14 February Letter from Mr. Kelly
Memorial of Saints Cyril, monk, and Methodius, bishop
Dear SJS Catholic School Community,
Sixteen high school scholarships! Wow! Way to go, SJS! We presented the high school scholarship winners this past Tuesday, and six Catholic high schools were present. Percentagewise, that is one of the highest number of scholarships given in the diocese. Congratulations to these students and their parents. There is a listing in this week’s virtual backpack. This is just further proof beyond our outstanding standardized test scores, our STAR testing results, our results in contests and competitions, and the success of our graduates, that we are doing great work at SJS. This just shows that when school and home are working together, great things can be accomplished.
The high school scholarships provide us with a chance to reflect on why SJS does so well with scholarships year after year. To me there are three factors that predominately contribute to our success. One, we have outstanding students at SJS. Kids who are overall committed to school and their studies. SJS students simply work hard and display good effort overall. Two, we have parents who are supportive of our academic initiatives and supportive of school and teacher decisions. This parental support makes working with students easier and better. And, we also are blessed with tremendous teachers and staff. Our staff is so very dedicated to helping each student reach their full potential, while infusing Catholic values into lessons. When you combine these elements success is sure to occur. Thank you for your continued support.
We want to have as many good families join our school as possible. We want to create disciples and shape the future of our Church. If you know a family that would be a good fit please have them contact the office for a tour. We have much to offer-we have wonderful students, a dedicated teaching staff, and supportive parishes. Our parents, who can speak to the value of a SJS education, are our best recruiters. There is a Roundup for Preschool and Kindergarten on February 20th-while not mandatory it can give some insight into our school programs.
The Genius Hour for our 1st through 6th grade continues to be a good addition for the school. In fact, SJS is the only Catholic school in the area with the program. It helps to foster creativity and critical thinking skills. It helps students develop research and presentation skills. And the students can learn more about their own passion project and learn about their classmates’ projects as well, so there is great variety of new information. The other day I saw a class present on whales, soccer, and Star Wars. As time goes on the skills developed in Genius hour will help our students in other classes and even after SJS. Thanks to Senora Beran for her hard work with the class.
I know it has been a long winter, and difficult at times to keep the students focused on school. But our staff and students are still working hard, and we have high academic and behavioral expectations for our students. Thank you for all the support you have shown the school. Report cards go out March 19th. And, mark your calendars for our first ever SJS Music Bingo Night! It is like regular bingo, but more musical, and even more fun. This is a school fundraiser and “fun raiser” as we gather together with family and friends. Hope you can join us March 28th
Thanks for all you do.
Peace,
William Kelly
Principal
