Save Blessed Sacrament

To:  Archdiocese of Newark

We, the community of Elizabeth, parents of current and past students, proud alumni, dedicated teachers, and faithful parishioners, are coming together to voice our support for keeping Blessed Sacrament School, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, open. We realize that enrollment is low, and the school may not be profitable in its current state. But the way in which the parents, and the community at large, were informed of the school's closure is not fair. We should have had more than a few weeks notice, and are only asking for that which we deserve: a chance to raise the money needed to keep the school open.

Now, we realize that simply raising money to maintain the school for another year is not a solution to the school's financial troubles. In fact, raising the money is only the first step of our action plan. You see, news of Blessed Sacrament's possible closing has awakened a sense of BSS pride in our community as never before. A vast network of people, from all walks of life and with different ties to the school, stands ready to help in any way we can. Once we raise the money, and buy the school some time, the real work begins.

We will work with the school administration to implement many changes. Several of these proposed changes will be aimed directly at fund-raising. We will bring back many past activities that have since been done away with: such as Bingo Night, Chinese Auction, bake sales and Pizza Day, to name a few. While restarting these past fund-raising activities, we will also create new fund-raising initiatives. Examples include car washes in the Spring, local business sponsorship of sports teams, alumni dinners, and networking events. Through these and other fund-raising initiatives, combined with the tuition, we hope to make the school self-sufficient.

In addition to activities specifically geared towards fund-raising, we will start and/or restart many other activities to promote the overall spirit of the school. We will bring back sports teams for the students, and have several individuals ready and willing to volunteer as coaches for basketball, baseball, soccer, and cheerleading. We will have talent shows, multicultural shows, family game/movie nights, and a yearbook committee. We will create a Parent Teacher's Association to encourage greater parent involvement in the school, and already have many parents interested. We will form an alumni association, to encourage renewed alumni participation in the school. Blessed Sacrament has an extensive alumni network that is largely neglected, and is an enormous, untapped resource. All of this will help to bring people and ideas together to help move the school forward and enhance the student experience.

While the fund-raising activities previously mentioned are very important for the schools short-term sustainability, we believe it is the “school-spirit activities” that will ultimately ensure the long-term success and viability of Blessed Sacrament. The ideas mentioned here are only the beginning. We will immediately begin to encourage collaboration and participation from our community, and the list of ideas will continuously grow. The fact that the school has done away with so many of these activities has certainly had a direct and negative impact on enrollment. But enthusiasm is contagious. And once word of these reforms and our renewed enthusiasm for the school spreads, we are confident that this, too, will directly impact enrollment. As the saying goes, "if you build it, they will come." Once we rebuild Blessed Sacrament to its former greatness, they will come.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Save Blessed Sacrament Petition to Archdiocese of Newark was created by Blessed Sacrament Community and written by Angel E. Milanes, Jr. (angel.milanes.jr@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.