THE BROTHERHOOD NEVER ENDS!

August 14, 2023

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope you are enjoying a nice and relaxing summer. We are very excited to start school and welcome our students back to campus! I’m delighted to share with you highlights from last year as well as some things we plan to improve this year. In the coming days, our Principal, Mr. McElhinney, will send detailed information about student orientation and the first few days of school in September. 

The 2022-2023 school year brought great success. Highlights include: 

• Enrollment:  This September we welcome 198 students to our freshman class. Many families continue to promote Bergen Catholic by sharing our accomplishments with friends and neighbors. Thank you for doing so, as word-of-mouth and testimonials are our most successful marketing and enrollment efforts. 

• Service: Our young men remain committed to helping the marginalized and following the call to serve locally, nationally, and internationally.  

• Watros Business Center: Completed this past spring, this best-in-class teaching and learning center provides students with opportunities to learn about business, finance, and investing, and prepares students for successful pathways to top business schools throughout the country. 

• The Crusader Fund: Our annual appeal exceeded $1M. We are grateful to the number of parents, grandparents and friends who participated. Participation (not dollar amount) is critical and it’s amazing to see what our school can accomplish when participation increases. 

• College Placement: Once again, we had a stellar year. For the first time in school history, students were accepted to all Ivy League schools. The Class of 2023 received $37.6M of merit aid. We attached the list for your review. We believe you will be impressed, and this is an excellent example of Bergen Catholic’s superb reputation among colleges and universities. 

• Class of 1972 Reunion: The Class of 1972 celebrated its 50th reunion and raised $45,050 for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) initiatives. 

• Vice President of Advancement: This past spring, we hired Karen DiMaria to lead our advancement office. She has over 20 years of successful fundraising experience, and we hope you have a chance to meet her at one of our many events at Bergen Catholic and throughout the county. We are delighted to have Karen at Bergen Catholic.

We need to do a better job of communicating with our parents. We will strive to improve in this area and keep you informed of the exciting things happening at Bergen Catholic. To improve communication, we are implementing the following:

• Dan Long, ’03 has been hired as our Communications Coordinator, who will help us organize our multiple forms of communication and clearly and consistently lead communication efforts with our parent community. 

• Reinstate the Crusader Magazine and will publish this semi-annually. This effort kicks off in early fall. Please look for links to our magazine; we will also print a limited number of copies.

• President’s Update: I am excited about and committed to sharing quarterly updates on our school. This will be sent via email starting this fall. 

• This Week in Sports: This weekly publication focuses on athletics and is sent via email. Some of you have received this already. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with Joe Haemmerle if you wish to be placed on this weekly mailing list. Joe can be reached via email at Jhaemmerle@bergencatholic.org. 

We look forward to a great school year with student-led academic achievements and accomplishments. We look forward to a strong and positive partnership as we strive to fulfil our commitment to the mission and vision of our founder, Blessed Edmund Rice, and the Christian Brothers, who have guided our school for decades. 

May God bless you and your family!

Warm regards,