14 April Letter from Mr. Kelly

Friday in the Octave of Easter

Dear SJS Catholic School Community,

Springtime is awesome!  The warmer weather is a reminder of all the fun outdoor activities that open up this time of year.  But, our staff will be working hard with the students.  We want to cover as much information and gain as many skills as we can.  So, we appreciate your support in making school an important part of your evening.  Thank you for making sure homework and test preparation remain a focus.

It’s exciting to make such great progress here at SJS as we have just a little over a month of school left (the last day of school is May 18th).  We hope your Easter was a time of renewal and relaxation with family.  It seems that today many folks consider Christmas to be the most important day in the Catholic calendar, but from the earliest days of the Church, Easter has been a central Christian feast.  Saint Paul wrote, “If Christ had not been raised, then empty is our preaching, empty too, your faith.”  Without Easter and the resurrection, there simply is no Christian faith.  Easter symbolizes the fulfillment of our faith as Christians.  So, thanks to God for the many blessings of our Easter season.

Everyone makes mistakes.  Adults, teachers, and kids.  That’s just what people do.  And when kids make a mistake, we have an obligation as parents and teachers to help them learn from those mistakes.  And, that can be difficult as no one wants to see their child struggle or be uncomfortable.  But, facing consequences, and learning from mistakes, learning that parents will not be able to save them from poor decisions, is a very important skill for students later in life.  Let’s learn from little mistakes now, so big ones can be avoided.  If we look back at our own childhoods, likely many of the best lessons we learned were when consequences were faced and lessons learned.  So, supervise your students, keep them safe (pay attention to online and cell phone activity) but your support of school and teacher decisions is vital for growth and future success.

Next school year we will have a cool new quarter zip sweatshirt option for the students.  Samples are available in the office if you want to take a look.  The older style SJS sweatshirts, with the large print on the front or back, will no longer be allowed starting next school year.  All uniform sweatshirts can be purchased at Digiorgio Sportswear.  If you are purchasing uniform items for next year outside of a local uniform shop, it is best to check the Dennis Uniform site so make sure your purchase fits our dress code.

Thanks for all you do.

Peace,
William Kelly
Principal