Dear Parents,
Thank you to all those who prepared the delicious food for our Teacher Appreciation evening! It was a lovely event, and a great opportunity to get to know some of you better. We spend so much time working together, we often forget to just socialize. Thank you for spending your evening with us! As always, I am most grateful to our talented and dedicated faculty and staff. We are blessed in so many ways by their presence and their willingness to share their gifts with us.
This is Hunger Awareness Week, and we will start the day with a dress-down day. There is no better way to get children’s attention than to dress down! Kindergarten and 1st grade have PE, so they should wear something they can wear for PE. Each grade will be dressing in the color of a specific continent:
Kindergarten and 8th grade: GREEN for Africa 1st and 7th grades: YELLOW for Asia 2nd and 3rd grades: RED for the Americas 4th and 6th grades: WHITE for Europe 5th grade: BLUE for Oceania
The 8th graders prepared a visual aid for us – 25,000 beads hanging in the front hallway that represent the number of people who die each day from hunger. Isn’t it shocking to think that all over the world people are fighting to survive? 25,000 every day! Let us pray for those who hunger and thirst.
The Parent Seminar on Summer Learning at Home was very well received. There are copies of the handouts on the table outside the office. Please help yourself. She gave tips for doing things at home that will keep your child’s mind active over the summer. There are so many things that children can do that are fun for the parents too!
At the Open Forum, I talked about some of the things that we are planning for next year. I spend so much time thinking about these ideas and planning with the faculty that I forget that you might be interested in knowing our thoughts. I will be sending out a series of emails this week that will keep you informed. If I put it all in one email, I am afraid you will be overwhelmed. So here’s a start…
READING: Next year we will be working with grades K-3 with leveled readers. We currently do this in the individual classrooms, but we are taking it a step further next year. As you know, there are children with all different levels of ability in each classroom. They each grow and develop at their own rate. We try to challenge each child, encouraging and teaching patiently. We do not expect Kindergarten students to be reading before they begin school. For the few children who are already reading, they will be included in the groups in grades 1-3. We have several volunteers who are former teachers, or who have been trained to be reading assistants. In addition, our Teaching Assistants will be trained to lead reading groups as well. Students will all have Reading at the same time of day, so that we can place the students according to their current reading level. They will be frequently regrouped as they mature. As always, learning needs to be challenging in a positive way – so that the children are always trying to improve, but are not feeling left behind.
I would like to tell you all that I see in the classrooms, but I would not want to violate the students’ privacy. God gives us all some challenge in life. For some, it is obvious, and for others it is very well hidden. It is a teacher’s role to teach acceptance of our own failings and tolerance for the shortcomings of others. What a challenge in a classroom with 20-30 students! I can tell you this. We do not turn away students who have challenges academically if we can help them learn. Why? Because it is the right thing to do, and it is what Catholic schools should be doing! One young quick-to-learn student was helping his classmate with a skill. The teacher thanked him for being so patient and considerate. The student said to his teacher that he had learned much more by helping than his friend had learned from him. Amazing insight for a very young student!
I have another announcement to make regarding our Faculty for next year. Mrs. Colas has been a wonderful third grade teacher for her three years at St. Ambrose. She is a woman of many talents, and has been asked to preside over a charitable foundation. Mrs. Colas has accepted this honor in light of her love for and dedication to philanthropy. We will miss her, but she has promised to continue her connection with St. Ambrose by volunteering in our school and serving as a substitute teacher. Congratulations, Mrs. Colas!
Since I know that you will be worried about our new third grade teacher, I have asked her to introduce herself:
“My name is Kate Sasso and I will be the new third grade teacher here at St. Ambrose. I am very excited and fortunate to be teaching at such a wonderful school. I am finally settling down in Virginia after dating my fiance long distance for the past four years. We are getting married in Washington DC in June, so I will actually be Mrs. Bennett by the time I start teaching at St. Ambrose in August!
I was born and raised in Illinois in the suburbs of Chicago. I graduated in 2005 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Go Illini!) and received my B.S. in Elementary Education with a concentration in history and language arts. I have been teaching for six years now and have loved every minute. I taught fourth grade for four years at a Catholic school and have been the intermediate reading RTI specialist at a public school the past two years.
I am thrilled to be teaching in a Catholic school again. My Catholic faith is very important to me and my fiance and we attend St. Mary Mother of God parish in DC. I enjoy listening to classical music, visiting historical sites, spending time with family and our beagle, and fostering my love of interior design through extensive window shopping.”
I apologize for the length of this email. Believe it or not, I still have lots to share with you! I will be in touch tomorrow with more of the good things happening at St. Ambrose!
God bless,
Barbara Dalmut
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