As our summer begins, I would like to express how grateful I am to be leading such an amazing community of students, parents, and staff. It has been an amazing year! I am so proud of all of the achievements and accomplishments of our students here at Good Shepherd. These would not be possible without your support and dedication.
Reflecting on the past school year, we have had so many great memories and exciting events to look back on. We continued many successful traditions such as our book fair, Catholic Schools Week, Shamrockin' Saturday events, First Communion, Confirmation, various field trips, and the 8th grade trip to Washington DC. We brought back experiences such as our band program, the Christmas Concert Spectacular, PTO Spaghetti Night, and Global Village Day. Additionally, we started some new traditions that we hope to build upon next year such as our Drama Club, Field Day Color Run, K-5 Literacy Night, our KBC Blood Drive, and Cookies with Santa! All of these events created heartfelt memories that we will carry with us throughout the summer. Our year ended with the Athletics Banquet, Kindergarten Graduation, 8th Grade Graduation, PreK Promotion, and wonderful classroom award ceremonies filled with pride and celebration of student accomplishments. We are very proud of all of our students and their successes.
Looking ahead, we have many exciting new initiatives that we are bringing to Good Shepherd for the upcoming year. Good Shepherd was awarded $20,000 from the Diocesan Mission and Ministry Fund to support the hiring of a part-time school counselor. Our school counselor will work with students, parents, and staff on the following skills: ·Understanding, acknowledging, managing, and accepting feelings and emotions. ·Building a more positive mindset and behavior pattern. ·Learning about coping skills, conflict resolution skills, and self-awareness. ·Teaching tools to help manage anxiety and stress.
In addition, Good Shepherd was asked to host the 2023 Focus Forward Conference this fall. The conference is designed for parents and teachers of students of all ages who struggle with ADHD and learning differences. This will bring people from surrounding counties to our campus for a day of hands-on learning from certified behavior and academic experts. 15% of the conference profits will be donated to CEOF (Catholic Education Opportunity Foundation) which provides tuition assistance to schools across our Diocese. The remaining 85% of all proceeds will be donated right back to Good Shepherd!!!
A special thanks to you, the parents who have contributed in ways small, large and unimaginable! Thank you for the partnership between home and school, which is so important. We appreciate all that you do each and every day for our school and our children!
Together, we’ve learned much and shared experiences that will remain in our hearts for years to come. The passion and strength within our community makes our school truly a special place for our children and a place that I am not only extremely proud to lead, but also one that I can call HOME.
Have a safe and fun filled summer! See you next year!