Dear St. Alphonsus Catholic School Families,

Thank you for joining us at Back to School Night!  I wanted to share a portion of my speech with you for those of you who couldn't be there.  

The teachers and staff at St. Alphonsus Catholic School are only able to provide an amazing educational experience to your students because of the support and dedication of the parents and families of this school. 

Before I talk about our school and the plans for this year, I want to take a minute to introduce myself to those of you who are new to St. Alphonsus. First, I am not a native of Wisconsin. I was born and raised in Seattle and came out to Milwaukee to attend Marquette. While at Marquette I had teaching experiences, got to know the city of Milwaukee and met my wife, who is also a teacher. We both got jobs in the area out of school and stayed in the area. Something else you should know about me is that I knew from the time I was about 16 that I wanted to be a teacher and work in education. When applying to schools and in choosing Marquette, I did so knowing that I wanted to teach. 

This is my second year here at St. Alphonsus, but before I was principal here, I was a high school math teacher at Dominican High School. There I was working under an amazing principal who set an example for me as to what a Catholic school leader is and what this job entails. In a Catholic school, there is more to the principal role than in other places. In a Catholic school, the principal is the academic leader, the religious leader, the mentor, the extracurricular coordinator, the fundraiser coordinator and so much more. Seeing him work was when I really started to realize what fulfillment and joy there can be in being a Catholic school leader.

In my first year at St. Alphonsus I learned even more than I could have imagined. I gained experience in what it means to lead a community, set the tone and create goals for our school. Last year was not without its challenges, but I am excited and energized for this year and could not be more excited to be entering year two with this community and with these amazing teachers. 

I have a few goals for this year that I want to talk to you about. One of the main goals for this year is to revamp and improve our student service experience. Throughout the year the teachers and myself will be working on ways that we can not only bring our younger students into our service program, but also how we can put a renewed emphasis on going out into the community and interfacing with the people that we serve. By the beginning of next school year we will have an all-new St. Alphonsus Student Service Program ready. Through the creation of this plan we will bring service to the forefront of what we do at St. Al's as we look to always live out our faith. 

The second goal for this year is to reemphasize and reexamine our academic excellence. I have said before that we are a school that has rigorous academics in a Christ-centered environment. This year, the teachers and I will be working on how we take standards-based grading and really make our schools and classrooms standards-based learning environments. This means looking at how we use the Archdiocesan standards to plan, teach, and assess, as well as grade. This along with other work with the teachers and staff will re-center our rigorous academic standards. In addition to this, we are working to revitalize the science program. At the same time as we complete the remodel of the science lab downstairs, we are working to stock the lab with supplies, equipment and technology that will make that space not only look great, but be a functional and productive space for our students. The lab space will be utilized both before and after the remodel as Ms. Armstrong starts to take our middle school students to the lab to do labs and experiments. Look for this project along with the remodel of the library to be completed later this fall or early this winter. We are very excited about these projects and the ways they will benefit our students and teachers as they strive to get the most out of all our students. 

Along with these two larger goals of service and academics, we will continue to work on safety training and best practices, bring in new and exciting extracurricular activities and bring back ones from the past, have robust community and family events and more. We want families to to feel like St. Al's is a second home. We will have a focus on bringing your families to school to be here, build fellowship and create community. 

Once again, we are very energized for this school year and we look forward to all the exciting things that are to come this year.

Yours in Christ,

Mr. Russ Johnston

Principal  

The 8th Grade Class will again be selling Out-of-Uniform Passes to help support their graduation activities.

A sheet of 10 passes will cost $15 per student.

New this year: to help with consistency in the school's out-of-uniform days and to make tracking easier for the teachers, Out-of-Uniform passes will be good on the last Friday of the month, instead of Mondays. The school will continue to do out-of-uniform fundraisers for special causes and those will happen on alternative days.

The order form will be due by Friday, September 16. In case you missed it in backpack mail, you can download an order form here!

Thank you from the 8th grade Class of 2023!

St. Matthias High School Information Night

The Pius Admissions Office sends out a monthly newsletter to all students with an account in Ravenna (the Pius XI admissions system). Here is the link to the first newsletter that was sent in August: Pius XI Class of 2027 Family Newsletter. The newsletter will include important updates, steps in the admissions process, links to register for events, as well as information on funding a Pius XI education.

Once again, Pius XI will be administering an entrance exam that is unique to our school. All applicants must take the Pius XI entrance exam to be considered for admissions. Applicants can register for the exam directly on the application for admissions. Pius XI also requests 6-8^th grade report cards, standardized test scores, and a Pius XI recommendation form from each applicant’s middle school.