CHARLOTTE — As students return to school with shiny new bookbags and uniforms, parents and prospective families in the Charlotte area will also see shiny new websites and new, more robust social media presences.
Focusing on clean, easy-to-navigate websites with more information was a focus for Jennifer Harris, marketing director for Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools, when she worked to update more than a half dozen school websites this summer.
The websites look different to fit each school’s colors and brand, but they follow a similar navigation and have the same customer service features, including registering and scheduling a tour.
Those are two features Sheila Levesque, principal at St. Michael School in Gastonia, said she’s seeing great response to with her school’s new website.
“It’s been remarkable,” she said to the response to the new www.stmichaelcs.com. “It’s working really well for us. We’ve been receiving a lot of tour inquires and requests because of the website, especially after we linked it to our Facebook page.”
More current families are also starting to use the website and Facebook page, Levesque said, which is linked from the school’s Edline communication system.
This school year, Levesque said she plans on using the Facebook page as another tool to communicate directly to families. The plan is to post pictures from school events and games, reminders, open house information and news from the schools.
“It’s also another reminder to parents to go to the website as well,” she said.
The new websites have easier to find web addresses, better search engine recognition and consistent branding with their new social media channels, Harris said. While not all of the schools are on social media, some have started with an official Facebook page this year. Others added Instagram and Twitter.
MACS has also created its own landing page at www.discovermacs.org for marketing and advertising purposes where prospective families can access admissions information, as well as a Facebook page at facebook.com/discovermacs, where information about all the schools is being shared.
Check out the new websites and follow the schools on social media:
- Charlotte Catholic High School: www.gocchs.com; facebook.com/gocchs; Instagram: gocchs; Twitter: @gocchs
- Christ the King High School: www.ctkchs.org; facebook.com/ctkhigh; Instagram: ctkgram; Twitter: @ctkchs
- Holy Trinity Middle School: www.htcms.org; facebook.com/htbulldogs
- Our Lady of the Assumption School: www.olacatholic.org
- St. Ann School: www.stanncatholic.org
- St. Gabriel School: www.stgabrielcatholicschool.org; facebook.com/stgabejaguars; Instagram: stgabejaguars; Twitter: @stgabejaguars
- St. Mark School: www.stmarkcatholic-school.net; facebook.com/saintmarklions
- St. Matthew School: www.stmattwildcats.com; facebook.com/stmattwildcats; Instagram: stmattwildcats; Twitter: @stmattwildcats
- St. Michael School: www.stmichaelcs.com; facebook.com/smcstigers
- St. Patrick School: www.saintpatrickschool.org
— Kimberly Bender, online reporter
HUNTERSVILLE — St. Mark Catholic School is celebrating the canonization of the Blessed Mother Teresa Sept. 2.
The first Friday of the month at St. Mark School is typically a dress down for $1 day — a day when the students donate a dollar for the privilege to dress in street clothes rather than their school uniform.
As part of this long-standing tradition, the school then donates all of the money to a different charity each month.
All of the money raised Sept. 2 will go to Missionaries of Charity in Charlotte in honor of Saint Teresa of Calcutta. In addition, the students were asked to dress in blue and white and will learn about the life and work of Saint Teresa.
A special banner was also created to remain in the lobby of the school as a further reminder of her message of love and mercy. Monsignor Richard Bellow, Dean of Students, specifically selected the printed quote as a message to the students and to all who enter the school:
"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."
Pictured, left to right: Michael Buck, Mark McMahon, Kelsey Keegan, Bianca Andexler, Mallory Foglesong, Caroline Tuschong (front), Lauren Munn, Anna Bowman, David Fisher and middle school religion and language arts teacher, Chris Ostrom.
—Submitted by Amy Burger