Charlotte Kelly, principal at Infant Jesus of Prague Catholic School in Flossmoor, has received the Magis Award in recognition of her outstanding work as principal.
She was a teacher at IJP for 15 years before taking on the principal’s position two years ago.
In presenting the award, Jim Rigg, superintendent of Catholic schools, said Kelly is a principal who is considered “a leader among leaders” who works to serve as a mentor to current and future principals.
“Your award is very well deserved…You are truly making a difference through your exceptional leadership,” Rigg told Kelly. He explained that she “embodies the notion of Magis, which is Latin for more, by going beyond the (your) principal role to strengthen the collective leadership of our Archdiocese.”
The announcement of the honor was made during a virtual archdiocesan principals’ meeting, and came as a total surprise to Kelly. A group from the archdiocese school office came to present Kelly with a Magis Award trophy on May 25.
This past school year IJP has teamed up with DePaul University on a program for teachers focusing on social-emotional learning that can help strengthen a student’s identity and self-worth. A second teachers’ program focuses on strengthening Catholic identity as it relates to social justice.
IJP has been selected to be part of a small cohort of Catholic grade schools working on an academic quality program next school year.
Kelly said 2021 archdiocesean academic testing showed IJP students in kindergarten through eighth grade had “growth that was phenomenal” with a 117% improvement in math and 137% improvement in reading.
Catholic schools offered both in-person and remote learning this past school year. Kelly said IJP had a 50-50 split when school started in August 2020, but by the end of the year 80% of the student body was in person. For this coming school year, all students will be attending school in person. Kelly said enrollment numbers for next year are good, and several grade levels have waiting lists.