Principal’s Post – September 18
Posted on September 18, 2015
We had a wonderful Back-To-School night on Wednesday, and it was wonderful to see so many of you there. I know with young children at home it can often be difficult to get away. To that end, here is the address I gave, that shows the mission and vision for the school year:
“Welcome to all of you, and thank you for giving your time this evening to come to school and meet your children’s teachers. Your presence here is evidence of the commitment that you are making to your child’s education. You are your child’s first teachers. We never forget that. As partners we are working to form strong learners, good citizens and faithful servants. While tonight is a good opportunity for you to meet the faculty, learn classroom procedures and expectations, and socialize with other parents, it is important to keep in mind why you send your children to St. Ambrose School. If I were to ask you that question, “why?” I would probably receive many different answers. But I would hope that among your answers would be that it is evident that the mission of St. Ambrose School is being lived out each and every day. Let me share that mission with you:
Saint Ambrose Catholic School is dedicated to academic excellence and committed to the formation of the whole child, while rooted in the traditions of the Catholic faith. The mission of Saint Ambrose Catholic School is to foster an ongoing dynamic and innovative educational environment in which each student will be motivated to reach his/her full academic and spiritual potential while supporting the family as the primary educator. The atmosphere of St. Ambrose School strongly encourages community service and active participation as global citizens, following the example and teachings of Jesus Christ.
“We take our responsibility very seriously and each of us works every day to uphold and fulfill that mission. We are focused on educational excellence. We provide a Christ-centered environment. We strive to prepare each and every student to be successful in a global setting. This is who we are and we are proud of what we do.
“But we are not content to stop there. We must always look to the future and ask ourselves: “How can we do this even better?” How can we, as a school, work even harder to prepare our students. Certainly we have wonderful academic programs. We offer advanced math classes, which demonstrates that we will work to reach all of our students at whatever level they are. The enrichment opportunities in all areas are exceptional.
“Now we look to the future and we want to envision where we go from here. So I offer this vision. We will continue to promote service to others. To take a line from the Prayer of St. Francis “it is in giving that we receive”: we want our students to understand that we are called to help each other and to reach out to those in need. St. Ambrose School has a wonderful record of providing service to others and we will continue to do so. We will work with the parish office to identify areas where our students can help and be an example to the wider community.
“We are going to explore ways to offer you, our parents, more opportunities to be involved in our school. Throughout the year we have PTO meetings, social occasions and fundraisers. I offer each of you a personal invitation to come and be involved. Volunteering is important for many reasons: it allows you to be an active part of the school community; in working with our various fundraisers it helps provide necessary resources for the school; and perhaps most importantly, your children see how much you value the school and their education. By partnering with us, not only in education, but in service to the school you are sending a very clear message to them that school is important. In these modern times life can get very busy, but we offer multiple opportunities, long-term and short-term to be involved. For example, preparation for our annual gala is underway. Look in the Buzz next week for the theme and date, and if you want to volunteer to help, please see Sue Bogan, our gala chair, after the meeting.
“If there are areas where you feel the school could be of benefit to you as an individual or as a family, please let me know. We have wonderful resources in the parish and it is important for you to know that we are one family and we help each other. We will continue to provide your children with a safe, loving and nurturing environment and educate them with faith and excellence.”
Mrs. Angela Rowley, Principal
