Author: Janis DeVore

Through the Virtue Program and the full integration of our faith across the curriculum, students at All Saints are encouraged to develop habits of respect, kindness, and compassion.  Over the course of years, these traits become part of the fabric of our students’ lives.  Nevertheless, it is vitally important that we explicitly remind our students of the dangers and consequences of bullying.

In accordance with our school and diocesan policy, this week I would like to invite all parents to participate in an anonymous, online survey for the purpose of assessing the level of bullying at All Saints Catholic School.  We estimate that it should take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete the survey.  Students in grades 3-8 will complete a corresponding survey during their computer class.

Parents are asked to complete the survey by Friday, November 4^th.  In advance, we thank you for your participation in our efforts to both assess our current climate and to establish benchmarks for future reference.

• Parent Survey 2016: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KWS7G5V

Our newly elected officers and class representatives were recently welcomed into the Student Council Association of All Saints Catholic School. Mrs. Jennifer Bigelow, Superintendent of Schools, was the keynote speaker offering insights on the importance of servant leadership and referencing her own experience as Commissioner of Religious Activities while a 7th grader!
We congratulate the following students and wish them every success and blessing as they begin their year of student leadership!

Officers:

President – Jack Malone
Vice President – Abigail Yelvington
Secretary/Historian – Erin Balagtas
Finance – Timothy Mills
Religious Activities – Lily Feltman
Health/Safety/Ecology – Victoria Bruno
School Spirit – Christina Santiago

Class Representatives: Emma Kate Coleman, John Karcher, Camden Short, Madelyn Woolfrey, Hailey Reddington, Brian Varghese, Sabrina Yap, Arianna Delgado, Sophia Parada, and Peter Tessier

As announced in the August Principal’s letter, the following is a list of some exciting initiatives that All Saints will be undertaking now and in the year ahead!

• Restroom Renovation – Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of a member of our community, the renovation of the restrooms in the old wing (grades 2-5) is fully funded and now underway. The demolition is complete and we are on track for completion of the project right around opening day.
• Virtues Program – As one of our Five Year Plan goals, the faculty evaluated our existing Virtues Program and researched options for implementing a new framework that will place even greater emphasis on the teaching and modeling of Catholic virtues. I am pleased to share with you that the faculty has selected the Virtues in Practice program designed by the Nashville Dominicans. One of the key changes is that we will discontinue the practice of acknowledging individual students on a monthly basis as we incorporate more substantive lessons within the religion curriculum. Our goal is to infuse even greater meaning into the program so as to promote authentic lives of virtue among our students.
• IPads & Chromebooks – Again, thanks to the generosity of a donor, during the summer we purchased additional devices for our school that will increase student access to technology and allow for greater differentiation of instruction. We will be introducing five IPads into each of the Kindergarten through second grade classrooms and a mobile cart of thirty Chromebooks to be shared among grades three through five.
• Scantron Testing – As a diocesan school, All Saints will be adopting Scantron as our standardized testing program beginning this year. Rather than administering Terra Nova in the spring, students will complete three shorter series of tests in math, reading and language arts in the fall, winter and spring. As the testing will take place online, teachers will have access to immediate results and data. Additionally, as the test is driven by technology, it is adaptive in nature, with each test being customized to the ability of each student. Administered three times over the course of the year, it will provide data with which the teachers can tailor instruction and measure student growth.
• Accelerated Math – For many years, the Accelerated Reader program has been a fundamental aspect of our curriculum. Beginning this year, we will implement Accelerated Math in grades 1-8. This online program will allow teachers to customize learning tasks for students based upon assessment data and will be a focus for the use of the newly purchased IPads and Chromebooks.
• Micron Partnership – With the assistance of school parents currently employed at Micron, All Saints is beginning a partnership with this high-tech firm located just south of our campus on Route 28. In support of STEM education, employees will teach hands-on lessons to students in grades three and five during the spring months and our school will have access to Math Kits to be used for a special evening event for families that promotes math education. Look for more details on these exciting programs in the future!