Principal Update

Dear St. Catherine Families,

Two weeks down! It has been a truly wonderful start to the school year, as staff and students have settled back into a rhythm reconnecting with one another and diving into new challenges. We feel blessed to have welcomed many new students and their families to St. Catherine this year! Thank you for all who have one out of your way to warmly welcome them.

This past week, it was a pleasure to see so many Kindergarten-5th grade parents at our curriculum night, and we look forward to connecting with middle school parents this Tuesday evening. It will start at 6:00 PM in the gym, but please arrive a few minutes early to pick up your individual schedule for the night based on your child's math course. These will be distributed in the gym foyer.

Have a wonderful week, and thank you for being a part of another fantastic year at St. C!

Best,

Kathy Cox

Principal

With one final staffing change, we have hired a new Extended Care Assistant. Ella Bloomquist will be jumping on board beginning Monday, September 16th. Please give her a warm welcome to the St. C community when you cross her path!

We are thrilled to announce the onboarding of Care Solace at St. Catherine School! Care Solace is a service available to all students, families, and staff to facilitate easier mental health care access. Care Solace connects students, staff, and families to care. At no cost, Care Solace quickly and confidentially finds available mental health and substance use providers to match your needs.

You can use the phone number or QR code to access this platform independently. You can also send a request to Tom Doggett (school counselor) tdoggett@stcatherineschool.net or Kathy Cox (principal) kcox@stcatherineschool.net. We then create a "Warm Handoff" to Care Solace so that they immediately reach out to you. The school is uninvolved once the Warm Handoff connection is made, and Care Solace will take it from there.

We recognize the challenges of finding available and affordable mental health care, and are hopeful this service will be helpful to you and your families. Please know it extends for all family members, including siblings who don't attend St. Catherine. Please reach out to Tom or Kathy if you have any questions or would like a Warm Handoff to initiate a search for services.

Calling a shelf assembler! I have three gorilla-type shelves that I need assembled. If you have a small chunk of time you could spare this week to help out, please email Kathy kcox@stcatherineschool.net. Thanks in advance for your help!

Thank you for those of you who were able to attend the welcome event for Fr. Heric and Fr. Duc on Saturday. They are truly enjoying getting to know the St. Catherine community!

St. Catherine of Siena Parish School is a welcoming, Christ-centered community, rooted in the Catholic faith and inspired by Gospel values. As an extension of the parish and with Jesus as our model, we are dedicated to lifelong growth in faith, love, and learning.

We recognize that the care and education of the child begins with the family and that parents are the primary educators of their children. In partnership with parents, we work to promote our students’ achievement and spiritual growth. Together we are committed to developing responsible, ethical leaders who think critically, act justly, communicate effectively, and serve willingly.

We are committed to providing a faith-filled, inclusive, and welcoming learning environment for all our students. Through our rigorous academic programs, our students will gain the cognitive, technological, and social skills necessary to become ethical, innovative leaders who successfully navigate the complex challenges of today’s world.