Principal Update

Happy first Monday of summer!

With the end of another academic year, we take time to celebrate and look ahead. The last weeks of school were filled with celebration and reflection at many special events.... Kindergarten, Preschool, and 8th grade graduations, field trips, 5th grade film festival, 6th grade Shakespeare performance, 8th grade Baccalaureate mass, field day, and moving up mass, to name a few. We celebrate the growth our students made in their faith, in academics, in friendships, in athletics, and so many other aspects of their lives.

As we look ahead to the 24-25 school year, our staff will be continuing to focus on supporting our students' overall well-being and day-to-day functioning. This summer, our staff will be reading a book on building and supporting executive functioning skills in the classroom. We continue to see this as an area of need in students and look forward to continuing to grow our capacity in supporting these needs.

We wish you all a relaxing and fun-filled summer! Thank you for all that you do to support St. Catherine and to work in partnership with us in educating your child/ren. We are grateful!

Warmly,

Kathy Cox

Principal

We are excited to bring Sam Soltani on staff as an on-call substitute teacher in K-8th for the 24-25 school year! Sam has worked at Christ the King School, and is eager to work with all grades and subjects as he helps us in this important role next year.

In our Tigers preschool classroom, we have hired Anna Hammersmark to fill Teacher Dakota's maternity leave. Anna student taught at St. Catherine while earning her Masters and substituted at St. Catherine in K-8 this year. Prior to coming to St. Catherine, Anna taught as a lead PreK teacher. We are thrilled to retain Anna in our community and for the smooth transition this will serve in our Tigers Classroom. Teacher Dakota and Miss Anna will start the year together, and from around mid-September through February, Anna will take the reigns!

It's official, we'll have drop in girls basketball on Thursdays from 6:30-8 at St. Catherine of Siena Parish at least through the summer.

When: Thursdays, 6:30-8:00 (There will be no open gym on July 4th)

Who: Girls 3rd-8th Grade

Where: St Catherine of Siena, 814 NE 85th St

We'll start next week, June 13th. There will be a waiver to sign each time, so please park and come in at the beginning with your child so you can sign in. If you are sending your kiddo with someone else, I've attached the form that you can sign and send in with them. You are welcome to stay and watch (or play) with the kids or drop off (after signing the waiver) and come back.

Please bring a ball if you have one and a water bottle.

It will be casual. I'll have some fun games and hopefully we'll have enough kids to do a lot of scrimmaging.

Invite friends! Know someone who might want to start playing basketball that's in the age group? Feel free to invite them to join the fun.

Volunteers needed. I'm currently looking for more helpers for adult supervision so we can have two adults in the building at all times. Please let me know if you're interested. I won't be able to make it on June 27th and July 11th, so would love some volunteers on those days so we can still open up the gym. If you think you might be interested in helping, please get the background check process started here https://stcatherineparish.net/safe-environment-program.

You can park in the St. Catherine's parking lot (if the gates accidentally slid closed, you should be able to just slide them open). Walk towards the plaza and the building will be on your right. The front door is the one on the plaza side, not the one that faces the parking lot.

Hope to see everyone soon!

Coach Shannon

Our parish family is taking initial steps in getting to know one another in many capacities. Please see the link below to the most recent Partners in the Gospel update.

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.