Religious Ed Program Overview

Dear Religious Education Parent,

As we begin registration for the 2024-25 Religious Education (RE) year, we thank you for your commitment to handing on the Catholic Christian faith to your child(ren).  The role of the RE program is to support you in this promise you made when your child was baptized.  We focus on encouraging and equipping you to be what the Church calls you to be: the primary teacher of your child in the life, belief, and practices of our Catholic faith.

Without the active participation of families in regular weekend Mass and other parish activities and events, the ability of the RE program to foster faith development and moral growth in the children is greatly limited.  In addition to HEARING the faith proclaimed and taught in the RE classroom, children need to SEE the faith lived out at home, EXPERIENCE regular prayer in the family, and CELEBRATE the faith each weekend at Mass.

IMPORTANT: Before proceeding to the online registration form, please read carefully through the following information on the 2024-25 RE Program so you fully understand its format and procedures. 

Thank you, and God bless.

Matt Pozen, Director of Faith Formation
Melanie Schneider, Director of Religious Education
Sr. Linda Moolechalil, Co-Coordinator of 1st-5th Grade Religious Education
Renee Gianni, RE Administrative Assistant
[email protected]

Religious Education Sessions Available

• Wednesdays 4:30 - 5:45 pm (Grades 1-8)
• Wednesday 6:30 - 7:45 pm (Grades 1-8)
• Homeschool Religious Education is available for students in the 3rd through 6th grades.

Important Notes

• We can only accommodate two classrooms per grade level at each session time.  (With an average of 15 kids per classroom, this means a capacity of about 250 kids per session.) 

• On the registration Google FORM, please indicate your 1st and 2nd choice of session time for each child.

• Classes will be filled in the order in which registrations are received.  Registration can only be completed if at least partial payment is included and the tuition balance from the previous year has been paid off.

• If your 1st choice has filled up, you will be notified, your child will be placed on a waiting list for that class, and your 2nd choice will be reserved. 

• After your completed registration forms have been processed by the RE Office, you will receive an email notification letting you know that a spot has been reserved for your child.  Spots can only be reserved once the completed RE forms have been received, along with full or initial tuition payment. 

• The Wednesday 4:30 pm session time fills up the quickest, so please register ASAP. 

• The registration deadline is August 1st.  Registrations received after August 1st must include a $100 late fee. - No RE registrations will be accepted after August 31st or will be determined by the RE Registration office based on current classroom ratios.

• Finalized classroom and teacher information will be emailed out to all RE families after August 31st and posted at the entrance of the school on the first day of RE classes.  You will also receive an introductory email from each of your children’s catechists. 

• The RE year ends at the end of April, totaling about 22 in-person classes for the year.

Volunteers
In recent years it has become more and more difficult to find volunteers who can commit to teaching class every week from Sept through April.  If you would like to share the teaching duties by working with a co-catechist, and alternating each week, please indicate that in the volunteer section at the end of this registration.  Please consider offering your time, faith, and service as a catechist, co-catechist, aide, or RE office helper.

Safe Environment and Protecting God's Children

Adults who have never taken the (PGC) workshop through VIRTUS are required to do so when they are volunteering within our program.  This workshop is offered online and takes about 75 minutes to complete.

To create a free VIRTUS account and complete the PGC workshop, visit: https://www.virtusonline.org/virtus/ 
Click on “First Time Registrant”, scroll down and select “Joliet, IL (Diocese)”, and create an account.

The PGC workshop, whether in-person or online, is a requirement for all adults wishing to volunteer to work with children in the RE program. Those volunteers are responsible for keeping their accounts up-to-date and compliant.


Diocese of Joliet Policy for Sacramental Preparation\
The Diocese of Joliet requires a 2-year preparation process for the sacraments. So children must be enrolled in RE for 1st & 2nd grades in order to receive 1st Communion at the end of 2nd grade. Teens must be enrolled in RE for 7th & 8th grades in order to receive Confirmation at the end of 8th grade.

The actual sacrament years of 2nd grade (1st Reconciliation & 1st Communion) and 8th grade (Confirmation) require added preparation work. So in addition to the weekly in-person RE classes, these grade levels will each have a few additional sessions/events.

First Reconcilation and First Communion (2nd grade)

• In early December, there will be a 1st Reconciliation Retreat for 2nd graders and their parents, and a week later, the children will celebrate their 1st Reconciliation (Confession).
• In late April or early May, the kids and parents will attend a 1st Communion Retreat, and the following Saturday, the children will receive their 1st Communion.

Confirmation (8th grade)
Candidates must submit their Confirmation paperwork (saint report, letter to pastor, candidate form, & sponsor form) by Christmas.  Confirmation interviews will take place in February.  8th graders will attend a Confirmation Retreat onsite at some point during the year (date to be determined).

Visitation requests a Confirmation date in April, but the finalized date is not released by the diocese until October.  The date and time selected and the bishop-celebrant assigned is entirely at the discretion of the Diocese of Joliet and the Office of the Bishop - Visitation leadership has no control over the outcome of the diocesan scheduling process.

Homeschool Religious Education and Accommodations for Special Needs
Homeschool RE is an option for grades 3-6, but not for the sacrament preparation years of 1st-2nd and 7th-8th grades. The homeschool religious education fee is $150.  Lesson reviews must be completed and submitted to the RE office after each of the lessons in the student books so that progress can be tracked and recorded.

If your child is in need of some kind of assistance or accommodation due to special needs, please contact the RE Office to discuss concerns and create a plan that will work best for your child.

Middle School Service Hours
For the service hours component of middle school RE we require four service activities for 6th grade, six service activities for 7th grade, and eight service activities for 8th grade.  We encourage parents and kids to be creative in coming up with ways to serve others in our church community, Elmhurst community, and beyond. (Service activities done over the summer definitely count.)  The point of the service hours program is not to create another hoop to jump through but to foster in our youth the desire to love and serve others following the example of Jesus.  The RE Office will notify parents of 6th - 8th graders anytime we become aware of service opportunities in the church or in the community.

Missed Classes
When a child misses an RE class, parents are expected to go over the missed lesson at home. Then the child is to complete the lesson review and submit it to the catechist the following week.

Health and Safety Procedures
Visitation Religious Education will abide by the most up-to-date public health guidelines and procedures set forth by the state and our diocese.

Drop-Off Procedure
Parents of 1st-3rd graders should park in the south lot of the school and walk their children to the main entrance (by the electronic sign on York St.)  If necessary, parents may enter the school and walk their child to the classroom.

Parents of 4th-8th graders don’t need to walk their kids to the main entrance but may simply drop them off in the south lot of the school.  7th & 8th graders also have the option of being dropped off at the northeast lot by the junior high wing of the school and enter the building there.

Pick-Up Procedure
NOTE: 1st-2nd graders will be dismissed five minutes before the rest of the classes, so parents of these younger grades should arrive earlier, park in the south lot, and wait for the teachers to walk these younger classes out to the coned-off pick-up area along the south wall of the school.  (In case of bad weather, parents may enter the school building and go to their child’s classroom for pick-up.)

3rd-8th graders will then be dismissed and wait in the coned-off area to be picked up.  7th & 8th graders have the option of being picked up at the northeast lot by the junior high wing of the school.