Principal’s Corner...
 

Greetings from St.Mary’s Catholic School! It is with great excitement that we welcome a new year.  January has us preparing for the many new and exciting experiences that lie ahead of us and reminds us to be thankful of the many blessings and experiences of 2008.

            At St.Mary’s our “Big Idea” of focus is inclusion. Each class will examine what inclusion means to them as they are immersed in literacy that is rich with positive messages around this theme. Academically, we are currently focused on Teacher-Learning Critical Pathways as a means for school improvement. The Teaching-Learning Critical Pathway is a model used to organize actions for teaching and student learning incorporating high yield strategies to address needs as demonstrated through assessment data. Our staff, through their interpretation of student achievement data has set a focus around the ability of our students to make inferences based on pieces of written text that are relevant to the big idea of inclusion. Collectively, we meet monthly to navigate our way through this pathway giving us an opportunity to share in the problem solving and celebrate in our successes.

            In the month of December, we successfully hosted our volleyball tournament at St.Mary’s. In early December we welcomed volleyball teams from various other schools in our board. The tournament was an amazing success thanks to the behaviour of the students involved and the dedication of staff and coaches. St.Mary’s boy’s team and girl’s team did extremely well in their respective divisions and should be commended for their level of competition as well as their sense of fair play. January has us beginning to prepare for basketball and for the Perth County bordenball tournament.

            With the beginning of a new year our grade 8 students are currently beginning to deliberate about high school and course selections. Along with their parents, our students begin to examine “pathways” which best suit their interests and ability level. It is important to see the value in all pathways as they all provide an opportunity for success upon the completion of a high school career. A “Pathway to Success” consists of a combination of courses that make up a student’s educational program as he/she moves through high school from grade 9 to graduation. A “Pathway to Success” is designed to lead a student to a particular destination. This does not mean however that the original destination becomes the final destination as motivations can change and students should be free to make new choices as they develop new interests and abilities. (adapted from HPCDSB Pathways to Success resource)

We, the staff and students of St.Mary’s Catholic School, would like to take this opportunity to extend our best wishes for a prosperous 2009!

Dave Cassone, Principal

St.Mary’s School