Welcome to
St. Dominic High School
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Welcome to St. Dominic High School
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Campaign Progress
As of July 2008 we have achieved 80% of our goal!
St. Dominic High School’s Multi-Purpose Facility Housing a New Gym and a Performing Arts Center Making Dreams Come True!
We are thrilled, indeed, that groundbreaking will take place on the new multi-purpose facility this fall. Words seem inadequate to thank all those who made the dream possible. Your incredible gifts of time, talent, treasure, and prayer have brought us to this point. To make the dream come true, however, we have some work remaining to be accomplished. 1. We must raise an additional $1,550,000 to fully furnish the facility as designed 2. We must also repay the loan of $2,500,000 How do we plan to accomplish this? We must work together to raise the total funds needed and to retire our debt. We will rely on: 1. Receipt of scheduled pledge payments 2. Additional gifts to the capital campaign 3. Your participation in Annual Giving 4. Special events, such as Cornucopia, the Golf Tournament, and Trivia Night 5. Annual Budget
We pray for the continued generosity of the St. Dominic High School community. We have been blessed over the years by that kindness, and we count on your determination, hard work, and generosity – values which we have come to know. Since this school began, our parents, alumni, and friends have helped in any way they could. For that, we are most grateful. We have been uniquely blessed with a loving and caring community that considers the needs of future generations ahead of personal needs. As you rightly enjoy the accomplishments of the past ten years, we hope you also remember that our work is not yet complete: we must still raise $1.55 million to complete all aspects of our dream, and we must repay the $2.5 million which we have borrowed. Many are familiar with all that has gone into our school’s expansion since 1998. Some of you are new to the St. Dominic family since that time, so you are not aware of the work that has been accomplished. To fill you in or simply to refresh your memory, following is a recap of capital improvements since 1998: 1. 1998 Crusade for the Future-Phase I: Classroom Wing Completed in this phase were a new library, classrooms, additional science labs, an upgraded electrical system to accommodate advances in technology, and renovations to the existing building. Fall, 2000 Ready for occupancy
2. 2002 Crusade for the Future-Phase II: New gymnasium, conversion of existing gym to a performing arts center, and relocation of track (As envisioned when Crusade for the Future began)
The campaign commenced. A loan was requested from the St. Louis Archdiocese to allow for full funding of the projects. 12/2002 SDHS unable to service loan for total project. We did not receive the loan. 3. 2003 Priorities shifted. Phase II continued. Outdoor Sports Complex undertaken Because of a lack of sufficient funds to complete a new gymnasium (which would have been Phase II), priorities shifted to the outdoors and the construction of a project we could afford: an Outdoor Sports Complex/Stadium. (Originally this would have been Phase III.) The concept of a stadium allowed for the relocation of the track around the existing football field and kept outdoor sports in one location. (Relocation of the track was necessary for eventual gym construction.) Permanent bleachers, press box, concessions stand, storage/changing facilities, regulation track and field, artificial turf, and improved parking completed the complex. 10/2004 Dedication of outdoor sports complex
4. 2006 DREAM IT… DO IT! – THE THIRD PHASE OF Crusade for the Future Phase III of Crusade for the Future Capital Campaign funds a new Gymnasium and a Performing Arts Center, and it is the final project of the campaign, envisioned back in 1998. The goal of $8.25 million was built on input for design cost estimates using the design of 2002. An overview of the Phase III timetable follows: 2006 Fundraising commenced 2008 Loan approved 2008 Freise chosen as Construction Manager, LePique & Orne as architect Fall,2008 City permits to be obtained Fall, 2008 Expected groundbreaking Fall, 2009 Anticipated completion of structure (Some unfinished interior elements)
The design of both the gym and the performing arts center evolved over 3-5 years. Over that time, several design concepts were taken into consideration, and input from teachers, coaches, parents, other volunteers, and our Facilities Manager was given. The final design, which houses the gym and the performing arts center under one roof, takes advantage of economies of scale, employing use of a shared lobby, elevator, and restrooms. Finally, the Design Team worked diligently to determine which interior elements could be temporarily unfinished in order to keep costs within a projected “affordable” range, SO THAT CONSTRUCTION COULD BEGIN.
With the ending of the third phase of construction, the Crusade for the Future expansion will be complete. The Crusade for the Future capital campaign, with all its phases, has greatly improved St. Dominic students’ educational experiences. All improvements have allowed SDHS to continue to live out its mission and offer a superior education for growing enrollments. The costs to accomplish this are listed below: · Phase I $4,592,379 raised – Project paid for in cash – NO LOAN (Of the total amount raised,$1.7 million was given by the St. Louis Archdiocese.)
· Phase II $1,436,799 raised – Project paid for in cash and gifts in-kind – NO LOAN
· Phase III $3,652,694 Cash and campaign pledges including $500,000 gift from Archdiocese +2,500,000 Permanent loan which must be REPAID over 16 years + 547,306 Short term borrowing $6,700,000 Projected actual cost/funds available to obtain occupancy permit
To achieve $8.25 million and fully furnish the facility, additional fundraising will be necessary. $8,250,000 Funding required for fully-furnished facility, as designed -6,700,000 Available funds $1,550,000 NEEDED IN ADDITION TO LOAN
Great News! Today, May 9th, Sister Mary received the official letter from Archbishop Burke approving, upon the recommendation of the Property & Finance Committee, our request to borrow money to make our dream come true – to begin construction on the multi-purpose facility/gym and performing arts center! Obviously there is much work to be done before we can break ground, hopefully in the fall – preparations for additional funding, design details, permitting, etc.
This wonderful news was received on the founding day of the School Sisters of Notre Dame congregation by Blessed Theresa and the 175th anniversary of their existence! Yeah! Thank God! You are great!
The Archdiocese of St. Louis made a half-million dollar gift to the Dream It… Do It campaign. Archbishop Raymond Burke presented the gift following a special mass in the St. Dominic gymnasium on March 6. We are very grateful to the Archdiocese for their generous assistance with the campaign, made possible by the Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA).
A huge thank you goes to the many volunteers – students, parents, teachers, coaches, alumni, and friends – who made phone calls recently for the campaign. Through their efforts over a six-day period, we were able to attempt to contact over 5,000 members of the St. Dominic community. This was a difficult but rewarding job. Thank you!
Mrs. Joan Potthast English and Performing Arts teacher, Director of St. Dominic stage productions The following appeared in the program of the 2007 spring musical, The Music Man:
As many of you know, St. Dominic High School has begun a Capital Campaign (Dream it… Do it!), to build a Performing Arts Center and Multi-purpose gym. As you enjoy our show tonight – and you will – please consider how much more comfortable you would be, and how much better you’d be able to see and hear from terraced seating in an air conditioned auditorium designed for proper acoustics and lighting!
Our talented students in the Performing Arts such as you see here tonight deserve so much more than a gym in which to showcase their talents. The stage crew needs a shop; the pit band needs a pit. The light crew needs permanent lighting instead of hanging a pole across the basketball backboard and attaching lights or duct taping a spotlight to the bleachers. The sound technicians need an acoustically designed environment instead of having to lug huge amplifiers around, able to set them up only for the last few rehearsals before opening night, making it extremely difficult to set sound levels.
Instead of makeshift dressing rooms (the girls locker room, the back of room 521) our students could have their own dressing rooms with places to hang costumes, do hair and apply makeup – and even have full length mirrors!
With the help of so many people, we do the best we can under these daunting circumstances. But we could do so much more for our performers and crews, and give them so much more by way of opportunity, in helping them prepare for careers in the many fields of Theater Arts, Music Performance, Education and Technology – careers both onstage and in the rapidly growing fields of light, sound, and technology. Our students would be so much better prepared to enter these fields with a Performing Arts Center in which to learn.
St. Dominic High School has a long and proud history of theatrical and music productions, but in keeping with our growth and for the benefit of our present and future students, we need our own venue. We are one of the very few schools in St. Charles County that does not have such a dedicated venue.
Please consider joining our campaign. Pray. Contribute. Talk to people. Give our performing arts students a venue worthy to showcase the talent you see here tonight!
Thank you for taking these words to heart!! Joan Potthast
Mr. Joe Haug Math teacher, track coach
As I was listening to Mrs. Potthast letting the people at last spring’s Evening of the Arts know how badly we need a Performing Arts Center, I reflected back to my feelings when it was being decided if we should go forward with the new track. People were saying how much better we would be if we had a new facility. My immediate reaction was that we were pretty good with the facility that we had. We have had a ton of kids work really hard and be very successful on that old cinder track. A new track would not make the kids work harder!!! And it hasn’t made them work harder.
But we have become better because of the new facility. We have had more kids come out for track because of the new facility. And the new facility gives us the opportunity to train in all conditions. And the new storage room has been a tremendous addition. Also, we really feel good about ourselves and our facility. The new facility has made a BIG difference for an already successful Track program. And a new Performing Arts Center will do the same thing for an already successful Performing Arts program. It will make a BIG difference!!!
And if nothing else, Mrs. Potthast deserves a top-notch facility. What a wonderful job she has done over her many years here at St. Dominic working under conditions that often were not very good. I have enjoyed many plays over the years and marvel at how she can get the kids to perform so well. I can only imagine what a performance would be like in a sparkling new facility. It would be great! Joe Haug |
The
mission of St. Dominic High School is to offer young men and women a
comprehensive Catholic education rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Following the Dominican tradition of prayer, study, community, and service, we
encourage in our students lifelong growth in faith, knowledge, leadership, and
involvement.