celebrating over 60 years of catholic education at                                80th & belmont avenue

To our Alumni & Friends,
This email comes with the hope you are safe and healthy during the pandemic. Our prayers will continue for the well being of you and your loved ones.

Last month you were sent a save-the-date for May 16, 2020, The Final Homecoming, a special event for alumni and friends. Unfortunately, given government mandates about group gatherings, and in accordance with CDC guidelines, this event will not occur as planned. At this time, we cannot predict what lies ahead, so we are not announcing a new date. However, while unclear about any details, we are hopeful there will be an opportunity to celebrate the legacy of Catholic education at 80^th and Belmont in the not too distant future.

In the meantime, the Final Homecoming committee is recruiting creative people to join us in a project that will bridge our quarantined time to a time when we are able to engage with each other in person again. Our hope is that we can offer interactive channels to engage alumni and friends and share cherished memories in virtual ways. Recently, most of us have experienced new ideas, practices, and applications used to pass time, stay in touch and keep interactive. We are looking to apply this type of thoughtfulness to weave together threads of our common history.

Connectivity is so important during this crisis and we are truly interested in your ideas, as well as involvement, as we begin our celebration of Catholic education at 80^th and Belmont remotely. If you would be interested in joining our efforts please use bkrohn@guerinprep.org as your means of communication.

We do not know what the future holds. We do know we are all in it together.
Stay home, stay well, and stay in touch,

Beverley Krohn '77                                                                               Jude Schubert '80
Director-Alumni & Special Events                                                    Interim Chair-Board of Director
 

Guerin Prep is currently operating in a remote / eLearning mode in response to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) situation. Please refer to the letter posted on our website for more information guerinprep.org/news

For the most current information regarding eLearning at Guerin Prep please visit guerinprep.org/eLearning

If you have a question not addressed below please email it to info@guerinprep.org. 

Why is the school closing?

There are three, major intertwined factors that have led to the decision.

• Fundraising dollars were lower than needed to sustain operations.
• The increasing need for student financial aid.
• A steady decline in enrollment over the past 10+ years (See chart)

What if you reduced expenses? Guerin has reduced expenses over the past year by over $800,000. We are now operating at the bare minimum. 

Have you done a fundraiser to raise the money? A variety of fundraising initiatives have been carried out, such as the student raffle, solicitations to alumni, friends, and the business community, GuerinFest, and Scholarship Dinner.  Without these, we would probably have had to close much sooner.

Doesn’t tuition cover all your expenses? No. Tuition does not cover all our expenses.  Moreover, this year alone we exceeded our budgeted financial aid amount by over $200,000.  We offered over $900,000 in financial aid, which is nearly 28% of what we took in for tuition.  The other major expenses are salaries, utilities, and instructional expenses.  

What if a million-dollar donor were to step forward? Would that make a difference? We’d certainly hit the pause button. But understand, in order to keep Guerin Prep open, we have spent down our endowment and investments, incurred debt, and deferred maintenance.  Therefore, for Guerin Prep to establish solid footing to move forward in a permanent way, we would need $5 - 8 million to pay down the debt, reconstitute the endowment, enhance the academic program, attend to deferred maintenance, and make renovations.

What happens to the Guerin Prep property? The property will be returned to the Archdiocese of Chicago.

How do I request transcripts? From now until June 30, trascript requests will be handled in the same manner as it has been. Click the link under REGISTRAR (on the left side of this page) to complete the request form. We will post the insturctions for after June 30 prior to closing. 

How do I order a GP, HC, or MTG ring or charm?  Click on the page listed under "ALUMNI" (left side of  this page) to see contact information for Herff Jones, our official supplier.