A Letter From Our President/Principal, Dr. Jeffrey Budz

Dear JCA Community,

It is with great excitement that I welcome you to another school year!   We welcome the Class of 2026, and we celebrate All of our students as we again have a strong enrollment hovering at 600 students.   It seems like our summers fly by faster and faster each year, but I hope that you have had time to enjoy life with your families and get that much needed summer rest before we begin this new year. 

As we set our sights on the events surrounding our new school year, we are reminded of the groundwork laid before us by the Carmelites and Franciscans and the  important Mission we adhere to as we lay new groundwork for future generations of Angels and Hilltoppers. 

Inspiring Growth in Knowledge and Faith, since 1869, the Joliet Catholic Academy family creates an environment that cultivates opportunities for academic excellence, meaningful service, Christian respect, and Catholic values in the traditions of the Carmelites and Franciscans. 

I would like to give you a sneak peek at some of the happenings on campus.  We are very excited about a couple of renovations happening in our Science Department and our Cafeteria.   Thanks to our last two Jubilate fundraisers (Call for Cash) the Chemistry Lab and our Cafeteria are getting much needed face lifts.   The Chemistry Lab should be completed in the next couple of weeks and the Cafeteria will be an ongoing renovation throughout the first semester.  We know that these two areas will add to our overall campus appeal.   Next, we are in the very early stages of planning our next Capital Campaign, which will address the fields and property on the east side of campus.  We are always trying to improve and create the best environment possible for our students!

Also exciting for our community is the fact that we are in a Strategic Planning year.   This is the last year of our current plan- Onward Together– and we will be preparing for the next map for success for Joliet Catholic Academy.  When creating this document, we include many people from all walks of JCA life, including our students, faculty and staff, parents, Alumni, Board of Directors, and community members.  Hopefully, we can create our road map together!   

As we look at happenings in the classroom…last year, we were evaluated by the National Accreditation Corporation Cognia, which gave us glowing marks and have approved our accreditation for the next 5 years (along with our ISBE accreditation).  We will be using their report, which did have some minor suggestions for improvement, to guide us as we create a School Improvement Plan, along with our Master Strategic Plan.  Finally, we will also soon learn from Microsoft if we have achieved recognition status as a Microsoft Showcase School.  Our teachers are second to none!

Needless to say, we have a lot of wonderful things happening on campus.  Our prayers are for you and your family and for a successful 2022/ 2023 school year.  We cherish our community… we cherish our Alumni…we cherish our students…we cherish our faculty and staff…we cherish our JCA FAMILY!  

 

Blessings always,

 

 

 

 

Dr. Jeffrey Budz

President / Principal

 

 


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