Dear Saint Ursula Community,

Lelia and I hope that you and your families enjoyed a great Thanksgiving holiday and had time to relax and regroup before this busy time of year. 

One of the gifts of the Christmas season is cherished traditions.  Saint Ursula Academy has several of their own that I would like to share with you.  There is an interesting backstory about the Christmas parlor decorations.  In the late 1970s, the parents began the school’s signature fundraiser called Victorian Christmas.  They would transform the four parlors, parlor conference room and old gym, which is now the SUA Theater, into a Christmas themed wonderland.  Eventually, this fundraiser was moved to February and renamed SUA Palooza.  Be sure to mark your calendars for this year’s SUA Palooza on February 3, 2024.  Fortunately, SUA alumnae and parent volunteers continue to decorate the parlors for all of us to enjoy.  The beautiful Nativity in the Chapel reminds us of the true reason for the season.

The annual Christmas Carols are one of Saint Ursula Academy’s oldest and best loved traditions.  In 1916 when the Sisters were in the market for a pipe organ for their recently completed chapel, they met John Fehring, the organist and choral director at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral who was supplementing his family’s income as a demonstrator for the Austin Organ Company.  Eventually, the Sisters hired Mr. Fehring to teach Gregorian chant to the novices and postulates.  During his first Christmas at Saint Ursula, the young Sisters asked Mr. Fehring if they could sing some Christmas Carols in the Chapel for their families and friends when they came to visit for the holidays.  Each novice and postulate carried a lighted candle while caroling as she moved through the darkened hall towards the chapel.  Christmas Carols at SUA became a lasting tradition, thanks to the involvement of the Ursuline Sisters who supervised the memorization of the carols, lining up the students by height for the procession, and putting batteries in flashlights which replaced the lighted candles.*

This year the tradition continues with A Celebration of Carols on November 29 at 7 pm and December 3 at 2 pm in the SUA Chapel.  All of the music ensembles, including the new Vocal Techniques class, are preparing for the upcoming Christmas concerts in our beautiful Chapel.  SUAVE will perform its own Christmas Showcase on December 8 at 7 pm in the SUA Theater.  We hope that you will join us for this year’s events!  You will even see the traditional procession with lighted flashlights at A Celebration of Carols.

Weather Alerts

With the winter season fully upon us, this is a good time for reminders about how SUA handles notifications of school closing or delay due to inclement weather.  If conditions are not safe for travel and/or streets near SUA are not cleared, we will alert you to any schedule changes as soon as possible.  If information is not shared the night prior, we will make certain that we inform students and families no later than 5:30 am.  Please do not check local news or radio outlets:  all notifications will occur via Instant Connect.  See the directions later in this Bulletin for how to access Instant Connect if you have not already.

Safety Drill

Finally, I want to let you know that the students, faculty, and staff practiced a safety drill yesterday.  Teachers reviewed the evacuation routes in each bell to make certain that students were aware of the “Run” aspect of Run, Hide, Fight, our safety protocols for an active threat.  We also reviewed the many evacuation points from the Keller Student Center during lunch.  After our initial overview of Run, Hide, Fight with the students, we are now breaking down each component so that the students are fully aware of how to act safely wherever they may be.  One critical way that you can help us with safety is to be certain to check in the main office and wear a visitor’s badge when you are on campus.

Enjoy the rest of your week!  Go Bulldogs!

Kathy

Here is the updated two-week calendar.  I will start including this calendar in my message for easy reference.

*The above historical information is from an introduction to the CD written by Elaine Busch Billmire ‘68, granddaughter of John Fehring.  Special thanks to Geri Walsh who organized this information to share with our newly hired employees this year.