Off to Wonderland Now!

Dear Families,

Now that the accreditation visit is successfully over we can relax and enjoy Alice in Wonderland! The curtain rises for opening night in just a few hours! Check out the sneak preview on the website! Thank you so much to Katie Franklin, our talented, dedicated and committed director.  Thank you also to all the volunteers who assisted in making another fantastic, wonderful production.

The accreditation site visit was a great success. I am so grateful to Pablo, who chaired the self-study project, the leadership team and all the teachers who worked so hard over the eighteen months. Thank you also to the School Commission and you, parents who took the time to respond to surveys and to support us through the process.

Accreditation is a process of ongoing school improvement evaluating, on a six-year cycle, multiple measures including Catholic Identity, academic achievement, parent and student satisfaction, graduation rates, instructional methodology, assessment of students and curriculum, professional development and resource management, and so much more. We are delighted to report that in these areas of the self-study we received ‘scores’ of highly effective! The process calls for the development of goals and an Action Plan for the next six years. Our goals are in the areas of improving student achievement through data-driven differentiated instruction, improving achievement in English language arts, and deliberate annual goal setting to support student learning.

Here are some thoughts from the visiting committee summary:

  • The Visiting Committee observed a dynamic school that is concerned about each and every one of their students. All shareholders indicated their high expectations for successful student achievement.
  • The Pastor indicated his “love” for the school and its children. He feels the administration, faculty and staff are working tirelessly for students to achieve at the highest level possible. His hope is to bring joy to all shareholders.
  • The Catholic faith is felt throughout the classrooms and in all discussions we had with (faculty and staff). Faculty and staff work diligently to meet the needs of the learners in their classroom as evidenced by strong student engagement, high test scores and the strong answers on surveys.
  • Students were genuinely happy and joyful at school, and appreciative of all the teachers do for them. The committee was pleased to learn they (the students) felt safe, challenged and cared about indicating to the committee the strong Catholic and loving environment.
  • The parents indicated St. John School to be a school with strong Catholic values and high academic standards. They felt their students were cared about and challenged. They also appreciated the many levels of communication the administration, faculty and staff share with them. They spoke about the strong community bond and how the trust for the entire administration, faculty, staff, students and parents leads to this feeling.

We have reason to celebrate and opportunities to do so.   Don’t miss the Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, Jr. this weekend!  On March 18, show your community spirit at March Crabness.  Also, you won’t want to miss the Parent Association meeting on March 21st, when we will host the documentary Screenagers, a must for parents of pre-teens and teenagers.  The movie explores how teens interact with each other using electronic devices (smartphones, computers, social media, etc.)   There will be a discussion following the movie. There is no fee.

Thank you for all your support.  St John’s Eagles soar!

Bernadette O’Leary