Dear SUA Community,

By the time you receive this week's Principal Bulletin, your daughter will have experienced her first day of the 2024-2025 school year at Saint Ursula Academy.  One of our most fun traditions to kick off the year is the welcome in the front circle where the entire faculty and staff greet the students with high fives.  There were lots of smiles and joy in welcoming our students to campus - and especially meeting the Class of 2028 and our new students!

My own children, when they were teenagers, were sometimes a little short on school day details - at least never enough for me who was wondering all day how their day went.  Just in case you didn't get the full rundown, the students spent a good part of the morning in “Merici Time.”  Merici Time is an improved version of our prior Advisory program designed to help students experience SUA sisterhood in a small community of grade level peers that will stay together over their four years.  Faculty and staff in the role of Merici Mentors serve as a steady presence for the students in their Merici Group.  While community-building is at the core of Merici Time, it is also the place where students will learn more about our Academy Alum.  The Academy Alum Program at Saint Ursula Academy reflects the values of Saint Angela Merici and details four roles we hope every student is prepared to assume in our communities: Thinker, Leader, Nurturer, and Prophet. By using one as the school’s yearly focus, every student is exposed to programming related to all four roles before graduation.

Today the Merici Groups met for introductions and building the foundation of their community.  Throughout the year the students will meet with their Merici Groups as part of our Wednesday Programming.  As you know, we have a 5th bell in our school day that is “open” for students to meet with teachers during their office hours, connect with other students, and take a brain break so that they are ready for their next classes.  The 5th bells are generally unscheduled for students on all days except for Wednesday, allowing the girls to hone their skills of time management and self-advocacy.  On Wednesdays all students will participate in SUA-related, non-academic programming specifically tailored for their grade level.  Some Wednesdays will be dedicated to meeting with their Merici Group, and students may also use this time to attend class meetings, small group counseling programs, and other activities related to our Ursuline values.  We are excited about how organizing our programming in this manner will enhance the students’ experience and class bonding as well as create a predictable rhythm in their weeks.

As I mentioned in last week’s Parent Bulletin, our faculty and staff are preparing to implement a new schedule in 2025-2026. This year is the opportune time for teachers to review their curricula and instructional strategies so that our new schedule only enhances our academic excellence.  

To that end, we are including one “remote learning day” into each quarter, as well as some additional early dismissals, so that teachers have time to collaborate, consult with educational experts, and take advantage of professional development opportunities.  On remote learning days, teachers will provide asynchronous lessons and learning tasks that will advance learning and can be completed at home during school hours.  

Please mark your calendars for these remote learning and early dismissal days:

August 27:  remote learning day 

September 24:  early dismissal at 1 pm

October 24:  remote learning day

December 5:  early dismissal at 1 pm

January 31:  remote learning day

March 3:  early dismissal at 1 pm

April 1:  remote learning day

We will update our school calendar on the website with this information and send reminders. We appreciate that these schedule modifications require some adjustments on the part of students and families.  We know that this investment of professional development time for our faculty and staff will ultimately benefit our students.

This is a lot of information for day one!  Thank you for taking the time to read it.  

Go Bulldogs!

Kathy