial support for the education of students at Asheville Catholic School.
- Holy Trinity Catholic Middle School Endowment Fund: Supports the general needs of Holy Trinity Middle School.
- Immaculata School Endowment Fund: Scholarship assistance for students at Immaculata School in Hendersonville.
- Immaculate Heart of Mary School Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in High Point.
- Roger Kavanagh Tuition Assistance Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students at St. Pius X School in Greensboro.
- Leeolou Family Scholarship Endowment Fund: Scholarship assistance for Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools families.
- LeFeber Endowment: This fund provides tuition assistance to students at Immaculata Catholic School in Hendersonville.
- LoBianco Family Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students at St. Therese of Lisieux Church in Mooresville and St. Mark Church in Huntersville to attend Christ the King High School.
- Manley Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students of families at St. Eugene Church to attend Catholic elementary school.
- Sister Terry Martin Scholarship Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students matriculating in higher education from Clay and Cherokee counties.
- Catherine McAuley Endowment Fund: Scholarships to Catholic students attending Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools.
- Francis J. McGrail Scholarship Endowment Fund: Scholarship assistance to students of Immaculate Heart of Mary School in High Point.
- Lee McGuiness Endowment: Benefits the Charlotte Catholic High School Alumni Association.
- Sandy McMonagle Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students at Our Lady of Mercy School in Winston-Salem.
- Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools Education Development Council: Assistance to the nine MACS schools in the Charlotte area.
- Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools (MACS) Special Needs Endowment Fund: For Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools’ students with special needs.
- Katelyn Mitchell Student Athlete Scholarship Endowment Fund: TFor the benefit of a student-athlete in 6th, 7th or 8th grade at St. Pius X School in Greensboro.
- Monsignor Lawrence C. Newman Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students at Our Lady of Mercy School in Winston-Salem.
- Vic Nussbaum Jr. Memorial Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students at St. Pius X School in Greensboro.
- Onulak Endowment: Tuition assistance to students at Asheville Catholic School.
- Our Lady of Grace School Endowment Fund: For the general needs of the school.
- Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic School: For the general needs of Our Lady of the school.
- Poutre Family Endowment Fund: For the general needs of Immaculata School in Hendersonville.
- Quinn Family Fund: Tuition assistance for students at Immaculata School in Hendersonville.
- Clark G. Ross Scholarship Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for Catholic students from Catholic parishes in Mecklenburg and Iredell counties to attend Catholic high schools in these counties, Davidson College or Queens University.
- Sacred Heart School Endowment Fund: For the general needs of the school.
- Sheridan-Mangan Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students at Asheville Catholic School.
- Sisters of Mercy Scholarship Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students at St. Michael School in Gastonia.
- Victoria Sleeman Endowment Fund: Scholarships for students of Immaculate Conception Church to attend Immaculata School in Hendersonville.
- Frank Spinks Endowment Fund: For professional development activities for the staff at Immaculata School in Hendersonville.
- Mary Spinks Endowment Fund: For scholarship assistance to minority students at Immaculata School in Hendersonville.
- Michael Sullivan Endowment Fund: Scholarships for graduates of Charlotte Catholic High School.
- St. Ann School Endowment Fund: For the general needs of the school.
- St. Gabriel School Endowment Fund: For the general needs of the school.
- St. Mary Church Scholarship Endowment Fund: Scholarship assistance for children of St. Mary’s parishioners attending Our Lady of Grace and St. Pius X schools in Greensboro and Bishop McGuinness High School in Kernersville.
- St. Joseph Scholarship Endowment Fund: Scholarship assistance for students at Asheville Catholic School.
- St. Leo the Great School Endowment Fund: Financial assistance for the general needs of the school.
- St. Mark Catholic School Endowment Fund: For the general needs of the school.
- St. Matthew Catholic School Endowment Fund: For the general needs of the school.
- St. Michael School Endowment Fund: For the general needs of the school.
- St. Pius X School Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students at the school.
- Theresa Lasecki Talbert Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students at Bishop McGuinness High School in Kernersville.
- Remo and Carolyn Termini Endowment Fund: Scholarships for students attending Asheville Catholic School.
- John Michael Thompson Endowment Fund: For the benefit of Sacred Heart School in Salisbury.
- F. Joseph Treacy Endowment Fund: For scholarship assistance for students in all nine MACS schools.
- Triad Educational Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance to students attending a Catholic elementary or high school in the Triad area.
- Villalon Family Endowment Fund: Financial assistance for students at Bishop McGuinness High School in Kernersville.
- Sabrinia Watt Fund: Tuition assistance for students at Immaculata School in Hendersonville.
- Sister Paulette Williams Scholarship Endowment Fund: Scholarships for graduating seniors from Charlotte Catholic High School to attend a college of their choice.
- Woelfel Family Endowment Fund: Financial assistance at Our Lady of Grace School for student educational purposes, such as purchasing textbooks or technology needs.
- Wos-Dejoy Endowment Fund: Tuition assistance for students at St. Pius X School in Greensboro.
- Sister Emma Yondura Endowment: For the benefit of St. Leo School in Winston-Salem.
Endowments aid students, schools
$4,041,854 has been distributed from 75 endowments managed by the Diocese of Charlotte Foundation that directly benefited students and schools
CHARLOTTE — Diocese of Charlotte schools are responding as the more contagious Delta strain of the coronavirus continues to surge, shifting some classes to remote or hybrid learning where needed to prevent virus spread.
Diocesan school leaders are relying on a system of specific metrics aligned with CDC guidance to navigate the changing conditions and decide if and when to shift to hybrid or fully remote learning for 7 to 14 days. So far, COVID-19 data have triggered shifts to some amount of virtual learning in at least four of 19 schools.
This system was used successfully last year, said Dr. Gregory Monroe, diocesan schools superintendent, and enables school leaders to use concrete data in determining their COVID-19 responses.
“The incidence of COVID-19 in our schools has been low and, as one of the largest school systems in North Carolina that provided in-person education five days a week last year, we gained a wealth of experience that has influenced what we’re doing today,” Monroe said.
The metrics vary slightly between the diocese’s 16 elementary/middle and three high schools because of their different characteristics, but all involve the percentage of students and teachers testing positive, the number of students on quarantine, the identification of clusters, and any evidence or potential for school spread.
For the diocese’s high schools, the decision is made to shift to hybrid instruction if 3-5 percent of the total in-person student population has tested positive, and shift to remote learning if that number reaches 5 percent or higher.
So far, school leaders say, the number of cases has not resulted in a significant shift away from in-person instruction – although some schools have shifted a class, multiple classes and, in one case, an entire school to virtual learning.
Three Mecklenburg Area Catholic elementary schools recently shifted a few classes to remote learning after positive cases were reported. All of the cases were traced to outside sources of infection, Monroe said.
Christ the King High School in Kernersville went virtual Sept. 1 for a week after 26 positive cases turned up in the school community – just at the 5 percent threshold metric.
The high school did not identify any “clusters” of infection (defined as five connected cases in one class) – since the 26 positive cases were dispersed among different classes and grades – yet “we believe it is prudent to proactively shift to remote learning to limit any potential virus spread at the school,” Dr. Carl Semmler, principal, told parents in an Aug. 31 letter.
Face coverings are now required indoors at nearly every school, under most circumstances, in line with local public health and government mandates. Each school has developed its own procedure for registering exemptions claimed by parents, as spelled out by local public health rules.
Concerns among some parents over mask exemptions at some MACS schools prompted Monroe to write in a Sept. 1 letter: “Although the face covering mandate adopted by the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County has raised some concerns, our Christian community has – and must continue to – come together to treat one another with compassion and respect. All Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools are observing the face covering mandate, with exemptions permitted as prescribed by the city-county proclamation. It is up to parents to decide whether an exemption is justified for their children, and we ask that anyone claiming an exemption register with their school office.
"We also ask that everyone respect the choices families make; we all want our children to be safe and rest assured that our schools will act upon any indication of virus spread.”
Schools are also continuing their focus on enhanced cleaning, frequent handwashing, symptom awareness and contact tracing.
— Catholic News Herald