From the Principal’s Desk
Posted on September 23, 2009, by Christina Clem, under Principal's Desk.
Welcome to St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School! We would like to especially welcome all of our new families to our St. Elizabeth family this year. We have had a terrific beginning to the school year. The Boosterthon Fun Run generated a great deal of enthusiasm and excitement and reinforced the character values that we teach here at St. Elizabeth School! I’d like to thank Mrs. Belew for coordinating this very awesome event as well as everyone who contributed to its success!
I am sure that by now you have seen the outstanding work done by our Grounds and Facilities committee to make improvements to our field. A number of families including Josh Choate, Russell Jones, Sandy & David Walkley, and Coach Clack have contributed to this effort under the direction of Susan and Dennis Vrana and Jacinto and Pati Reyes who contributed both the time and the cost to make this a reality. I would also like to thank Phil and MJ Barrilleaux who donated the “Field of Dreams” sign for this project. There are many more projects planned for our “field of dreams” and we know that many more of you will want to become involved in this very worthwhile endeavor to make St. Elizabeth School’s environment as well as athletic facilities state of the art!!!
The Family Volunteer Organization has been hard at work planning this year’s Halloween Carnival. This is always an exciting event that everyone looks forward to and enjoys. This year it will be held on Saturday, October 31. Please be on the look-out for flyers sent through the communication envelope and through Renweb emails for more information.
Our faculty and staff have embraced the new Diocesan curriculum with great enthusiasm and expertise!!! We are even being invited to share our success with other Diocesan schools in an effort to share our resources and talents with others. We are developing communities of learning amongst the teachers here at St. Elizabeth School as well as with other schools within the Diocese. A number of our faculty attended the Thinkfinity Workshop and Diocesan Teacher Tech camp this summer and have brought back many resources to share and ideas to implement in the classrooms. I would like to thank Michele Green for all the work she has done to develop an Art instructional program for our students. She will be sending out information in the near future inviting students to join an after-school Art Club. We will also be participating in the Dallas Museum of Art Go Van Gogh School Outreach Program. We plan to have them come out to work with the K-8 students twice during this school year, hopefully once in the fall semester and once in the spring.
Our students in grades 1-8 will be taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) the week of October 12. This standards-based test will provide a snapshot of the type of learner each student is as well as how students perform academically at the beginning of the school year. It is a diagnostic instrument that will help our teachers make decisions as they plan for instruction throughout the school year. It is a norm referenced test, not a criterion referenced test such as the TAKS test. The ITBS is not a test that we can “teach to.” Rather it is a test designed to measure overall knowledge and higher order thinking skills. The teachers will be able to share information with you when they visit with you during the Parent Teacher Conference Day on November 13. Please arrange for your child to be present at school and on time during the testing week in October unless s/he is ill. Also, please make sure that your child gets a good night sleep the night before and eats a nutritious breakfast each morning.
Again, I would like to thank all of our faculty and staff, students, and parents for everything you do each day to make St. Elizabeth’s such an outstanding school. Let us please continue to pray for one another and for the needs of our community
God bless.
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