Dear Cardinal Family,

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the 2024-25 school year at John Paul II High School. As our school family enters into our 20th anniversary year, we have so much gratitude for all those who have brought us to this point in our school’s life. This moment brings to mind words shared by Saint John Paul II to the bishops at the close of Great Jubilee and the start of the new millennium,“Duc in Altum! These words ring out for us today and they invite us to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm, and to look forward to the future with confidence.”  

“Duc in altum!”

Translated this means, “cast out into the deep.”  These are the words Jesus said to Peter after a long day of fishing and empty nets. “One more time friend”, we can imagine Jesus calling out to Peter “duc in altum.” A weary Peter cast out, and his nets were filled. In Jesus’ three words, and in Peter’s actions, and in what happens when the nets fill up, we see that trust in the Lord helps us overcome fear and fills our hearts and minds with the peace and grace that only He can give us.  It is with this kind of trust, peace, and grace that we embark on a new year together. 

As we commemorate our past, we acknowledge the growth and successes we have achieved in twenty years. We consider the challenges and traditions that have brought us to a place where we call ourselves a Cardinal family. Truly, there is gratitude in our hearts for the faculty, families, and students who have made John Paul II a school we speak about with love. 

Beginning a new school year now, we open our hearts to the enthusiasm and joy of coming back to campus. We are excited to see friends, reunite with faculty and alumni, and welcome new members into our Cardinal family. We have hope that our hearts and minds will be set ablaze with lessons learned through all facets of student life on campus, and all the corners of the world that our experiences will take us this year. Making the most of the present, we seek to serve our Lord and one another as we walk through the doors each day.

On the brink of a new year we look with confidence in the future. With His blessing upon us, and through the intercession of Saint John Paul II, we have courage to cast out into the deep and know that with love and joy in the Lord, the future of the Cardinal family will be bountiful in ways we cannot even know today.  

With the past to guide us, the present to inspire us, and the future that awaits us, may we embrace our mission together in this year ahead. 

God bless,

Casey Buckstaff

President
 

“Novo Millennio Ineunte (6 January 2001) | John Paul II.”

Principal's welcome