Cascia Hall Preparatory School | Caritas Connection

Our Academic Culture

Cascia Hall is a Catholic, Augustinian college-preparatory school educating students in grades 6-12. We offer an extensive catalog of courses for every type of student, including world language, Advanced Placement, and fine & performing arts. We strive to help each student grow as a whole individual in an attitude of Truth, Unity and Love.

Clubs, Activities, and Campus Ministry

At Cascia Hall we have a club or organization for every kind of student. Whether you are interested in debate, robotics or the performing arts, there is a group for you. We strive to make sure each student's experience at Cascia Hall includes challenging academics combined with electives and clubs that nurture their talents and interests.

Giving

Annual giving from our generous families, alumni, faculty, staff, grandparents, and friends supports our operating budget. These efforts include the Annual Fund Drive, the Alumni Association’s Rex E. Walker Scholarship Fund, Christmas Walk, and Celebrate Cascia. The overall net goal for annual giving projects for the 2022-23 fiscal year is $435,000.

Caritas Connection Overview

Caritas Connection experiences will be approved and assessed based primarily on their quality, not on the quantity of time spent on them. Generally, experiences should take place at/for established non-profit agencies; exceptions to this rule must be proposed by students and approved by Caritas Ministers in advance. To promote immediate reflection, each experience will require a short reflection on the Helper Helper app (e.g., What did you do? How did it go?).

The Helper Helper website and app will be used both (1) for Campus Ministry to promote Caritas opportunities and (2) for students to record and submit their Caritas Connection experiences. The web login and links for app downloading can be found here. Once Cascia has its school information for the service, it will be available here in this Doc.

Caritas Connection will appear as a pass/fail course on myCascia each semester. Each class will have a Campus Minister as the teacher of this course. This person will be that class’s dedicated Caritas Minister for all four years of Upper School.

Class of 2023: Mrs. Bonnie Leighty
Class of 2024: Mr. Adam Stoermer
Class of 2025: Mrs. Bonnie Leighty, Dcn. Michael Loeffler and Mr. Adam Stoermer
Class of 2026: Dcn. Michael Loeffler

Each required experience will appear as an assignment on myCascia for consistent, transparent, easy access. Experiences beyond those required will be entered as extra-credit assignments for tracking purposes. Summer experiences will count for the following fall semester. Christmas break and Minimeter experiences will count for the following spring semester. Otherwise, experiences will be recorded only for the semester in which they occur (of course, any deficiencies (F’s) will be fulfilled first).

Recognition

Once a student completes a semester’s requirements, all additional Caritas experiences will be recorded as extra-credit assignments in myCascia and count toward above-and-beyond recognition:

outstanding achievement award for at least three experiences beyond each year’s requirements (N.B.: After the 2020-21 school year, we will assess whether this is a good standard moving forward)
the Sister Mary Murrihy Award at graduation for the senior with the most outstanding service portfolio, considering both quantity and quality

Just in Case

Students who choose not to meet the minimum requirements will receive grades of F for the Caritas Connection for that semester. Athletic and extracurricular ineligibility will follow as with other courses. Incomplete experiences from the previous semester will need to be completed before the current semester’s experiences are begun. When they are, F’s will be changed to P’s. Students must have passed all semesters to date of the Caritas Connection to be eligible for the National Honor Society.

Requirements by Grade

List of 4 items.

9th Grade
9th grade
Complete two of the following in the summer/fall and two in the winter/spring:
two Caritas experiences with your family and/or schoolmates
one Caritas experience for Cascia Hall
one free choice Caritas experience
10th Grade
10th grade
In the summer/fall, complete the faith experience or the family/schoolmates experience. In the winter/spring, complete the rest.
1. one Caritas experience with a faith community (not including Minimester Wednesdays)
2. one Caritas experience with your family and/or schoolmates (not including Minimester Wednesdays)
3. three Caritas experiences with our partner agencies (including Minimester Wednesdays--built into the school day)
11th Grade
11th grade
In the summer/fall, complete the two “regular” experiences or the intensive experience. In the winter/spring, complete the rest and the Rose Paper.
1. two Caritas experiences with our partner agencies or a faith community or for Cascia Hall (mix-and-match)
2. intensive Caritas experience (See details below.)
- Rose Paper: Details for the Rose Paper will be posted in the course on myCascia.
Intensive Caritas Experience
- A written proposal is required in advance, approved by the junior Caritas Minister.
- Possibilities include…
1. with one agency or connected agencies that includes both preparation and interaction with clients/recipients (e.g., preparing backpacks at the Food Bank and distributing them at a school, taking St. Nicholas wish list requests and running the collection drive)
2. on a multi-day mission/service trip that includes a significant amount of providing direct service and a component for which the student provides significant planning and leadership
3. another experience requiring similar depth, commitment, and leadership
12th Grade
12th grade
- Option 1: three free choice Caritas experiences: Complete two in the summer/fall and the third in the winter/spring.
- Option 2: another intensive Caritas experience as in 11th grade. At a minimum, submit the proposal and have it approved in the summer/fall. You may also begin or even complete the experience in the summer/fall. Otherwise, complete the experience in the winter/spring.