Dear St Francis Xavier School Families,
​
 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4)

These past few weeks have been challenging for everybody and have caused us all a lot of strain and worry. Our faculty has had to learn a whole new teaching system, and students have had to work to adapt to these changes. Parents and guardians have experienced a new vision of their child’s Catholic education.
          
With so much going on, and things not as usual, nothing about our lives will be the same. 
 
Our school community has been deeply affected during this pandemic. Every school in the Archdiocese has been affected, and over one third of parochial schools are unable to open in the fall due to the pandemic. Our projected enrollment for the coming school year is unsustainable and we have projected with the lower student enrollment that we will incur a financial loss of over $250,000. The same is true for all of our neighbors. Because of our present economic environment, we are no longer able to borrow to cover any loss. We are grateful for the Paycheck Protection Program loan from the government, which we were able to use to cover the salaries of our teachers and administration because the tuition payments greatly decreased. 

I do not believe that our school should close, yet we alone do not have the numbers to sustain us. Because of this situation and the desire to ensure a continuation of the incredible tradition of Catholic education on the South Shore, we will establish a partnership between Sacred Heart and Saint Francis Xavier Schools. This partnership will not only sustain but strengthen Catholic education for our local communities. It will also allow for safe environments during this unprecedented time, so that all committed families will be comfortable continuing Catholic education and allow our respective schools to grow in the space that is optimized for each grade level.  

This decision has been reached after weeks of consultation with the Catholic School Office, numerous conference meetings with Dr. Gretchen Hawley, principal of Sacred Heart School, Mr. Robert Murphy, our principal, Fr. Sean Connor, Pastor of Sacred Heart and me.

This partnership will house middle school grades 5-8 at St. Francis Xavier School campus and Pre-K through grade 4 at Sacred Heart. This distribution will allow for each grade level to utilize multiple conjoined spaces as needed to assure adherence to proper distancing guidelines as well as allow for differentiated teaching models. 

It is important to distinguish that this is a partnership, not a merger. Each school will retain its name and remain the legal and Canonical property of its parish. The partnership will be led by Mr. Robert Murphy, current principal, as Headmaster, and Mrs. Shannon Mazza as the Vice-Principal of the partnership, based at Sacred Heart. It will be governed by a shared Board that will include Dr. Gretchen Hawley and myself.

This partnership honors and continues the more than 100 year history of Catholic education in Braintree, Weymouth and the greater South Shore community.

There are undoubtedly many questions that you have about how this school year will look for your child and family. Please note, this circumstance is brand new for both of our schools and collaborative parishes and many details are being worked out. We will update you as we move forward with more information and a response to questions that we receive in the interim. 

Please submit questions that you have to this email account: SFXSHPartnership@gmail.com.  Questions will not be responded to individually, but will be addressed in a Q&A document shared with the community within one week. Please be patient as we outline this new partnership to continue to provide an incredible Catholic education here on the South Shore in the Fall of 2020.

Thank you and God Bless,   
​Fr. Charlie Higgins
Come Holy Spirit!
Mass Schedule for The Collaborative

4:00 pm Saturday ~ Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church

8:00 am Sunday ~ Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church

10:00 am Sunday ~ Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church

*Mass will still be posted on this site. *
***Announcement***
Father Bill's will not be doing meals until September.