God Has Chosen Me...

 ...to come back and do this all again!  Sometimes it feels like reincarnation.  We have to keep coming back until we get it right.  I think we did so many things right last year and years before.  I loved watching all the teachers' faces at our Diocesan PD. Every time the presenter said, "You should do this," you all looked at me and said, "We do that!"   It's nice to have validation that what we do here is making a difference; if only they had told us that in a memo.  I am excited about what came out of the workshop for math.  I put the Action Plan and Academic Vocab paper in the School Year folder in the drive under "Math."  Teachers, please keep referring to it as we go through the year.  I also think we should add this as another Action Plan for CIPA.  

Teachers, please play our theme song (link in the pre-planning presentation and below) in class before Wednesday so the children are familiar with it. Deacon has scheduled to play it during August, and it may be played at the first Mass. Religion class is a good time to play it and start talking about our theme and what it means.  St. Stephen was called to be a voice of the truth.  Talk to students about how they can be a witness, not only through evangelization, but also by being encouraging to others, using respectful dialogue, and standing up against bullying or injustice.  If someone from the Visiting Team should ask our students what it means to be a Witness of the Truth, they should be prepared to answer that.  

Many of you have been asking me to share things with edit privileges (which may be the default when you request to share) for yourself or others.  Everyone has access to the 2026-27 School Year folder.  If you need edit privileges for something specific (i.e., Melissa needs edit privileges to the Liturgy folder), I will grant it.  No one may edit the Field Trip or Service Project spreadsheet.  That is just for you to view after I approve.  The link to the Google Forms is in the second pre-planning presentation.  Everything you need should be in the folders or the presentations.  In addition, I am going to add some below.  I will also email Word versions of the Professional Growth Plan to teachers in case you want to type on it.  Please remember, the first goal is for everyone.  

Theme Song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VWIpHq1Ctc

Field Trip Form - https://forms.gle/Xs5kez66xUz3FxHz7

Service Project Form (I took out a lot of required questions.  You can skip some if your service project does not require you to leave the building.) - https://forms.gle/zqwwLnzTgxtwjecK6

Please remember to practice EVERYTHING.  We will do a fire drill the first week of school, so be sure students know what to do, and you are prepared with the Raptor App.  

For tomorrow, we will have Classroom Drop-Off.  Since 5th and 2nd will also be having Open House, we will delay the morning show.  I will make an announcement at 8:10 asking everyone to leave, and the morning show will begin at 8:15 am.  The morning show crew will be in the media center from when they arrive until after the morning show.  PK and K will have a noon dismissal tomorrow, and Extended Day is available.  

I'm sure I forgot something, but hopefully nothing important.  Have a wonderful first day of school.  I will visit each classroom to greet the students.  When I come in, please just pause for a few minutes to allow me to welcome them back.  Once again, thank you all for making St. Stephen great!

All good things must come to an end....

 This will be my last blog for the year. 😮   I know some of you are crying right now, 😢 but all good things must come to an end, just like this school year. 😄  That is how it feels some days, and I know you join me in those feelings.  When I look at the year, what I see is all the successes the students have made academically, socially, and spiritually.  That is what really matters.  There were days when I truly felt that people (adults) had lost their minds, but through it all, the students kept shining.  They are why we are here, and I thank each and every one of you for the part that you played in making this year a success.  

Mary will be in St. Augustine Monday and Tuesday, so no one is allowed to be sick.  I will be covering a couple of classes both days and have a few meetings, but I will be available as much as I can.  

Tuesday's faculty meeting is a Subject Area Meeting - Lang. Arts.  

There is no Mass on Wednesday; Mass will be on Thursday at 8:30.  Talk to Encore teachers if you need to move a class.  

Students in Grades 1-5 will eat in their classrooms on Thursday due to the 8th-grade brunch.  We will have a plan for bringing hot lunches to you.  

Finally, on Friday, we bid farewell to our 8th graders and see you next year to our PK students.  

He Likes It!

Hey Mikey!  If you are as old as dirt like me, you remember Mikey, who hated everything but Life Cereal.  John Gilchrist and his family lived in my neighborhood growing up (all three brothers were in the commercial), and they threw the best New Year's Eve party.  Luckily, we didn't have to eat Life cereal at the party.  When surrounded by so much cereal, this is what I think of - little Mikey.  Thank you, Lisa, for organizing this worthwhile event.  Thank you, Nicki, too, for organizing the SVDP drive.  Cleaning supplies were a great idea.  

Here is the plan for the annual Cereal Box Domino Challenge.  Right after the morning show, students in 8A who have finished their art project will stay behind to collect all the cereal in Angel's Wing and bring it to the main building.  I can meet them with a cart.  They will then help me to set up the cereal boxes.  Second grade has PE first period.  They should leave PE five minutes early so that they can be back in the main building promptly at 8:45, which is when we will do the Challenge.  Third grade will go to PE right after the event.   

Holy Card this weekend is the Holy Spirit.  Please let the students know on Monday that if they collected all the Holy Cards this year, they may come see me on Friday at 8:30 am.  Please first check that they have these cards:

Guardian Angel
Carlo Acutis
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Holy Family
Jesus
St. Anthony of Padua
St. Joseph
Our Lady of Lourdes

Holy Spirit

Next Tuesday is a Grade Level PLC.  I will be visiting the Early Childhood group and possibly Gr. 3-5 if there is time to discuss schedules.  Middle School is done, as well as Encore classes.  I would like the teachers to work with me to fill in the other pieces for self-contained classes.  

Thursday is the Student Council Inauguration and NJHS Induction in the church.  Please make your way over at 2 pm, and we will start promptly at 2:10 pm.  Grades 3-8 will attend the first part, which is Student Council.  Grades 5-8 will remain for the NJHS induction.  I would like 5th graders to see what they can aspire to next year.  

Finally, Friday is concert day and maybe visits to the Talking Pint!  PK 4 students know the best place in town for Friday nights!  Have a great week.  

Happy Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week!

  And what a great parade it was!  The whole celebration was perfect.  My sincere thanks to Nicki, Vylam, and Maria H. for all their hard work putting this together.  We are also grateful to the Knights, the volunteers, Spoto HS Marching Band, Colonel Bosley for the parade lead vehicles, our Flag Brigade, the float creators, staff who helped with food, etc.  I hope I'm not forgetting anyone.  While all this amazing stuff was happening, there was also an amazing art show for everyone to enjoy.  Thank you, Darien.  This year's display was excellent, and the Glow Room gets 5 stars!  For that, we also thank Mrs. Moretuzzo and her helpers.  

This week, we continue our celebration with food and surprises hosted by the PTCO.  I saw the countries, but beyond that, I'm not sure what they are planning.  My assumption is that it will center around lunch, so be sure to stop by the break room each day.  If you didn't see the flyer, check Tidbits. 

Other celebrations include May Crowning, the 2nd-grade First Communion Reception, the Middle School Social, Volunteer coffee, AND.... the first PBL project presentation on Thursday by PK 4!!  I'm so excited about that.  Thank you to the teachers who have shared their units.  I'm actually glad that everyone didn't send me theirs, as it is taking time to review and give feedback.  If you haven't shared, please do so by tomorrow so you can begin working on it.  

Lastly, please remind the students to wear their uniforms to church next weekend.  Have a fabulous week!

Happy 25th!

 It's time to party and celebrate 25 years of making a difference in the lives of many students.  Please be sure you have read the document in the Principal's Points section of Tidbits for instructions about the afternoon.  There will be parent volunteers coming to your classroom between 1:30 and 2 pm to help you with logistics (bringing students to the float, IF you have a permission slip for them, and helping get the class onto the sidewalk).  Please be sure to follow up with any missing permission slips.  Teachers should hold on to those, so you know who to send out that day.  Thank you to everyone who is helping with the event, and thank you to all for doing your part.  Please let students know that they may wear their Disciple of Christ t-shirt and jeans/jean shorts/PE shorts.  That should be the only shirt they wear that day.  I will also send an email home.  Yesenia, please promote on the morning show and FB.  

This week, we begin collecting for SVDP.  Please encourage the students to bring in items.  See Tidbits for more details, as we are not collecting food this time.  

For teachers: Tuesday's faculty meeting is devoted to collecting evidence with your CIPA committees.  Friday, we will be doing the following: Presentation on Authentic Assessment through PBL, CIPA work, time for inventory, etc.  Our day will begin at 8 am in the Media Center.  

Have a wonderful week!

April Showers Bring May Flowers....

 If only.  Let's keep praying for rain, in moderation, of course.    

I'm not sure if everyone has access to the Terra Nova results yet.  The good news is that in most areas in most grades, students are performing better than the national average in meeting proficiency.  This is all due to your hard work.  But as with anything, there is always room for improvement.  When you look at the results, look at them through the lens of what skills do I need to reinforce in the next 5 weeks, while ensuring all the standards have been covered in each subject area?  (Yes, I know that sounds like Superman/woman level expectations, but I believe we can do it!  Take advantage of extra math time and flex time in elementary.)  If you need help with reports, please talk to Mary.  She is looking at reports for 3rd-5th on specific math skills that need reinforcing.  I would like math teachers to focus on any gaps in math that need to be filled before the end of the year.  

This week seems pretty quiet compared to the others.  If you are assigned to Tuesday's PTCO meeting (names are in the minutes from our last faculty meeting), please be in the FLC by 6:30 pm.

Thank you, and have a great week!

Even before this, Chaucer talked about April Showers in the Canterbury Tales.  But that is a story for another day.  

Jesus I Trust in You

Such a simple prayer, but so meaningful.  I wish you all a blessed Divine Mercy Sunday and may the mercy of Jesus fill your heart and bring you peace.

Just a heads up that I will be in and out over the next two weeks.  This week, I will be out on Monday and Wednesday morning and all day Friday.  Next week I will be out in the briefly in the middle of the day on Monday and all day Wednesday and Thursday.  Most of this is related to a very minor surgical procedure that feels like they are performing open heart surgery with all the prep and tests.  Friday, 4/24, is an administrator meeting, and either Mary or I will attend, depending on whether I can drive.  In between all that, I will complete most of the observations (hopefully).  

As far as what's happening this week, please keep up with emails, Tidbits, etc., and regularly check the calendar.  You should have already received the Book Fair and Field Day schedules, and Gr. 2-8 have what they need for ARK testing.  Teachers also received a letter/permission slip from Nicki that you can use to send home with students participating in the parade for your class.  Please reach out to your homeroom parent to get the list of students participating and hold onto the permission slips as they come in.  Only students with a permission slip may participate in the parade.  If you have any questions or need help with this, let me know.  

Have a fabulous week!