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Following Are Archived Copies Of Previously Published
Commentaries
From St. Pius X School Principal Ted Caron, Ph.D. |
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PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER The 8th grade students assigned to "8A math" took the Algebra I Core 40 exam which is an assessment given to most 9th graders at the conclusion of their first year of high school mathematics. Benchmarked according to the 9th grade algebra curriculum as set forth by the Indiana state standards, the Core 40 gauges student achievement in areas including but not limited to linear equations and inequalities, polynomials and quadratic equations. Because these students are exposed to many algebraic concepts over the course of the 8th grade year, Mrs. Ringwald and I felt it was important to assess how well these students would perform on a 9th grade algebra exam. The results are in, and they are very positive. With a scale score of 579 required to pass the exam (scale scores are measures used to help standardize student results), the average scale score for the twenty-five students who took the test was 621. As a whole, students performed particularly well in the areas of "linear equations" and "polynomials." These scores corroborate the impressive performance of our middle school students on ISTEP+. Even for those of you with younger children who may be more concerned with two-digit addition than quadratics, I thought you would be interested to know about these results. We will continue to use this assessment in the future as a way to assess 8th grade students' success in algebra.
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Last Tuesday night, as part of a "New Family Mentor Night," we welcomed twenty-three of the currently-registered, twenty-seven new families who will be joining the school in the fall. In addition to introducing families to many of the specific school policies, procedures and events, we also heard from many of our volunteers about the programs that help to add so much richness to students and parents’ experiences at the school. We also assigned each new family a mentor family who will serve as a helpful point of contact throughout the summer and into the first year at the school. It was a great event! There was a great sense of enthusiasm and spirit, and, thanks to Edie Witchger and Eileen Countryman, it was exceptionally well-organized. Many thanks to all of you who, as mentor families or presenters, attended the event!
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Earlier this year, the school, under the leadership of the Cool To Be Kind Committee, hired Janice Gabe to assist the school in developing strategies to confront bullying behaviors. Last Thursday afternoon, Janice visited the school to begin a conversation with teachers and staff as to how we should conceive of our role in counteracting these behaviors. Her presentation focused on many of the subtle forms of ostracism and exclusion—dismissive looks or provocative comments—that aren’t always recognized as bullying behaviors (she termed this "indirect aggression"). Janice also spent a lot of time discussing the importance of empathy enhancement among students. Identifying this skill as the most fundamental in helping to mitigate instances of bullying, Janice emphasized how important it is for students to understand the implications of their words and actions on others. She concluded her presentation by talking about how conversations with students should focus specifically on these questions: (1) What they did to hurt another student; (2) What was wrong with what they did; and (3) How did they know they hurt the student. These kinds of questions can help engender students’ sense of empathy. Janice’s visit is just the beginning of what I hope is an ongoing effort to examine how we, as a Catholic community, can help to promote empathic behaviors—behaviors that strike at the heart of the Gospels’ message. This fall, we will be inviting Janice back to the school to speak with parents (students as well perhaps). Further, the Cool To Be Kind Committee is also considering how we can adjust our Student Handbook to better reflect our commitment to provide students a safe and nurturing environment. For those that are interested, you can find a copy of Janice’s Powerpoint presentation (she covered only about 30% in her talk on Thursday) on Edline ("Principal’s Corner", "General Info"). In addition to the points I’ve summarized, the Powerpoint also highlights the issue of cyberbullying in some detail. We also to intend to upload an annotated summary of Janice’s presentation. These will also be available on Edline. I look forward to continued conversations about this issue upon our return to school in the fall.
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER With all that’s going on in this final month of school, I thought I’d use this space to provide some updates on upcoming events/dates:
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Monday, April 28th, many of our volunteers gathered in Ross Hall to honor the important role they play in the St. Pius X school community. While I was attending our 6th grade retreat today, I wanted to be sure to take an opportunity to say "thank you" to all of you who give so much of your time and talent to the school. Not only are you so willing to help out in so many different ways—at recess, during lunch, in the classrooms, on the athletic fields, on School Commission, in the office—but you bring your intelligence, thoughtfulness and enthusiasm to all you do! In a personal way, I want to say thank you to all of you who have been so helpful to me during the course of the year. I can’t begin to count all of the events for which you have taken a central organizational and/or leadership role. Thank you! May God continue to bless our school with supportive parents!
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Welcome back to our 8th graders who spent much of last week touring our nation’s capital. Thanks to Mrs. Doebbeling, whose brother, Chris Carney, is a member of the House of Representatives (from Pennsylvania), we were able to arrange a private tour of the Capitol Building while Congress was in session. I’m told the students saw Speaker Pelosi from the gallery! With subsequent visits to, among other places, Arlington National Ceremony, Mount Vernon, the Pentagon, and the Holocaust Museum, the trip serves as a way to help our middle school students understand the historical significance of Presidents, military conflicts and national institutions and traditions. In the spring and fall of 2007, we discussed whether the benefits of an 8th grade trip to Washington DC outweighed some of the associated safety concerns entailed in students traveling here. This was a constructive discussion about a trip about which many in our school community had fond memories. With our 8th graders home safe and sound, I’m thankful for the enthusiasm of parents and openness of teachers to return to Washington for this trip. In a special way, I want to thank the chaperones—Mrs. Taber, Mrs. Hansen, Mr. Jennings, Mrs. Hyre, Mrs. Walsh, Mr. Ford, Mr. Hoffmire and Mrs. Leonard—for their energy in keeping track of fifty 8th graders! Lastly, I’d like to thank our 8th grade students who, not surprisingly, represented our school and parish community so well! PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER
With 2008-09 tuition figures released a few weeks ago, I’m sure some of you noticed an increase of approximately 7.5% from this past year. As I communicated in a letter accompanying the release of tuition costs, there are myriad factors that account for tuition increases, one of which is the continued enhancement and expansion of school programs, operations and experiences. I can appreciate the sacrifices each of you makes to send your child to a Catholic school, and adjusting your personal finances to account for even modest increases in tuition isn’t always easy. In this light, I’d like to make three brief points:
3) Lastly, different from the overwhelming majority of Catholic schools, St. Pius X does not charge families an annual registration fee or any recurring fee to cover costs. While we do ask families to subsidize the costs of field trips and after-school experiences and while families utilizing our resource program are asked to pay a semi-annual subsidy, there is no across-the-board fee we charge to families for reenrolling their children at the school. All things being equal, St. Pius X’s tuition, as a result of not charging a registration fee, is comparatively lower than that of schools who do charge these routine fees. With tuition increasing for next year, I thought it was important to put these figures in the appropriate context. Many thanks for your continued support of the school!
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER I hope each of you had a blessed Easter. A few events of which I would like you to be aware:
With the help of Angie Hyre, Alexa Puscas and the teachers, the 5th and 6th grade classes will be going on retreat. These day-long retreats will be held at the Louis Jenn Memorial Park in Lawrence and are scheduled for Monday, April 21st (5th) and Monday, April 28th (6th). The theme of both retreats is friendship. We have lots of team-building and faith-sharing activities planned! Have a restful and safe spring break!
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER While I’ve only been at the school for a short time, I’ve been here long enough to understand the important role we assign to history and tradition. One of the people that has been with us for much of this history is Mrs. Madonna Hankee. To say that she is an excellent teacher only tells part of the story. Her gentle and prayerful disposition has had a profound effect on so many of us (including some of you that may have had her as a teacher). I am sad to report that at the end of this school year, Mrs. Hankee will be retiring from St. Pius X. While we will make every effort to find a capable replacement, no one will be able to replace Madonna. Her service to this school has been extraordinary! As a way to say "thank you", on May 17th after the 5pm mass, we are planning to celebrate Mrs. Hankee’s service to the parish and school with a gathering in the narthex. Mrs. Hankee wanted to communicate to each of you how much she appreciates the time she’s spent here. This is a letter she wanted me to share with you: Dear Children and Parents, Thank you for all the many blessings that have come my way through your many acts of kindness. I have said for twenty-six years that I have the best job in the world. But even the best of situations have a conclusion and I am now preparing to move on into the unknown world of retirement. I will always look back with fondness on my years at SPX and will remember with gratitude the many lives who have touched mine. Thank you so much for that gift and God bless you. Sincerely, PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER As many of you might know already, the state has approved some changes to ISTEP+ that will be effective starting in spring 2009. In an effort to more accurately reflect the knowledge that students accumulate over the course of a school year, the state will be moving the administration of the ISTEP+ assessment to the spring. What does that mean for our students next school year? In September, our 3-8th grade students will take the regularly scheduled ISTEP+ assessment in English/language arts and mathematics. As part of a transition plan, 3-8th grade students will also take the English/language arts and mathematics sections in the spring. The spring administrations are separated into an open-ended section (short answer responses and essays) and a multiple-choice section.The open-ended section is scheduled for early March whereas the multiple choice section is not to take place until the last week of April/first week of May. In effect, these changes will bring with them three separate ISTEP+ administrations for next year (In future years, ISTEP+ will take place only in the spring). I’ve added these dates to next year’s calendar (posted on Edline—Principal’s Corner, General Info). The ISTEP+ schedule is not only the element that will change. In the spring, students in grades 4 and 6 will also take the science version of ISTEP+ (students in grade 5 and 7 will take the science version in the fall), and students in grades 5 and 7 will take a new social studies version. These changes will provide us with meaningful data on students’ performance in these areas, however, particularly in the case of next year, we will see a significant increase in the amount of instructional time we lose to testing. You can learn more about ISTEP+ by accessing the "ISTEP+ Infocenter" on the Indiana Department of Education page (http://www.doe.state.in.us/istep/welcome.html). PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER I want to relate a story to you that struck me as emblematic of how vital and pervasive community is to what we do here at St. Pius X. A couple of weeks ago, after giving an out-of-town parent a tour of the school, I scheduled a "shadow" experience for his son to visit the school (the family is planning to enroll their child starting in the fall). The other parent, the boy’s mother, happened to be the one who dropped the boy off on the day he was scheduled to shadow. I met her around 8am, escorted the boy to the classroom and spoke to the mom briefly. With it being Wednesday, she let me know she planned to attend mass and then get some errands done around the city. She was scheduled to return to the school around 2:30 so I could give her a tour and discuss any questions she had. Upon her return at 2:30, I asked her how she spent her day in Indianapolis. With a smile on her face, she relayed the details of her day: You’ll never believe what happened to me! After mass, a parent [I won’t identify her] saw that I had an out-of-town license plate. So she introduced herself to me, and invited me to have coffee with a group of friends. I told the group that I have an 8th grade son who had had a positive experience at a school on the south side. The group told me that we have some fine high schools on the north side of the city that might allow us an opportunity to be a part of the community around where we plan to live. After coffee, she took me over to see Bishop Chatard and, later, to Cathedral High School. I can’t believe how kind everyone has been to me! I was so touched by this story. Without knowing anyone at the school, she was provided the kind of Catholic hospitality and generosity that is such a hallmark of this parish. With the number of you who go out of your way to welcome new members of our school and parish community as well as volunteer your time in various ways at the school, I can’t help but be proud to be a part of this community! PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER In the past three weeks alone, I’ve given or set up more than fifteen tours for prospective parents and students. Most of these families have had some prior experience at a neighboring school that shapes their thoughts and beliefs about what a school should offer. While these families have different reasons for seeking out information about St. Pius X, what is common among almost all of them is a clear concern for not only the academic but, even more pervasively, the socio-emotional development of their child. I’ve heard several stories from parents that reference negative experiences their child has had with one or a group of other children. Given these conversations, I am even more convinced that the school’s ongoing efforts to address how students treat and intervene on behalf of one another is central to our mission as a Catholic school. Although we cannot guarantee that each child will be treated compassionately all of the time, we, as a school community, can provide children a nurturing and inclusive atmosphere in which to thrive. This requires us to be aware of and communicate situations where students are purposefully mistreating others. And, through informal conversations, curricular integrations, retreats (planning has started for separate 5th and 6th grade retreats) and discussion opportunities for parents and teachers, we must strive to help students recognize the virtue of kindness. Prospective and current parents alike should expect this from their Catholic school!
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER We made several changes to the middle school schedule this past year. We added Spanish as a core academic subject for students in 7-8th grade; introduced a weekly, fifty minute block of time where students "Drop Everything And Read"; 6th graders are introduced to current events through a weekly "Social Studies Concepts" class; and electives were replaced with an additional science and math class for our 7th graders and, for our 8th graders, a "Great Books" seminar, classes in speech and debate and an interdisciplinary "Collaborative Projects" class. At this point in the year, I am beginning to reexamine our schedule to determine what, if any changes, we should make to improve the curricular offerings for our students. While I don’t see any substantive changes looming, I do see a few opportunities to capitalize on what has worked. Toward this goal, I plan to meet with a group of middle school teachers in the upcoming weeks to discuss changes they see as important. However, for those of you that have middle school students, I would be interested in your thoughts as well. Drawing upon your own perspective and the experiences your child has shared with you, what is your assessment of the changes we’ve made to the schedule? What improvements would you like to see in upcoming years? Those parents who are interested in responding may do so by clicking on the following link: http://www.quia.com/sv/167321.html. Thank you in advance! PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Last week, through my weekly email and in this newsletter, I asked that we do a better job of attending to students during after-school athletic events and other extra-curricular activities. I wanted to use this week's Principal Corner to reiterate how important I view this issue. Last week, I happened to be staying late for a meeting and, on more than one occasion, observed St. Pius and non-St. Pius students playing in the lobby. While I understand that siblings may not always be interested in watching their brothers or sisters play sports, my fear is that students who are left unsupervised may make poor decisions that negatively affect their safety. With the glass trophy cases located in the lobby, there is bound to be an accident that could result in a student getting seriously hurt. Further, the open areas of the school often contain equipment (e.g. play props, kitchen materials, art supplies, etc.) that students should not be touching. I've asked our coaches to help me to enforce this message to the players whom they coach. Similarly, I would ask for your help in reiterating this message to your children. Should any of you see any non-St. Pius students running in the hallways or through Ross Hall, I would also appreciate your help in reminding them of the school's policy. Many thanks in advance! PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER I want to make all of you aware of a few important items relating to the school:
Please join us tomorrow night at 6:30pm in the church where Sergeant Michael Hornbrook will be speaking to parents about the importance of monitoring students’ Internet usage. He will be speaking to all 5th-8th grade students earlier in the day. PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER During the course of the past several months, there have been ample discussions about the possibility of expanding the availability of our school lunch program to five days per week. These discussions reflect the success and popularity of a unique lunch program that draws exclusively upon the volunteerism of a large and committed group of parents. For several reasons, I, in consultation with the School Lunch Leadership Team and the PTO Executive Committee, have opted not to expand the lunch program to five days at this time. There are several reasons for this. First, we anticipated that in hiring a Kitchen Manager, he/she, among other responsibilities, would be able to provide us with much-needed assistance should we decide to expand the lunch program. Ms. Shari Jenkins, who has, since September, served as a helpful interim consultant for the lunch program, is finalizing plans to purchase a new restaurant in the Indianapolis area. We still have not found an ideal candidate to serve as the school’s permanent Kitchen Manager. As such, adding two days per week to our existing program without the support of a paid staff member would place an inordinate burden on the existing group of volunteers who already gives so much of their time to the school. Secondly, I fear that the addition of two lunches per week could further exacerbate existing challenges related to egress (i.e. getting students through the serving line with enough time to eat) and storage (i.e. having enough refrigerator and freezer space to accommodate more lunches). Discussions about the parish master plan have implicated these areas, however without any immediate answers to these challenges, I believe it is more prudent not to rush into such a decision. Thirdly, while I understand that moving to a five-day program would be helpful for families who enjoy the convenience and nutritional benefits of our lunches, I do not see an urgency for us to move in this direction. Our current three-day program is extraordinarily successful in the way it offers parents healthy and fun food choices for their children. Thus, I feel comfortable in continuing to offer our program as it is currently structured while we decide what, if any steps we should take to move forward. The School Lunch Leadership Team and I will continue to consider the prospects of hiring a Kitchen Manager (I would encourage any of you with an interest to contact me) while continuing to bring new, fresh ideas to the lunch program. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to talk about any of these issues in greater detail. PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Since Edline was adopted a few years ago, we’ve seen a growing number of parents (in grades 4-8) rely upon it as a vehicle for reviewing students’ grades. Last year, the teachers and I agreed that students’ grades would be uploaded to Edline no less than every two weeks (by the 15th and 30th of the month). While most teachers are updating grades more frequently than this, we felt as though this time window would allow parents to consistently monitor students’ academic progress. With the number of parents who have utilized Edline for this purpose, it strikes me as redundant for the school to continue to provide "paper" progress reports in the middle of each quarter. In essence, the routine updates that are available to parents on Edline have made these paper progress reports less important and less necessary. As such, effective this quarter, we will cease sending paper progress reports home with our 4th-8th grade students. In light of the fact that students’ grades are not available to our 3rd grade parents on Edline, we will continue to send home paper progress reports in this grade. If, at some later date, we made our third grade grades available on Edline, we would, after some transition period, go "paperless" in this grade as well. PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER In light of the accessibility and safety concerns related to certain Internet sites such as MySpace and Facebook as well as chat sites such as Instant Messenger, we have invited Sergeant Michael Holbrooke from the cybercrimes division of the Marion County Sheriff’s Department to talk to 5th-8th grade students at the school. He is scheduled to present at 1:15pm on Tuesday, February 5th in the church. Sergeant Holbrooke, who spoke at the school a few years ago, has extensive experience in investigating Internet-related crimes. In reflecting on his years of experience in this area, he plans, among other points, to present to students the dangers in sharing information with strangers over the Internet. As a way to reinforce the importance of parental oversight of children’s Internet usage, he will be presenting to parents at 6:30pm that same evening in the church. Even if you do not have an older child in the school, I would certainly encourage you to attend this evening session. PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Welcome back! I hope each of you had an enjoyable Christmas with your families. With almost half of the year completed, I wanted to take an opportunity to share some of the highlights from first semester:
These are just a few of the
many highlights we’ve experienced thus far this school year. PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Over the course of the past several weeks, Mrs. DeGan’s son Scott has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Although he is currently in remission, there is a high risk of the lymphoma returning so, sometime early in January, he will receive a bone marrow transplant from his identical twin brother. Following the procedure, Scott will need at least a few weeks of intensive treatment. As such, Mrs. DeGan will take about a month-long leave of absence to be with him. She expects to return at the beginning of February. Mrs. Cook, who has been working on a part-time basis at the school, will assume full-time duties beginning January 7th. She and Mrs. DeGan have spent a lot of time in the past week discussing how best to ensure a smooth transition. Mrs. Cook will be assuming responsibilities for both the 6th grade study skills class as well as the weekly blocks of time dedicated to 6-8th resource assistance. She will also be working with the middle school teachers to identify the best times to see students in need of assistance. We’ll surely miss Mrs. DeGan’s presence at the school, however we’re also fortunate to have a capable replacement in Mrs. Cook. If you see Mrs. DeGan before Christmas recess, please let her know that we’re all thinking and praying for her son to return to good health! We look forward to her return in early February. PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER The Indiana State Test for Educational Progress Plus (ISTEP+) is the primary standardized test used by St. Pius X and other public and private schools across the state to assess the ability of students’ in grades 3-8 to meet the state standards in English/language Arts, mathematics and, in grades five and seven only, science. Although individual student results vary from year to year, this year’s aggregate scores are consistent with the high performance St. Pius X students have demonstrated in recent years. Because passing rates are typically so high for students in the school, it is not always helpful to examine small fluctuations in the percentage of students who passed the test. Instead of conducting this kind of analysis of the scores, I believe it is more constructive to examine the performance of the same group of students over time. In examining the chart below (one that has already been made available to parents in the letter accompanying students’ individual score reports), I would encourage you to track the performance of a certain grade of students over the course of the past three years. For example, if your child was in third grade in the 2005-06 school year, you can track the performance of his/her grade by referencing the rows that reflect the third, fourth and fifth grades for the 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 school years.
In examining these results, you will notice two positive trends:
Any statistical analysis of ISTEP+ scores merits some caution as changes in scores can reflect myriad factors that influence student results. In some cases, a lack of exposure to certain curriculum items eventuate in students underperforming on certain parts of the assessment. In other cases, there may be significant achievement gains from a particular student or among a subset of students, however, given the "cut score" used to determine who passes and who doesn’t, this growth may not be evident in the data. Given these limitations, the school—through the Office of Catholic Education--is working with a research firm to identify, in a much more detailed way, how student performance grows over time. Once this data is available, I will be working with the teachers to identify what this data means for our school. In fact, this data will be an important source of information in identifying annual performance goals. If you have further questions about the results or what conclusions we draw from them, please don’t hesitate to contact me. PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Many thanks to all of you who attended our Blue Ribbon festivities over the weekend. I want to issue a special "thank you" to Kathy Laudick, Jenny Myers, Amy Beausir, Leisa Smith, Laurie McCormick and all of the other volunteers who did such a wonderful job in organizing and participating in the Friday and Saturday events. I also want to thank all of the teachers and students who participated in the mass on Saturday evening. Celebrating the Blue Ribbon Award in the context of a mass attests to the importance of the quote in the picture in the front lobby of the school: "Be it known to all who enter here that Christ is the reason for this school." With all of the recent activities commemorating our Blue Ribbon Award, I think it’s important to remember that we continue to work to make this school a place where students can thrive. While we certainly have many obvious strengths that reflect the very best of what a Catholic school has to offer, we also understand that there are areas of growth that should serve as a basis for improvement. As such, the faculty and I will be convening this week as part of a year-long effort to discuss a long-range plan for improving students’ academic achievement and spiritual development. While this process is required as part of our state and Archdiocesan accreditation cycle, we view this as an opportunity to reestablish school goals and develop effective ways to meet them. As we move forward in developing this plan, I would encourage you to offer your input as to those areas of the academic and/or religious education program that you believe should serve as a basis for school improvement. I have set up the following link whereby you can offer these comments: http://www.quia.com/sv/150298.html. I look forward to keeping you informed of my and the staff’s efforts to continue to make this a Blue Ribbon School!
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER With all that is happening at the school, I thought I would take an opportunity to update you and recap some developments from the past few weeks:
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER I finally have some details to pass along about the celebrations we have planned to commemorate our recent Blue Ribbon Award. On Friday, November 30th at 1pm, Todd Zoelling, a regional representative from the United States Department of Education, will be visiting the school to present us with the award. A small committee of parents and teachers has helped to put together a short program to complement Mr. Zoelling’s remarks. Should his schedule allow, Dr. Ron Costello, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, will also be in attendance. The following evening, December 1st, at the regularly scheduled 5pm mass, we are planning a student-led celebration as a way to share our thanks and congratulations with the members of the parish. A wine and cheese reception will follow in Ross Hall. All school parents and parishioners are cordially invited to join us for both celebrations on this "Blue Ribbon Weekend"! PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Last spring, Mrs. Kirch approached me with the idea of starting a choir (different from our 8th grade choir that sings so well for our masses). I thought it was a great idea, and told her to let me know her plans once we returned to school. Did she ever! For the past several weeks, Mrs. Kirch and more than twenty-five 4th-8th graders have been practicing very hard, spending time in the mornings and staying after school every Monday to work on the songs. Mrs. Kirch featured this wonderful group of students at mass two weeks ago. Although I was off-campus at a meeting at the time of the mass, I managed to visit their practice before I left, and they are wonderful! Enthusiastic and in tune, this group is a wonderful reflection of the variety of talents and gifts each student (and teacher) brings to this school. Many thanks to Mrs. Kirch and her group of vocalists for their great work!
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER I am very pleased to announce that St. Pius X Catholic School is entering its second year as a participant in the National Junior Honors Society (NJHS). Like the National Honors Society, the NJHS is a co-curricular opportunity that recognizes middle school students who demonstrate outstanding performance in each of the following areas: scholarship, leadership, service and character. In order to qualify for NJHS, students must be presently enrolled in the 7th or 8th grade and meet each component maintained in the following four-part criteria:
Those students who qualify for NJHS were invited this morning to submit an application by Tuesday, November 6th to members of the Faculty Council who will make determinations based on the criteria outlined above. Students accepted as members will formally join NJHS at the first of two induction ceremonies to be held on the morning of Tuesday, November 20th (our second induction ceremony will be held during fourth quarter, sometime around Easter). NJHS members participate in a variety of service and leadership activities to be coordinated with the help of the Faculty Council. Already, the group has prepared "welcome baskets" for this year’s 6th graders, and there are plans in the works to organize some other activities for later this quarter. Mrs. McNulty, the school’s coordinator of the program and leader of the Faculty Council, has done a great job in generating enthusiasm among students. We look forward to inducting our second class of NJHS members next month! PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER A few items of which I wanted you to be aware: * Tomorrow night at 6:30 in the church, I will be hosting the first of the semi-annual Parent Nights as a way to discuss important school-related issues. All parents are welcome to attend! In addition to leaving some time at the end for questions and comments from each of you, I will be addressing the following items:
* A note concerning uniform expectations that is not included in the Student Handbook: Students are permitted to wear boots to school, however only during cold and/or snowy weather. During more temperate weather, we ask that students wear sneakers or other flat shoes. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. * With All Saint’s Day falling on Thursday of next week, we will not hold mass on Wednesday, October 31st. The All Saint’s Day mass will take place on Thursday, November 1st at 8:30am. Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Stocker’s classes will be organizing this mass. PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER When greeting students in the morning before school, I get varied reactions. Many of the younger students are very eager to greet me and tell me what the day has in store. Most of the older students are just waking up, so they are less inclined to respond with as much excitement or anticipation. However, a couple of weeks ago, I had one of the small moments that make you proud to be a principal. Amidst the flood of students walking into the school about 7:50, I spotted a fourth grader who had just passed me. I called back to him, "How ya doing?" He stopped, turned around, looked back at me and said, "I'm good. How are you doing, Mr. Caron?" His answer caught me by surprise as it's not typical for me (and I would guess most of us parents and teachers) to entertain such selfless questions from students. How refreshing that this student thought to ask! It's often in these kinds of simplistic and sincere moments that we can step back and recognize the good in the children we have at this school.
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Last Tuesday afternoon, Dr. Margaret Spellings, the United States Secretary of Education, announced this year’s recipients of the 2007 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Award. We are proud to announce that St. Pius X Catholic School is among this year’s winners. The school is one of nine Indiana schools, one of two in Indianapolis and the only Catholic school in the state to receive this year's award. Described by the Department of Education as one of the most prestigious education awards in the country, the Blue Ribbon designation is one that reflects the commitment of the entire school community--students, teachers, staff, parents, and parishioners--to providing students with a quality education based on high academic achievement. Visitors can read the United States Department of Education press release by accessing the following web page: http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/awards.html). In order to qualify for the award, St. Pius X needed to meet several criteria, the most important of which is to succeed in helping students achieve in the top ten percent of schools on the state’s language arts and mathematics assessment (i.e. ISTEP+). In addition, schools incorporating grades seven and higher must feature a foreign language as a core part of the curriculum. Once these qualifying criteria are met, the United States Department of Education requires the school to complete an exhaustive application that covers various components of the school’s academic curriculum. The application (for private schools only) first must be approved and endorsed by the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) after which the U.S. Department of Education evaluates it. We were lucky to have Mrs. Desautels and Mrs. Taber as the thoughtful authors of our application. They should be acknowledged for their outstanding work! It is also important that we congratulate our fine teachers for their work they do to encourage academic excellence from our students. The curriculum is only as strong as are those who find exciting and challenging ways to implement it. Our teachers are second to none, and this accomplishment, in large part, is owed to the enduring commitment they show to our students. I also want to extend my congratulations to all of the staff at the school and parish and, equally as important, to each of you who continue to challenge your children to succeed at high levels. We cannot thank you enough for the academic support you provide to your children and the commitment you show to sending us students ready to learn. Later this fall, representatives from the school will join Secretary Spellings and other private and public schools from across the country in Washington DC to receive the award.part of series of workshops to be presented at the two-day awards ceremony, certain schools will be selected to present a program or activity that reflects a "best practice" at the school. We were just informed on Friday afternoon that our proposal (entitled "Building a Culture of Reading: The Role of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment in Promoting Reading in Middle School) was one of twenty selected (ninety were submitted) to be part of these workshop sessions. In addition to our visit with Secretary Spellings, representatives from the Department of Education will be visiting the school as part of a formal celebration. We are also in the process of planning some other celebratory activities at the school to commemorate this accomplishment. We will certainly let you know once these events have been scheduled. PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Catholic schools are charged with the sacred responsibility to help support parents’ efforts to make Jesus’ message of faith, hope and love known and understood. We at the school do this in myriad ways. We do so informally in the conversations we initiate with students; guidance we offer; and role modeling we do. However, we do this in formal, institutional ways as well—celebrating the Eucharist together on Wednesday mornings; providing students faith-building retreats; and educating students, through religion classes and daily prayers, in the central tenets of the Catholic faith. In asking parents and teachers to be a part of an effort to address the issue of bullying (in all its iterations) at the school, I am convinced that this is another way the school can help to support parents in the spiritual formation of their children. Treating students kindly and compassionately is not important simply because "it’s the right thing to do." It’s important primarily because these gospel values stand as the enduring theme of Jesus, His disciples and the Church’s work on earth. Thus, the formation of the Cool To Be Kind Committee is an attempt not just to address the varied forms of bullying, but to address them because of and in the context of our faith. The Committee joined Father Jerry and me for our first meeting of the year this past Thursday evening. Although not all of the original members of the Committee were able to be present, we had a very fruitful discussion about the results of last spring’s parent and student bullying surveys we administered as well as about our plan for the future. I have drafted an executive summary that includes an analysis of the data from both surveys as well as some tentative conclusions. You can find this executive summary on the "Principal’s Corner" page (under "General Info") on Edline. I will be speaking more about these results at the Parent Night scheduled for Tuesday, October 23rd. In the course of the next few months, members of the Committee and I will form an Executive Committee which will be responsible for interviewing three consultants, each of whom has worked in different capacities with individuals and schools on the issue of bullying. Our expectation is that this person, when hired, would help to offer advice as to how best we can bring together the key constituencies (parents, teachers and students) around a common set of policies, language and learning opportunities. If you are not currently on the Committee but would like to provide input about the kinds of qualifications and experiences that you feel would be important for us to consider during these interviews, please contact me or a member of the Committee. Of course, I’m certainly open to hearing any additional thoughts you have about this initiative or the work we’ve done up to this point.
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER The Stewardship Committee at the parish recently discussed ways in which the children’s collection envelopes—made available for students who want to support the parish in a small but significant way—could be made more a part of the school masses. I think it’s a great idea as it helps to reinforce to students the message that we all can find ways to support the needs of the Church. Toward this goal, we will be sending the children’s envelopes home with the students at the end of each month. During the first school mass of each month, we will take up a collection of envelopes from all of those children who want to participate. Children are invited to place a small amount in the envelope and, in addition, write a "good deed" in the space provided. In most cases, collections would be put toward parish ministries, although, from time to time, we could use collections to focus on a particular cause important to the parish. While we invite all students to write a good deed on the envelope, we certainly don’t expect every student to contribute—this is optional for those students (and parents) who would like to participate. I am also asking teachers to work with their students to write a prayer that one student representative from each class would place in his/her envelope. These prayers (whether written as intentions, blessings or prayers of thanksgiving) would be read periodically during the course of the month as part of our morning announcements. If any of you have thoughts that you would like to share about this idea, please feel free to contact me. I agree with the members of the Stewardship Committee that this program can help to inculcate in students a sense of investment in what we do here at St. Pius X Catholic Church.
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Two items of which I’d like each of you to be aware:
PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER One week from today, students in grades 3-8 will start the first day of ISTEP+ testing. Most of you already know that ISTEP+ (Indiana State Test of Educational Progress Plus) is the state test used to gauge students success in meeting the Indiana English/Language arts and math standards (students in 5th and 7th grades are also assessed in science). While the purpose of the test is to measure proficiency not progress, a careful examination of test results allows schools to, among other things, consider areas of curricular strength and improvement. I look forward to keeping you abreast of these results and what they mean for the school. Depending on the grade level, we spend anywhere from one to two hours each morning testing students (Monday-Thursday for most grades, although 5th and 7th grades test on Friday morning as well). Typically, we have students take 2-3 sections of the test each morning with English/Language arts comprising the first four tests and math comprising the last four. While the "specials schedule" for students in grades 3-5 will remain roughly the same, ISTEP+ testing requires us to make significant changes to the middle school schedule that, often times, results in classes meeting less frequently than they would during a typical week. You should also know that, during this week, we will celebrate mass on Friday, September 21st at 1:30pm in lieu of the normal date and time. Feel free to contact me or one of the teachers if you would like more specific information regarding the ISTEP+ or class schedules for the week. You may also consult the Indiana Department of Education web site (http://www.doe.state.in.us/; click on "ISTEP+ Info Center) for more information on the format of the test and the academic standards on which it is based. PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER By this time, many of you might already know the priority I place on supporting teachers' efforts to explore professional development opportunities. Not only have we have had several teachers attend Smartboard training workshops, but several others have attended conferences emphasizing themes related to technology, science and social studies education, student motivation, dyslexia, instructional planning and the value of storytelling in the classroom. With the support of PTO, several teachers are already planning to attend conferences during the course of this year relating to these and other themes that implicate students' learning in the classroom. In addition to those attending conferences, we have several teachers who are planning to offer presentations and workshops at various points during the year. For example, later this fall, Mrs. McNulty will be offering a workshop for Bishop Chatard teachers on the writing and notetaking software, "Inspiration." Mrs. Taber and I are also hoping to co-present at a conference later this fall. And Mrs. Gardner and Ms. Warrick will be co-presenting on the topic of "Webquests" at this spring's National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) Conference in Indianapolis. Teachers leadership and participation in such conferences, among many other attributes, speak to a level of professionalism that all of us should not take for granted. I hope that as professional development opportunities present themselves to teachers during the course of this year that you'll join me in supporting their efforts. PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Those of you who attended last week’s Back to School Night surely noticed the new "Smartboards" we have purchased and installed in three of the middle school classrooms (Mrs. McNulty’s, Mrs. Taber’s and Mrs. Hansen’s). With the considerable financial support of our PTO as well as others’ generosity, we were able to purchase a total of five boards for the school, with the additional two going to Mrs. Chriss’ 5th grade classroom and Ms. Warrick’s 1st grade. These boards can be thought of as interactive white boards. Connected to a classroom computer, they are Internet-ready and allow teachers to manipulate the board with a finger or colored stylist much like what one could do with a mouse or PDA device. The boards allow teachers to experiment with many different kinds of approaches that would not be possible with a traditional chalkboard or whiteboard. As a way to learn more about the functionality and instructional benefits of the Smartboards, several of these teachers, Mrs. Gardner and I attended a Smartboard workshop last spring here in Indianapolis. A couple of the teachers plan to attend another workshop this week to further advance their knowledge of and skills with the board. With the support of the PTO, three teachers joined Mrs. Gardner this past summer at the National Education Computing Conference in Atlanta. Here, they not only attended Smartboard workshops, but also other sessions designed to assist teachers in utilizing technology to improve student learning and engagement. We were very fortunate that four individuals volunteered so much of their time to install these boards. Thanks to Bernie Allen, Jeff Eastman, Tom Gardner and our new Maintenance Director, Brett Fischer (who didn’t hesitate to offer his assistance). Many thanks to Mrs. Gardner as well for her work (often requiring weekends) in overseeing the installation of these boards. The purchase of these boards is part of an effort among us teachers to use technology and other effective strategies to improve instruction. In fact, all of the teachers and I were overwhelmed with ideas related to this theme two weeks ago when a national consultant joined us at the school. She was full of wonderful ideas, several of which teachers are already working to implement in the classroom. We have several other initiatives in the works that will also amplify this theme. PRINCIPAL’S
CORNER Last April, I presented some of the curricular changes that we were planning to make for the 2007-08 school year. The year is upon us and, as such, I thought I would take this opportunity to review some of these changes with you:
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