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Dear Friends,
It was a whirlwind, exciting and emotional end to the school year with our annual traditions and celebrations. Our student Talent Show, Spirit Week - featuring the popular Faculty Follies - and 1st Communion Celebration led us into the special graduation ceremonies for our 8th graders and our Preschool, Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten friends.
I want to wish our newest alumni, the Class of 2017, much luck in your transitions into high school and hope to hear of your successes early and often. You forever will be part of the St. Therese family! Please be sure to keep us up to date with your contact information so we can keep you in the loop for events and news you might enjoy.
The school year may have ended, but St. Therese is still buzzing with activity. Our summer school programs are in full swing with teachers and students from Early Childhood all the way to our rising 8th graders spending some of their summer days with us. Other staff
are busy working on several major projects that cannot be tackled during the school year. Chief among these are a new Innovations Room, improvements to our Early Childhood Classrooms, and a new website. I look forward to sharing with you news of these and other exciting developments that we have in store for the school new year.
The summer also gives us the opportunity to participate in several
professional development
opportunities. This week, I am attending the
Project Zero
Classroom at Harvard University along with
several of our teachers
. I also
recently participated in a weeklong program at Northwestern University Center for Talent Development, made possible by
my Golden Apple Golder Leadership Award stipend.
Thank you for your continued support. St. Therese has continued to grow and thrive with your friendship.
I remain thankful for the many blessings from our community.
Sincerely,
Ms. Phyllis Cavallone
Principal
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Students Win State Science Fair Awards
St. Therese once again sent many students to compete this spring at the 2017 Illinois Junior Academy of Science Fair hosted by Bradley University in Peoria. We are proud to report that many students returned with some very impressive awards, including a Best in Aerospace Category for Trinity Lee and Cadence Mark, and students winning Gold Awards in both the Paper Sessions and Poster Sessions. Congratulations to our students for another strong showing at the state science fair!
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Summer at St. Therese
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No time for beach chairs or sleeping in around here - summer is a very busy time at St. Therese!
Many students are spending some of their summer months in our summer program. Besides providing a social outlet and a safe way to spend the day, many of our programs are designed to help our students better prepare for the coming school year.
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Meanwhile
, the school is also undertaking some major upgrades to our learning environment.
Our
Early Childhood Classrooms
are being prepped for an upgrade with new carpeting, chairs and sitting areas that will foster even more collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking in our youngest learners.
Thank you
to those who supported our Early Childhood Upgrade Campaign! If you intended to
give to this campaign
but have not done so, you may donate
here
.
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We are also very excited about the transformation of our old computer lab into the new
Innovations Lab. We will share more once the project is complete, but we are busy at work transforming the space, bringing in new state-of-the-art equipment, software and other tools, and developing a robust curriculum that will take our use of technology tools to an even higher level.
Finally, summer provides us with the opportunity to focus on some other important administrative tasks that cannot be completed during the school year. Chief among them is a
new website
. A central goal for this new website will be to provide
more information for parents, students, alumni and prospective families
in a more readable, logical manner. Stay tuned for news on when our new website will be live!
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Students Graduate, Move Onward and Upward
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We love to celebrate achievements and progress at St. Therese - and the end of the school year gives us ample opportunity to do so with the Annual Awards Ceremony and the many graduation celebrations for our students, their families and friends.
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Our Preschool, Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten students each celebrated the completion of a year of hard work and development as young students with a series of graduation ceremonies at the end of May. Songs, diplomas, and classroom parties helped make the day special for all families.
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Our 8th
graders concluded their many years at STCCS with both the Baccalaureate Mass and Graduation ceremony. We are so proud of this class of graduates - and we wish them the best of luck in their continued academic careers! Check out the list below for the impressive list of schools (with the number of students) where our students will be attending this fall. Many were accepted to all of their preferred schools, and several were awarded scholarships as well!
St. Ignatius College Preparatory - 4
Marist High School - 1
Downer's Grove North - 1
Lincoln Park High School -1
Morgan Park Academy - 2
Muchin - 1
Noble Academy - 3
Ogden International - 1
University of Chicago Lab School - 1
Walter Payton College Prep - 7
Whitney Young - 1
William Jones High School - 4
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The Class of 2017 in their graduation regalia.
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Are You Social With Us Yet?
You may have noticed a lot more school news and information coming out on our social media channels these days. There is always something happening at St. Therese and we don't want to wait to share it!
Be sure to check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest news and a look inside what is happening at the school.
Also, please let us know how you think we are doing and if there are other topics on which you would like us to post on social media! Contact our social media manager Laura Bomkamp at [email protected] with suggestions and ideas.
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STCCS Welcomes Visitors from Indonesia
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St. Therese
welcomed the Principal and administrators from Santa Laurensia Elementary School to this spring. Santa Laurensia is a Roman Catholic school located in Alam Sutera, near Jakarta, Indonesia, serving students from preschool through senior high school. Santa Laurensia Principal Daniel Terry Dipo planned this visit to the US to expand his school's knowledge and understanding of successful US Catholic schools.
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In asking for the visit to St. Therese, Principal Dipo said he was "amazed and inspired with the story" of St. Therese, including the Blue Ribbon recognition and Principal Phyllis Cavallone's recent Golden Apple and NCEA Awards.
Principal Cavallone, Assistant Principal Debbe Oi, and other St. Therese staff hosted the group for tours, discussions and information exchanges with the visitors who sought to understand the methods, approaches, and programming that make St. Therese so unique and its students so successful.
St. Therese has long participated in exchanges with schools from around the world, including schools in England, South Korea, and Singapore. Schools like Santa Laurensia are eager to learn from St. Therese's proven success, and likewise, St. Therese looks to these exchanges as a way to continuously innovate and improve its curriculum and programming.
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Fr. Li and St. Therese
Featured in Chicago Catholic
First Asian Community Mass
Join Cardnial Blase Cupich and others from the Chicago Archdiocese for the first Asian Community Mass in honor of "Mary, the Mother of Cultures" to be held at St. Henry on Sunday, July 23rd at 4pm. More information can be found at
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