Interesting facts regarding Most Precious Blood School:
Most Precious Blood Parish was founded in 1896. Most Precious Blood Church with Monsignor Francis Flattery, opened the school in September 1966. Mr. Joseph Kelly donated land in 1957 however the topography was not ideal for a school and so Monsignor Flattery was able to exchange the land for property owned by the Village of Walden on Ulster Avenue. Construction began in early 1965 and was completed the following year. The school opened with grades 1 through 4 and each year expanded by one grade. Originally 130 students enrolled. The principal was Sister Mary Rose Mullervy, O.P. till 1978. The first graduating class was the class of 1971.
The Dominicans of Sparkill are the only religious community that have served the school. Our current principal Sister Margaret Strychalski is a member of this community. Sister Margaret is the second principal the school has had.
In the summer of 1998 air conditioning was installed in the gym. This has helped Bingo attendance grow during the summers. Also, the school has benefitted having Masses, prayer services, music concerts and Kindergarten Graduation in the gym.
On October 3, 1998 the outdoor basketball courts were dedicated at a special ceremony with Jeff VanGundy, an NBA coach, present. In the summer of 1999 an MPB Summer Basketball League was started. It is open to any boy or girl between the ages of 7 and 17 and runs for 6 weeks from mid June through the end of July. Last summer over 800 children participated.
In May of 1999, Most Precious Blood School received Middle States Accreditation. Re-accreditation preparation is in progress. The team will visit again in the fall of 2008. Goals that were originally listed included updating computer technology in all the school. Currently our computer lab is all up to date along with all classes having access to the Internet via a DSL connection. We also have a state-of-the-art filter system protecting ALL students on any computers in the whole building. A true integration of teachers’ subject matter curriculum and learning “computer” is taking place. Smart Board technology is in future plans.
Prior to Kindergarten going full day in September 1999, an afternoon Pre-K class existed.
Parent Volunteers continue to run a one week, summer “Kinder Camp” for children entering Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades.
A full hot lunch program was added to the school in 1998. The program was modeled after a similar program at St. Stephen’s, Warwick. Valley Central School District supplies the staff and supplies while the Parent Guild maintains the facilities. The lunch fees paid by school families pay for the staff and supplies. A contract exists between Valley Central and Most Precious Blood School. This is a very unique situation that has been successful.
MPB has been a member and participant of the Orange County Parocial School League in Basketball and Cheerleading for a number of years. Games are played all over Orange County and into Ulster County during November through February. The trophies in the front hall and banners in the gym report our successes. In the fall of 2006 a co-ed Soccer Team was added that plays in September and October.
After having a nurse in the school on a part-time basis, in 2002 a full time nurse was assigned to MPB. She is an employee of Valley Central District. The District is able to bill all other districts for her services. This was accomplished by working through the Valley Central School Board and by becoming knowledgeable of New York State Nursing Laws. Through the Parent Guild Maintenance Committee a suitable Nurse’s Office was set up.
At this time, Security issues are being addressed. Cameras are being installed to supplement our radios and other security measures. The system may be operational by the end of the 2006-2007 school year.
Future plans include implementing the “Churchwerks” Program to computerize all student information. All information currently maintained in paper format regarding students will be entered into data bases and maintained by the school office and utilized by teachers also.
Most recently it has been possible to compare the NYS testing results of our 4th Graders and 8th Graders with those students in public school districts. Most Precious Blood students have continually scored higher.
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