11 March Letter from Mr. Kelly
Friday of the First Week of Lent
Dear SJS Catholic School Community,
One of the blessings of our Catholic faith is the role of the saints. The example that saints provide can be a powerful teaching tool for us Catholic educators, and parents. And their intercession for our prayers is a valuable aspect of our faith. We will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day next Thursday with our annual green day (students can be out of uniform if wearing something green or related to Ireland). The story of St. Patrick does show the power that a true believer can have. If that story intrigues you or your student there are many other interesting saints to discover. Ireland alone has nearly 300 saints associated with the island.
On Monday we will be in the 4th quarter, this gives us the chance to think about progress being made in Math. As you know, at SJS we also have an expectation that the addition and subtraction facts will be mastered by the end of 2nd grade, and multiplication and division mastered by the end of 4th grade. Mastery means the ability to recall the answer very quickly. If your student does not reach that expectation yet, we will continue to work with them, but your help will be needed, practice goes a long way. Just a reminder, our teachers use the data from STAR testing, Terra Nova testing, our own SJS benchmark tests, and the curriculum, to make decisions that drive instruction. Thank you, SJS teachers and staff.
Report cards will go home next Friday. Please sign and return the envelopes. These can serve as a good tool for creating goals for the 4th quarter. Perhaps an emphasis needs to be placed on studying. Homework completion on time is always an important skill. Maybe focus during class needs to be addressed. If you need assistance in composing a goal for your student feel free to reach out to our fine SJS teaching staff.
Do not forget to get your school registration materials turned in please. Preschool and PreK in particular are filling up quickly. If you have any issues and would like to visit with me, feel free to call. We are in the process of planning for materials and staffing for next school year. Your registration is the most important part of that process. So, we strongly encourage all registrations to be in as soon as possible.
As you buy uniforms for next school year or the springtime, please remember all uniform items are to be purchased at a uniform store, or uniform section of a department store. So pants, shirts, and shorts should be uniform pants, shirts, and shorts, not just the correct color. Uniform clothing is cut and styled in such a way that makes it appropriate for our school setting. Thank you for your support. It is always best to check the Dennis Uniform site to see if what you are purchasing actually fits our school uniform expectations.
We will be looking to further tweak some of our COVID procedures if the numbers continue to drop in the school and community. Please keep up your vigilance, particularly over Easter break, as we would like to continue to make further tweaks by the end of the year. Thanks for all you do.
Peace,
William Kelly
Principal
