Earlier this month (March 3), the Church celebrated the feast day of St. Katherine Drexel, a special individual to the Bonner & Prendie community. Katherine was born in Philadelphia in the 1800s to Francis A. Drexel (a wealthy banker) and his wife, Hannah Langstroth. When Katherine's father passed away, he left millions of dollars to Katherine and her sisters. Katherine took her portion of the inheritance and dedicated her time and resources to work among American Indians and African-Americans in spreading the teachings of the Catholic Church. For her commitment and dedication to social justice and for living the teachings of the Gospel each day of her life, she was canonized a saint. The Drexel family spent their summer vacations on the grounds of our campus.
6ABC will premiere a new documentary on the life and legacy of Saint Katherine Drexel this Saturday (March 30) at 7 PM. The program, "Saint Katherine Drexel: The Holy Heiress", is a special presentation of 6ABC's FYI Philly. An encore presentation of the documentary will air at 1 PM and at midnight on Sunday, March 31 as well. The 30-minute documentary will tell the story from her early years growing up in Philadelphia, to her religious life dedicated to serving the needs of African Americans and Native Americans, and how she became a saint. It also tells of the translation and installation last year of her sacred remains to a newly constructed tomb at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. Designated an Archdiocesan shrine last month, the tomb, located near the Drexel Family altar inside the Cathedral's main entrance, is open for visitation and prayer. You can to learn more about the tomb and shrine at https://www.saintkatharinedrexelshrine.com/.
Although March is Women's History Month, there are still some great programs happening in April geared toward our female students. Two such opportunities are highlighted within the letter. The University of Pennsylvania is offering a FREE Women in Computer Science Day for Girls on April 5 on their campus in University City and Delaware County Community College is offering a FREE empowerment conference for high school girls on their campus on April 6. Look below for more details on these two great opportunities
Please continue to encourage your student(s) to inform the Guidance Office of their college choice for next year and their scholarship amounts, if applicable. We continue to be proud of announcing where our students are planning to attend college and like to brag about their scholarships. As of today, our senior students have earned collectively $4,732,441 in scholarships and grants with only 29 students reporting. Our goal is to top the goal from last year of $16,084,616 (from the Class of 2018) and to hear about after graduation plans from all of our graduating students. Thank you for your assistance
Sincerely,
Dr. John Cooke
President
Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School
Financial Assistance for 2019-2020 Academic Year
Although the financial aid application priority deadline has passed, you can still apply for financial aid for the 2019-2020 academic year. Please do not wait until the last minute to submit these applications if you intend to apply for Financial Aid. Priority is always given to those who submit a completed application by the March 15, 2019 deadline. Anyone receiving financial aid for the 2018-2109 year will need to re-apply for the 2019-2020 academic year. Please visit thefinancial aid page on the website for more information. In addition, there are a number of scholarships offered each year at Bonner & Prendie as well. Check out the scholarship page on our website to see what opportunities your students may qualify.
Support an increase to the EIC/OSTC Tax Credit Program
There are bills in both the PA House and Senate that would increase the Educational Improvement Tax Credit. This program has been a big help to schools across Pennsylvania. It's been especially good for Catholic schools.
This petition would urge Senators and Representatives to co-sponsor these bills.
The House bill--as yet unnumbered-- has been proposed by Speaker Mike Turzai. It calls for a $100-million increase in EITC K-12 scholarships next year. This would be the largest one-year increase in the program since its inception.
Meanwhile, Senator Mike Regan has introduced SB 299. This calls for a 25% automatic "escalator" in both the EITC and the OSTC--Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit--by 25% annually, if 90% of tax credits were used.
Bonner & Prendie has been using Schoology, an integrated learning management solution that provides course management, mobile learning, and support for system-wide communication. Schoology enables our students, parents and teachers to engage with learning materials and their school community from the classroom and beyond. We use Schoology in our classrooms to enhance connectivity and communication across our the school.
With Schoology, students can digitally submit homework assignments, review grades, participate in interactive discussions, receive announcements and feedback, write academic blogs, and more. As a parent, you will be able
to view your child's activity within the platform. Schoology will communicate with PowerSchool. PowerSchool is
still the Official Gradebookand will show additional information regarding Attendance and Discipline. (Any discrepancies in grades, please refer to PowerSchool)
Codes and instructions were emailed home on January 4, 2019, if you need further assistance, please email
SAT registration dates (SATs register at. www.sat.org)
Test day May 4th at MBAPCHS (registration deadline April 5th)
Test day June 1st (registration deadline May 3rd )
ACT registration dates (ACTs register at www.act.org)
Test day April 13th *at MBAPCHS (registration deadline March 8th)
Test day June 8th (registration deadline May 3rd)
Guidance Reminders & Helpful Resources
MBAPHS Feel Goods
Some of you may be familiar with Q102's feel goods early in the morning... it is a brief segment in which a kind, helpful, or selfless act of service is highlighted from around the country. I would LOVE to bring a similar initiative here to MBAPHS! We have such an amazing family here completing random acts of kindness every day...let's celebrate that! So, here's the deal...
See someone complete a random act of kindness
Send an email to [email protected] subject line: MBAPHS feel goods telling her about it
Your story could be featured in our MBAPHS Feel Goods!
Celebrate KINDNESS and encourage others to do the same
SpeakUp! Club
SpeakUp! is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping teens develop supportive relationships with the adults in their lives. Speak Up! enables teens to talk openly, honestly and without judgment about difficult topics and reach out for support within their homes and schools.
Bonner Prendie held our Speak Up! Event this January and would like to keep the conversation going by starting our very own Speak Up! Club
We encourage all to ask your student about Speak Up! and whether they might be interested in coming to one of our club meetings.
The spring sports season started Monday, March 4, all student-athletes who wish to participate in a spring sport must have a completed (by a certified physician) PIAA Physical Form on file in the Athletic Office to compete in their respective sport.
If a student athlete already has a PIAA physical on file, the student and parent/guardian will need to complete and fill out Section 7 for the spring. Even if you turned a form in for playing a winter sport, you will need one for the spring. You will NOT be allowed to try out until you have this on file. An electronic version of this form is included below this letter. If you need hard copies of the PIAA form please come to the Athletic Training Room for a copy, otherwise please print attached document. Any questions can be directed to our Athletic Trainer, Mr. Ethan Skinner at [email protected].
ACTNOW - the longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to catch up
The 3rd quarter has begun, this is a great time to assess your student's performance and set some academic goals for the remainder of the year. If you sense that your student is struggling academically, take advantage of the many opportunities offered at Bonner & Prendie to assist them in meeting their academic goals.
Check out the free opportunities offered at school; the After School Program and tutoring.
The After School Program (ASP)
will begin again after the 3rd quarter report cards are mailed in rooms 221 and 223. It will take place on Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursday from 2:40 - 3:25 PM.
Teachers and student volunteers are available on the following days.
Tuesday - Math and Social Studies
Wednesday - Theology, English and World Language
Thursday - Science, Fine Arts, Health, Business & Technology
Any student struggling with a particular subject is urged to sign up for a free tutor with the National Honors Society. Ms. Dolan will match you up with the perfect tutor! Tutoring forms may be found outside the Academic Office or on the Bonner Prendie website.
Students are eligible to take courses at DCCC during the
summer of 2019 for a discounted price.
Applications may be found in the Academic Affairs Office
Preliminary testing will be held on BP's campus on Friday, March 22nd
Registration will be during lunch periods on a pre-scheduled date in mid April
Looking for college opportunities...
Immaculata University and the Office of Catholic Education of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced a joint agreement that guarantees admission to Immaculata for qualifying students graduating from all 17 Archdiocesan high schools. To recognize the academic accomplishments of these graduates, Immaculata will also provide, at minimum, a $9,000 academic merit scholarship for those who qualify. For additional information please email [email protected]
Admissions requirements - a minimum of a 2.5 GPA and SAT scores of 990
Go onto Immaculata's website and see what programs the offer
Monday, May 6th ~ AP US Government/Politics (8 AM - Sophomores)
Wednesday, May 8th ~ AP English Lit/Comp (8 AM - Seniors)
Thursday, May 9th ~ AP Psychology (Noon - JVLA)
Friday, May 10th ~ AP United States History (8 AM - Juniors)
Monday, May 13th ~ AP Biology (8 AM - JVLA)
Tuesday, May 14th ~ AP Calculus (8 AM - Seniors)
Wednesday, May 15th ~ AP English Language/Comp (8 AM - Juniors)
Thursday, May 16th ~ AP Comparative Gov/Pol (8 AM - Seniors)
Students currently enrolled in AP courses will be billed on the
January statement ($94.00 per AP test).
Summer Opportunities
Daily Mass Schedule
We celebrate mass weekly on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 7:00 AM and on
Wednesdays at 2:45 PM.
The mass itself is about 15-20 minutes and we moved the Wednesday liturgy to the afternoon to accommodate our students who cannot get here by 7 AM. Please encourage your students to
attend and celebrate the Gospel. In addition, during Lent, we will have opportunities for students
to pray the rosary and participate in Adoration and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
It is imperative that we have your current contact information. Not only for emergency calls but to keep you well informed.
Our plan is to digitize all communications,
which includes Report Cards.
This is how we like to keep in touch...
Constant Contact
~ Bi-weekly email notifications ~ up-to-date communications on upcoming events.
School Messenger ~ Voice Messages and emails ~ we will NOT send voice messages to your work phone numbers unless it is an extreme emergency. You will be notified of weather closings through School Messenger.
In the beginning, we will inform you that an email and voice message is being sent. It is very important that parents confirm that both are received. This is the only way to confirm that we have the correct phone numbers and email addresses. If you do no receive one or the other please notify [email protected].
Please ask your friends if they have received this email. Some student do not supply email address for their parents, therefore, we are not able to communicate with them.
If you want to add an email address to Bonner & Prendie communicate list, please send your name, address and phone numbers to
[email protected]
It is imperative that you notify Academic Affairs and Student Affairs of any changes in your contact information; home address and/or phone numbers, parents cell phone numbers, email addresses and work phone numbers. A Change of Address form may be found in the Academic Affairs Office, room 106 or on the B&P website under the Academic tab then click on 'Forms'.
