Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Break Time at the Grotto!

Last week, before Thanksgiving Break, the kids were gracious to let me spend their break time with them. Check it out below . . . maybe someday soon, they will invite me back to see some of their work, too! Enjoy!  --Amanda

Yum!

Snack time with friends.

On the way to play outside!

Watching intently as builders pour cement for the new building.

Enjoying the beautiful day outside!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Look to the right!

On the right of our blog, we have added our YouTube channel. Check out our videos! At the top of the list, our latest: the Building Presentation that we created in October to show the Immaculate Conception parish. Just click on the first picture on the Video Bar, or click here to see the Building Presentation. Also to the right, we have listed resources that we find particularly helpful. We hope that you will check them out!

*Note 12.13.10: we are working on our YouTube channel right now, so we have taken our video bar off temporarily. We will have it back up and running soon!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

A lot can change in ten days...

November 1st

November 11th

... and we are so excited about what we see! Stay tuned for more construction updates!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Let Construction Begin!

On October 19th, we were excited to break ground for our new home at 620 Oakland Street!

Our Future Home!
Our future home at 620 Oakland St.

We were happy to have many important guests at the event:

Groundbreaking Group
Great people doing great things
-Reverend Wilbur Thomas, Vicar for the Asheville Vicariate of the Charlotte Diocese;
-Father Nick Mormando, Pastor of Immacualte Conception Catholic Church;
-Father John Salvas and Brother Michael Molloy
-Carole Breerwood, principal of Immaculata Catholic School

-Caroline Long Blackwell, Executive Director of St. Gerard House
-Rachael Cushing-Wallen, Clinical Director of the Grotto
-Ken Gaylord and Frank Kelsch, our fabulous architects
-And, of course, our wonderful teachers, parents, and students at both Immaculata School and the Grotto!



Receiving the Check
Thank you, Pam and Eric!
At the end of the ceremony, Pam Headstrom and Eric Congdon presented Caroline and the St. Gerard House with a check for $12,000 from the fundraiser held in September, the End of Summer Blues Festival. So exciting - thank you, Pam and Eric!
Construction on our new building, by architects Ken Gaylord and Frank Kelsch, will begin in late this October, and we expect to be finished by late spring of 2011. The new building will have four large classrooms for Immaculata’s Pre-K and Middle School, which the church will be able to use in the evenings for gatherings, bible studies, and meetings. We will also have six rooms for specialized child development for the Grotto, an outdoor play court, and nine offices for the St. Gerard House offices!


Watercolor 10.15.10
Here's what we will look like!

Right now, the Grotto Preschool has four students enrolled, and Immaculata’s Pre-K now has 21 three- and four-year-old children, and a waiting list. But our new building will have room for 36 three- and four-year-olds for Immaculata, and the classrooms will have with interactive Smartboards, creative centers for play and learning, and a curriculum that includes Spanish.



We are so excited about this new phase of development for St. Gerard House and the Grotto, and we are so thankful for the blessings that are making our new home a reality!



Welcome!

Welcome to the blog for St. Gerard House and Grotto! We hope you will check back often, and stay updated on the exciting things that are happening here.