17 September Letter from Mr. Kelly
September 17, 2021
Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Dear SJS Catholic School Community,
I have shared that one of the important steps this year is to make sure sick students stay out of school. And we have been doing a great job of that. Thanks so much for your efforts and your cautious approach. But of course, it’s also very important for you parents to stay healthy as well. If you get sick or have COVID, it’s simply more likely your kids will get sick as well. So we encourage you to make sure you put your kids in safe situations, but also do your best to take care of yourself and avoid risk whenever you can. And, just a reminder, we are mask encouraged and you can send a mask with your student.
One of the best parts about SJS I think is that parents care so much about the school and making progress. We also take great pride as a staff in moving forward and advancing the students academically and spiritually. Our students are learning from their teachers and making good progress. But we can only get so far if students do not follow school rules. Those of us who have been in education a bit know that the key to changing student performance or behavior is support from home. If home and school are working together significant progress can be made. If students sense that parents do not buy into school decisions there simply will be little progress. So, with midterms coming out that may be something to consider for the rest of the quarter. Thank you for your continued support.
We are going to continue with Terra Nova testing the last week in September. This data helps us to monitor student progress, and helps us know if our School Improvement Plan is effective. Please make sure your students are present, rested, and ready to test in grades 3-8. This is not anything we want the students to be worried about, but we do use the results for school planning. It’s simply a tool for us. So, an accurate measure of the abilities of our students can only occur if students are present and ready to test. Thank you for your help.
There was a change made to the Safe Environment policy that Catholic schools follow. Essentially, all adults who have contact with students are to be Safe Environment trained. No matter how small that contact may seem. We just have to make sure we are following the expectations given to us by the Archdiocese. You can find a listing of Safe Environment trainings at https://archomaha.org/safe-
Thanks for all you.
William Kelly
Principal
