Dear SUA Community,
The start of a new school year is a perfect time to pause and think about goals. With all of the back-to-school busyness, this reflection about looking ahead with purpose can easily get overlooked. The long weekend is a great opportunity to check in with your daughter. Consider asking a simple question, such as “What is one goal that you would like to set for yourself - whether in faith, personal growth, academics, athletics and friendship - and how can I support you?” The question may spark a meaningful conversation, and at the minimum, it will remind her how much you want to support her hopes and dreams for the year ahead.
In that same spirit, Saint Ursula Academy sets its own schoolwide goals through the Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association (OCSAA), which supports Catholic schools in strengthening faith identity, improving student learning, and meeting state standards. Accreditation follows a six-year cycle focused on continuous improvement through two goals: Catholic Identity and Academics. This year, we are in the second year of the process.
Our Catholic Identity Goal invites students to put the Catholic Social Teaching theme of “Life and Dignity of the Human Person” into practice by connecting it to real-world challenges. To support this, we developed five guiding focuses on human dignity: Dignity, God-given, Universal, Stewardship, and Authentic, which will shape both instructional development and school programming. These principles were reviewed last year by the Ursuline Identity Committee and the Saint Ursula Academy Board of Trustees. Please see the SUA website, under the Strategic Plan tab, for further details, including student-friendly definitions, related Scripture passages, and connections to Catholic Social Teaching.
Our Academic Goal focuses on preparing students for a globally connected world. Saint Ursula defines global education as Global Content + Global Competence = Global Education. It helps students become informed, compassionate students equipped with the essential skills for the 21st century. We are working to weave global learning across the curriculum through experiential, hands-on opportunities provided by our new schedule and Minimesters. This approach emphasizes active engagement, real-world application, and personal growth, connecting global learning directly to meaningful student experiences in and beyond the classroom.
For experiential learning that happens outside of the classroom, we are using a new app called Chapperone Pro to streamline field trips and overnight trips. This tool will be used for emergency information, trip-related forms, and updated itineraries. Because the Chapperone Pro app will be the only portal for forms and communication with students and parents in regards to off-campus learning opportunities, it is critical that all parents/guardians create a Chapperone App account following the prompts in an email sent from Rachel Kemper, our Senior Director of Global and Service Learning. Rachel will be sending a reminder email today if you still need to create this account. Thanks for taking care of this important matter.
Enjoy the long weekend! Go Bulldogs!
Kathy
This Week at SUA: Reminders and tips to help your Bulldog in the week ahead