February 2024

Patricia Sullivan Ramsey '58 establishes Mother McAuley Legacy Scholarship

Patricia Sullivan Ramsey '58 established the Mother McAuley Legacy Scholarship for one incoming ninth grader. A renewable four-year scholarship, it is awarded to an incoming 9th grader and valued at 50% tuition.

"Creating a scholarship honoring Mother McAuley seems like an inevitable outcome of my lifelong involvement with the community she founded, the Sisters of Mercy, her living legacy." Pat says.

A graduate of Good Shepherd Elementary School and St. Catharine Academy, Pat says, "I experienced firsthand Mother McAuley’s commitment to empowering individuals, especially young women, to discover and act on their own inner strengths. Mother McAuley was ahead of her time. Her life holds many lasting lessons, including the realization that religion is not something to wear on our sleeves - it is something to live from our hearts."

Alana '28 receives first Mother McAuley Legacy Scholarship

Alana R. ‘28, the first recipient of the Mother McAuley Legacy Scholarship, says she and her mother both started crying when they first received the call with the news. “I wanted a scholarship really bad,” Alana says. “St. Catharine's has been my dream high school since 4th grade.”

Explaining that her family lives in the neighborhood, Alana says she always pointed to SCA when they were walking by and “told my parents I am going to go to that high school.”

The Mother McAuley Legacy Scholarship required a written essay about Mother McAuley as part of the application process. Alana says, “From what I researched, Mother McAuley seemed like a driven woman. She knew how to understand people. She tried to help everyone and make sure they felt seen and heard. I wanted to make sure my essay was personal and heartfelt.”

An eighth grader at St. Francis Xavier/St. Clare Elementary School, Alana plays volleyball and is in the drama club. She hopes to try new clubs at St. Catharine’s and explore opportunities for her future.

Alana will be joining her sister at St. Catharine’s next year. She says she is grateful for the scholarship because she hopes it will take some weight off her parents. “They work really hard for my sister and me to go to school. Hopefully this will make it easier for them.”

Fordham University receives NSF grant to work on coding research project with the Middle School students at SCA

Fordham University's Cognition, Development, and Education (CoDE) Lab received a National Science Foundation grant to work with middle school students in coding. St. Catharine Academy's students will be part of the study which will engage middle schoolers and their math teachers in decimal problem-solving activities.

Students will participate in pre-testing and post-testing to see how the decimal activities aid in gaining mathematics knowledge. The Study will be done in three parts beginning this Spring and continuing through the next academic year.

"As a math educator, I am excited to partner with Fordham University on improving how students learn mathematics," says Carmela Melucci, assistant principal of academic services. "It is a wonderful opportunity for our middle school students to participate in this study that will improve math education."

Robotics Team wins Design Award

and qualifies for States

The Robotics Team was awarded the Design Award at the VEX competition held at Kennedy Catholic High School. This also qualified them for the States competition.

According to the Vex website, "The Design Award is presented to a team that demonstrates an organized and professional approach to the design process, project and time management, and team organization. The team’s Engineering Notebook and Judges interview will demonstrate the team’s ability to produce a quality robot with minimal adult assistance."

Poetry Slam wraps up Black History Month events

Students from grades 6 through 12 participated in a Poetry Slam which included poetry readings by students and music by the Middle School Choir (picture below). The program was dedicated to Maya Angelou, and included poems such as, "Still I Rise"  and "When the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou and "The Hill We Climb" by Amanda Gorman.

Two basketball players receive

All League honors

Two SCA Varsity basketball players were recognized with All League honors at the end of the season. Jocelyn S. '24 (above, left) was named CHSAA Tier 3 1st team All League and Jazlynn K. '26 (above, right) was named to the All League 2nd Team.

Varsity Cheer scores another Nationals appearance

The Varsity Cheer team wrapped up their season with another Nationals appearance in Orlando, Florida. SCA has been represented at Nationals for the better part of two decades.

Varsity Basketball makes it to semi-finals to round out season

The Varsity basketball team lost a close game to Cardinal Spellman High School in the semi-finals of the CHSAA Tier 3 Tournament.

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