Grandparents/Grandfriends Day Mass with First & Eighth Grade
February 6, 2024
Dear Families,
Well, that was lovely! A huge thank you to our First and Eighth graders for leading us in a beautiful Mass last Friday with our Grandparents and Grandfriends. And the sack lunch that followed was also very special! Banchero Hall and classrooms were overflowing with guests and visitors sharing good food and good conversation. It was a wonderful community event to cap off a successful Catholic Schools Week! A thank you to all our volunteers who helped with hospitality.
Parish Appreciation on Wednesday started with an all school assembly to present thank you gifts of plants and pastries to the parish staff followed by Father Colin visiting all the classrooms for a blessing. Thursday brought Student Appreciation Day with an exciting Eighth Grade versus Teachers Volleyball Game in the gym. Mr. Talevich again provided a play-by-play to capture all the exciting moments. The gym was filled to capacity as students with signs for both 8th grade and teachers circled the gym and cheered. We capped the day off with popsicles for all outside and no homework! Thank you to all the wonderful students in our school!
At Prayer Assembly yesterday morning, Mrs. Rain highlighted an important message from Sunday’s Gospel. This is what she said: “This Gospel is about service and healing. Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law and her immediate response is a response of service. When God touches our lives, when He brings joy into our lives, then we want to bring that same joy to others. That’s the power of God’s love.” That message resonates with the work we do at St. Anne School to cultivate hearts of service in our students. It is a fitting focus for our week. This message relates to a goal from our Five Year Plan that our School Commission has begun work on. One focus of our Catholic Identity goal is to generate vision and guiding statements to further service learning in our students. This work will help us highlight the meaningful service activity that we currently engage in as well as plan additional meaningful service work.
The Father/Daughter Dance on Sunday was a huge success. I had reports from students about how fun it was for everyone. I think there were some tired students on Monday! A thank you to our Parent Association chairs, Minou Reisinger and Kris Lund for gathering the volunteers and supplies needed to make this event happen.
Uniform Notes: I took time on Monday, after our Prayer Assembly, to speak with our Middle School Students about adhering to our uniform policy. I spoke about how school is a different place than home–there is a slight formality to it. We “suit up” as we come into this place in a way that levels the playing field and helps us focus on the learning. It is not unusual that at this time of year we need a reminder to check that we are wearing school uniform sweatshirts and to lengthen skirts that have become too short. I also asked them to work hard on self-regulation around this issue so that I do not have to work on it. I am happy to support them with conversation as necessary but my days are full of many tasks that need to get done and I appreciate their support in managing it themselves. Thank you for being responsive to your student’s uniform needs.
This week as part of Partners in the Gospel, our Parish Family was announced and includes St. Anne Parish, Our Lady of Fatima Parish and Sacred Heart Parish. Here is the reflection on this step of the process from our Superintendent Nicholas Ford:
“This past weekend, our new parish families were announced. With their introduction, we have taken another step forward in this process. I believe the gift of Partners in the Gospel is the way that it calls each of us—and each of our schools and parish families—to work toward a common mission while recognizing the unique gifts we each bring to this work. This understanding will allow Partners to take different shapes in various communities, all while renewing a Church where “more young people [are] on fire with the faith, more people [encounter] Christ in the sacraments, more robust outreach ministries [serve] the marginalized, and churches are full every Sunday and Holy Day to give praise and thanks to God.”
As Archbishop Etienne noted in his letter, “the road ahead will have its twists and turns, and may seem long and rugged at times, but the Lord will always be there as our companion and guide.” It is this confidence in Christ’s presence with us throughout this journey that reminds me that while “no [single] program accomplishes the Church’s mission [and] no set of goals and objectives includes everything,” Partners in the Gospel provides “an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and [complete that which lies beyond our efforts].”
In our school communities, we will experience doubt and uncertainty. These are natural expressions in times of change. And though we cannot predict any outcome as we move forward, the gift we can offer our communities is the hope of our faith and the assurance that we will continue to walk together throughout this process.”
I will keep all of you updated as this process moves forward.
There is no school on Friday due to our Regional Curriculum Day. Teachers will be participating in a variety of in-services. We will gather in the afternoon to share what we have learned, review our safety and emergency plans and review and plan around our test data.
Dates for your Calendar
- Thursday, Feb. 8: Middle School FREE DRESS
- NO SCHOOL Friday Feb. 9: Regional Curriculum Day
- Tuesday, February 13: Red, Pink and White Free Dress and Celebration of Valentine’s Day
- Wednesday, February 14, 8:45am: Ash Wednesday Mass
- No School: February 19-23
- State of the School: March 5
Stay Well,
Heidi
