Everest Academy Lemont Blog

Principal's Message

• Check in: Please check in at the front desk to obtain visitors pass when coming into volunteer and attend meetings.
• Observations: If you wish to observe your child in class, please be certain to make these arrangements with the teacher in advance. Periodic observations are permitted if they fulfill a required purpose; yet, they are not encouraged on a frequent basis due to the change of the class dynamic these bring about, as well as the need to maintain the confidentiality due to all the students in the class. This applies during class time as well as with after school programs. Some after school programs such as the martial arts class and dance programs have been pre-designated as open for observation and these are exceptions.  There are cases where parents have signed up to assist and volunteer in the class which has also been foreseen with the instructor/teacher.
• Meetings: Our teachers always look forward to meeting with you. If you wish to meet, please arrange a meeting in advance with the teacher or with the assistance of Mrs. Klimowski. This allows the teacher to be well-prepared to work with you. It is challenging for teachers to appropriately address parents during instructional time with a class in session and when their attentions need to be on the children. As a faculty and staff we want to work with all of our parents and guests, and we believe we can provide better service and attention to each person when we are able to prepare for meetings and plan for observations.

We are very grateful for our parent involvement and encourage you to participate and communicate with us on an ongoing basis. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Dear Everest Academy Parents and Friends,

Congratulations on the completion of week one of the new school year. We are thankful for the wonderful activities that have begun our new school year at Everest Academy thanks to your generosity: Meet and Greet, New Moms' Coffee, Parent Orientation, and the Band Experience meeting. Thank you for your participation.

We are very pleased with the progress of all of our students. Each one has made a special effort to begin the school year on the right course.  Our new students seem to have easily adapted to the school community and are making great new friends. We do know however adjustments to homework and routines will take more time. Know that we as a team are available to assist at anytime.

With that said, I must acknowledge our faculty and staff for all of their hard work and efforts to receive our students. Many faculty members were here throughout the summer preparing for their class. Our administration has been continually working to improve our service and educational product to ensure the best quality education for your child (ren). I am very grateful for our staff and faculty members and trust in their competence and generosity.

This is another important year of growth and development in the success of Everest Academy as we move forward in our mission to assist in the development of Christian leaders. To accomplish this, we provide an integral formation through personalized attention, motivated by love and respect for each of our students. 

A key factor in the success of Everest Academy is the help and support we have from our parents and for which we are so appreciative. We ask that you please consider taking part in some aspect of the school life which is always a wonderful way to get to know other families and to build new friendships. Most of all, it will allow you to experience our fine students. Next to having Christ present in the Eucharist here on campus, our students are one of the greatest gifts we have at Everest Academy.  

We are in most need of team leaders to spearhead the various committees. To head up a committee may appear somewhat daunting; however, please know that we strive to keep things simple and manageable.  You will have the help and support you need to accomplish your task. Team leaders have the benefit of working closely with our Parents Association, many of whom are "experts" since they have offered their support with various school activities. Thank you for giving of your time and talent which will allow us to fulfill our goals.

I look forward to working with you and your child(ren). We are interested in getting to know you better. Our desire is to learn how we can specifically serve your family and where together we can work in the best interest of your child’s education and in the ongoing development of our school community. You are co-founding families of Everest Academy, building a school of excellence for your children and future generations.

Please feel free to contact me at anytime. Thank you for allowing us to work in partnership with you, entrusting your child’s care and education to us. We keep all of our families and benefactors in our daily prayers and we as faculty and staff count on your prayers as well.

God bless you,

Sincerely in Christ,

Your families are in my daily prayers.


God bless you,


Sincerely in Christ,

Christine Gamache

Dear Everest Academy Parents and Friends, 

The  progress  reports  indicate  a  fine  start  for  our  students.  We  thank  you  for  your patience as the beginning of a new school year, the preparations, a primarily new staff and  faculty,  various  new  operational  approaches  do  bring  along  with  it  certain challenges  and  adjustments  for  all  involved. It  has  been  over  a  month that  our  team has  worked  together.  This  time  affirms  for  me  great  appreciation  and  confidence  in each  one  of  our  faculty  and  staff  members  in  providing  our  students  the  Integral Formation® we are striving for. I am very pleased with their generosity and dedication to do their upmost for our students. 

Thank you all very much for your participation and reenrollment. We are very pleased to say that the majority of our families are returning. Knowing that you will be back next year has been of great encouragement and is a confirmation of our unity and resolve to provide the best possible for our children. Thank you!

I would like to leave you with words from an audience of Pope Benedict XVI. "Because of our weakness it is difficult to be silent and sit before God. . . For this reason, during Lent, the Church invites us to be more faithful and intense in our prayer and to meditate at length on the word of God." It is hard at times to be in silence for five minutes anywhere. There are many demands and always something to attend to, as well as often noises all around us -- even if they are pleasant. Jesus in the Gospel calls us to go and pray in secret in our rooms so we can be in silence and hear what God has to say to us. As our Holy Father reminds us "Prayer is, in its depth, a relationship with God. A relationship does not imply talking at every second of contact. A relationship does imply sharing, listening, conversing."


Hopefully, in the remainder of this Lenten season, we can take extra moments to pray. No cell phone, no Blackberry, no iPod, no email, and no Facebook -- just time in silence with God, to hear what He is telling us. Count on our prayers for you and your families. We are in the middle of the grace-filled season of Lent. At Everest we urge our students to go beyond giving up candy to making a Lenten program of resolutions to do good to others and to overcome some habit that gets in the way of giving their best. Some of the resolutions have been impressive and show the depth and seriousness of our children’s faith. A few are as follows: help my mother daily with my brothers and sisters and not put me first; take time to pray to God each morning for my family and all those in need; do my very best to be a positive example to my classmates; offer a daily sacrifice for our priests. . . All these fine resolutions lead us to conversion by leaving behind an old way of living and beginning to act in a better way in order to embrace new life in Christ. Our children are leading the way in taking these steps to conversion.

Dear Families and Friends of Everest Academy, 

On behalf of the administration and staff Happy New Year and Welcome Back! I hope that everyone had an enjoyable and refreshing Christmas break and a wonderful time with loved ones. May we begin to live this
New Year ever grateful for all that we have received and looking forward to all we have been called to do in bringing others closer to Christ in this year.  Thank you for all the lovely gifts and treats that were showered on staff and faculty for Christmas. This was all very kind and generous of you. 

I must begin by welcoming our new parents and students to Everest Academy. We are so very pleased to have them join us. What a blessing this is. I invite us all to extend our welcome and support in assisting our
new families to become part of the Everest community. 


Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Strazalka, Mr. and Mrs. Krzysiak, Mr. and Mrs. Stolte, Mr. and Mrs. Wiggins, Mr. and Mrs. Lodato, and Mr. and Mrs. Baker for choosing Everest Academy for their family. We also thank Mr. and Mrs. Lobby, Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez, and Mr. and Mrs. Dalton for their ongoing confidence and support by enrolling new members of their families in Everest. 

We are right in the half-time of the school year and at the start of a new semester. It is important to approach
this time of year with a sense of renewal as we seek to live the present carrying out the second half of the school year yet at the same time to begin preparing for next year. In the next months we have many exciting
activities and events for which to prepare . This week is Vocations Awareness Week. Although our Vocations activities will be included in Catholic Schools Week we ask that you especially pray for our Priests, Consecrated members all those that are discerning and preparing for the Religious and consecrated life. God calls young men and women to married life, the single life, Religious or Consecrated life, all states of life which are meant to glorify and serve God. Let us pray that our children and youth are generously disposed to the will of God in their lives which will ultimately bring them the most happiness in their lifetime.

We will be hosting the Vicariate I Principal’s Meeting here at Everest Academy on January 20th. This
meeting is intended to serve Catholic schools and families in our area, as well as to continue to build our
relationship with our Catholic schools in the diocese. It is a good opportunity to share our service and
hospitality, share what we have ,with our colleagues from our Catholic schools. 

As you know we will also be hosting the Lemont Arts Alive Artistic Expressions Show in February. Our hope is that many of our own students will enter the competition. The information on this event has gone out various times in the past three months. Please encourage your child(ren) to take part in this wonderful opportunity. All projects are to be completed at home; however, they can be brought in for assistance during Art Class. All submissions are due January 19.  We also encourage the ongoing work that is taking place on the Science Projects. The Science Fair will take place during Catholic Schools Week. More details will be announced. 

This year let‟s go the extra mile in supporting Everest Knights Basketball Team. The Knights are one of our main athletics teams. So far the Knights have 3 wins and no losses! Great work Knights! We are very pleased that we will have home games as well as the opportunity to host other games for teams in our league. Please plan to come out and join us for our games and cheer on our Everest Knights! Thank you to Dr. Diamond our Knights coach. 

This semester we intend to offer various Afterschool Activities. There is a possibility for another chess club, drama club, Lego club as well as Polish classes.  Challenge and ConQuest clubs are also open to all who have not yet discovered the fun and formation right here at Everest on Friday evenings. Our clubs and activities are excellent vehicles to see the talents of our students. We invite all of our community to visit and to see the hard work and effort our students put into these activities and events.

Catholic Schools Week begins at the end of January and “A+ for America”  is this year‟s theme. Our events during the week will express appreciation for those that make Catholic Schools happen: our parents, students, teachers, Religious and Consecrated members. We will be sending out the agenda for the week and invite you to drop by anytime and to join in on any of the festivities that week.

 We will hold an Open House from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on January 30th.  This is  one of the most important dates on our calendar this month. We need our parents, students, staff and faculty to promote, support and attend this open house. Please seek to invite as many friends and families as possible; spread the word through your networks, businesses, and work.  Think of places where you  could place flyers and promo cards. Let‟s do our best to share the Everest Advantage with others. We hope to have a full house and to make this our most successful open house to date!

We at Everest are grateful to each one of our Everest Families-thank you!  You have all done so much to support the work at school as well as to help us progress. We are truly blessed with the finest families we could hope for! We encourage you to please continue to participate in your child's integral formation, and their school experience by becoming involved in one of our parent committees that positively impact our students on a daily basis. Do resolve to get involved in this New Year! We need you to help Everest Academy become all that it is intended to become in order to best serve our children and our families.

The partnership between home and school has never been as important as it is now. The faculty and staff of
Everest Academy look forward to our continued teamwork with you to make our students‟ educational experience formative, challenging, Christ-centered, personal and rewarding.

We wish you and our students a very Happy and blessed New Year.  May the peace of Christ, good health and happiness be yours in the coming year. 

Sincerely in Christ, 
Christine Gamache 
Interim Principal  

  
Principal’s Message

Dear Families, Faculty, Staff and Friends of Everest Academy, 

We have entered into the peaceful season of Advent, waiting and preparing in anticipation for the coming of Christ this Christmas. What a grace filled season.  We are at the same time already at the close of the second quarter withhalf of our school year behind us.  In the upcoming months we will focus to ensure we are completing our program ostudies, aiming for the best overall integral formation, and continuing to develop our school. In doing so there are specific areas I would like to bring to your attention for your consideration at this time: 

Parent Satisfaction: At the top of our priorities for the future of Everest Academy is to ensure the satisfaction of our own families and the progress and the success of our students. In doing so I invite each one of our families to meet with me as well as Father Andre LaSana LC at the beginning of the New Year; we wish to discuss with you your insights and how we may better serve you and your family.  We will be contacting you to arrange meeting times. We will also be sending out our Parent Satisfaction Survey in the near future. 

New Phone System:  A new phone system has been installed that will allow us contact to each classroom as well a to have an intercom system. This is a real asset and benefit to the school, enhancing our safety and communication features. We thank Dr. Akroush, Mr. Yep and Mr. Stone for the instillation of the system. 

Strategic Planning:  In addition, with  the strategic planning that has begun, we are seeking to form committees to serve  and to  support our school: Development, Curriculum and Resources, Marketing, Finance; Facilities and Maintenance; Despite being in operation for some years, we know at Everest we are still very much in foundation. This is an exciting prospect as we are cofounders in the building of our school. The strength and success of our chool depends on our parent commitment and involvement both in the teamwork with you in your child’s education as well as in taking an active role on one of our committees.   We thank you for being a part of this beautiful work of God. 

Enrollment: I cannot forgo mentioning that we are at the most important time in the cycle of enrollment. In order to plan for next school year, develop our budget as well as to hire more faculty members, we count on re-enrollment and we hope to increase in new enrollments. We know we have a precious gift to share with others and we truly hope you will please invite new families to join us our Everest family and community to benefit from the education, love and care offered our students. Please take advantage of the Referral bonus program  offered  and considerinviting new families to come by to experience the Everest Advantage.

Annual Fund Campaign:  Equally as important is our Annual Fund Campaign. This is a main fundraiser in which we seek to gain 100% participation from our whole Everest community; No contribution is too large or too small and we sincerely thank you for your generosity.  

The Everest Academy Gala:  The best fundraiser of all is  the Gala as it is a  time to really enjoy one another’s company and to showcase our school! What makes it even better is that we have extremely dedicated and dynamic committee members working to make this the event you do not want to miss. Please see our committee members for your family Gala package. The Everest Academy Gala, with your help and enthusiasm,  could well be the Lemont Event of the year! 

We are thankful for our new members to our team as we begin our third quarter: Miss. Stephanie DeRoche and Mrs. Elise Pratt, both known to our school community as co-founders are now here to see us to a new level of school life. Please join us in welcoming and supporting them as they begin their new positions. We wish the very best to Mrs. Duval and Mrs. Lemming both of which we will continue to see. 

I hope you enjoy this blessed Advent season as a time greater reflection and prayer with some  pre celebration time at the Everest Academy Christmas Party hosted by the Colarelli family.  I look foreward to seeing you at the  long awaited Nativity presentation: Following a Star. Please invite friends and family.  God bless you and thank you for all.

I thank God everyday for each one of our families and I am so grateful for all you do for the good of your children and your family. 

Sincerely in Christ, 
Christine Gamache