Summer is flying by, and school will be starting in less than a month. I am confident the students have enjoyed their time off of school, but I know they will be excited to start up again next month. I do have several exciting things to share as well as a couple of housekeeping items to bring to your attention.
In addition to the traditional curriculum at St. Teresa, there will be a number of new opportunities for our students this year. One of those opportunities is the addition of a Spanish program that allows students to progress at their own pace. This year all students will use "Duolingo" as one of their "specials." Each student will create their own "Duolingo" account that will track their progress and allow pacing that is appropriate for each student individually.
I am also proud to announce that we will be offering a Band program again at St. Teresa. We will be outsourcing the program and will be using a company called "Band for Today," a company which has been providing schools band programs for over 32 years and utilizes certified and degreed teachers. The program will be available to students in grades 4-8, and instrument rentals will also be made available to our students.
In addition to the Spanish and Band programs, the students will be visited by the Director of Environmental Education of Illinois, Ameren Illinois, The Corps of Engineers, and three separate all-school assemblies on a variety of topics (including bullying and character education). The last group of new curriculum opportunities will come via an expanded role of the STEM lab as part of our STEM initiative including an outdoor classroom type of experience in the newly purchased property next to school.
As I mentioned earlier, there are several housekeeping items that I want to mention as well. The first item is a reminder that you will be or may already have received communication from FACTS in regards to your tuition payments for the upcoming year. If you have any questions about the communication, please contact Donna Thro at the rectory (233-3500) for clarification.
Secondly, we have our Final Registration Day (packet pick-up) on Thursday, August 11, from 8:00-12:00 and 2:00-6:00. In an effort to make things easier for our families, we have extended the times we will be open for business that day. An email communication will be sent out prior to the actual day with more information.
Next, please save the date of Saturday, August 13, for the annual parent "Spruce up the School" event from 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. The success of this event is extremely important to the start of the year, but for whatever reason, the turnout has been on the light side the last couple of years. Mr. Whitworth and his summer helpers have a ton of things they hope to accomplish over the summer and simply need a little extra help before school starts. Please consider helping on August 13. We can use blowers, rags to wipe tables, paper towels, Windex, and hedge trimmers. . . "Many hands make light work."
Lastly, if you have any questions about uniforms, please contact Mrs. Elbe at
[email protected]
as she has been working closely with Land's End to help with the transition. At times, the information from customer service is inaccurate; therefore, please do not hesitate to contact Lisa if the information you receive seems odd.
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
