Letter from the Principal - September 2025

September 10, 2025

Dear CDH Parents and Guardians,

We are thrilled to be back in the swing of things and deeply grateful for your support in preparing our students for the new school year. It was wonderful to see so many of you at our new parent orientation and back-to-school night. When asked what makes CDH so special and successful, I always attribute much of it to our incredible parent community. 

This year, we are strengthening our partnership with you by introducing Parent Pulse, a new survey tool designed to continually gather parent feedback. Parent Pulse will send surveys to eight or nine parents at a time, ensuring we hear from parents in our community on a continuous basis. These surveys are anonymous, brief, easy to complete, and tailored to different grade levels or topics we wish to explore. Everyone will be surveyed a few times a year. In the future, we plan to introduce this tool to students and faculty as well. Stay tuned for your first survey!

Another new initiative this year is the introduction of Academic Support Time (AST). We offer this approximately twice a month, depending on the month’s scheduled events.  Students have an hour to seek help from a teacher or study quietly. We ask for your support in encouraging your student to use this time wisely. If they claim to have nothing to do, remind them that this is an opportunity to use the time productively, such as working on homework, reading a book, the newspaper, or even writing a letter to loved ones, such as their grandparents. Our first support session was on Tuesday. I was proud of how students and teachers respected and utilized this time effectively. Flex Help also remains available during the school day, providing ample opportunities for students to connect with teachers.

Finally, we continue to support the Annunciation School and Parish in Minneapolis. Many in our CDH community are affected by this tragedy, and all our Catholic schools are part of the same family. Annunciation School and Parish are rooted in community and faith, much like CDH. 

I visited a senior class during prayer on the day before the Annunciation shooting.  The CDH teacher concluded with the same African proverb shared by Annunciation principal Matt DeBoer, “When you pray, use your feet.”  I am proud of our students who lived by this proverb last Friday, as they participated in a student council out-of-uniform event that raised  $3,000 for the Annunciation Hope and Healing Fund.. Additionally, 50 students joined Campus Minister, Mr. Mark McGuire, in our chapel to pray the rosary during lunch, and several parents allowed their students to participate in a student-led March to end violence in schools. Our students represented us well and returned to CDH to attend their classes.  

Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership. Please feel free to reach out if you have any concerns or feedback to share.  

May we all be blessed by God’s peace.

Warm regards,

Mona Passman