Leading with Faith
by Joleen Dimitroff
I am thrilled to announce this year’s Principal and Teacher Award Recipients for the 2026 Catholic Education Dinner!
Distinguished Principal Award – Rachael Rizzo
Rachael Rizzo is an inspiring instructional leader whose faith-centered leadership has strengthened both the academic and spiritual life of her school community. Known for her open-door approach, she leads with empathy, presence, and a deep commitment to Catholic values, fostering a culture of respect, collaboration, and care. Through clear communication, community engagement, and unwavering support for teachers and students, she has helped her school thrive academically and grow as a true school family. Her leadership reflects a joyful and steadfast response to God’s call to serve.
“Making a Difference” Award – Julie Rivera
Julie Rivera has devoted more than two decades to Catholic education, leaving a lasting impact on generations of young learners and their families. As a Kindergarten teacher, she is deeply committed to nurturing the whole child—academically, socially, and spiritually—while also advocating passionately for Catholic education within her parish community. Her leadership in early childhood growth, STREAM initiatives, and school engagement has strengthened enrollment and enriched student experiences. Julie’s steady presence, wisdom, and care continue to make a meaningful difference in the life of her school.
Inclusive Excellence in Catholic Education – Maria McGrath
Maria McGrath is a visionary special education teacher whose work has transformed inclusive education in Catholic secondary schools across New York State. At Cardinal O’Hara High School, she helped create the first inclusive program of its kind in a Catholic high school, serving students with intellectual disabilities with dignity, belonging, and faith at the center. She also launched the school’s Unified Sports program, expanding opportunities for connection and community. Her leadership has been recognized statewide and serves as a powerful model of authentic inclusion rooted in Gospel values.
You’re Invited: Catholic Education Dinner
You are warmly invited to support this year’s Catholic Education Dinner, an evening dedicated to celebrating the mission and impact of our Catholic elementary schools. Rooted in Gospel values, our schools provide strong academics, character formation, and a sense of purpose—preparing children for lives of faith, service, and integrity. This annual gathering is an opportunity for our community to come together to strengthen Catholic education and ensure access for families across Western New York.
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Salvatore’s Hospitality
5:30 PM Cocktails | 6:30 PM Dinner & Program
Tickets, sponsorships, and additional ways to support the event are available at the link below. Your participation truly makes a difference.
Rachel Rizzo, Distinguished Principal
Julie Rivera, Making a Difference
Maria McGrath, Inclusive Excellence
by Stephanie Genco Gasiecki
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.” — Colossians 3:23
Social Studies Committee Meeting – January 22
All social studies teachers (including elementary teachers who teach social studies) are invited to join our next collaborative committee call:
Thursday, January 22, 1:30–2:30 PM
Virtual (Teams) – no registration required - join the call here
We will continue discussions around curriculum priorities, resource needs, and shared planning.
Diocesan Chess Tournament – January 31
Please remember to register students for the Diocesan Chess Tournament, taking place on:
Saturday, January 31, 2026
Cardinal O’Hara High School, 39 O’Hara Drive, Tonawanda
Check-in: 9:00 AM; Tournament begins: 9:30 AM
This event continues to be a highlight for students, emphasizing strategic thinking, focus, and sportsmanship. Thank you for helping ensure strong participation from our schools.
STAR Winter Testing
The STAR Winter Testing Window closes January 23. Thank you for your continued attention to testing best practices and for your engagement in recent conversations with our STAR Champions. Following our last meeting:
District benchmarks will be revised to better support monitoring student growth
Updates will strengthen alignment between intervention, classroom instruction, and progress monitoring
New benchmarks will be set by the last week of January
Teachers can expect communication once those updates are finalized.
Diocesan Spelling Bee - March 21
A reminder that the Diocesan Spelling Bee is approaching. Please be sure to access the Google Drive folder of preparation materials to support student practice, classroom competitions, and school competitions. Registration for this event will follow in February.
Introducing the STREAM Committee
We are excited to officially introduce our STREAM Committee, a team of educators supporting the planning, coordination, and growth of STREAM initiatives across our system.
Committee Members:
Joseph Patti – Our Lady of Victory
Nicole Wagner – NativityMiguel
Vicky Petricca – St. Christopher’s
Jessica Scirto & Sarah Pasceri – DeSales
This group will serve as a collaborative voice for STREAM programming, events, and instructional innovation. We are grateful for their leadership and service.
X-STREAM Games - March 28
Planning is underway for X-STREAM Sustainability: Caring for God’s Creation, our diocesan STREAM showcase event on March 28 at St. Joseph Collegiate Institute. Event details will be shared soon! School and volunteer registration will open at the end of February. Thank you for your patience and enthusiasm!
2026 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge
The 2026 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge, featured at the X-STREAM Games, has been announced: Ball Run Challenge! This hands-on engineering experience invites students to design, test, and refine a system that guides a ball through a custom-built run. Teachers can preview the challenge and begin planning here.
Middle States Self-Study Update
As we continue our Middle States self-study work, we want to emphasize that this process is not about perfection or checking boxes, but about thoughtful reflection and intentional planning for growth. You don’t have to create what doesn’t exist; you do have to take notice of strengths and weaknesses, and have conversations about how they may be addressed in the future.
January goals include:
Completing remaining reflections and narrative responses
Ensuring uploaded evidence clearly reflects current practice
Beginning to identify themes and priorities that will inform future growth plans
Please reach out if you need support, clarification, or a thought partner as you move through this work—we are happy to help!
by Chris Riso
1/14/26 Government Services Update for Board Chairs, Chaplains, Pastors, & Principals
1/15/26 Request Your Personalized Mandated Services Excel Form
1/15/26 Deadline to Apply for Free UB Graduate Courses Starting 1/21/26
1/16/26 NYSDOH Annual School Immunization Survey Due 1/16 (extension)
2/27/26 HS Scholarships for Academic Excellence (SAE) Nominations Due Online (Post)
3/16/26 Last Day to Submit Buffalo Public Schools Textbook & Other Loan Requisitions
NPSE RFI: I continue to work with those schools with Year 10 NPSE claims being audited; please be sure to reach out to me if you are working through an audit. Moving forward, you may want to look over the “NPSE RFI (Request for Information) Checklist” (click here) they are using to review claims. Based on the audits occurring now, please consider the following issues when arranging for NPSE projects you plan to submit for reimbursement:
Invoice submitted as “Proof of Purchase” (not Proposal) shows the school address as the “Delivery Location”. Showing “Purchased By” the school, not the parish, is even better.
Invoices should not include sales tax.
Both sides of a canceled check are submitted for “Proof of Payment.
If not using a canceled check, you may provide “Detailed Credit Card/Bank Statement or Electronic Transfer” information. See the RFI checklist for specifics.
Common errors: forgetting to include the first page which should list the school name; also include any pages showing the purchase details for each invoice.
For Security Personnel costs paid directly by the school to the Security provider, be sure you add the daily start and end times to the Personnel Activity Report (PAR) recommended by NYSED (click here).
Mandated Services for 2024-25: NYSED still has not released the 2024-2025 Mandated Services forms, but the deadline will still be on 4/1/26. To help you prepare for the Mandated Services claim process, I have created an enhanced personalized Excel spreadsheet for each school which was sent to 20 schools over the last seven months. For the remaining 30 schools, if you are ready to begin working on your claim please send me an email to request your personalized “Form 1” Excel spreadsheet, which now includes a tab where you can enter the salary and separate benefits amounts for each person. Verifying the salary and benefits information on Form 1 and collecting official payroll and benefits reports to support those amounts is the most time-consuming part of the Mandated Services process, so please begin this process before the end of January. Additional information will be sent to all schools when the forms and online claims are made available by NYSED on the Business Portal later this month.
Mandated Services, Thoughts on Payroll and Benefits Records: Due to recent NYSED audits you must print out and save official payroll and benefits reports from your payroll and associated companies to support what you are claiming for Mandated Services. I thought some additional recommendations might be in order. For salary, I recommend you print out an official 2024-2025 payroll report from your payroll company, essentially a payroll report that includes payments from 9/1/2024 to 8/31/2025. Ideally, the report would have a “regular” gross pay line for each person’s main educational duties (along with any “Bonus” pay for Christmas and Easter somehow indicated or included) with any stipends or pay for coaching or work in a before or after school program separated out since you can’t claim this pay on Mandated Services. If possible, the payroll report might show at least the employee share of their taxes and maybe even their Healthcare and retirement deductions. Here is what NYSED indicates in their 2023-24 User Guide on Page 12 with regard Payroll Records, along with an example:
“Payroll records for those employees [providing the mandated service] including a breakdown of fringe benefits including sources of data (company names) must be maintained and made accessible upon request.
Payroll company documents are preferred with a logo showing; if payroll is completed in-house, you will be asked to provide signed staff hiring agreements or contracts on school letterhead.
Please redact identifying information from documents.”
As for Benefits, you can claim the employer’s share of the following benefits, to the extent such share is actually paid for the benefit of employees engaged in providing required services: Retirement, Social Security and Medicare Taxes (F.I.C.A.), Workers’ Compensation Insurance, Life Insurance, Unemployment Insurance, Disability Insurance, Health Insurance, and Union Welfare benefits. Hopefully your Business Manager can access official benefits reports from each of the companies to “prove” these were the actual benefits paid to each person. I am not sure if your payroll company report would show the Social Security and Medicare Taxes paid by the school (not the employee) for each employee. Hopefully you can get official documents for Healthcare, retirement (“Who’s Where”), and legacy pension costs by employee.
Safety Equipment (NPSE) and AIS Program Update: NYSED still has not released the NPSE Year 11, NPSE Year 12, AIS Year 8, and AIS Year 9 applications and guidance. Once the updated forms are made available they will be posted on the “Funding Opportunities” webpage. I usually send out an email to schools in January with their current funding amounts and program advice, but I will wait until the new forms and allocations are available before sending anything out.
Substantial Equivalency Update: It seems like the public school districts received an email from NYSED recently explaining a February 1, 2025 deadline for the District to notify NYSED of all nonpublic schools located in their district and to report the Substantial Equivalency Pathway each of those schools has chosen. You do not need to report anything to NYSED but need only respond to your Public School District of Location inquiries regarding your Substantial Equivalency status to enable them to complete the survey. Call me if you have any questions about this process.
HS Only - 2026 Scholarships for Academic Excellence Must Be Submitted Online: The 2026 Scholarships for Academic Excellence (SAE) due date is February 27, 2026. The scholarship nominations will be accepted through SED Monitoring only. For more information regarding the upcoming submission, click here for the program website. Any questions on the SAE, its survey, or submission may be sent to scholar@nysed.gov.
by Nancy DiBerardino
Tuition Assistance for Private Grammar Schools Now Available
The Bison Children Scholarship Fund provides tuition assistance to economically eligible children in grades K-8. New families can apply now for the scholarship for the 2026-27 school year. To start the process, families can complete a quick pre-application form online at www.bisonfund.org. If selected in our lottery drawing, the scholarship can be used at any private grammar school in WNY. The deadline to apply is March 31, 2026. The maximum award is $3,000. For more information, please contact Cindy McDonald at 716-854-0869 or email cmcdonald@bisonfund.org.
Elementary Diploma Order Form
The diploma form is being sent out a little earlier than in the past. Please complete the google form and submit your order as soon as possible. My goal this year is to hand them out at the March Principals' Meeting. The deadline to submit your order is Friday, January 16th. Please click on the link to complete the order form.
Deadline is Approaching: Safe Environment Training for Youth in Catholic Schools
This is a mandatory training that takes place yearly in our Catholic schools. The deadline for this training to be completed and recorded on-line is January 15, 2026. Attached please find a document that explains why this training is done, how to access the resources and how to record on-line that the training has been completed.
Update: Catholic Schools Day at the BPO will take place on Tuesday, February 10, 2026 at Kleinhans Music Hall starting at 10:15 AM. The theme for this year will be Building Harmony. All students, grades 1-4 are invited to attend. Using a variety of musical selections, this youth concert tackles the topics of respect, personal responsibility, cooperation, and community, all through the orchestra. The BPO has a unique platform for this topic: 73 individual voices all working together to create a beautiful sound. This concert also will feature selections from Leonard Bernstein’s famous West Side Story, a musical known for its powerful story about the impacts of intolerance. Click here to register.
Save the Date: Annual Art Show is being hosted this year by Chesterton Academy located at 5331 Genesee Street, Bowmansville, NY from Monday, May 18, 2026 (Set-Up) through Tuesday, May 26, 2026 due to the holiday weekend the school has added an extra day for participants to pick-up their art work. For additional information please contact Barbara Courtney at bcourtney@cabuffalo.org.
Craig Palladino
Christ the King School welcomed Craig Palladino, SRO, at the end of October. The transition to having an SRO (School Resource Officer) daily in our school has been smooth. Mr. Palladino creates a safer environment and fosters trust within CTK. He has developed positive relationships with students, parents, and staff. We are thankful and blessed to have him. Thank you, Mr. Palladino!
1/5-1/23, STAR Testing Window
1/22, 1:30-2:30, Social Studies Committee
1/31, Chess Tournament
2/10, 10:15am, BPO
3/21, Spelling Bee
3/28, X-STREAM Games