December 10 Principal Post

Fifth Graders!

St. Anne School

Empowering a New Century ☩ Faith, Learning & Service

Our Mission

The mission of St. Anne School, in partnership with parents and the parish family, is to provide a quality Catholic education that promotes educational excellence, fosters the living of Gospel values, builds Christian community and inspires compassionate service.

2024-25 School Theme: “Guide me in your truth and teach me.” –Psalm 25

Dear Families,

I hope all of you are enjoying the blessings of these beautiful, crisp, winter days. Today the second grade led us in our Advent reflection and song. Each day of Advent we read from “Advent Storybook–24 Stories to Share Before Christmas”. We journey with a little bear on the way to Bethlehem. Each day the little bear encounters a challenge or meets someone who faces an obstacle. Through each story we learn something special about God’s grace.  We then listen as a couple of our seventh graders share a reflection on someone who has guided and supported them. We ended today’s Advent service with lighting two of the candles and singing two verses of our advent song. All are welcome at our morning Advent service.

At our assembly today, we also had our SLE drawing! Congratulations to the following students whose names were drawn:

An Active Person of Faith: Ellorie A.

A Life-Long Learner: Arthur L.

A Globally Aware Person: Max R.

A Well Balanced Person: Cyrus C

And thank you to all the other students whose names were in the drawing for one of the SLE categories.  The work you do to learn, grow and make our school a better place is appreciated.

Report Cards went home today. This is an important tool to communicate student progress and learning. Use this as an opportunity to open up a conversation with your child about school–what they are enjoying about their learning in each subject and what areas they want to focus on to improve their growth. In our classrooms, teachers emphasize having a growth mindset. In the book: “The Growth Mindset Coach”, they define a growth mindset as: “The belief that with practice, perseverance, and effort, people have limitless potential to learn and grow. People operating in the growth mindset tackle challenges with aplomb, unconcerned with making mistakes or being embarrassed, focusing instead on the process of growth.” Cultivating these attributes in our students through reflection on their report card strengthens their learning. Don’t forget to take a moment to celebrate all the work students have done during these last few months!

State of the School: Save the date for this delightful and mandatory presentation by your school principal: Tuesday, January 7, 2025, 6-7:30pm.  This event is a critical way to ensure our families are well informed about school finances, school mission, school programs and school initiatives. An engaged, knowledgeable parent body is critical to school strength and positive growth. This year is particularly important as we engage in our accreditation self study and do the work to set school goals that will guide us over the next six years. In an effort to make this evening positive and enjoyable for all, we will be hosting a “social hour” from 6-6:30pm. All our parent leadership teams (room parents, parent association chairs, auction chairs and school commission members) will be there to meet and greet and host a table with drinks and snacks. It will be a great place to build further connections and find ways to get involved. Added good news: you get two volunteer hours for attending and you can pick up a free dress pass for your students.  We are pulling out all the stops for this wonderful event!

Gratitude:

  • Thank you to the Parent Association for hosting the Holiday Movie Night on Sunday–it was a fun and cozy event. 
  • The campus continues to get greener! Thank you to the ongoing work of Edna Maddalena for managing the greening of the grounds initiative from last year’s auction fund-it. We are also putting a maintenance plan in place to ensure that the plants continue to grow and thrive and our campus is a beautiful place to be. 

Although December is a short school month, it is packed with so many wonderful activities and events. Don’t forget these important upcoming dates:

  • Thursday, December 12: PJ Free Dress Day
  • Wednesday, December 18, 1:15 & 6:30pm: Christmas Pageant
  • Friday, December 20, 11:30am: All school sing-a-long
  • Friday, December 20: NOON DiSMISSAL
  • Monday, January 6: Return to school 
  • Tuesday, January 7: 6-7:30pm: Mandatory State of the School

 

Parish News:  

  • #iGiveCatholic – St. Anne 2024: What a success–we can look forward to some improvements for Banchero Hall among other important initiatives!  Here is the news: As of December 3, St. Anne has raised $13,093, surpassing our third goal! We extend our heartfelt thanks to the 33 generous donors who helped us reach this milestone. While online giving has officially concluded, there is still an opportunity to contribute offline for those who wish to participate. Your support is deeply appreciated and truly makes a difference!
  • First goal: $3,000 will go to Martha’s Workers – St. Anne’s outreach ministry that prepares and delivers food to those in need
  • Second goal: $6,000 will go towards Martha’s Workers AND purchase new folding tables and chairs for the Assembly Room and Narthex
  • Third goal: $10,000 will go towards goals 1 and 2 AND to purchase a new screen projector and rolling podium for Banchero Hall
  • To learn more please visit: https://tinyurl.com/y2rmzvwv

Blessings to all,

Heidi