Welcome Back to School!

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! I hope you all have had a relaxing and fun summer break. I am incredibly proud to serve as the principal of this wonderful school. It is with great joy and anticipation that we welcome our students, our saints in training, back to campus, ready to soar to new heights.

This year’s theme is “Live Like Jesus ~ Vivir Como Jesus.” These profound words encapsulate the essence of our school’s learning expectations and mission. As we begin this new school year, let us embrace our theme and mission with open hearts and minds. Together, let us create a vibrant and nurturing community where our students can thrive, learn, and grow into the individuals God has called them to be.

I would like to welcome all of our new families, whether you are joining us from another school in Beaver Dam or have relocated from another city, state, or country. We are excited to share with you all that SKDS has to offer.

Our teachers and staff are eager to meet their new students and begin this year’s journey with them. We look forward to the opportunity to seek ways to inspire and challenge our students from preschool through eighth grade, working in partnership with you, to help children discover and explore their purpose and talents that will make our world a better place.

Thank you for your continued support and dedication to St. Katharine Drexel School. We are blessed to have you as part of our school family. Let’s make this year one in which we all “Live Like Jesus ~ Vivir Como Jesus”, as we guide our students to be fully alive in Christ.

Jennifer Weiss

Principal

If you are a returning family at SKDS, you may have noticed this newsletter looks a lot different than in years past. This year we will be using Smore to publish our newsletters. Smore is part of a platform called SchoolStatus Connect, which we will be using to communicate and stay connected this school year. You will be receiving more information on SchoolStatus Connect prior to our open house on August 22.

🚀 With SchoolStatus Connect, you'll be able to:

• Receive communications from your students' schools and teachers in your favorite channels: email, text, push notification, or all in one place in an optional app
• Auto-translate all communications into your preferred language
• Communicate back and forth with your students' teachers
• Stay up-to-date on the latest news and upcoming events

We have added to our SKDS Teaching Staff this summer. I would like to introduce to you our new...

Third Grade Teacher, Mrs. Sarah Puleo

Fourth Grade Teacher, Mrs. Patti Sadoski

Seventh Grade/Spanish Teacher, Mrs. Anne Pankratz

Vocal Music Teacher, Mrs. Gail Hoffman

There are a few changes to our uniform dress code. The changes have been highlighted in yellow.

Some of our classrooms have moved in location. This will allow for better grouping of grade-levels for recesses, lunch periods, and classroom events.

In the Early Childhood Hallway: 3K Classroom, 4K Classroom, and Before School Care/After School Care/Extend-A-Day Room, Learning Resource Room (Primary), Health/Tutor Room

Primary Hallway: 5K Classroom, 1st Grade Classroom, 2nd Grade Classroom

Intermediate Hallway (Second Floor): 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, and 5th Grade Classrooms, Counselor’s Office and Art Room

Middle-School Hallway (Second Floor): 6th Grade, 7th Grade, and 8th Grade Classrooms, and Learning Resource Room (Elementary/Middle School)

Your Home and School Association is here to encourage a close relationship between parents, teachers, and staff and to support the education and development of our children. Membership includes all parents, legal guardians, and staff of St. Katharine Drexel School (SKDS).

The Home and School Association sponsors teacher appreciation activities, holds fundraisers for supplemental educational materials and experiences, supports school and family social interaction, and provides a non-biased forum for sharing information on issues that impact our children.

With the team effort of parents and staff, Home and School strives to support our families' spiritual and academic development and raise community interest in St. Katharine Drexel. All parents, guardians, and staff are encouraged to be actively involved by attending the meetings and helping with the H & S sponsored events throughout the school year.

Home & School has been very busy this summer! They have purchased new science tables for the Middle School, and new desks for grade 7 and grade 3. They will be painting new games on the playground before school begins, and they have purchased a lot of new playground equipment; basketballs, kickballs, soccer balls, jump ropes, and sidewalk chalk. The current members are looking for more parents to become involved. The current H & S members will be at our Open House on August 22, to share more information about how to become involved, and about what upcoming events are being planned for this year.