Immaculate High School 2022 State of the School

STATE OF THE SCHOOL January 2022

Table of Contents Table of Contents ........................................................................................... 2 About Immaculate ............................................................................................ 3 School Leadership ........................................................................................... 4 Board of Directors ......................................................................................... 4 Curriculum ............................................................................................................ 5 SAT & ACT Scores .............................................................................................. 7 Advanced Placement (AP) Program .................................................... 8 Celebration Briefs............................................................................................ 9 Sports Celebration Briefs ........................................................................ 10 Arts Celebration Briefs .............................................................................. 11 Service Celebration Briefs......................................................................... 12 Enrollment............................................................................................................. 13 Financial Overview........................................................................................... 14 Advancement......................................................................................................... 15 Alumni Engagement.......................................................................................... 16

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About Immaculate Mission Statement In the Roman Catholic tradition, Immaculate High School fosters the development of the whole student by nurturing individual spiritual, moral, intellectual, physical, and social growth through an academically rigorous college preparatory curriculum that encourages respect, responsibility, reverence, creativity, and leadership.

Overview Immaculate High School, a Diocesan-sponsored Catholic college preparatory school, provides a challenging academic education in a wholesome and disciplined environment. Because Immaculate High School values character formation, moral development, and spiritual direction, religious education is an integral part of the curriculum. Immaculate High School welcomes students from all religious and cultural traditions.

Immaculate is proud to be ranked as an A+ school by NICHE, a national organization that ranks elementary through college schools based on key statistics provided by the U.S. Department of Education and parent/student reviews. With a counselor-student ratio of 1:125 and a teacherstudent ratio of 1:7, our academic program offers a diverse college-preparatory program that includes 30 Advanced Placement, 8 dual enrollment courses, and 3 certification courses, namely nursing, graphics arts, and technology. Outside its academic programs, NICHE ranked the school #16 out of 270 high schools that are “Best for Athletes.”

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School Leadership

Mary Maloney President

The President-Principal model was initiated in 2004 to strengthen meeting the goals and objectives of the school mission. The roles of both positions interface in the area of programs, school policies, and school improvement. In an effort to ensure that annual SMART goals and strategic goals are met, the leadership team meets weekly to provide an opportunity for the principal, assistant principal and staff to collaborate, identify and resolve any matters relating to academics, daily routine, teacher performance and student affairs with the school President. On a daily basis, the President reports to the School Board of Directors and is responsible for managing nonteaching/non-athletic personnel, in particular the Business Office, Admissions Office, Facilities Manager, School Communications Team, Alumni Office and Advancement Office. The school Chaplain Deacon Jeff Font and Board of Director Committee Chairperson, Monsignor Robert E. Weiss, assist the President with ensuring that the school maintains its robust Catholic Identity.

Wendy Neil Principal

Board of Directors

The Immaculate High School Board of Directors was established in July 2021. The Board in prior years was advisory in capacity. Its new fiduciary role and responsibilities have been instrumental in assisting with strengthening the implementation of the strategic plans set forth for the school. The Board consists of volunteer members who are charged with using their professional expertise to assist in the following areas: Spiritual Life, Finance, Development, Alumni, Athletics Enrollment, Facilities, and Technology.

The Board meets monthly with the school administration to review operational procedures, facility planning, and finance as well to create ongoing goals and objectives that are focused on school improvement.

Members of the Board report to the Most Rev. Frank J. Cappiello, who serves as the Member of the Board. The current Executive Officers of the Board include Mr. David J. Cappiello, Chairperson, Mr. Anthony Cirone, Vice Chairperson, Mr. Joseph Draper, Secretary, and Mr. William Johnston, Treasurer. A complete listing and biography of the 2021-22 Board of Directors and the mission of the Board may be found on our school website www.immaculatehs.org.

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David J. Cappiello Chairperson

Anthony Cirone Vice-Chairperson

Curriculum Immaculate High School’s academic program is exclusively College Preparatory. Our courses are designed for students who are preparing to continue their studies post our secondary education.

They are taught with high expectations for depth and comprehension, including independent work.

Honors courses are designed to be rigorous, challenging, fast-paced with an expectation of extensive work outside the classroom. IHS features 45 honors level courses in English, Social Studies, World Language, Mathematics, Science, Business, and Fine Arts.

Immaculate offers an Advanced Placement Program that is administered by the College Board and consists of standardized high school courses that are equivalent to undergraduate college courses. They are designed to prepare the annual average of 140 enrolled students for the rigors of college level work, and they represent the school’s most challenging level of study. Immaculate offers seventeen AP courses in the traditional classroom setting, which include Biology (college level), Calculus AB, Chemistry, Computer Science A, English Language & Composition, English Literature & Composition, French Language & Culture, Government & Politics, Macroeconomics (college level), Physics Part 1 (ECE), Physics Part 2 (college level), Psychology, Spanish Language & Culture, Studio Art: Drawing, Studio Art: 2-D Design, U.S. Government & Politics, U.S. History (college level) and Graphic Arts (college level). Immaculate also collaborates with Virtual High School, allowing the school to offer another twenty-three virtual online AP and college-level courses potentially. All AP classes have prerequisites that must be met for students to participate in the class. *Fairfield University, Quinnipiac, University of Connecticut, and Western Connecticut University sponsor our college level courses.

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SAT & ACT Scores SAT Reasoning Test Scores 2020-2021 Mean Scores

EBRW

MATH

COMBINED TOTAL

561

542

1103

Top 10% SAT Reasoning Test Scores Class of 2021 Average

READING/WRITING

MATH

COMBINED TOTAL

685

688

1373

Three-Year Rolling Average READING/WRITING

MATH

COMBINED TOTAL

574

572

1147

ACT Scores

Four-Year Rolling Average ENGLISH

MATH

READING

SCIENCE

COMPOSITE

22.8

22.3

23.2

22.3

22.7

*All students take the District ACT Test as juniors.

Due to Covid-19 the District ACT was not administered in the Spring of 2020.

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Advanced Placement (AP) Program In May of 2021, 133 Immaculate High School students took 261 AP Exams. 120 exam test takers earned a score of “3” or better. It is important to note that all AP students are required to sit for the AP Exam.

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Total AP Students

142

153

150

132

133

Number of Exams

290

352

299

248

261

76

79

80

97

78

53.5

51.6

53.3

74.0

59.0

AP Students with Scores of 3+ % of Total AP Students with Scores 3+

Historically, 99%-100% of Immaculate High School graduates continue their education.

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Celebration Briefs Academics Students continue to perform above the national average and rank the highest in the Diocese on SAT scores. In the 2021-22 school year, two students William Doran and Zifeng Zhan received the distinguished accomplishment of a perfect 800 score on the Math SAT section. Additionally, perfect ACT scores were achieved by Caitlin Doherty (English), Calista Dudas (Reading and Writing), Kennedi Muller (Reading), and Caroline Tucker (English).

Caroline Tucker, a leading scholar at Immaculate, was recognized by the United States Congress for her qualifying 400 hours of volunteer service for organizations such as the Danbury Children's Leadership Institute that make a difference in the Danbury community. The Congressional Award was established to recognize initiative, service, and achievement in young people and is the highest honor bestowed upon a youth civilian through the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

The St. Thomas Aquinas Chapter National Honor Society and Immaculate High School inducts 37 students for their commitment to the values of scholarship, service, leadership, and character.

William Doran

Zifeng Zhan

Caitlin Doherty

Calista Dudas

Kennedi Muller

Caroline Tucker

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Sports Celebration Briefs

The Bethel/Immaculate Girls Swim Team finished 6th place at the Class M State Championship. Olivia Herbert and Cate Carboni each won their individual races. Further, teammates Carolyn Jandura and Julia Herbert were All-State winners.

Our ATI Football team and coaches received the 2021 CFOA Sportsmanship Award.

The CIAC recognized Kayla Ondy ‘22 and Keelin Bremner ‘23 as Top 25 Cross Country runners to watch for the 2021 season.

Sadie Jarboe ‘23, who earned the 2021-2022 Class S Forward All-State Field Hockey Award from the Connecticut High School Coaches Association.

Boys basketball won the 2021 Christmas Basketball tournament beating Staples in the first round 63-50. The team also beat EO Smith in the Championship game 53-23. Abiel Morales was selected to the All-Tournament team, and JT Gunzy got the MVP of the tournament.

Walter Brady placed 4th out of 99 runners and broke the school record in the Indoor 400m with a time of 53.17!

Seamus Reidy, Kayla Ondy, and Keelin Bremner of the Immaculate Cross Country team with Coach Chris Houser were presented with the 2021 All-State Cross Country Award.

Coach Greg LaCava and the Boy’s Soccer Team were voted by the Western Connecticut Soccer Officials Association as the 2021 season winners of the Robert Stirling Sportsmanship Award.

Class of 2022 soccer player Lauren Manning was named one of GameTimeCT's 25 CIAC girls soccer players.

Immaculate Hall of Fame celebrated inductees Alex Asencio '89, Jonathan Fenaroli '87, Moira (Kenny) Howley '09, Zachary Long '04, Lauren (MacKay) Neeley '05, Anthony Simone '01, Lindsay (Brown) Smith '06, Walter "Dusty" Thompson '71 and the 1995 Girls Champion Soccer Team.

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Arts Celebration Briefs Nicole Kolitsas ‘21 won Best Actress at The Stephen Sondheim Awards and received a $1,000 award from the Jamie Hulley Arts Foundation.

Thomas Fanelli III, a member of the Class of 2023, performed at Carnegie Hall in New York for the Lindeblad School Music Student School Showcase Concert.

Our Inspire Choir went on tour and sang at the Elmwood Senior Center, the City of Danbury’s Veterans Day ceremony, a memorial ceremony led by Tom Saadi ‘88 to the veterans of Beirut and Lebanon, and local parochial schools during the Christmas ‘21 season.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recognize and inspire bold ideas in creative teens each year.

These students have won multiple awards for their works. In the writing category, we have the works of Caitlin Doherty ‘22 and Matthew Reeves ‘22. In the arts category, Julong Williams ‘22 “Dolphin Plane,” Anna Kopec ‘23 “Amber Eyes,” and Caroline Tucker ‘22 “The Funeral.”

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Service Celebration Briefs

Campus Ministry and Key Club collected 789 individual boxes of cereal to donate to Morning Glory and Jericho.

The IHS Key Club donated 65 boxes stuffed with gifts to Samaritan’s Purse. The students were also able to donate $450 to the charity, which helped to cover the costs of shipping the shoe boxes.

Bishop Frank Caggiano celebrated Mass with our Immaculate community and blessed the Prayer Garden created by Patrik Backus ‘22 for his prayer garden Eagle Scout project,

The IHS Cheerleaders, along with coach Lisa Marie Font walked 75 miles to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Ann’s Place.

Key Club Members Diana DiVestea, Carolyn Jandura, Gabby Ortiz, and Oona Tuccinardi assisted the City of Danbury and United Way to distribute over 1,000 boxes of food to local families in need.

In keeping with our Catholic Identity, students were fully engaged virtually and in-person in the areas of sacramental, social, and service. Grade level retreats, daily Mass, and adoration during lunch/study hall periods were highlights of the year. Although Covid-19 restrictions remained in place at organizations, 100 students were presented the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for dedicating over 100 hours of service during the 2020-21 school year.

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To know God is to know the truth.

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Enrollment The school realized a significant decline in the 2020-2021 school year due the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on family income, annual tuition increase and the visa limitations placed on international students from China. Domestic enrollment has increased in the 2021-2022 school year. Based on new student applications, domestic student enrollment is projected to increase again for the 20222023 school year.

2018-2019

2019-2020

2020-2021

2021-2022

Domestic

International

Domestic

International

Domestic

International

Domestic

International

8

27

0

20

0

15

0

8

0

9

113

5

84

9

74

4

97

1

10

103

8

109

10

82

8

82

4

11

108

15

103

10

108

11

86

8

12

110

100

13

97

10

106

11

Total

461

416

42

376

33

378

24

Grand Total

14 42 503

458

409

403

The school has announced a 4% increase in tuition for the 2022-23 school year. Individual student tuition will be $16,750, which includes e-textbooks. Testing fees and other grade specific fees, which average $250, are not included.

Immaculate has been striving to maintain an affordable tuition rate yet addresses the need to close the gap between the cost to educate a student and tuition income. In 2021-2022, the tuition rate is $16,100 and the cost to educate a student is $17,670. Our school advancement programs raise funds to offset the difference between the true cost of a student's education and the actual tuition our families pay.

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Financial Overview In order to maintain a legacy of excellence, the Board of Directors and school administration have made purposeful tactical financial decisions to ensure that quality teachers are retained, program resources and professional development align to implementing a rigorous inclusive college-preparatory curriculum and extracurricular program that cultivates respect, responsibility, and reverence for all students, and to ensure that the safety and health of staff and students is exceptional.

In addition, the school has conducted a review of its facilities and has created a plan to determine how to further provide a learning environment that best supports the continuous growth in innovative programs offered to students. The investment of our current resources and obtaining additional support through grants and our advancement programs are foundational to reaching our short-term and long-term goals to improve the condition of our facilities.

To demonstrate transparency as well as review internal financial management and operations, the school conducts and annual audit with PKF O'Connor Davies, LLP. As reported in our June 30, 2021, the school's net assets total $9,008,823 as compared to net assets of $8,290,735. The increase represents an improved investment portfolio of restricted donor assets as well as a reduction in notes payable for long-term loans since 2012.

The following outline is a 2021-2022 operating budget overview:

Income

Expenses Total

Tuition & Fees - Instructional School Year Tuition - GROSS

Total

Instructional 6,489,100.00

Discounts-Academics

-618,000.00

Discounts-Need Based

-438,000.00

Merit Scholarships Financial Assistance

-113,237.00

Auxiliary Activities

462,340.00

Athletic

547,306.00

Auxiliary

349,100.00

Administrative Fundraising

Other Revenues and Distributions Received Fundraising Events

570,000.00

Funded Scholarships

338,500.00

Restricted Funds

316,000.00

Other Investment Income

37,000.00 16,000.00

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3,149,078.00

2,791,058.00 270,050.00

Financial Overview During the enrollment and budgeting process, the merit scholarship program is reviewed to ensure that the school is recognizing those students who demonstrate exceptional academic performance on the standardized HSPT placement exam. Awards are valued from $6500 per year for four years to $1500 per year for four years. The following is a current 2021-22 report of the merit scholarship awards provided:

Merit Scholarship Awards Students

Amount

Presidential Merit Awards

20

$130,000

Marian Merit Awards

27

$79,000

Mustang Merit Awards

23

$43,500

The Board, school President and Business Manager make every effort to establish an annual tuition that supports the program resources and staffing needed for daily operations. The school recognizes that there are families who would like to have the ability to enroll their student but are challenged financially. A family Income and Tuition Award Scale is reviewed annually. The following is the 2021-22 report of budgeted and donor tuition assistance allocated to families with demonstrated need:

Tuition Assistance Students

Amount

Budgeted Funds

106

$440,000

Donor Funds

78

$363,380

In addition, there are 44 students who qualify for the Federal Free and Reduced lunch programs.

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Advancement Our Advancement team has formalized their giving segmentation and, as a result of the increase in need and giving, has created a strategic plan that aligns with the financial needs of the school.

Social media campaigns and advertising campaigns have contributed to enrollment stability and have assisted with reaching target fundraising goals.

The Marketing, Communications and Enrollment team is committed to supporting advancing Immaculate’s legacy by retaining current students, enrolling diverse, accomplished students, and being recognized as a premiere A+ school in Danbury and surrounding towns. Continuous analysis of the marketplace, industry challenges, consumer behaviors, demographic changes, and effectiveness of the school’s brand are primary in developing our marketing strategies.

Golf Outing

2019

2020

2021

Goal

$35,000

$35,000*

$40,000

Actual

$43,339

$42,608*

$48,000

2019

2020

2021

Goal

$40,000

$50,000

$75,000

Actual

$68,744

$66,086

$88,281

Donors

418

473

576

2019

2020

2021

Goal

$85,000

$85,000

$85,000

Actual

$80,700

$94,294*

$96,238*

2019

2020

2021

Goal

$225,000

$250,000

$225,000

Actual

$246,916

$264,639

129,364*

*Covid-19 restrictions

Day of Giving

Gala

*Covid-19 restrictions - Virtual Event

Immaculate Fund

*(as of 1/31/22) +$5,869 over last year

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Alumni Engagement Our alumni engagement has been increasing year to year. Currently, we have 545 alumni who donate to the school’s programs and events. We began our Mustangs on the Road program in 2018 and we will resume the program to visit alumni in urban areas once it is safe to do so.

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Golf

23

30

47

54

55

42

57

Gala

23

28

47

54

50

89

114

Total

24

58

94

108

105

132

171

­Alumni Giving Trends 2018/19 Total Alumni Giving +27.4% over prior year, largely bolstered through donations to Chapel renovation.

2019/20 Total Alumni Giving -17.7% compared to prior year (+9.7% over 2017/18).

2020/21 Total Alumni Giving -6.5% compared to prior year.

2018/19 Immaculate Fund Alumni Giving +8.6% 2019/20 Immaculate Fund Alumni Giving +16.5% 2020/21 Immaculate Fund Alumni Giving +1.1%

First-Time Alumni Donors 219 first-time alumni donors for 2018/19 138 first-time donors for 2019/20 90 first-time alumni donors for 2020/21

Senior Class 5 for 5 Pledge Class of 2019 - 52 signed on for “5 for 5 Pledge” ($5 donation/year for 5 years) Class of 2020 - 72 signed on for “5 for 5 Pledge” ($5 donation/year for 5 years) Class of 2021 - 37 signed on for “5 for 5 Pledge” ($5 donation/year for 5 years) *Due to the pandemic, reunions did not take place and were canceled or postponed in 2020/21.

In 2021/22, however, there are 6 classes that have hosted reunions or are actively planning their reunion for this year.

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73 Southern Boulevard • Danbury, Connecticut 06810-7994 Telephone 203-744-1510 • Fax 203-744-1275 www.immaculatehs.org