“With God All Things Are Possible”
Matthew 19:26
Dear SPN Families,
The school classrooms and hallways are coming to life with brightly decorated bulletin boards and signs of welcome as our beloved faculty and staff have returned this week. Their generous and enthusiastic spirit is palpable, and their eagerness to greet our students and make this their best school year yet is undeniable. As other schools and districts are truly struggling to find quality, caring teachers and employees, St. Philip Neri is blessed with a stable, dedicated, energetic team of educators who are committed to educating the whole child. We have a retreat day tomorrow, and meetings on Thursday, Friday, and Monday, all designed to make this a wonderful start of the school year for everyone.
Another wonderful addition to our SPN community this year is our partnership with Cristo Rey de la Salle High School in Oakland, where former SPN Principal, Mrs. Murray, took over as principal last year. Cristo Rey offers a Corporate Work Study Program for their students whereby students partner with local businesses to gain employment skills while managing a college prep high school curriculum. Students work one day in the field and attend classes the other four days per week. This year, SPN will have two student interns from Cristo Rey assisting Ms. Turner with 4th grade and Mrs. Wight with 5th grade as Instructional Assistants. These students identified that they were interested in a career in education, so were matched with local elementary schools. We are one of three Diocesan elementary schools that are currently hosting interns– St. Joseph Elementary and School of the Madeleine are the others. I am particularly excited about this opportunity. I have had the pleasure of working with high school students in this capacity previously, and it is truly a win-win as the high school students are very capable and eager to do a good job and our students witness the maturity and benefit from the wisdom of the older students. Both Mrs. Wight and Ms. Turner will train the interns to help students directly with classwork in addition to helping with general supervision and clerical responsibilities. We will welcome our interns, Itzel Romero and Dahaina Mata, next week.
The Welcome events will continue this Thursday with the Preschool, TK and Kindergarten orientation from 5:30-6:00 p.m. in their respective classrooms followed by a reception in the Garden from 6:00-7:30 p.m. for all new families and their SPN “ambassador” families. Many thanks to the teachers and the PTG, led by Emily Libby, for providing these opportunities to get acquainted!
Looking forward to our first day on Wednesday, August 24. Until then, be safe, healthy, and keep the faith.
Warmly,
Ms. Thomas
FOCUS ON FAITH: (a new and weekly feature devoted to our school theme)
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
