Come to Curriculum Night!

Do you hear the teachers, your children, or other parents talking about things like Guided Reading, Writers' Workshop, AIMSweb, and mobi boards and want to know more?  Are you curious about the professional development our teachers have been participating in?  Do you want to know more about our instructional philosophy and approaches?  Come to Curriculum Night on Wednesday, October 12th!

It will be a chance for parents to go back to school and listen to presentations given by our teachers on current curricular initiatives at St. Matthias.  The following sessions will be offered:

Balanced Literacy: Teaching Reading and Writing Across Grade Levels - Learn how our teachers combine direct instruction with authentic opportunities to read and write.  Gain a better sense for what phonics, Guided Reading, and Writers' Workshop look like from preschool through 8th grade and how to support your children with these approaches at home.

Inclusion:  Supporting All Students - No two children are alike, in learning preferences, communication styles, and aptitudes.  This session will familiarize you with our philosophy on meeting all students' needs within the classroom context and the supports that we have in place to meet that goal.  You will learn how we use data to inform our decisions on instructional support and enrichment and about the team of teachers that we have in place to collaborate with teachers and parents to be sure all students are successful.

Inquiry Based Learning and Technology Integration - Our kindergarten through 8th grade teachers have been piloting Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) in Social Studies and Science this school year.  What does it look like when students direct their own learning through IBL units?  How do we incorporate cooperative learning and critical thinking skills?  You'll also learn about the technological tools that your children have access to (mobi boards, laptops, ipads) and how they are seamlessly integrated into the curriculum, teaching the skills necessary in the world today.

Our Family Life Program - This year we are introducing the Family Life curriculum in grades 4 - 8.  This program was chosen to help teach our children about healthy self-image, relationships, and human sexuality in the context of Catholic moral principles.  You will learn about the issues that will be addressed through this curriculum and discuss how to continue healthy dialogue at home with your children.

Each 25 minute session will be presented three times, at 7:00 PM, 7:30 PM, and 8:00 PM.  Parents can choose topics of interest and "change classes" to hear more than one session.  Our doors will open at 6:45 PM and we will begin Session #1 promptly at 7:00 PM.   Please contact me with questions.  I hope you can make it!

Welcome Back to School!

After a summer of planning and preparation, it has been wonderful to have our hallways buzzing with children again.  There has been an incredible spirit amongst our faculty and students and I am so excited for the year ahead.  Let me give a quick update of recent progress and plans for the school year:

·      Facility Improvements

o   Harwood Floors - This summer we refinished four classroom hardwood floors and tiled one floor.  The rooms are bright and clean and we look forward to finishing the rest of our floors next summer.

o   Electric Project – We are in the midst of an electric project sponsored by the Archdiocese.  The wiring in our school is being completely replaced and updated and our fire alarm system will be replaced.  Our electricians have been flexible about working around the needs of our students and causing very minimal disruptions.

o   Bathrooms – We began much needed improvements to our bathrooms by replacing three sinks in the first floor bathrooms.  We have more plans for our bathrooms and water fountains.  Stay tuned for the Friends of the Grape Paddle Raise!  Improvements to our bathrooms will be the special fundraising initiative for the school.

o   New Library – Our library has moved to the third floor and since the shelves were recently installed, Mrs. Wiederkehr and volunteers have been busy setting it up.  We expect it to be ready within the next two weeks. Though smaller than our old library, we will be able to fit the majority of our collection and classes will still visit to check out books.  Additionally, I have arranged a partnership with Sulzer so that we have reserved time for our classes to visit the public library as well.

o   Masonry – In mid-October, we expect to begin replacing the cornices on our school façade.  The work will commence after Friends of the Grape.

·      New Programs and Initiatives

o   Inclusive Initiatives – In an effort to support all students’ academic, emotional, and spiritual needs, we have instituted a new model for inclusion.  Our teachers will be providing targeted interventions to remediate and challenge students and will have the support of three staff members, Mrs. Garcia, Ms. Baglien, and Mrs. Klich who have experience and training in special education, as a learning specialist, and as a reading specialist, respectively.  We also welcome Julie Raino, counselor, to our staff, who will be with us every Tuesday and has rich experience not only in social work but also in gifted education.

o   Writing Workshop – This August our teachers were trained in Lucy Calkins’ method of teaching writing, called Writing Workshop.  Adopting this curriculum in kindergarten through eighth grade allows us a comprehensive approach to teaching writing with teachers using common language around writing and setting similar high expectations.

o   Technology Improvements – Don’t miss the newly installed projectors in each classroom allowing for easier integration of technology.  All teachers in K-8 will be utilizing mobi boards this year (mobile interactive white boards) and our K-5^th graders will be experiencing learning through iPads.

·      Professional Accomplishments on our Staff

o   I am proud to congratulate Mrs. Sheila Klich, Assistant Principal, on completing her Masters in Administration through the University of Notre Dame this summer.  Sheila completed a research project on the positive effects of small group reading interventions and received the Distinguished Research Award for her work.  She is currently submitting her project for publication, while putting her findings into action by directing reading interventions with our students.

o   I am also excited to share that Mr. Jan Wiezorek, 4^th grade teacher, has recently become a published author.  Awesome Art Projects That Spark Super Writing (New York:  Scholastic, 2011) features lessons designed by Mr. Wiezorek and examples of work from our students and alumni.

o   Ms. Margie Rosmonowski also completed her Master of Education through Loyola University of Chicago this summer.  Ms. Rosmonowski completed the LU-CHOICE program, a service program in which she committed to living in community with other Catholic school educators and teaching in an inner-city school for a small stipend.  We thank Ms. Rosmonowski for her continued commitment to St. Matthias and congratulate her on assuming the role of Athletic Director this school year.

So much news and so much more to come!  I hope that you will stay tuned to the blog for more updates through the year.