Welcome Trojans! 

   The 2010-2011 school year is off to a great start! Student orientations provided an energizing kickoff, and students celebrated their first all-school liturgy on Aug. 17, honoring Mary, Queen of Heaven. (Above: Upperclassmen demonstrate for freshmen what it means to be a Bishop Chatard Trojan.) 
   Throughout the school year, you will receive the Trojan Times e-newsletter every two weeks, with periodic "updates" between issues as is needed. Please visit www.BishopChatard.org regularly for the latest student, parent, and community news. As always, if you have questions you may call the main office at (317)251-1451. A faculty/staff directory including e-mail addresses for BCHS personnel is also available on the Web site.  

A letter from Dr. John Atha...

   Welcome to a new school year! I am happy to report that we are off to a great start. The faculty and staff of Bishop Chatard High School are excited to begin the 2010-2011 school year and are thrilled to have our students back in the building. I also want to thank everyone for the warm welcome I have received from the Bishop Chatard family. I feel so blessed to be a part of this extraordinary and faith-filled community.
   We are looking forward to seeing all parents at our Back-to-School Night on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2010. The evening will begin at 6 p.m. in the main gymnasium with a general session that outlines the evening. At 6:25 p.m., we will run a mini-schedule of our eight-period school day, allowing parents to meet their child's teachers and better understand the expectations and procedures in each classroom. We will conclude the evening at 8 p.m. Detailed information for the evening will be e-mailed to parents on Friday, Sept. 3, 2010.
   Our first midterm progress reports will be e-mailed to parents on Sept. 15, 2010. The reason for this progress report is to provide parents with an intentional checkpoint in the middle of the nine-week grading period. I would encourage all parents to be proactive in tracking your child's progress and performance through Classroll and by talking regularly with your child about how he/she is doing in his/her classes. If you have questions, concerns, or if your child indicates that he/she does not know how they are doing, please contact your child's teachers or guidance counselor immediately.
   Finally, as the faculty and staff of Bishop Chatard serve your children, I want to assure you that we will keep our focus on being a living witness of our mission to cultivate "a life-long commitment to faith, learning, leadership, and service." Our curriculum and instruction will be "directed to the success of each student, focused on the growth of the whole person, and modeled on the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church."

Mary, Queen of Heaven - Pray for us!
Dr. John Atha, BCHS Principal

News from Guidance...

SAT/ACT: Seniors who will take the SAT or ACT should choose a date in the fall; juniors will be given instructions after the results of the PSAT are received and should register for dates in the spring.  View SAT and ACT test dates now. Students can register for the SAT at www.collegeboard.com and the ACT at www.actstudent.org.  Registration materials may also be picked up in the guidance office.  Remember to look ahead to scheduled events such as retreats, plays, and athletic participation before choosing a testing date.  
   When registering for the SAT/ACT, remember that you must enter the Bishop Chatard School Code in the proper space. That code is:  151654.  If you omit this section, you will have to order and pay for a score report to be sent to BCHS.  BCHS will once again host the March and May test dates for the SAT.

Student assignments to counselors: The Guidance Department is now divided by alphabet. Students are assigned to a counselor by the first letter of their last name. They may be reached via e-mail or by phoning (317)251-1451 and the extension indicated.

A-F:  Jamie Marx; jmarx@bishopchatard.org; 2246
G-M:  Catherine Welch; cwelch@bishopchatard.org; 2257
N-Z:  Mary Wheatley;  mwheatley@bishopchatard.org; 2258

College Rep Visits: College Reps will begin their visits to Bishop Chatard in early September. The visits will take place during homeroom, and sophomores, juniors, and seniors are encouraged to attend.  The schedule of the rep visits can be found on the daily announcements. 

News from Campus Ministry...

The 2010-2011 School Theme:   "I have come to set the world on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing." Luke 12:49

Cafeteria Manager Brenda Henry spoke to faculty and staff on this theme at the group's annual Day of Reflection. Read Brenda's comments now.

All School Liturgies: All members of the Bishop Chatard community are invited and welcome to our all-school liturgies (parents, grandparents, alumni, etc...).  Our next all-school liturgy is Tuesday, Sept. 14, at 9:05 a.m.  This Mass is sponsored by S.E.R.V. (Students Encouraging Religious Vocations) with the intent of praying for all those in religious vocations and praying for an increase to religious vocations.

Class Mass: All members of the Bishop Chatard community are invited and welcome to our class Masses.  Class Mass is offered four times a week (except for weeks of an all-school liturgy) during the homeroom period (11:03-11:38) in the main gym.  The schedule for these Masses is as follows: Tuesday: seniors; Wednesday: juniors; Thursday: sophomores; Friday: freshmen.

Eucharistic Adoration: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is available every first Friday of the month from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in our chapel (located in the St. Benedict Center).  All members of the Bishop Chatard community are invited and welcome. We need adults to sign up for time slots available from 7:30 - 3 p.m. on these Fridays in order to make this work.  Those interested in spending some time in front of the Blessed Sacrament can sign up via the Bishop Chatard Web site. 

2010-2011 Service Requirements: The first service meeting of the school year took place on Monday, Aug. 23.  At this meeting students were informed of the new service requirements.  View a breakdown of those requirements for Juniors & Seniors  or for Freshmen & Sophomores . For more information on Bishop Chatard's service and campus ministry programs, visit our campus ministry Web page.

View the August 2010 service newsletter.

2010-2011 Retreats:   Each year the Campus Ministry Department creates, organizes, and facilitates a retreat opportunity for each student. On our Web site  there is a listing of all available retreats (by class) and the roster of those who are scheduled to attend.  If there are any questions concerning any of the retreats, please contact Tyler Mayer (tmayer@bishopchatard.org or 251-1451 ext. 2228) immediately.

Student Life: The main focus of the 2010-2011 school year for the life of the students is our student council.  Our plan is to establish student council as the heart of the students. The student council will play a vital role in creating, organizing, and implementing activities for our student body to celebrate our school.  In order to make the student council complete, we will need some freshman leaders to step forward. Nominations for freshman class sponsors will take place during lunch periods on Friday, Aug. 27.  Elections for freshman class sponsors will take place Thursday, Sept. 2.  There will be two girls and two boys elected as freshman class sponsors for the 2010-2011 school year.

Trojans appear in IHSAA Role Model program
   Congratulations to Kenny LaRose, Cory Queisser, Julian Keefe, and Ellen Collier on being selected to participate in the 2010-2011 IHSAA Role Model program! Kenny's poster has recently arrived and copies are available in the school's athletic office. Posters featuring our other seniors will be coming soon. All are welcome to stop by and pick up a poster to display in your office, grade school, parish or home!

Sports Photo Buttons available 
   Wearing a photo button is a great way to support your student athlete! Representatives of the BC Booster Club photographed all fall student athletes on picture day and are prepared to create 3" buttons (cost:$6) for proud parents and fans. Complete the order form and submit it with payment to the school athletic office. Show your Trojan Pride with a photo button of your favorite athlete(s)!