St. Joseph: Faith, Values, Excellence
When we think of a Director of Advancement, we often think of someone whose sole job it is to build the school’s funding base. But at Saint Joseph School in Fairhaven, we have a family member who sees more than just fundraising.
Tracy Travers, the newly appointed Director of Advancement, has been involved with Saint Joseph Parish since she married there 31 years ago. An active parishioner since then, Tracy has served as the Administrative Assistant in the parish office for the last 3 years. In addition, she is a Eucharistic Minister, Lector and leads the Art & Environment Ministry. She is also active in the ACTS (Adoration, Community, Theology, & Service) Program and has recently served as a member of the retreat team. It was there her now principal became her “retreat sister” and got to see her heart and character.
So when former Pastor Fr. Robert Charlton and Principal Faith Piazza looked to create the new position, they naturally thought of Tracy and her background with the parish and school.
“My children both attended Saint Joe’s so my heart has always been here. Serving on the PTO and accreditation committee was a great experience and helped prepare me for my new role.”
In addition to fundraising, Mrs. Travers primary functions include marketing, publicity and increasing enrollment. She plans to continue the fundraising events that have become traditional at Saint Joseph’s, but will evaluate their effectiveness.
“Together with the PTO and parent volunteers, I know we can meet and exceed our financial goals.”
In order to increase the school’s visibility, the school now has new, modernized logo an updated foyer that will welcome all students and parents. In addition, our new Pastor, Fr. Stephen Banjare will work with the office of advancement in order to unite the two entities. “We are a parish school and therefore the parish and school should work together to support our young people’s education.”
A few of the projects planned include a new user-friendly website and app and family nights where the parents join their children in various activities to create a sense of community.
The Director of Advancement is primarily a person who should be involved in creating relationships with those who give their time, talent and treasure to the school for the benefit of its students. When our Director of Advancement is actively building relationships in the community, she is also building love and family. Who better to accomplish this, than a member of our St. Joseph Parish and School family for the job.
St. Joseph School is a Catholic learning community devoted to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and dedicated to providing a quality spiritual and academic education based on faith, values, and excellence that meets the needs of our students and their families. The school offers a 2, 3 or 5 full day pre-school program, a full week – full day pre-kindergarten, and a full day kindergarten program with a strong reading, math and social emotional curriculum. In addition St. Joseph has a hot breakfast and lunch managed by Chartwell’s, before and after school care, art, music, technology, Spanish, and physical education. The school is proud of their small class sizes and safe and caring environment.