Leading with Faith
June 10, 2025
by Chris Riso
ASAP Diocesan & Regional School Finance Reports due to Fr. Steve
6/13/25 Complete 2025-26 Professional Development Plan (Recommended)
6/13/25 Complete 12 Required Drills; Four must be Lockdown Drills
TBA NYSED Nonpublic Safety Equipment (NPSE) Claims Due
TBA NYSED Elementary School AIS Claims Due
8/1/25 NYSED MST/STEM Grant & AMTS Art/Music Grant Submission Deadline
End of Year Checklist for Government Programs:
Order Hardware, Software and Library Materials from the District of Location to use up any remaining funds.
Eight required Fire Drills and four required Lockdown Drills have been completed.
Complete a written 2025-2026 Professional Development Plan based on identified student concerns and faculty/school needs.
Arrange for Title I, Title IIa, Title III, and Title IVa consultation with the public school district of school location prior to signing the “Written Affirmation of LEA Consultation” form in August. You will need to consult with other districts for Title I funding and services, only, based on qualified 2023-2024 free/reduced or similar poverty lunch counts.
Based on your Professional Development Plan for 2025-2026, start to think about where you will “keep” your Title IIa funds: with the School District of location, Erie 1 BOCES, NYSCIRS, or any combination of those three options.
2024-2025 Mandated Services Folder – Payroll Report, Benefits Reports, Receipts (BOCES; Scoring Workshop Fees; calculator purchases), Test Scorer Training Agendas & Sign in Sheets, Test Rosters with status clearly identified (Completed vs. Opt-outs; Exempt Students), copy of your Comprehensive Attendance Policy, copy of your Documentation of Integration of Required Instruction in 7th and 8th Grade (DIRI-Mandate 9), copy of school calendar showing student days in attendance and teacher days worked (after removing snow days).
Request and complete your School-specific Mandated Services Excel spreadsheet in July or August (update the “days in the year”; enter a “1” for each staff member participating on Mandates; update to actual payroll and benefits totals, not estimates).
School Safety Plan – If not updated recently, set up June or summer meetings to update or convert your emergency plan to a “School Safety Plan” before school begins next fall.
Review NYS Teacher Certification Status of your teachers.
Textbook Ordering – follow district or BOCES procedures and meet deadlines.
NYSED Nonpublic Safety Equipment (NPSE) Claims due date TBA.
NYSED Elementary AIS Reimbursement Request due date TBA.
NYSED MST Teacher Reimbursement Request is due 8/1/25 (when available).
NYSED AMTS Teacher Reimbursement Request is due 8/1/25 (when available).
Principals should consider attending the NYS Catholic Schools “Principals Institute” taking place in Syracuse from 8/12/25-8/13/25. See email from 5/13/25.
NYSED SEDREF Summer Update Due 7/11/25: The annual State Education Department Reference Application (SEDREF) Summer Update (School Administrators Listing) was posted to the Information and Reporting Services Portal (IRSP) on the New York State Education Business Application Portal (NYSED Portal) on May 29th. Catholic Schools should download their listings from the IRSP for review and update by the July 11th deadline. If you have questions, please contact the Office of Information and Reporting Services at Datasupport. Here is how to access your file and return it to NYSED:
Go to the NYSED Business Portal and click on the Information and Reporting Services Portal (IRSP) application.
You will be presented with the IRSP “Available Files from SED” Announcements page. This page will provide information regarding available files and download links for specific files/reports. In addition, you will also have access to the upload utility where files can be uploaded.
Find the title of the file you wish to download and click on it. The last item on your list should be “2025 Summer SEDREF Update - Nonpublic Schools” - this is the file you should download using the ⬇️ icon.
If your system has a default Download location set up on your computer, the file may automatically download to that location. If you do NOT have a default location set up, you should see a window asking you to “Browse/choose a location” to download the file (if so, choose a desired location on your local machine or network).
Once the file download is complete, view the downloaded file by navigating to the location chosen by you on your local machine or network.
Review the downloaded document and update it if needed. Incorrect information should be lined out and the correct information written immediately to the right. If no changes were made, please indicate “No Changes” on the document.
You have four options for returning the completed document (even if no changes were made) by the 7/11/25 deadline:
Upload back to the IRSP
Scan and return to datasupport@nysed.gov with the subject as “SEDREF Summer Update”
Fax to 518-474-4351
Mail to NYS Education Department, Information and Reporting Services, Rm. 860 EBA, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234
Finance Reports Due to Fr. Steve: Fr. Steve asked for your 2025-26 school budget, a current income statement, and a current balance sheet two weeks ago. Please send those three documents in if you have not already done so.
Free National Park Passes for 4th Graders: “The National Park Service sponsors the Every Kid Outdoors program, which provides fourth grade students and their families with free access to America’s natural wonders and historic sites. Every Kid Outdoors was created so fourth graders and their families could discover America’s wildlife, resources, and history for free! All of America’s fourth-grade students are eligible for a free pass regardless of where they attend school, including all those who attend nonpublic schools. Fourth grade students and their families get free access to hundreds of parks, lands, and waters for an entire year. For current fourth grade students and those finishing fourth grade during the 2024-25 school year, the passes are valid until August 31, 2025.
Parents: Visit the Get Your Pass page, select “Fourth Graders” and follow the prompts to receive your FREE pass! Consider asking your child to assist as the activity prompts are geared toward their interests.
Educators: Visit the Get Your Pass page, select “Educators” and follow the prompts to receive FREE passes for your entire class! Once you have the passes, download an activity or plan a life-changing field trip for your fourth grade students.”
by Julie Gajewski
Academic Excellence: End of Year Update
As the school year winds down, we extend our sincere gratitude for your unwavering commitment to Catholic education, your students, and your school communities. We wish each of you a joyful and fulfilling end to the academic year.
Middle States Accreditation
A quick reminder to all principals and MSA Site Coordinators to continue data collection for the following Standards: Foundations, Student Enrichment-Student Well-Being, and Academic Excellence-Teaching and Learning.
Before the school year ends, please complete the following:
Update your MSA School Level Planning Team using the google form: "School Name Foundations Standard for Accreditation" which can be found in your Foundations folder.
Team members should include: Principal, Assistant Principal (if applicable), Pastor or School Chaplain, HSA member, School Board member, Student Leader (when applicable), Teacher, and Business Manager.
Meet with your MSA School Level Planning team to review the foundation documents. A sample agenda is available in the new folder titled "MSA School Level Planning Team."
Science Implementation for 2025-2026
Here's an overview of our science plans for the upcoming school year:
Grades K-5: All schools will utilize Mystery Science, and will be invoiced $499.
Stephanie is developing a professional development plan for Mystery Science and will create a Google Classroom to support continuous learning for both teachers and administrators.
Regents Biology or Earth and Space Courses: Schools offering these courses will select one of the following resources for next year:
Kognity
Open SciEd
Woz Ed
New Visions
Amplify
Science Kit Pilot: Schools will begin piloting science kits at various grade levels. Options include:
Monroe BOCES 4 Science kits
Woz Ed kits
Open SciEd kits
Create your own kits
Please submit your school's science plan to Julie by June 30th. I'm available to meet with school or school community teams to help facilitate this process. Feel free to email me at jgajewski@buffalodiocese.org or call me at (716) 847-5517 for assistance.
Weekly Virtual Principal Meetings
Meeting Details:
Day and Time: Wednesdays, 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM
Platform: Microsoft Teams (link sent by Laurie)
Next Meeting: June 11- MSA school level teams and meetings, science school plans, curriculum committee recruitment
by Laurie Wojtaszczyk
eSchool
If your school has any students that will not be advancing to the next grade, either through retention or extra advancement, please notify me ASAP so I can update the records for eSchool. Grade advancement will happen between July 7-18 (our date has not been set yet).
STAR
Our next STAR Champion meeting needed to be rescheduled from Wed. 6/11 to Wed. 6/18. Still at Noon. Sorry for the last minute change but we want to have the best information available for you at this meeting.
by Mary Jo Aiken
Almost There, Fearless Leaders! (And Maybe Slightly Sleep-Deprived Ones)
Ah, principals. Those magnificent, multi-tasking marvels who navigate the daily delightful chaos of elementary school with the grace of a caffeinated swan and the wisdom of someone who's seen it all (probably twice). As the school year's finish line shimmers in the distance like a mirage made of summer vacation dreams, we just wanted to send a collective cheer – and maybe a giant cup of coffee – your way.
We know, we know. The end-of-year whirlwind is upon us. It's a glorious, slightly frantic ballet of field trips, permission slips that somehow multiply in the dark, award ceremonies that require the organizational skills of a five-star general, and enough farewell parties to rival a small country's diplomatic calendar.
You're probably fielding questions like:
"But why can't we have ice cream for breakfast every day?" (A question that, let's be honest, even you've pondered.)
"Where is the missing class hamster? (Spoiler alert: check under Mrs. Higgins' prize-winning ficus.)"
"Can I wear my pajamas to the last day of school? (The answer is probably a polite but firm 'no,' even though a part of you deeply understands.)"
Your inbox is likely overflowing with emails that require the decoding skills of a seasoned cryptographer. Your walkie-talkie is probably buzzing with the urgency usually reserved for national emergencies (a rogue balloon in the cafeteria is serious business, people!). And the sheer volume of tiny humans with boundless energy might be making your own internal battery feel like it's running on fumes.
But hang in there, oh brave leaders! You are the superheroes of the school hallways, the calm in the crayon-colored storm. Remember those wide-eyed faces on the first day? You helped nurture their curiosity, fostered their growth, and somehow managed to keep them from turning the classroom into a giant slime factory (most of the time).
Think of the small victories: the student who finally grasped a tricky concept, the shy child who found their voice in the school play, the heartwarming moment when the whole school sang "Happy Birthday" just a little off-key. These are the moments that make the mountain of paperwork and the endless parade of lost lunchboxes worthwhile.
Soon, the halls will be quiet. The copy machine will get a well-deserved rest. You'll be able to find your favorite mug without it being mysteriously sticky. And the only announcements you'll be making will be to your own family about what's for dinner.
So, take a deep breath. Channel your inner zen master (the one who can simultaneously mediate a playground dispute and approve a budget proposal). You've navigated another incredible year with grace, humor, and an unwavering dedication to our students.
The finish line is in sight. Keep your eyes on the prize (which might be a long nap or just the sweet, sweet sound of silence). We appreciate you more than words can say. You've got this! And when you finally cross that finish line, feel free to do a little victory dance. You've earned it!
Have a safe and blessed week!
by Stephanie Genco Gasiecki
STREAM Year-in-Review: What Worked, What Surprised Us, and What’s Next
As the school year winds down, it's a great time to pause and reflect on all that’s happened in STREAM across our Catholic schools. Whether you launched a new initiative, tried a hands-on project for the first time, or made space for more cross-curricular exploration, your efforts made a difference in the learning of our students!
This is a great opportunity to ask: What worked well this year? What surprised you? And what would you love to try next?
These questions aren’t just about improvement—they’re about celebration and vision. Every classroom moment where a student was excited about the world around them, challenged their thinking, or was inspired to make a real-world connection counts as STREAM success.
As you reflect, consider jotting down:
One STREAM success you're proud of from this year
One challenge you faced or are still thinking through
One goal you’d like to set for STREAM next year
This could be done individually or as a faculty conversation before the year ends. Think about:
How has STREAM shaped student engagement?
What’s your school’s unique STREAM “personality”?
What support do you need to take the next step in your STREAM learning?
How can we continue to connect STREAM more deeply with our Catholic identity?
We’d love to hear from you! Feel free to email your reflections, thoughts, or even questions to Stephanie at stream@wnycatholicschools.org. Your insights help shape the direction of STREAM in our diocese and will be used to strengthen our support and resources going forward.
📅 Save the Date! All teachers are invited and encouraged to attend our STREAM Professional Development Day on Tuesday, August 20. Details will be shared soon, but please mark your calendars now for this exciting opportunity to gather, learn, and collaborate as we kick off another year of innovation and faith-filled learning.
