A Message from the President

Dear East Catholic Family,

Happy new year! I hope you all took time to rest and enjoy the holidays with your families. As we enter into the new calendar year and the second half of the school year, East Catholic remains a busy place!

Last Friday we welcomed coadjutor Archbishop Christopher Coyne to East Catholic. Archbishop Coyne presided over Mass and was able to visit with staff and students as he familiarizes himself with the community. He will officially take over the Archdiocese of Hartford in the spring upon Archbishop Blair’s retirement. We are looking forward to future visits!

Mid-terms exams began this week and will continue into next week, with a review day on Tuesday. Students should take time during the long weekend and the Tuesday review day to ensure they have the understanding needed to champion the upcoming tests. If you have questions before the exams, be sure to connect with your teachers. As a reminder, the school and its offices will be closed on Friday, January 19th for a Faculty and Staff Retreat.

Winter sports are in full swing. Our indoor track & field team competed in the Elm City Coaches Meet last Friday and had numerous athletes qualify for states. On Saturday, the team will participate in the NCCC Invitational in Hartford. Storm Girls Ice Hockey, East Catholic’s co-op team with Glastonbury and South Windsor, reached a milestone on Wednesday, securing their 150th win since becoming a varsity sport in 2012— what an accomplishment! Our boys basketball team heads up to Springfield College on Friday afternoon for the Hoophall Classic to take on Christ the King High School from New York in a sold-out game. Our girls basketball team hopes to bring this season’s record up to 8-1 with a win on Friday night at home against Tolland. Our boys hockey team takes to the ice on Monday in Cromwell against the Wildcats co-op team of Suffield, Granby, and Windsor Locks. Good luck to all competing this weekend!

Our Eagles continue to showcase their talents in a number of ways. At the end of November, five students from our music programs auditioned and were selected for the Connecticut Music Educators Association (CMEA) Music Festival. These students represented East Catholic well in the honor band and honor choir for the Eastern Region. On Saturday, January 6th, they performed in a concert at the Jorgensen Theater at UConn and are now qualified to audition as All-State Musicians. Stage East has begun rehearsals for their production of High Spirits. Performances will be on Friday, March 8th and Saturday, March 9th. Mark your calendars to attend one of the shows. It is always wonderful to see the months of hard work come together on stage! Finally, our student broadcast team continues to impress us with their monthly school news series, The Nest. If you have not seen December’s episode, you can watch it here: The Nest - December 2023: Christmas special (youtube.com)

In planning ahead for next year, our first round of acceptance letters went out for the Class of 2028. We are already seeing future Eagles securing their spots in the freshman class. Our Admissions team is working diligently with families throughout the process. With an influx of new students completing applications and registering for upcoming entrance exams, we are preparing for another round of acceptance letters to go out on February 9th. There is still plenty of time to apply, so please encourage all who are interested to be in touch with us. We are here to assist any prospective students in seeing all that we have to offer on the Hill!

As always, please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.



Peace,

Sean P. Brennan '85

Chief Administrator

Have you seen the Archdiocese of Hartford's Commercial?

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A Visit from Archbishop Coyne

East Catholic welcomed coadjutor Archbishop Coyne on Friday. Archbishop Coyne presided over Mass, concelebrated with Father Jaime and Father Marcin. A reception was hosted by Campus Ministry afterwards, followed by a tour of the school. We, of course, couldn't let him leave without some spirit wear from the Athletic Department!

Book Donations

Brianna Flores and Marissa Patria, President and Vice President of the East Catholic Book Club, delivered a generous gift of books to Saint James School - Manchester, Connecticut. These books are for the children in the aftercare program to enjoy. While they were there, they read two books aloud to a rapt audience!

The club will be making a second book donation to CCMC in the days ahead.

CMEA Eastern Region Honor Music Festival

Students from our music programs were selected by audition to participate in the CMEA Eastern Region Honor Music Festival. Alexis Roach '24, Faith Moran '24, Layne Gordon '27, Marion Patslides '24, and Michael Machewirth '24, rehearsed with the honor band and choir and performed on Saturday, January 6th in the Jorgensen Theatre at UConn. These students are now eligible to audition for All-State band and choir in February. Congratulations to our talented musicians!

High Spirits!

Stage East's Spring Musical 2024 is High Spirits. The cast and crew are working hard on preparing this production for your enjoyment! Performances will take place on Friday, March 8th at 7:00pm and Saturday, March 9th at 1:00pm and 7:00pm. Mark your calendars! We look forward to seeing you in the audience!

Wasabi Fenway Bowl

Over break, the East Catholic football team took a trip to the Wasabi Fenway Bowl in Boston to watch BC vs. SMU.

To add another special element to the trip, Coach Tommy Seaver was nominated for the Fenway Bowl Honor Roll and was invited on to the field to be recognized!

In December 2020, the Wasabi Fenway Bowl launched the Wasabi Fenway Bowl Honor Roll, a charitable program focused on recognizing and thanking educators who have gone above and beyond to support their students and respective communities.

Since then, the program runs on an annual basis and includes a donation to each educator to further support their community, along with a feature on BostonGlobe.com and the opportunity to attend the Wasabi Fenway Bowl.

Since its establishment, the Wasabi Fenway Bowl Honor Roll has awarded 120+ teachers and given more than $100,000 to support education across New England. With over 200 teachers, administrators, and staff nominated each year, the 30 selected educators are just a glimpse of the dedication and care that educators put in each day.

We are so proud to see one of our own recognized for his hard work and dedication to the profession! Congratulations, Mr. Seaver!



To learn more about the Fenway Bowl Honor Roll, check out this link.

Scholarships

Seniors, it is scholarship time and you should be diligently working on applying for scholarships! We have many listed on Naviance, College Board has a scholarship section, you can check on your hometown school's website, and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving has 100's of scholarships available. Please remember that you should never pay for any scholarship services! We have transcript request forms in the school counseling office if you need any additional material to go along with your scholarship application.

Check for scholarships here: student.naviance.com/main

Volunteer with Hartford Hospital

The Department of Volunteer Services at Hartford Hospital is offering an exciting volunteer opportunity for students who may be considering a career in healthcare.

They are looking for students who are driven to help others and would like to learn more about how a hospital functions.

Applicants must:

• Be 14-18 years of age (or will turn 14 by June 24th)
• Be available at least 6 of the 8 week program (June 24th through August 16th)
• Have a minimum GPA of 3.0 (B average)
• Be available for one 8-hour shift per week or two 4-hour shifts per week (between the hours of 8am-4pm) Monday through Friday for a minimum total of 48 hours
• Attend at least one educational session during the summer.

A MANDATORY information session will be held at Hartford Hospital on Monday, February 12, 2024 from 6:00-7:30pm.

Students who are interested in this opportunity should reach out to their school counselor for more information.

Follow this link to see a video from the 2023 Summer Program: Hartford Hospital VolunTeen Program 2023 - YouTube

Collection for Head Start

The East Catholic community came together, once again, for a collection to benefit those in need. Thanks to the generosity of the advisories, members of Campus Ministry were able to bring bags of coats, snowsuits, sweatshirts, hats, mittens/gloves, and boots to be distributed to the young children in the Manchester Head Start program. Many of the children receiving the clothing are coming from previous places that have never seen the cold. Hoping it brings them some extra warmth this winter! Thank you, Eagles, for continuing to show up for others.

Shelter Meals

East Catholic has the next shelter meals scheduled for Wednesday, January 17th at South Park Inn and Tuesday, January 30th at ImmaCare.

Service Hours

Remember that all students are required to complete 10 hours of community service by the Spring. The holidays are a great time to get in your hours, as many organizations could use extra hands to assist in their undertakings for the community.

Although it is the student's own responsibility to search out places to volunteer, Campus Ministry does have some opportunities that are offered right here through our school, as well as a few volunteer activities with local organizations that are happening on a weekly basis. If you are in need of assistance finding an organization to partner with for your hours, please stop by Campus Ministry and they can help get you signed up!

Save the Date: Purse Bingo!

The Parents' Association will be hosting a Designer Purse Bingo on Sunday, January 28th as a fundraiser for Project Grad. Doors open at 2:00pm. Play begins at 3:00pm. Mark your calendars so you can be sure to attend.

As we prepare for it, please consider volunteering to help with the event! We will need volunteers to help with set up and clean up. We are also in need of raffle basket donations.

To sign up to bring donation a raffle basket or to RSVP now, use this link.

If you are able to help in either capacity (or both!), please contact the Project Graduation Committee at ECProjectGraduation@gmail.com.

Penny Wars

Penny Wars are taking place during the Boys Basketball home games! Come ready with your change. All proceeds benefit Project Graduation. We greatly value your support!

Next Meeting

Our next Parents' Association Meeting will be on Monday, February 5th in the first-floor conference room at 6:00PM. All are welcome!

For more information on upcoming events and volunteering opportunities, visit

East Catholic High School - Parents Association (echs.com)



Any questions? Email echsPA@echs.com.

The 2023-2024 School Calendar has been posted to the ECHS website and portal.