Sister Judy Schaefer, the president of Cotter Schools, is always making Cotter a better place to be.

While we were enjoying our ‘no school day’ on Monday December 2, Sister Judy had a faculty meeting discussing Cotter’s future the next couple of years and how to make it the best school possible.

She also discussed the accreditation process. The accreditation process is something that happens every four years, but Cotter received a one year extension because Sister Judy was new. The purpose of the process is to help schools know where they are today. Schools rate themselves in a number of areas and an evaluation team visits the schools and gives their findings to the school. Sister Judy said,  “It’s a good process for schools so they can grow” The team will be visiting Cotter April 3rd and 4th.

Sister Judy also led the faculty through a vision setting process. .Last summer she started to gather data about other Catholic schools to put Cotter’s strengths and weaknesses into clearer perspective..In order to keep Cotter on the right track for the future, Sr. Judy felt like it was important to take stock of where the school is at now. One of the biggest challenges facing Cotter is the declining enrollment in all Winona area schools.

In addition to this visioning process and accreditation, Sister Judy has been working on several other things lately, like fundraising. She has been trying to raise $8 million dollars for the capital campaign, she has also been working on funding a new gym and overseeing the renovation at the Nett center.  Her most important task, however, remains listening to and working with her students.

When asked what some of the most difficult and most enjoyable things about her job are, Sr. Judy said the most difficult thing is talking with kids that weren’t doing their best or getting in trouble, and her most enjoyable part was sharing in students’ successes.. She loves watching Ramblers work hard not just in school, but coming to sporting events and cheering Cotter on.

Sister Judy is excited to see what the future holds for Cotter, and with her leadership there’s confidence that it will be bright.