Cultivating Our Future Capital Campaign — School HVAC
We received the updated quote to do school HVAC work this summer, primarily on the 1964 and 1987 parts of the building. (No significant work was needed in the 2011 additions.) The approximately $1 million school HVAC project includes a VRF heating/cooling system, a rooftop unit for the gym, mechanical ventilation, and an ionization air purification system. When we are finished, we will have the following needs met:
- Resolve heating pipes issues
- The heating pipes in the 1964 part of the building are past their life expectancy by 10-40 years now and are starting to fail
- To just re-pipe the 1964 part of the building would have been an estimated $800,000-$900,000 project
- Add high efficiency heating
- We can even heat and cool at the same time in different rooms/locations
- Add high efficiency air conditioning
- No more starting the morning at 80+ degrees because we closed up the building at 3:00 the day before when the temperature was 90+ degrees
- Window air conditioners along with re-piping the building would not be a long-term cost effective or energy efficient solution
- Control the humidity within the building
- We all know the saying, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity”
- Add mechanical ventilation for fresh air
- Modern building code no longer says “just open the window” to ventilate public use buildings
- No more keeping windows cracked open in winter for COVID-type situations
- Purify the air through self-cleaning ozone free ionization
- Will help with dust, pollen, allergens, airborne illness causing “germs”
In order to accomplish this $1 million project, planned for this summer, pledges and donations to our $1.6 million Cultivating Our Future capital campaign are still needed. No amount is too small. The fewer JFK families that support the campaign in any way, the less support some may interpret this project as having from JFK families. (That’s not true, but it is reality.) For more information about the campaign, use the following link: capital campaign.
Gala and Plant Sale
Plans are being made for the Rock the Lot Gala that will combine online elements and socially distant outdoor elements utilizing our vast campus. We also hope to celebrate the anticipated beginning of the school HVAC project and just making it through the 2020-21 school year! The Rock the Lot Gala is May 15, 2021. If you would like to donate an item or service that can be auctioned alone or in a basket combined with other items, please contact Angie Hillebrand in the school office.
Tuition Contracts for 2021-22, Kindergarten Round-Up, PS, and ECLC Registration
Tuition contracts for 2021-22, which represent the official registration document for next school year, were mailed on Thursday. If you are behind in tuition payments, please contact Fr. Jake so arrangements can be made, and the tuition contract for next school year can be completed.
Preschool registration for 3, 4, and 5 year olds and ECLC (childcare) does remain open. If you have not yet registered for these programs, please contact the school office ASAP.
School Bookkeeper/Secretary Position
JFK has an upcoming opening for a school bookkeeper/secretary as Emily Sanderson will be transitioning to another position at JFK. The school bookkeeper/secretary position is year round and includes a tuition benefit. The qualified applicant must be detail oriented with accounting knowledge and have strong interpersonal skills with both adults and children. The ability to multi-task with frequent interruptions is a must. Interested candidates should send a letter of interest, resume, and references to chad.steimle@olvjfkmail.com, or complete an application in the school office. We hope to have the position filled within the next few weeks, and the new staff member will begin yet this school year.
Calendar
March 25: Jersey Day. For a $1 or more donation, students may be out of uniform wearing their favorite sleeved jerseys. If the jersey does not have sleeves, another sleeved shirt is required under it. Proceeds go to the Children’s Hospital in Iowa City.
Our Easter break includes Good Friday (April 2) and Easter Monday (April 5). There are no classes on these two dates, and ECLC is also closed. Please note that the DCSD does have classes on April 5th.
Last day of school for JFK: June 11th. The DCSD will continue until the 16th. Because June 11th is not Davenport’s last day, there is no early dismissal at JFK on June 11th.
First day of school for next year: August 23rd. We are awaiting a corrected full year 2021-22 calendar from the DCSD before we finalize our calendar for next year.
Board of Education Openings
If you would like to be involved in decisions like those mentioned above, consider running for the board of education. The board meets on the first Tuesday of each month from about 6:30-8:00 p.m. Our longest meetings typically are when we talk “money,” that is, when we try to budget our priorities and put talk into action. Board members occasionally have another meeting to attend during the month. A board member’s term is three years. Please contact me if you are interested in being on the board, and I will connect you with a board member for more information. Elections are in May.
COVID Data
Below is a link to a .pdf file that shows several graphs of Scott County and JFK data.
- I’m not sure what to make of this week’s data in Scott County. COVID case counts, by some measures, went up, but positivity test rates went down
Chad
