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Installation of Dr. Trisha Medeiros
On Monday, October 2nd, our Ursuline community gathered together for the Installation of Dr. Trisha Medeiros, our school's 6th President. It was a joyous event, filled with warmth, and celebrated in the spirit of St. Angela Merici. Past presidents, board members, family and friends, local dignitaries, Mayor Purzycki and Bishop Malooly joined us in prayer as we welcomed Dr. Medeiros into our Ursuline family. Our students, faculty, and alumnae presented symbolic gifts such as the lamp of learning, a St. Angela necklace, a crucifix, and a Serviam medal. Ursuline Academy proudly and officially welcomes Dr. Medeiros as our new president and looks forward to her future years within our school.
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Did you know?
On Monday, October 2nd, we celebrated the Feast of our Guardian Angels.
According to the Bible, God rules all things from heaven. In heaven, God has created 9 ranks of angels at his command to rule the universes. Each rank has different duties. Listen to the Eucharistic prayer the next time you go to mass, as these angels are referenced in it.
Who are these angels? God assigns each of us an angel to guard us, represent us before God, watch over us, aid our prayers, and to guide our soul to heaven at death. These guardian angels are an expression of God's enduring love and care for each one of us. Let us thank God for them, as we remember their feast. I am very thankful my guardian angel has taken good care of me. Has your guardian angel taken good care of you?
- Sister Betty McAdams
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Classroom Collaboration
The following stories come from our Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools.
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Lower School: Classroom Pets
Research has shown that there are tremendous benefits to classroom pets in a school. Not only do classroom pets teach children practical life skills such as caring for living things and instilling a sense of responsibility, they also enrich the classroom experience and truly make learning fun!
For example, Stryker the snake has
resided in our lower school for the past 16 years under the care of our resource teacher, Sue Buono. This week, Stryker and Mrs. Buono visited the Montessori classroom for an 'S'-themed Show and Tell. The children identified 'S' words such as
s
nake,
s
lithered,
s
cales, and
S
ue. They learned that snakes use their tongues to
s
mell, and they touched
S
tryker's
s
kin, which was
s
mooth. In addition to language arts, Stryker has also been an inspiration for all grade levels with art projects, science lessons, and writing assignments. Thank you to our teachers and to Stryker for bringing learning to life!
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Middle School: ELA Book Tasting
The middle school ELA teachers, Erin Pudlo and Kelly Webb, hosted a Book Tasting which invited the girls to "taste" new books from a variety of genres in an effort to expand their reading interests and find some good-fit texts along the way. The tasting included works of fiction, nonfiction, historical fiction, fantasy, books in a series, realistic fiction, mystery, adventure, science/supernatural fiction, poetry, traditional literature, and even picture books. The girls were excited to curl up with a book (and a snack)! Much like a food tasting, you could tell from the quiet environment that the girls were sincerely into their newly-discovered books!
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Upper School: Congratulations!
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Congratulations to Meggie Goodridge '18 who has been named a Commended Student in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program. A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Coporation (NMSC), which conducts the programs, was presented to Meggie during the Upper School Community Time on Wednesday, September 27th.
About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.6 million students who entered the competition by taking the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
"The young men and women being names Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success," commented a spokesperson for the NMSC. "These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success."
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Alumnae Speaker Series
Mercedes Alonso '83
On Monday, September 25th, our sophomore leadership class had the pleasure of meeting alumna Mercedes Alonso '83, Organizational Consultant with a specialty in leadership development. Mercedes introduced our students to The Leadership Wheel, a tool developed by the Napier Group to identify the 4 types of leadership styles: North, South, East and West.
After reviewing the characteristics of these leaders, she divided the room into 4 quadrants of the wheel and asked the girls to choose a leadership direction that best described themselves. In small groups, students identified the strengths and weaknesses of their selected style as well as which styles they might conflict with most and why. This exercise in self-awareness taught them that sometimes, as leaders, we have to stand in the middle and use the gifts and resources from other directions to move forward. Thank you, Mercedes, for your visit and energy!
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Athletics
Lacrosse: Upper School
On Saturday, September 30th, Ursuline's Head Lacrosse Coach, Feffie Barnhill, was honored for her trailblazing efforts within the lacrosse world. Feffie was one of 80 coaches and players recognized for their contributions to the sport at the WPLL Legends' Celebration and Exhibition Game.
Please join us in congratulating Coach Barnhill on her wonderful accomplishments! Ursuline Academy is fortunate to have such a talented coach to continue pushing our athletes forward in their pursuits.
For the entire article about the event, click
here.
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Cross Country: Lower and Middle School
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Our Lower and Middle School Cross Country team is truly unique. They are the only Ursuline team that includes 3rd through 8th graders all on the same team.
These athletes exude UA pride! The varsity runners root for and support their JV teammates, and the younger runners look to their older teammates to serve as their role models. The sense of community that has been established within this squad runs deep!
Linda Rybaltowski Odle '81 and her husband, Kevin Odle, are in their 9th year of leading this program. This is the largest team they have had in a long time! They practice three times a week and work through their personal obstacles and hurdles together. Linda and Kevin are joined by additional coaches on their team: Brendan Blanton, Susan Bullock, Dani Van Velsor DiGennaro '96, and Jessica Persoleo. The large number of additional parent supporters/additional coaches outside of just those listed speaks to the outpouring of support this running community has built!
Just like the team's call and response before a big meet: "Ursuline! What kind of day is it?" "A GREAT DAY TO RUN!"
Come out and show your support for this special team! The Ursuline meet will take place at Brandywine Creek State Park on Saturday, October 14th at 9am. The championships will be taking place on Saturday, October 28th; follow along with social media for more details!
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The success of our Red and White Christmas Casino Night is largely due to the generous donations of our sponsors. There are several levels of sponsorship available to accommodate a business or family including Christmas Spirit, Reindeer Games, Candy Cane, and North Pole sponsorships.
It would be a privilege to recognize your business or family as an Ursuline Academy supporter of Casino Night. Sponsorship forms are available
here.
If you have any questions or would like to participate this year, please contact Debbie Hurd at dhurd@ursuline.org or 302-658-7158, ext. 6207.
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Upcoming Events: Open Houses
The Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools will be welcoming prospective families to our campus over the course of the next three months. We encourage you to share our dates and registration information to all families you believe to be interested!
As a current family, we invite you to register and attend any of the Open Houses to see what's happening across the campus!
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Upper School
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Sunday, October 15th
1:00pm - 3:15pm
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Lower School
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Friday, November 10th
9:00am - 11:00am
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Middle School
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Tuesday, December 12th
9:00am - 11:00am
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