Diane McDaniel, secretary at Christ the King School in Little Rock, can’t stop gushing about Hall Pass, a security system that all visitors must clear. The new system scans a photo ID and if the visitor is approved, spits out a stick-on visitor’s badge.

“It’s very easy to use, very easy,” she said. “It’s really helpful in keeping track of who’s in the building. I also like it because it helps me learn names and faces, especially of our new families.”

Initially, she can’t name any drawbacks or call to mind any complaints by parents or other visitors, but when pressed, she leans forward and lowers her voice.

“Well,” she said. “There have been a few who have said, ‘Oh what an awful picture.’” She adds with a broad smile, “But that’s the driver’s license’s fault, we can’t control that.”

Soon, parents in all Catholics schools in Arkansas will get a chance to wince over arguably their least-flattering photo stuck to the front of their shirts, as Hall Pass is currently being adopted diocese-wide. Hall Pass has been in place at Mount St. Mary Academy and Christ the King School for some time, four other schools are now fully up and running and 11 other schools are in various stages of implementation.  The system is expected to be fully implemented in all 28 schools by the end of the school year.

“Our schools already have restricted access, people are supposed to report to the office, and they keep emergency doors barred from the outside so people can’t get in from the outside,” said Deacon Bo McAllister, chancellor of canonical affairs who oversees the diocese’s safe environment program. “The whole thing about Hall Pass is that it’s designed to help screen the people coming into the school.”

Visitors are required to show a government-issued photo ID card, preferably a driver’s license, but can also be a military ID or “green card.” School personnel scan the ID and the system performs what McAllister called a “quick and dirty” background check of state and national sex offender databases. If the prospective visitor is on one of those databases, this status appears on the screen and the visitor is denied further access to the building.

“We prefer driver’s licenses because it will go to the state agency and pull up that person’s picture from the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) of the individual,” he said. “The person that is doing the screening can see right away if the photo is of the same person who’s standing there.”

The cost for installing the system, which is being paid for at the diocesan level, is around $40,000, McAllister said. Given its demonstrated effectiveness, it may be the best money the diocese ever spent. Last year at Christ the King, the system flagged a service man from a local heating and air conditioning company as a registered sex offender in Texas who had failed to register with Arkansas authorities unbeknownst, it turns out, to his employer.

McAllister said vendors who aren’t willing or able to provide services via people with acceptable backgrounds will find it tough sledding doing business with Catholic schools in Arkansas.

“I haven’t discussed what our vendors think about this new program and quite frankly, I really don’t care what they think. This is how it is,” McAllister said. “I’m assigned to Christ the King, I’m a deacon and I get accompanied wherever I go because I’m not a person who’s normally supposed to be there.”

Hall Pass can also be customized to include special information about special pick-up and drop-off situations, such as those in families going through custody disputes or for those individuals whose access to the school should, in the view of administrators, be curtailed for some reason other than a background issue.

“Some of our schools, we have problems with divorced parents and custody issues,” McAllister said. “Information regarding the custodial arrangements, who has access and approval to pick up the child, that can all be programmed into the computer so when a person comes to check out a child, the school has a way of checking.”

The idea for Hall Pass was formed when Mark Mobley, company president, was waiting to board a plane. As he sat at the gate watching passengers produce photo IDs to get on board, a thought struck him.

“I saw all these steps that people had to go through because we were trying to keep someone from flying the plane into a building,” he said. “I thought, why can’t we do this at the school level?”

Today, the product is in use in schools and hospitals coast to coast, including several public school districts in Arkansas. Though Dallas-based, the Mobley family has deep roots in Arkansas, even to the point of operating a Little Rock office headed by Mark Mobley’s brother, Matt. One of the company’s promotional videos was filmed at Mount St. Mary.

“You can ask the people in our call center, they all know the place Arkansas holds,” Mark Mobley said. “It was a pleasure and a privilege to serve the diocese and when they gave their approval, I wouldn’t have been happier if the New York City school district had said yes. We were just ecstatic about it.”

Catholic schools in Arkansas have been piloting a program that, if endorsed by its accrediting body, will dramatically change the way inclement weather days are handled in the future.

“Cyber days” combine online educational tools with impressive levels of teacher planning and creativity to help students make the most of days where inclement weather forces cancellation of the regular school day.

Superintendent of schools Vernell Bowen said the 12 Catholic elementary, middle and high schools in central and eastern Arkansas that implemented either one, two to three cyber days this year have provided their collective feedback for consideration by the board of the Arkansas Nonpublic Accrediting Association in April.

“Cyber days is something that the board has discussed for more than a year,” Bowen said. “I can’t predict how the board will vote, but I think cyber days are potentially a good option for our schools, once the board agrees on specific standards and guidelines to maintain accreditation.”

Schools that held cyber days this year are Mount St. Mary Academy, Catholic High School, Our Lady of the Holy Souls School, St. Edward School, St. Theresa School and Christ the King School in Little Rock; Immaculate Heart of Mary School, North Little Rock Catholic Academy and Immaculate Conception School in North Little Rock; St. John School in Hot Springs; St. Paul School in Pocahontas and St. Mary School in Paragould.

The use of cyber days became even more urgent this winter because no snow days were built into the school calendar for the Little Rock and North Little Rock schools. Bowen said three snow days will be included in 2014-2015 calendar, which may convert to cyber days depending on the decision of the ANSAA board. Schools outside Pulaski County are free to craft their calendars to meet local needs.

Bowen said the option of cyber days is preferred over tacking on days at the end of the school year or taking away a scheduled holiday like Presidents Day, which have been the traditional ways to handle it.

“The last two or three days of the school year are not what I would call the full teaching experience as it is,” Bowen said. “Typically, there’s a lot of cleanup, paperwork and special activities.”

Bowen added the addition of snow days back into the calendar helps somewhat because it’s much easier to ratchet back and dismiss days earlier than expected should inclement weather days not be used en route to the required 178 six-hour days required for accreditation.

Maria Dickson, principal at St. Paul School in Pocahontas, agreed. She said adopting such a system in the interest of avoiding lengthening the school year is a popular option for all concerned.

“When we were given the OK to do this, I was on cloud nine,” Dickson said. “Parents are ecstatic that we aren’t adding days and our teachers know that a day added at the end of the year isn’t very productive.”

While the concept of cyber days is simple — provide students assignments to complete at home during the inclement weather day — pulling it off is not. At a meeting of principals Jan. 8, administrators shared best practices for the days, pointed out shortfalls and limitations and provided parental feedback.

Most there reported overwhelming support for the new option from parents; the most common concerns included the access of all students to necessary technology and the type of work being assigned. Some principals pointed out many families in smaller schools may not be able to afford a family computer or Internet access.

The most senior practitioner of the concept — Mount St. Mary — has been implementing cyber days for the past three years. With the head start it has on the other schools in this area, Mount St. Mary has been able to work through some of the operational hiccups identified by the other school principals. For instance, students are given extra time when they return to school to complete assignments if they were without power — therefore without Internet — during the bad weather.

Principal Diane Wolfe said the ability to exercise such online options when needed was one important consideration when the school began handing out laptops to every student in the fall of 2011. She said in addition to linking students with their professors and helping them to connect to assigned websites, cyber day methodology is a good training ground for what many students will face in college.

Dickson said St. Paul School observed three cyber days this year and with each, the school’s processes have been refined. Like Mount St. Mary, assignments do not include new materials, but are a collection of review and reinforcement material for current subject matter.

Two of the most significant improvements the staff has made in the lesson plans are constructing activities that kids can complete without parental help and reducing repetitive assignments by assigning integrated lessons.

“For example, a student might be assigned research to write an essay for social studies,” Dickson said. “In addition to being graded for social studies content, it’s also graded for grammar by the language arts teacher. Or, the student might be instructed to use the current list of vocabulary words in their essay.”

Other teachers have shown similar creativity in their application of cyber day curriculum. When St. Mary School in Paragould had to cancel regular classes Jan. 9, teachers texted or emailed their students’ families that morning to offer assistance with assigned homework. Plus, kindergarten teacher Denise Stoddard accessed her students via Face Time and had the youngsters read to her, some still in their pajamas.

“All feedback so far is very positive,” said Sharon Warren, principal. “Kids like it and parents do too. They even posted on Facebook what they were doing.”

The following statistics are from Catholic schools in Arkansas for the 2013-2014 school year.

Enrollment

• Schools: 28 (Located in 18 cities)
• Total enrollment: 6,790 (down 2 percent from 2012-2013)
• Elementary enrollment: 4,837
• Secondary enrollment: 1,953
• Total enrollment in preschools: 619

Catholicism and race

• Percentage of Catholic students: 79.2
• Percentage of non-Catholic students: 20.8
• Percentage of white students: 87.8
• Percentage of Hispanic students: 11.35
• Percentage of Asian students: 3.67
• Percentage of black students: 2.18
• Percentage of two or more races: 2.99
• Remaining students are Native American, from the Pacific island region or unknown.

Staffing

• Total professional staff: 649
• Percentage of staff who are laypeople: 97
• Percentage of staff who are Catholic: 76.9
• Percentage of staff who are non-Catholic: 23.1

Tuition 

• Average annual cost of educating one child in elementary school: $6,059
• Average annual cost of educating one child in secondary school: $7,680
• Range of tuition in elementary schools: $3,320 for Catholics to $4,661 for non-Catholics
• Range of tuition in secondary schools: $5,264 for Catholics to $5,955 for non-Catholics (This does not include Subiaco Academy, a boarding school.)

For more information

To learn more about Catholic schools in the Diocese of Little Rock, contact:

Vernell Bowen, Superintendent

Catholic Schools Office

Diocese of Little Rock

P.O. Box 7565

Little Rock AR  72217-7565

501-664-0340

vbowen@dolr.org

For 40 years National Catholic Schools Week has been held in the United States. Here is how some of the Catholic schools in Arkansas will be celebrating Jan. 26 to Feb. 1.

Conway

St. Joseph

During Grandparent Day, grandparents are invited to spend the day with their grandchildren on Wednesday. The day will include Mass and lunch. Students can wear any school-affiliated shirt throughout the week except Wednesday. This allows the community to see the students’ school spirit throughout the week.

Fort Smith

Christ the King

Christ the King School will kick off the week with a children’s Mass, pancake breakfast, open house and science fair Jan. 26. For the 40th anniversary of Catholic Schools Week, schools across the country are encouraged to commit to 40 hours of community service in their local areas. Christ the King will participate in several service projects during the week to benefit the homebound, Mercy Crest Retirement Home, the American Legion, many religious in formation, St. Scholastica Monastery, the local police, fire and EMS, as well as Lincoln Childcare and the Golden Rule Clothes Closet. An Amazing Race will close out the week where students will exercise their minds and their bodies by solving clues and completing challenges.

Immaculate Conception

Immaculate Conception School will have Mass at 10 a.m. Jan. 26 followed by a brunch in conjunction with its first art show. Art teachers Rebecca Johnson and Stephanie Gean will showcase the works of many talented students.

Hot Springs

St. John

On Friday, Jan. 24, the school will have an all-school Mass. A Family Fun Run will take place on Sunday. Monday will begin with an all-school interactive rosary. The service project — Mercy and Me, a fund set up help needy families — will be introduced at a pep rally Monday.

A Family and Friends Appreciation Luncheon will be held on Tuesday and students and faculty will have a quiz bowl in the afternoon. Wednesday will include the annual middle school vs. teachers volleyball game. On Thursday students will learn about Mercy charism and plan what act of mercy they will do. The week will end with an all-school prayer service and talent show.

Lake Village

St. Mary

Students will participate in various roles during Mass Jan. 26. On Monday, a chili supper will be served to the families of the school and parish, followed by bingo and the opening of the Book Fair. Tuesday is Grandparents Day with bingo and soup lunch.  The week will close with a Mardi Gras dance and auction.

Little Rock

Our Lady of the Holy Souls

The week will open with a Mass at 4 p.m. Jan. 25. Students will be lectors and gift bearers and the school choir will provide the music. At all weekend Masses, students will be passing out thank you notes to parishioners for their support and praying for the school. On Monday an eighth-grade vs. faculty basketball game will be played. Fathers will be invited to school Tuesday for Donuts with Dad in the morning. Students will write thank you notes to parish groups and community groups. The parents are invited to attend adoration with their child on Wednesday. On Thursday the day will begin with Muffins with Moms. Students will write thank-you notes to priests, deacons and seminarians.  That afternoon students will gather in the church to pray the rosary for Catholic schools. The celebration will end on Friday night with a talent show.

St. Theresa

On Monday each classroom will make posters and signs to display in their designated hall area. On Tuesday students will compete in academic challenges. On Thursday students will be asked to donate new or used blankets and sleeping bags for the homeless. For “Souper Bowl” on Friday students will be asked to bring a canned soup and dress in the colors of their favorite sports team or wear a team shirt.

Morrilton

Sacred Heart

On Sunday students will lead ministries during 10:30 a.m. Mass and on Monday students will participate in a living rosary. On Tuesday all grades will take part in a service project on campus. On Wednesday students from St. John School in Russellville will visit and attend Mass and students will compete in the Catholic Quiz Bowl. On Thursday students can select mini- courses on a variety of topics and activities and on Friday they will participate in the Amazing Race.

North Little Rock

Immaculate Conception

The PTO will host a pancake breakfast from 7-10:30 a.m. Sunday. An open house will be held for prospective families from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. During the week students and teachers will be assembling birthday cake kits for a local food pantry, providing meals for the daily volunteers, writing thank-you cards to local businesses and volunteers and creating prayer cards for the bishop. An assembly will be held on Wednesday featuring alumni and class skits on the topic “Reasons I Am Thankful to Attend a Catholic School.” The annual school talent show will be held on Thursday and the celebration will conclude on Friday with Teacher Appreciation Day and the traditional conga line throughout the school.

NLR Catholic Academy

North Little Rock Catholic Academy will celebrate Sunday Mass at 10:15 a.m. with teacher participation. On Tuesday the book character costume contest and buddy reading day will be held.  All-school Mass will be held at noon Wednesday and families are invited. The week will conclude with crazy socks day for students who bring in canned or non-perishable food for Helping Hand. A school rosary will be said for peace in the country and world.

Paragould

St. Mary

Parents and grandparents are invited to lunch. Students will enjoy an hour of karaoke and refreshments on Friday. School night at McDonald’s will be held with fifth- and sixth-grade students refilling drinks and cleaning tables. Volunteers and community members are invited to a nacho buffet lunch on Friday. Mass on Feb. 1 will conclude the week. Students will participate by being lectors, ushers, gift bearers, servers and choir members.

Paris

St. Joseph

Former students who are now priests will celebrate Mass for the school on Monday. Other Masses, rosary, adoration and prayers will be held throughout the week. A visiting artist, African drummer Zinse Agginie, will work with the students and present a short program for Family Fun Night. All students will travel to Subiaco Academy to hear the jazz band. Students will be asked to donate coins and dollars to Camp Hope for Heroes, an organization that helps local veterans.

Russellville

St. John

The kick-off Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Mass Jan. 26.  The students will lead the singing and take up the gifts. Dr. Mary Ann Rollans, a St. John alumnus, will address the congregation. Students will attend vocations presentations Monday. On Wednesday, fourth and fifth graders will visit Sacred Heart School in Morrilton. A Catholic quiz bowl will be held Thursday with fourth and fifth graders defending their title against a parent group. A VIP luncheon will be served at noon Friday with local dignitaries invited to attend.

Mount St. Mary Academy senior Ella Thomas directs a student group during the video shoot of the all-school “lip dub” created as a project for the school’s International Baccalaureate program.

The “lip dub” to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” made many appearances on Facebook in December.

The video was filmed during a 90-minute class period Dec. 3, undertaken by Thomas as her Information Technology in a Global Society class project. Collaborating on the project were International Baccalaureate theater instructor Jenny Moses as director; Carrie Burkhead as multimedia instructor; and the entire faculty and student body, which included 29 school clubs and organizations.

Thomas’ project involved working with a client to achieve a finished video,  mixing audio for the Concert Belles choral ensemble and arranging seamless video footage.

In our diocese, which is approximately 4 percent Catholic, it is critical that the Catholic schools stay vibrant and accessible to parents who wish to send their children regardless of faith or ability to pay. Catholic schools play a vital role in the evangelization mission of the Church.

The past two popes and the current pope have called Catholics to evangelize. The New Evangelization calls the Church to spread the Gospel — to bring joy of the Good News of Jesus Christ to a world in desperate need of authentic hope. Catholic schools are called to be a place where families experience grace and encounter the faith frequently. More than ever there is a need for strong Catholic schools to bring families and children to completeness in the image of Jesus Christ. Catholic schools are at the very heart of the New Evangelization.

In Pope John Paul II’s 1999 apostolic exhortation, “The Church in America” he stressed that “It is essential that every possible effort be made to ensure that Catholic schools, despite financial difficulties, continue to provide a Catholic education to the poor and the marginalized in society. It will never be possible to free the needy from their poverty unless they are first freed from the impoverishment arising from the lack of an adequate education. Catholic schools must seek not only to impart a quality education from the technical and professional standpoint, also and above all provide for the integral formation of the human person.”

He also states that the Church in America is called to take up the apostolic mandate given us by the Lord and respond with loving generosity to the fundamental task of evangelization. Yet again Pope Francis in “Evangelii Gaudium” (The Joy of the Gospel) is giving us a blueprint for evangelization in the 21st century.

There are three key elements that I have observed in the Catholic schools in our diocese that demonstrate evangelization.

1. The first is the support provided families and the call to service to the poor.
2. The second is the planting of seeds of faith.
3. The third is the power of the Mass.

It is a blessing to experience the support our school families provide in times of crisis whether it be death, fire, devastation from weather-related events or caring for those who are hurting from emotional issues. Not only do the students in the school participate in drives to collect money and needed supplies, but just as importantly offer prayers for those in need. Community organizations supporting the less fortunate have received much-needed help in collections from our students in Catholic schools.

As I visit classrooms throughout the diocese, there is strong evidence that our religion programs are planting the seeds of faith at every grade level. Students easily and willing express what they are being taught in their daily religion classes. Scripture as well as Church teachings are being taught across the diocese. The social teachings of the Church are integrated in the core curriculum where applicable. The faith is also being carried into the home through our students. Both Catholic and non-Catholic parents have expressed how their children have learned how to pray and expect their parents to pray with them. Non-Catholic parents whose children are attending Catholic schools have chosen to go through RCIA to learn more about the Catholic faith and many have made the decision to convert to Catholicism.

There is much to say about the opportunity to attend Mass as a school community at least weekly, but more commonly twice a week. The privilege of receiving the Word and the Eucharist at Mass is unique to the educational process in our Catholic schools. The weekly Mass offers the children the opportunity to hear the Word and how it applies to our daily lives. It also provides the opportunity for the students to actively participate through lectoring and providing the music for the Mass. This is likely the reason that statistical data indicates that Catholic school students are more likely to pray daily, attend church more often, retain a Catholic identity as an adult and donate more to the Church.

There is a need for strong commitment and renewed investment of time, talent and treasure from parents, parishioners and alumni to ensure that Catholic schools remain instruments of the New Evangelization.