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JUNE 9, 2022
Dear Parents and Guardians,
It’s time to register for Religious Education for 2022-23! - We are looking forward to an exciting year of faith formation. What a gift we give to children and teens of this wonderful parish, the gift of faith! I am truly blessed to have committed families that see the importance of this faith in young lives! God bless all of you in your work in passing on the faith of our Catholic Tradition.
- Formation (Religious Education) for both the Saturday sessions and the Family sessions will be held at Our Lady of the Ridge. See Saturday sessions calendar and Family sessions calendar for additional information. Family session meeting will plan the October sessions on September 6, details forthcoming.
- Mass will be offered during class times. Please see the calendar for those dates and yes, parents are most welcome to celebrate with us. We will begin our Saturday morning session on September 17 with a Mass at 9:30 AM at Our Lady of the Ridge. Details will be provided as we get closer to that date.
- We are still seeking catechists for Saturday morning sessions! We are also seeking a hall monitor to assist during the class time. Please contact Dr. Antos if interested. Volunteers are always needed!
- See the information for First Reconciliation / First Eucharist. Confirmation info will be provided in our mailing in August. Key dates for parent meetings:
- Monday, September 26 - Confirmation Meeting for parents and candidates at 7 PM at St. Linus Church
- Monday, October 10 - First Reconciliation Parent Meeting at 7 PM at St. Linus Church
- You will notice that there is a slight increase in tuition. Religious Education is an investment in the faith life of children and families. Good stewardship is the key to the quality of catechesis we offer our parishioners here at St. Linus. If all of us, myself included, does our best in budgeting, paying bills, paying tuition and fees, the cost of the investment could certainly be contested. Unfortunately, some do not practice this stewardship, and have strained the budgeting affects, especially when unpaid tuition and fees are not responsibly taken into account. Hence, we all are subject to these situations, and increases must be distributed. We highly encourage that families make their commitment early so to not be hit with additional late fees - An “early payment incentive” will be given to those who pay entire tuition by August 31 - Please see the financial form below.
2022-2023 REGISTRATION PACKETS
TUITION AND OTHER FEES
In an effort to keep our tuition and fees within the reach of our parishioners while at the same time providing the opportunity for parents / guardians to cover a fair share of the cost of the Religious Education Program you will notice that we have listed ALL costs for the various sacramental programs, as well as the fee for the children’s Bibles. Only NEW students in grades 4-8 and the incoming 3rd graders will need Bibles for 2022-23. The bible used in the Religious Education Program is the Catholic Youth Bible, New American Bible translation, Revised Edition.
There is a financial commitment for EACH family. Please complete and return them with your registration forms. You’ll notice that we ask for the grade your child will be in September 2022 not your child’s present grade level.
TUITION ASSISTANCE... SCIP
We have a way to earn tuition credits. The program is SCIP (Shopping Certificate Incentive Program). If you aren’t familiar with this program please ask about it. We have several families who have free or almost free tuition this year because they have faithfully used SCIP for the past twelve months! We congratulate them and hope others will get involved. Please utilize this user friendly fund raiser to keep our budget in check! How can you not participate in this win/win opportunity!
NEW STUDENTS
Parents / guardians of all new students must present a copy of their child's Baptismal certificate along with the registration. This includes children baptized at OLOR - Saint Linus.
Since it is impossible for us to know who will have new students for next year (first graders) please contact the office for additional registration forms, if you are the parent / guardian of a first grader for next fall. We’ll gladly send you the necessary forms so you can keep your family’s packet together..
PROGRAM OPTIONS
This year we will again be offering three options for the children’s catechetical formation. Families may be part of a group who work together with their children and meet regularly throughout the year. This option is Family Catechesis and is a good one for those who want to work closely as a family on the formal religious education of their children or who cannot manage Saturday morning sessions. Parents and children meet about once a month on a weekday evening. This option combines the flexibility of individual home study with community formation. If you prefer Family Catechesis for your child, please indicate this when you return your registration packet. We need at least 5 or 6 families at a grade level to make this option work well. Check this option on the top of your registration form, please.
For those families who need flexibility in catechesis because of parents’ jobs and other commitments, Individual Home Study is a viable option. Parents and their children work at home on the material and then come in individually for hour sessions with me about five times during the year. If you prefer Individual Home Study for your child, please indicate this when you return your registration packet. Please check this option on the top of your registration form. You must also discuss this option with me as well.
We will continue to offer the Class option provided we have catechists available to serve the children at each grade level. All of our catechists are volunteers. Please check this option on the top of your registration form and see the form in this packet regarding volunteers.
SACRAMENTS IN SECOND AND EIGHTH GRADE
At OLOR / Saint Linus both First Reconciliation and First Eucharist are celebrated in the second grade. First Reconciliation is usually in December and First Eucharist in May so that families have time to prepare their children for these sacraments. Confirmation is celebrated in eighth grade.
CONFIRMATION PROGRAM... The Confirmation preparation is now two years. Students who have skipped Religious Education and have not attended classes prior to 7th grade will be registered in “Year 1” and will need to remain registered in the 8th grade year, “Year 2” in order to receive the sacrament of Confirmation. Tuition and fees must be paid for each year the student is enrolled. Meeting for Confirmation with be Monday, September 26 at 7 PM in St. Linus Church. A reminder mailing will be sent.
INDIVIDUAL STUDENT REGISTRATION AND MEDICAL FORMS
You will notice that there is a separate registration and medical form for multiple children in the household. We comply with the provisions of the Buckley Amendment for the safety and well-being of your children as well as because of Archdiocesan policy. We MUST have current and accurate information on file in case of an emergency. Medical forms are only good for one year and needs to be filled out on an annual basis.
DEADLINES FOR RETURNING REGISTRATION FORMS AND MONIES
We have set August 31 - as the deadline for returning registration forms and monies. There is a substantial raise in tuition after August 31, 2022 so you are strongly encouraged to register as soon as possible. Keep this parent letter. Return the completed forms either by mail or by
emailing to our email address religioused@stlinusschool.org. You might want to pay online via GiveCentral by CLICKING HERE.
In advance, I thank you for registering early. I am looking forward to another year of faith formation here at Our Lady of Ridge - St. Linus. It is a pleasure and privilege to work with you and your children.
I am very excited in the future of Faith Formation this coming year! We will have additional notices soon. Please register with us as soon as possible so we can schedule classes and provide catechists for each grade level. If you have any questions, please be free to call us at 708-636-4373.
May God provide us with peace and joy all year long!
Dr. Cheryl Antos
Director of Lifelong Faith Formation
Ms. Barbara Zickterman
Coordinator of Religious Education |
