Memo

To: All ASCS Parents

From: Steve Virgadamo

Date: November 4, 2022

Re: Week 9 - Head of School Journal Entry - October 31, 2022 – November 4, 2022

The National Education Report Card was released this past week.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often called The Nations Report Card, is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what students in public and private schools in the United States know and are able to do in various subjects.

The National Report Card manifests that the divergence today between Catholic schools and Government sponsored schools is so great that if all U.S. Catholic schools were a state, their 1.6 million students would rank first in the nation across the NAEP reading and math tests for fourth and eighth graders.

Catholic-school students now boast the nation's highest scale scores on all four

NAEP tests.

• The average score among fourth-graders in Catholic schools was 233,
• 17 points higher than the national public-school average, or about 1½-2 grade levels ahead.
•  In eighth-grade reading, the average score for Catholic school students was 279, 20 points higher than the national public-school average, or about two grade levels ahead.

When disaggregated by race, Catholic schools showed significant gains since 2019.

• Achievement among African American students enrolled in Catholic schools
• increased by 10 points (about an extra year's worth of learning), while African American students in public schools lost 5 points and African American students in charter schools lost 8 points.
• Latino students in Catholic Schools gained 7 points on the eighth-grade reading test, while Latino students in Government schools lost 1 point and
• Hispanic students in charter schools lost 2 points.
• Catholic schools lead the nation for Hispanic achievement on each of the four tests, and lead the nation in African American student achievement on three of the four.
• Catholic schools also rank first in eighth-grade reading and third in both fourth-grade reading and fourth-grade math for students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch.

I like to say we are the best academically because we are Catholic. You can’t be authentically Catholic and not academically excellent. Cannon 806 of the Catholic Church’s Code of Cannon Law states:

Those who are in charge of Catholic schools are to ensure, under the supervision of local the Ordinary (Bishop) that the formation given in them is, in its academic standards, at least as outstanding as that in other schools in the area.

As a parent, you know you want to ensure the academic formation of your child and the latest data clearly supports your decision to enroll your child(ren) at All Saints.

But just Academic formation of our scholars is not enough.

• Our PROMISE is to partner with you in the integral formation of your child(ren).  Integral formation at All Saints Catholic School means we focus each day on the Intellectual, Spiritual, Human and Apostolic Formation of each young person entrusted to our care.
• Our BRAND is simple – College and Heaven - We work with you to begin each young scholar on a journey to College and on the Stairway to Heaven.

Our GOAL is that our graduates will be:

• Confident
• Empathetic
• Respectful
• Compassionate
• Innovative
• Leaders
• Disciples
• Resilient
• Faithful
• Generous

Shout Outs and Gratitude….

Last weekend was a busy weekend at All Saints. It began on Friday evening with a successful Middle School Dance. Many thanks to Janet Mitchell for organizing the Middle School Dance. More than 100 of our young scholars enjoyed the music, refreshments and community. I enjoyed being with the parent chaperones and the young people. Many of our young men and women looked like they stepped out of GQ Magazine. Mrs. Dunn, Mrs. Corrente, Ms. Bacheldor, Ms. Chanda, Ms. Loughlin, and Officer John were all there at the dance to support the students. Some of them were “moving” to the music and at least one of them was as they say “cutting a rug” on the dance floor. It was fun to watch the reactions of our Middle Schoolers to some staff dancing.

The weekend continued with the Trunk or Treat on Saturday afternoon. It was like nothing I have ever seen in any of the thousands of Catholic schools with which I am familiar. Kudos to Ashley and Jonathan Eichholtz for organizing such an outstanding event. Seeing the young scholars and the parents enjoying time in community and making lifetime memories was such a wonderful experience. The “trunkers” as they called themselves left nothing” on the playing field,” each had a unique experience and also treats for the “treaters.” For me, the best of the “trunkers “show award goes to Bobbby and Toula Moisiaris who actually constructed a haunted house façade for children to enter as they gathered treats.

The festivities carried over to Monday. Mrs. Dunn and the staff organized the “March of the Saints” so that every young scholar had a chance to showcase their chosen Halloween costume. I’m still not sure how they managed the logistics – moving 400 young people out of the building, a lap around the track, and a lap around the building and all in 20 minutes. Special thanks to Father Sudhir, Pastor of St. Phillips parish for joining us for the parade. He was our parade Grand Marshall. Of course, also thanks to our “All-Star Room Parents” - Halloween parties followed in classrooms and in the dining hall for the middle schoolers - all made possible by our Room Parents.

Tuesday was our Founders Day. We celebrated the Feast of All Saints with Mass at St. Phillip parish. It was good to see some of you there worshipping with us. Father Perrella also had prayer services in our chapel for preschool and lower school scholars. Each young person was gifted a saintly prayer card from Father Perrella.

Lots of festivities, all part of formation and yes, it was also an outstanding academic week as well. As noted above, we lead the nation in intellectual formation.

Come visit our lobby soon. Eileen D’Andrea, Denise Vuoso, Lindsey Pignatro and Yeire Singewald hung more college banners and posted banners highlighting the characteristics expected of our graduates at graduation. You’ll also see new carpet in our Lobby entryway or what some call Officer John’s Office. Much of this was made possible as a result of the generosity of our families and friends.

If an army runs on the stomachs of its soldiers, so does a school. We can never thank our teachers enough for all they do to form young scholars. Mr. James Sorrell, a parent of a 6th grader delivered donuts and coffee as a thank you and happy Friday gift for the staff. It’s no wonder our young people are quick to show gratitude; they model the behavior of their parents. For all the staff – I say Thank you, Mr. Sorrell.

Parents in Formation

We ask our young people, our staff and parents to each day strive to be a better version of themselves. We all need to be lifelong learners.

Toward that end we are offering Parenting Workshops. The first session will be at All Saints on Monday, November 14, at 7:30 PM. It will be led by Lorena Seidel, a social and emotional learning consultant and a Mindfulness- Based Stress Reduction Teacher. The parenting topic: Evolutionary Mindset: Go from Yelling to Calm in 4 Steps. Hope to see you there. If you have topics or speakers you’d like to suggest for our becoming a better parent workshops - let us know.

Click here to register.

Our second parenting workshop will be led by Chris Cipriano, President of Notre Dame High School. It will be at All Saints on December 1 at 6:30 pm. The topic is Continuing the Formation of your Scholar at a Catholic high school. Everything a parent needs to know about the high school admissions process and financial aid/scholarship opportunities. Click here to register.

Teachers in Formation

On Tuesday, November 8th the 400+ educators and formators in the Diocese of Bridgeport will gather at ASCS for a Professional Development Day. The keynote speaker is Father Richard Veras. He is the Director of Pastoral Formation at St. Joseph’s seminary in Yonkers. We are looking forward to welcoming Father Veras and our colleagues from across the diocese to our home – a place where we stand on the shoulders of giants – and listen to Saintly whispers each day from the likes of – St. Elizbeth Ann Seton, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Luke, St. Michael, St. Ann, St. John Paul II, and all the Saints. You and your family will be remembered in our prayers at Mass on November 8, 2022.

Varia

Bishop Frank will be at All Saints to celebrate the Mass for students in Grades K-8 on December 2nd at 9 AM. Mark your calendar today as we’d like to host as many parents as able to be with us that day. We will provide some post-liturgy hospitality for parents.

School Swag and Online Store – Much gratitude to the HSA. As Advent approaches, they have graciously opened an online school store so parents and grandparents can order school swag as stocking stuffers, etc. Thanks to Greg Stewart, dad to Riley, Grade 6, who designed some new modern logos for the spirit wear.

Stewardship

Have you put All Saints School and/or your Child’s classroom on your Christmas Gift List?

Mrs. D’Andrea has assembled an All Saints Gift Catalog. It includes items to benefit early childhood classrooms, lower school, and upper school students, as well as the entire school. It’s an ongoing work in progress. New gift opportunities are being added regularly.

School Culture

How do we know we are building a healthy school culture? Let me share an observation from the week;

This morning one of our 7th-grade^th grade scholars was sitting in the lobby. She noted all of the new items in the lobby – the new rugs, the college pennants, and the banners highlighting the characteristics of an All Saints Graduate. She said thank you for making my school look beautiful. I told her it was the generosity of our friends that was enabling us to “beautify “ her school and enhance the learning environment. She said “I’d like to thank them personally. I want them to know that what they are doing is appreciated by the students too.”

A couple of notes – one was that she said thank you for making MY school beautiful. She believes ASCS is her second home. The second note is her gratitude - Including that she wanted to show her gratefulness to the benefactors.

We Are Expecting Company

Fall Open House is at All Saints on this Sunday, November 6 from 12 pm to 2 pm. Remind your friends and neighbors about All Saints, a neighborhood school with a goal of setting young scholars on the path to College and the stairway to Heaven.  If you are in the neighborhood on Sunday, know you are always welcome. ASCS is your HOME too!

Saintly Whisper and a Weekend Prayer

We can be better parents if we focus on our own spiritual growth first. So, I share this “SAINTLY WHISPER”

“We do not come to Church to attend the service as a spectator, but along with the priest, to serve God. Everything we do - our entering, being present, kneeling, sitting, standing, and our reception of the sacred nourishment should be divine service.

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God bless your family. Have a blessed weekend and make memories.

In Christ:

Steven Virgadamo

Head of School