🙏 The Messenger - Summer Update 🙏

SUMMER UPDATE - July 15, 2022

Dear Families of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School,

Happy Summer! Let the Countdown to our First Day of School begin! I pray you are having a fantastic summer with quality family time, prayer, travel, camps…and of course, summer reading! 😊 For me, summer is a great time to slow down and reflect on the previous year and excitedly anticipate the year to come! I hope it has provided each of you the same opportunity.

Last September, Father Jesse Garcia was named our pastor. He has shared his commitment and passion to increase his involvement with the school now that he has his first year “under his belt”. One of Father Jesse’s passions is the Focolare Movement which emphasizes love. This was the catalyst for our 2022-2023 theme: Love One Another. This will be something we discuss regularly with our students this year encouraging them to show love to all they encounter.

New Members of the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School Staff:

Mrs. Donna-Maria Barrow – Pre-K3 Teacher
Ms. Daniella Biagi – Beyond the Bell
Mrs. Julie Cooper – Advancement and Administrative Assistant
Mrs. Virginia Johnson – Spanish Teacher
Mrs. Jenny Lienhard – Music Teacher (PK3 – 3rd Grades, Mass Choir)
Ms. Patricia McDougall – Beyond the Bell
Ms. Maria Medina – Beyond the Bell
Mrs. Jeniffer Salinas – Pre-K4 Assistant

Additional Staffing Changes:

Ms. Patricia Tamez will move from Pre-K4 to assist Mrs. Barrow with our Pre-K3 Dolphins.
Ms. Rebecca McDowell will continue to teach Middle School Theater and will now add Middle School Choir and Early Childhood World Languages

Academic Updates:

New Math Adoption – Our Math/Science Academic Professional Learning Community, under the leadership of Mr. Wetzel, researched numerous Math Curricula last year. This year, our Kindergarten – 7th grade students will use Progress in Mathematics by Sadlier. Our Middle School Pre-Algebra students will use Glencoe Math Accelerated and our 8th grade Algebra students will use Texas Algebra I by McGraw-Hill. We look forward to all the ways we can utilize the many components of these new programs in our Math classes.
Spanish Program 1st – 8th Grades – In an effort to enhance our Foreign Language program, Spanish will be taught in 1st grade through Middle School under the instruction of Mrs. Virginia Johnson. World Languages (introductions to Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese) will continue to be taught in Pre-K3 through Kindergarten with Ms. Rebecca McDowell.

Campus Improvements:

Additional Flexible Seating Classrooms – Thanks to the generosity of our families through the Fund for St. Anthony, we are able to furnish the remainder of all Elementary and Middle School classrooms (except the science lab) with new flexible seating. We are grateful to Mrs. Abib, Mrs. Guion, Mrs. Naeher, Mrs. Ramirez and Mrs. Turner for piloting these this past school year. We are thrilled to have the help of our parents to have our classroom furniture updated before school begins.
Interactive Promethean Display Panels – A BIG THANK YOU to our families for an amazing response to this past year’s Gala Raise the Paddle. Your generosity, along with Federal EANS funds are enabling us to purchase interactive Promethean Display Panels for EVERY classroom! These were installed in June. Our teachers will be trained during in-service and these will be ready for use by our students. This tool will interact with our curricula and program providing the opportunity to expand learning even further!
New Intercom/Phone System – A new system was installed allowing teachers to continue to hear announcements overhead. This new system allows the teacher to communicate with the front office through their computers and also makes programming the bells a more streamlined process. Additional enhanced features available for the front office allowing improved and more efficient communication.
Additional Cameras – After the tragic shooting at Uvalde Elementary School last May, we revisited all of our safety protocols. We have excellent coverage of campus through cameras. However, when walking the campus we determined several more areas that could benefit from additional angles. These cameras were ordered in May and will be installed as soon as they arrive.
New Web-based Camera Server – As an additional safety measure, this new sever allows administration to view and monitor cameras in real-time even when off-campus.
New School App - This app is a one-stop-shop for our school community, with anytime, anywhere access to all the tools, content, and communications parents need to stay connected and engaged. School information available in one easy to access place includes Announcements, School Calendar, Student Grades and Homework, Family Accounting, Giving Options, and much more! Stay tuned for more information on how to download the app for your mobile device.
Our Lady of the Angels Chapel – As part of the parish Horizon Campaign, the Chapel is almost complete. Please pray for the successful completion of this project.

One of the biggest things happening this year is our accreditation visit in February. Every seven years, each school in the Archdiocese must be accredited through TCCBED. Last year, our faculty and staff worked together to complete and submit our self-study. This winter, we look forward to showcasing our school as we welcome several visitors to our campus. More information to come as this will involve all members of our school family!

Please mark your calendars for Meet the Teacher on Thursday, August 11th from 4pm – 6pm and our first day of school (half-day) on August 15th!

Only by His Grace,

Veronica D. Tucker

Principal

SUMMER OFFICE HOURS

July 11 - August 12 | Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. - Noon

August 15 | First Day of School, 8:00 a.m. - Noon

August 16 | Begin regular school hours, 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS

Summer Reading Assignments for students (Grades 1-8) are available for downloading and printing.

SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS

RISSE BROTHERS POP-UP UNIFORM SALES

Thursday, July 28th & Friday, July 29th

10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Located at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School, Fellowship Hall

**Parents – log onto www.rissebrothers.com and create your personal account in order to shop! Account must be created before any purchases can be made at the sale! Make sure to select St. Anthony of Padua as your school.

You may also purchase school uniforms on the Risse Brothers website and at their Houston store:

RISSE BROTHERS HOUSTON STORE

9000 Hempstead Rd. Suite 120

Houston, TX 77008

Phone: 346-319-4176

Current Store Hours:

Monday, closed*

Tuesday, 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, closed

*Note: Open Mondays 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during July and August.

RISSE BROTHERS FLYER (English)

RISSE BROTHERS FLYER (Spanish)

USED UNIFORMS

Paduan Parent volunteers maintain our Used Uniforms cabinets throughout the school year. All parents are welcome to shop our Used Uniforms during office hours. There is a suggested donation of $5 per uniform item taken for your students.

SPIRIT T-SHIRTS - $20 each. Students may wear Spirit Shirts with jeans on planned Spirit Shirt & Jeans days and other designated days throughout the school year. A portion of our t-shirt sales will go towards supporting various ministries as we focus on "Love One Another" as our mission this year. T-shirts are "District Made" brand.

T-shirts will be available to order until August 19, 2022. Shirts will be sent home early September.

**Students wearing Spirit Shirts from previous years will be asked to contribute $1 to the sponsored ministry on $1 Spirit Shirt & Jeans Days.*

ORDER SPIRIT SHIRTS - Deadline August 19th

ROOM PARENTS & PADUAN PARENT LEADERSHIP

We encourage all parents and guardians to volunteer as a Room Parent or Paduan Parent Champions during the 2022-2023 school year. This is a wonderful opportunity to contribute to your child’s classroom, experience your child’s interactions with teachers and peers, and most of all, see the pride in your child’s face when you are there to share special times with their class. If you are interested in this fun and rewarding opportunity, please let us know at the volunteer interest form below. We will contact individual Room Parents & Paduan Parent Champions about assignments once the school year begins.