I am writing to you on behalf of my children, and on behalf of my children’s friends and their families. They need your help. WE NEED YOUR HELP. You see, my children attend Holy Spirit Catholic School in Millvale—a truly remarkable school we are all fortunate to have right here in a great neighborhood.
We need your help because the recent economic downturn’s effect reaches beyond just Wall Street, it has reached these children. Despite what the news says, the effects of the recent recession have not ended, at least not for our children. Due to increased operating costs and the inability of many parents to continue to send their children to Holy Spirit, let alone other Catholic Schools, our school is at-risk of being closed.
These children love their school, and they love the ability to attend school every day with one another. We parents thank God every day for the blessing that is Holy Spirit school. While many parents are placing their children on buses to be taken miles and miles away from their neighborhood, our children take short bus rides or walk to school together through the neighborhood in which they are growing up, sharing the experience of what it is to grow up here. They talk together discussing the day’s events, such as who was best at basketball that day in gym or that evening’s homework assignments. They share their lives. They share their school. And they share their community.
The school itself is magical. The care with which Holy Spirit treats our children assures us daily that our children are not only receiving the highest-quality education but also are developing the type of Christian character that prepares them to be influential, active, contributing members of the community. It an extended family type of environment.
We ask for your help for not just ourselves and our children, but also for Millvale itself. Anybody who lives in or has passed through Millvale in recent years has seen the town’s revitalization. Our riverfront park with bike trail, shops, and restaurants are merely the beginnings of establishing Millvale as the small-town within the city. Millvale has been developing its Main Street area with trees, more shops, parks, and a library is on the way. Now more than ever, Millvale needs Holy Spirit School. The children of Millvale deserve the option of a school located within, and fully engaged as a part of, their own community. Allowing this town’s community school to close would strike a heavy blow to this burgeoning community. We have only been given 6 weeks notice to try and recruit families when other schools have been given a years worth of notice. We all know Rome wasn’t built in a day. But we have the guts, the fight and the drive to try to rebuild our community in just a few days. Consider helping us “Keep the Flame Alive”.
Parents of Holy Spirit School
