Historical context for our
3-Year (2024, 2025, & 2026) capital Campaign
Rebuild | Restore | Renew
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PARISH
Celebrating our 100th anniversary in 2022, the constant and enduring uniqueness of Blessed Sacrament is the fact that it was founded by Dominican Friars. We are the only parish staffed by a religious order in the Diocese of Madison. Nestled in the Regent neighborhood, our parish has enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with our neighbors. All of the current buildings on our campus were constructed in the first 40 years of our 100-year history, with some upgrades in the last 60 years, but no major construction work.SCHOOL
Blessed Sacrament School was founded in 1924 by the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters and had an initial enrollment of 138 students. For the school year 2023-2024, the school is seeing a robust enrollment of over 300! The school has set the standard for Catholic grade school education in the Greater Madison area, producing some of the best and brightest alumni! We continue to distinguish ourselves through a tradition of excellence in academics and extracurricular activities, including Montessori and multi-age classrooms, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd faith formation, art/music/band, and sports, as well as service projects, such as Operation Christmas Child, that invests in developing the whole student
Throughout our history, we have celebrated our traditions, continuously focusing on new possibilities. As we look towards our school’s future, we remain committed to producing dynamic growth opportunities for our students and school.
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a pIVOTAL mOMENT
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THE PROCESS TO GET TO WHERE WE ARE NOW
Blessed Sacrament Parish and School have reached a critical point in our parish and school’s history. In 2022, through an extended campus facility discovery, planning, and parishioner feedback process, it was determined that we needed to address key issues:
- Our steam heating system serving all buildings on campus is beyond its useful life.
- Our Friars are living in markedly deteriorated living conditions resulting in life safety and accessibility issues.
- Our facilities (school, gym, Priory, and parts of Parish Center) have inadequate ADA accessibility.
- Our gym facility is in disrepair and does not meet middle school regulations for court size.
- Our school built in 1960 does not meet the evolving realities of teaching students in the current technology age.
- Our last capital campaign was more than 23 years ago
Therefore, in April of 2022, two teams were formed to address these key issues– a Fundraising Team and a Facilities Team. We sent a “Request for Proposals” to solicit the assistance of a capital campaign company, an architectural firm, mechanical engineers, and cost estimators to develop a Campus Master Plan. The results of a feasibility study in October 2022 revealed parishioners were in favor of proceeding with a capital campaign.
INVESTING IN THE FUTURETo position ourselves to grow in our mission of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, provide enhanced worship and community spaces, rebuild, restore, and renew our facilities, and continue delivering top-notch education and opportunities for our students and community, Blessed Sacrament is exploring a multi-million dollar fundraising campaign in alignment with our updated Campus Master Plan.
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A capital campaign is crucial to addressing the needs of our Campus Master Plan and includes the following enhancements based on the Dominican Pillars of Prayer, Study, Community, and Ministry along with our operations needs.
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PRAYER
- Enhanced worship & parish community spaces
- Sanctuary upgrades and beautification
- New community chapel in the Priory
- Improved gathering spaces
- Growth of family faith formation and parish ministries
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STUDY
- Newly designed school office that is accessible for strollers, wheelchairs, & other ADA needs
- Renewed classrooms and tutoring areas
- Safe & secure environment for our students
- New windows in several facilities
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COMMUNITY
- Suitable & comfortable living environment for our priests & brothers
- New regulation-sized gym to advance student wellness & provide space for the wider community to use
- Redesigned kitchen & gathering space (Friary) in the existing gym that can become a beautiful venue for parish events & wedding receptions
- A new heating system that serves all campus buildings
- Environmentally-conscious improvements, such as solar energy panels on the school roof, geothermal heat pumps, & large-scale rain gardens to capture rainwater
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MINISTRY
- Redesigned meeting rooms for the growth of family faith formation and parish ministries
- Restoration and beautification of the windows in our existing gym
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Operations & Evangelization
- Establish a capital budget for scheduled regular upgrade projects
- Invest in faculty & staff to continually advance emerging skills in education
- Expand our evangelization efforts through social media, print, & personal outreach
- Continue to offer endowment & tuition assistance programs
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