Dear Friends & Family of Pope John XXIII,

Sometimes it is hard to put into heartfelt words how much a community means. This year a parent, Grant Upson, was able to capture what we at the PJ23 community feel ourselves, so we wanted to share what he had to say at the Catholic Schools Week Mass.

“Our family chose Pope John the 23rd school in August of 2020 knowing next to nothing about Catholic education. We’d bought a house in Evanston with every intent of enrolling our children in the nearby neighborhood school. In the summer of that year, 2020, amidst the pandemic, we learned that the Archdiocese of Chicago had committed to opening schools on schedule in August. Catholic schools had taken an outlier position -- a courageous position -- to offer in-person instruction, and to plan with great care to ensure that the first day of school would be in a classroom, and not on a tablet or computer. So, with just days to go before the start of the school year, we made the snap decision to enroll our son Roger in kindergarten at Pope John and ordered a set of uniforms from the Land’s End website. We initially chose Pope John for that combination of courage and care – for going the extra distance for their students during a time of fear and uncertainty. And we have stayed at Pope John for those same reasons.

In our now half decade at PJ23 – where our son Roger is now in 4th grade and our daughter Rose is in 2nd -- we have seen these characteristics of courage and care over and over again in the school’s Principal Dr. Maloney, our Pastor Father Jean-Phillipe, the teaching faculty and staff, students, and across our network of dear PJ23 family friends. This community has the courage to hold students to high academic standards, coupled with the care to engage every learner. Our educators have the courage to resist the easy dominance of educational technologies, and the care to ensure that students have access to the resources and tools necessary to develop as life-long learners. Our leadership has the courage to enforce discipline in the classroom and on the playground, and the care to know each student and to support him or her in social and emotional development. And in our school we witness courage -- sometimes lacking even at Catholic schools - to lead with prayer, to integrate faith formation and sacramental life into the culture, and to take seriously our young people as not just the future of society, but of the Church itself. I will never forget that at dinner, after our son’s first day of kindergarten, how he blessed himself with the Sign of the Cross before partaking in the meal. His teacher, the late, wonderful Miss Judy Rack, had made prayer a priority from day one.

We love the Pope John school, and our own faith as parents, our connection with the parish, and our friendships across Evanston and the surrounding communities have been deeply enriched by and through the experience of our children at this small, caring, and diverse school. We are truly amazed by the measure of academic and artistic accomplishment of PJ23 students, and we are every bit as impressed by their depth of character, contagious joy, and sincerity as young leaders and servants in and beyond the school community.

I ask you to pray for us. And to do whatever you can to ensure that those who would benefit from anything I’ve shared here courageously consider PJ23 school and what a rigorous, faith-filled, and truly joyful Catholic school experience could mean for their children and for their families.”

We are asking you now to support our efforts with a donation today to continue the courageous effort of educating the next generation and supporting them as they take risks, learn responsibility, be creative, share their faith, grow their community, and build courage to be future leaders. Donations to our annual fund are currently covering expenses including playground improvements, curriculum enhancements, enrichment activities for students, and operating costs that go beyond affordable tuition.

In gratitude,

Dr. Mary Maloney, Principal

PJ23 Annual Fund 2025