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Our Mission
Dear St. Philip Neri School Families and Friends,
Our Mission at St. Philip Neri Catholic School is the Mission of all Catholic schools in the Diocese of Oakland: “(T0) educate children in the Catholic faith and nurture their minds, bodies, and souls, inspiring them to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, achieve their highest academic and creative potential, and actively serve and enrich the community.” We use a variety of measurements to determine how well we are meeting our Mission objectives: we observe our students’ behaviors throughout the school day to see how they reflect the Gospel message and the virtues; we have Report Cards and STAR assessments in addition to homework, tests and quizzes, class assignments and projects to help us determine how well our students’ demonstrate academic excellence and creativity; and we have our Service Learning Program in Grades Preschool through Eighth Grade that illustrates our students providing our school community as well as the greater community with acts of service.
You received Report Cards for Trimester 2 as well as STAR Reports for Reading and Math in Grades 2 through 8 on Friday. Collectively our students and teachers deserve to be commended for another Trimester of growth and learning. Again, nearly 80% of our students in Grades 2 through 8 are testing At or Above Benchmark in both Math and Reading. In addition, we have various events that highlight our students’ academic prowess such as The Oratorical Fest, the Academic Junior High Decathlon, and Moot Court (which took place today and is a culminating project for our 8th graders to simulate an actual court case by taking on roles as jurors, witnesses, attorneys for the prosecution and the defense). Soon we will admire our students’ creativity at The Celebration of the Arts event on April 2 and 3 as well as the Spring Concert on May 21st.
We also celebrate the achievements of our 8th graders at graduation when we acknowledge years of perseverance and effort in the core subject areas as well as their service to the community. We are proud that our 8th graders are accepted to the Catholic high schools of their choice year after year. Special recognition goes to those who go above and beyond such as the Presidential Awards from the Catholic High Schools. One such award is the Hope of America Award offered by The Kiwanis Club of Alameda. Each year they request nominations for outstanding 8th graders in the area of service and character. This year the qualifications for this award are: character, leadership, peer inclusiveness, community spirit, and extracurricular school activities. Our Eighth grade teacher, Ms. Taylor, nominated Adelaide Suer, our Student Leadership Vice President, for this year’s award with these comments:
Adelaide has demonstrated exceptional leadership throughout her time at Saint Philip Neri, serving on the Student Leadership Council for both 7th and 8th grades, with the distinction of Vice President this year. She also created a website to help her peers track their community service hours, showcasing her initiative and commitment to supporting her classmates.
A dedicated multi-sport athlete, Adelaide’s focus and work ethic on the court mirror her academic diligence in the classroom. Additionally, when three new students joined our community this year, Adelaide was among the first to ensure they felt welcome and included. She consistently goes above and beyond to foster a sense of belonging for everyone, making sure no one feels left out or isolated.
Outside of her academic and athletic commitments, Adelaide also serves as an altar server at our parish, further exemplifying her dedication to both faith and service.
Adelaide will be recognized tomorrow by The Kiwanis Club at a special luncheon attended by their members, other eighth graders in Alameda receiving this award, her family, teacher and myself. We are very proud of Adelaide for representing herself and St. Philip Neri Catholic School and embodying our Mission so beautifully.
For these accomplishments and many more we come together to celebrate and support our community on Saturday night at Auction 2025, Spartans of the Caribbean. We are looking forward to experiencing the new venue, having a lot of fun, and raising funds for our school. Many thanks to our co-chairs, Monica Burneikis and Zane Howard, with their Auction Committee members, Gina Foster, Gina Trujillo, Kristen Smeal, Nicole Garbayo, Rod Mofrad, Kristen Pembroke, Stephanie Greenspan, Gina Bustos, and Jenn Fowler for planning, organizing and advertising this year’s event as well as all SPN families for donating items with the intentions of making it the best Auction ever! See you there!
Peace & Blessings,
Ms. Thomas
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