Category: Announcements

About 20 All Saints middle school knew they would be enjoying a pizza lunch with librarians Mrs. Coyle and Mrs. Geary to celebrate earning 40+ AR points already this year. What they didn’t know is that they would be joined by a special guest, writer Mr. Ric Colegrove. Author of the pre-teen/teen fantasy book series, The Journey of Rol, Ric Colegrove met with the students to share his first-hand experience as both the writer and illustrator of this fantasy story of adventure and hope.

In the first book of the series, Be: The Journey of Rol, the main character, Rol, is a fourteen-year-old boy who faces a life-determining decision to take an easy path or travel an uncertain route to return to his family.  As detailed on The Journey of Rol website, “Rol is forced to confront internal and external obstacles, learning to rely on his positive attitude, as well as hope, for a successful outcome. Inspiration, values, faith, and thanking God for His blessings are components of this story, as are adventure, humor, and unique characters and challenges.”

The Warrenton-based writer and Holy Trinity parishioner developed the original premise of the book 20 years ago but put it “on the shelf” as he pursued other interests and raised his family with Betty, his wife of 28 years. Colegrove spent a year of intensive writing, proofing, editing, and illustrating to complete the book. Students caught a glimpse of the author’s character development process through his stories of Rol’s sidekicks Kearth and Fhfyrd, who both entertain and antagonize Rol. The character of Rol’s mentor, A. Loysius DeTerrin, owes his first name to Colegrove’s studies of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga.

As an added bonus, Colegrove showed the students the original detailed illustrations he drew for the book. An accomplished artist, Colegrove shared that he is hoping to include more illustrations in the second book in the series, Not Afraid, due to be published in 2017.

Listening to him speak about the writing process, it’s clear that Ric Colegrow experiences great joy as a writer. “I probably have a smile on my face the whole time that I’m writing,” Colegrove noted. He hopes that other would be writers and artists who attended this special author talk will keep putting pen to paper in sharing their stories and creative ideas. As a special gift from Colegrove, each student received a journal as an inspiration to “continue writing, drawing and keeping track of their ideas.”

To find out more about The Journey of Rol and to purchase the first book in the series, please visit Ric Colegrove’s website at www.thejourneyofrol.com. Our thanks to Mr. Colegrove for visiting All Saints and sharing his writer’s insights  with our students. We are already looking forward to book two!

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!