| James Kiffe Gift .jpg) This morning, Aquinas Catholic Schools and the Aquinas Catholic Schools Foundation were honored to announce the largest single gift in the history of our Catholic schools. Bishop Callahan joined us in announcing bequests of $7.5 million from Mr. James Kiffe, Class of 1942. Mr. Kiffe graduated from St. Mary Catholic School in La Crosse and Aquinas High School. After serving in World War II, Jim began reading the financial pages and joined a stock market club. He was an astute investor and this humble, frugal man was very successful in making investments.  Jim always credited his Catholic school education for shaping his life. As the only child of a single working mother, Jim Kiffe relied on the generosity of others to give him that opportunity and he never forgot it. He repaid this generosity during his lifetime through many gifts to our schools, the Aquinas Foundation, and the Bishop Burke Hall Building Campaign. In particular, his desire to help Aquinas students led him to donate a substantial gift in 2002 to create a scholarship fund specifically for students with emergency needs. Over the last ten years, more than $130,000 in aid has been awarded to families experiencing a job loss, medical issue, or other economic hardship. Many Aquinas families know the tremendous difference that a "Guardian Angel" scholarship can make and they have Jim Kiffe to thank for that.Jim passed away in October and wanted to continue providing the gift of Catholic education even beyond his lifetime. His last will and testament entrusts 80% of his estate to the Aquinas Scholarship Fund. As a result, later this year the scholarship fund will receive approximately $6 million dollars to keep high-quality Catholic education available to students through high school graduation. Mr. Kiffe's gift will dramatically increase the amount of annual scholarships available to students next school year. The remaining 20% of his estate will be given to the Aquinas Catholic Schools Foundation.  Next week, our schools will kickoff the enrollment process for the 2012-2013 school year. Mr. Kiffe's gift will provide extraordinary scholarship help for families, and in turn help ensure high standards of excellence in our schools. On January 24, I will host our annual State of the Schools Address and I look forward to sharing more details with parents and staff on how this gift will positively impact our students, faculty, and schools. In the meantime, I ask our entire community to join me in giving thanks for this tremendous opportunity and for the life and legacy of Mr. Jim Kiffe. We are truly blessed to have such a guardian angel! Sincerely, Kurt Nelson | |||
| Winter Weather Closing Information   | |||
| Welcome to our New Website! For the 2011-2012 school year, Aquinas Catholic Schools has upgraded all of its websites. Our new sites have more content and easier navigation for current and prospective parents, alumni, and friends of our schools. They also have a fresh design, an interactive calendar and additional tools for teachers and students. We are excited about our new online presence and thank the Aquinas Catholic Schools Foundation, Inc. for helping make it possible. Suggestions and questions can be sent to webmaster@aquinasschools.org | |||