Mr. Weber comes to Valley Catholic from Blanchet Catholic School in Salem, Ore. serving students in grades 6-12. He has worked as the school’s Principal since 2000 and prior to that was its Vice Principal for three years.

The President of Valley Catholic is responsible for overseeing all management, fiscal, programmatic, and planning activities of the PreK-12 school. Mr. Weber will work closely with the school Board of Directors and supervise and support all school administrators. Major initiatives will be to strengthen the continuity of curriculum development across grade levels as well as to increase the visibility of Valley Catholic School in the Portland area.

Mr. Weber is not new to campus as he spent four years teaching and coaching at Valley Catholic High School from 1993-1997. Weber is a 1987 graduate of Central Catholic High School in Portland and holds a journalism degree from the University of Oregon. He also holds a master’s in teaching from Pacific University.

“We are thrilled to welcome Bob,” said SSMO Ministries President Sr. Adele Marie Altenhofen. “He has a genuine sense of the tradition and values of our unique campus; he is eager to come back and be a part of it again.”

Valley Catholic School Board Chair Tom Cleary said, “The Valley Catholic School Board of Directors is excited to announce the appointment of Mr. Robert Weber. We are pleased to have such a bright, energetic and experienced individual to join us as our school President and are confident he will move Valley Catholic forward in exciting ways. This is a great day for our entire community.”

Mr. Weber will be introduced to the entire faculty and visit the campus frequently in May and June. The school community will hold a welcome event for him when classes resume in September for the 2010-11 school year.
In looking forward to his new role, Mr. Weber said, “My goal is to carry on the traditions established over the past 100 years by the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon and to help Valley Catholic become a stronger, more unified community that shares a common vision of excellence.”

Please visit the Presidential Announcement page to access Mr. Weber’s biography and photo. You will also be able to see the official Valley Catholic press release and read Mr. Weber’s responses to some of the questions posed to him during the interview process.

We welcome Bob, his wife Christina, and his three children, Abby, Grace and Max, to our campus community.

In the last year and a half, the Spizzwinks (?) have sung in Auckland, Bucharest, Fiji, Dublin, Cork, London, Oxford, Brussels, Istanbul, Alexandria, Cairo, Capetown, Port Elizabeth, Costa Rica, Melbourne, as well as dozens of American cities. This year they will sing not only at Valley Catholic but also in Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Brazil, Paraguay, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Burma, Malaysia, California, Nebraska, Missouri, and along the Eastern Seaboard.

The Spizzwinks (?), a lighter-hearted rival to Yale’s other famous choir, the Whiffenpooofs, combine beautiful singing with comedy; their concerts are hits with people of all ages and musical tastes. Check them out here.

We’d love to see everyone at the concert . . . bring your whole family. Tickets are $2 for students and $3 for adults, and there will be a free sausage barbeque for all before the concert; we’ll start serving at 6 p.m. You don’t need to RSVP; we won’t run out of sausages or lemonade.

Philip Lam poses for a photo in the Valley Catholic Music School

Valley Catholic Middle School student Philip Lam has taken high honors in the Oregon Music Educators Association (OMEA) Junior Division competition recently. Philip received a I+ which is the highest score that can be given for his work as a pianist. Philip was also the winner of the Oregon Music Teachers Association (OMTA) 2010 Romantic Festival.

A student of the Valley Catholic Music School, Philip is considering a career in music. Sofia Zalmonova is Philip’s teacher. She remarked that “he is an excellent student to teach, has perfect technique, as is very musical.”

This Sunday at 2 p.m. in the High School auditorium Eloise Kim, our world-class senior pianist, will play her senior concert. Eloise’s recital is hosted by Sr. Juliana Monti and Valley Catholic Music School. Eloise is a musician in well over a million. Next year she will attend The Colburn School of Music, one of the world’s top conservatories (with a full scholarship for all tuition, room, and board for all four years). There is no charge for Eloise’s concert here. Eloise will play for a little over an hour; there will, also, be an intermission.

Here is the afternoon’s program:

• Bach Prelude and Fugue in A Flat Major WTC II
• Beethoven Sonata Op. 109 in E Major
• Chopin Polonaise Fantasie in A Flat Major Op. 61
• Liszt Transcedental Etude No. 11, Harmonies du Soir
• Takemitsu Rain Tree Sketch
• Brahms B Major Trio
• Mendelssohn c minor Trio

Eloise has played all over the world and with many orchestras behind her; she has attended Valley Catholic since 1st grade. This is a unique opportunity for us to see a truly extraordinary Valiant. Do yourself a great favor: join us Sunday.

Reporter Christina Lent from the Beaverton Valley Times has taken a shine to her as well. She came to meet with Eloise last week and wrote a fantastic article about the pianist and her extraordinary talent. You can read the story published today at the link below!

Piano prodigy gets ‘swept up’ in her music

- Submitted by Principal Ross Thomas, Valley Catholic MS & HS

The 47-strong Young Americans cast made three stops in Oregon in October

Fifty Valley Catholic students, aged 9-18, and 50 more from around the Portland Metro area, had the time of their life when the Young Americans came to visit earlier this month. The Young Americans are a California-based performing group who made stops in Beaverton, Enterprise and LaGrande this October during their 2009 Fall International Music Outreach Tour as well as eight other US states. These talented young adults are strong music advocates as well as talented teachers and performers.

They use their own philosophy and methods, developed during The Young Americans’ 47 years of existence, to bring the joy of singing, dancing and performing to 4th-12th graders around the world. Through their Music Outreach Tours, The Young Americans have worked with more than 300,000 young people in public and private schools, (including youth detention centers and prisons) and performed for millions of audiences worldwide.

In each city on the Tour, The Young Americans conduct a 3-day music theater workshop open to the community. These memorable Workshops conclude with a spectacular show that wows the audience and touches the hearts of parents, teachers and the community. Again and again, schools express amazement for the way The Young Americans Workshop lifts spirits and builds self esteem in their students.

The Young Americans were founded in 1962 by successful Hollywood music composer and arranger Milton C. Anderson. They have performed for Presidents and heads of state, won an Academy Award (Oscar), been on national TV and appeared live before a worldwide audience of millions.

The Young Americans International Music Outreach Workshops are open to the public and more information about the Workshop and the tour stops in Oregon can be found on the YA website www.youngamericans.org.

You can read more here.