Principal's Desk Publisher

Volume No. 6

Issue No. 6

April 9, 2008

Report Cards for Third Term and Honors Assembly

By now, every family should have received a letter regarding distribution of third term report cards and our Second Term Honors Assembly. As stated in your SMPA Family Contract, parents/guardians must have a conference for first and third term to receive your child's report card. Requests for conferences should be returned as soon as possible.

Our Third term Honors Assembly will be held on Friday, April 25 at 4 p.m. Please note the change in time. At our recent parent forum, it was expressed that 3 p.m. would make it difficult for our families to attend. In order to accommodate our bus schedule, the latest we can have an assembly is 4 p.m. Students who have earned a spot on the SMPA Academic Honor Roll and SMPA Honor Society will be honored at this assembly. In addition, members of the all-star bands and our basketball team will also be recognized. We hope that you can join us. Students will be dismissed to their families following the assembly. As usual, regular bus transportation will be provided to our students whose families are unable to attend.

March 29 - Wow! What a Busy Weekend at SMPA

Saturday, March 29 was a busy day for many of the students at SMPA. The date of the MABACH Challenge and the FMI Concert coincided and students were involved in both activities, as well as staff.

Eighteen of our musicians were selected to participate in the FMI Honors Band. The Gala Band, for those young people who have trained for more than a year performed first. Among the 109 students were twelve from our school. Justin Colville and Imani Caesar on flute, Jazmine Herring and Ali Testman on saxophone, Javier Stephens on trumpet, DeAndre Handley and Tim Hutchinson on trombone, Ki'Yonta Stevenson, Xena Cordero and Thomanique Welch on clarinet, Jaelin Robinson on tuba, and Quaseem Hunter on percussion. We hope to see many of these young people move to the next level of competition come the fall.

Six of our seventh graders auditioned and were accepted into the Concert Band. This Honors Band is composed of young people with two or more years of experience. Our representatives were Alexandria Doyles, clarinet; Akayla McKinnie, percussion; Philip Morrison on trumpet and all three of our flute players - Drew May, Maria Gant, and Chanttal Cabral.

The concert was great and we thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. The many rehearsals prior to the performance was evident as the musicians performed with all the aplomb of seasoned veterans.

Congratulations to everyone and a special thanks to those families who helped out with transportation - we really appreciate it.

MABACH Challenge in New Bedford

Sixteen students represented St. Martin de Porres Academy at the annual MABACH Challenge sponsored for NativityMiguel schools by Nativity Prep of New Bedford. The students compete in three venues: chess, math, and basketball. The team must compete in all three areas and points are awarded to the winners. This year we did great in Math - solving four of the five problems! Thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Diana Resasco, our Math Team Advisor, who has been our volunteer since our inception, and our math teachers, we made a dramatic improvement from last year - another year older, another year wiser! Mr. Koch, who has been teaching our young people chess, would be proud of the improvement we made in chess too. This year everyone knew how to play - some much more experienced than others. Our basketball participation was spearheaded by the SMPA Basketball teams - and we played hard. From the comments heard Monday morning, everyone enjoyed the day.

Our thanks to the following students who made up our second MABACH team: Joshua Blumell, Shaheda Clark, Kahdeem Cohens, Christopher Coriano, Lennix Cuffy, Madiah Gant, Cherry Grear, Xena-Aixa Greene, Edwin Picado, Anthony Rivera, Branden Rose, Trevonne Rose, Asia Thames, Ezequiel Velazquez, Briana Woods.

 

Swimming and Skating For Fun!

To conclude Catholic School month in January our students went ice skating! It was the most popular activity we have had this year. Although most of our kids were not expert skaters, they caught on quickly. Accompanied by faculty and staff, the afternoon was a great way to end the week-long celebration.

Because the skating was such a hit, we decided to try another activity and spend the afternoon at Albertus Magnus College swimming and playing basketball. Again, our kids enjoyed spending a cold afternoon pretending that it was summer. Many students had their shorts and summer attire to make the day even more fun.

Our thanks to those who made this day possible, the bus company which supplied our transportation, Albertus Magnus who gave us use of the pool and gym, and the donors who give us the financial resources to make such trips possible.

Scholarship and Enrollment Renewals

As we begin to review applications for renewal of scholarships, or tuition enrollement we are looking at several factors. Three aspects are student related: Is the student in school and on time on a regular basis? Is the student making sufficient academic progress? Does the student accept tutorial help willingly? Are behavior referrals minimal and has there been progress? There are also three very important factors that are the responsibility of our families. Does the family meet its monthly $20 activity fee or tuition obligation? Does the family meet its volunteer two hour commitment per term? Does the family attend parent conferences when requested and support the school's mission?

Each of these factors will be considered when discussing scholarship renewal.

Co-curricular Activities Expand

Third and fourth terms have, and will see, new activities to expand the offerings in which our kids can participate. Some of these new clubs will be golf, as part of the First Tee program, Yearbook, baseball, tap & jazz, Future Teachers Club, Tai Chi, Fix-It Group and Spanish Club.

As you may have heard, we are experimenting with offering some programs during our Academic Study Hall. These activities have a relation to our overall academic program and are open only to those students whose grades are showing progress. Students may only participate in two of these activities a week. To date, the activities are Peer Ministry, Chorus, SMART, a small French class, Debate Club and a new Junior Achievement program sponsored by volunteers.

Cocurricular activities are an important aspect to our program. Whether is lieu of study hall, or after the academic day, these activities offer our young people an opportunity to explore new avenues of interest. We now have an entire group of students who play chess, swim, write for our newspaper, crochet, have been in a drama production, and have learned to ballroom dance. Thanks to the many teachers, staff, and volunteers who have made these, and other activities, too numerous to mention, available to our kids. We are always looking for new ideas, new initiatives, and new volunteers. Have an idea? Please contact the school.

Friday Community Gathering

Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. we have begun a Community Gathering program. Organized by Mr. Bowes and Ms. Rivera, we have been able to offer special programs without taking away from the academic day. To date we have had a jazz trio, an African American storyteller, a Red Cross presentation, a town hall style meeting, a presention by a brass quartet, a school talent show and more. Opening avenues of entertainment and information to our students, another part of our mission that we are daily working to fulfill.

Visits to Mercy and Xavier High Schools

Wednesday of Holy Week was a special day at St. Martin de Porres Academy. Our boys and girls traveled to Xavier High School and Mercy High School in Middletown as their schools held their annual Stations of the Cross devotion. This is our third year traveling to Xavier High School as guests of Brother William, the president of the high school. For the first time, our young women were invited to visit the Catholic girls school, Mercy High School.

At Xavier we were formally greeted by Brother William who welcomed our young men. They were given a tour of the building, entertained by a concert given by the concert band, given a presentation by the athletic director who spoke of the many sports available to Xavier students, and, most importantly, witnessed the reenactment of the Stations of the Cross by the senior Peer Ministry Team members. As more than 900 boys gathered in the gymnasium, the solemnity and quiet of the service was remarkable. A wonderful role model for our young men.

The girls were also treated like royalty at Mercy. Our young women were particularly impressed with the friendliness of their guides as they toured the Mercy complex. The culmination of the visit was the devotional Stations of the Cross.

Holy Week is the most solemn week of the Christian year. It was wonderful to be able to commemorate the sacrifice of Jesus Christ with the students of these two high schools.

Book Bowl Competition Arrives at St. Martin de Porres Academy

This past Friday, our students were presented with a new competition that kicks off this week, Book Bowl. Several of our students have spoken of the excitement they had competing in their public school, and, through the efforts of a volunteer, Mrs. Phyllis Lobo, we have been able to initiate this program. With the help of Sister Louise, and Mr. Messina, the students will have access within the school to all the books necessary to compete. The object of the competition is to have fun while reading .

Students participate in teams of four students. The fifth graders must read six selected book titles and sixth, seventh and eighth have eight books. Each team member should read all the assigned books for the team to have the best chance of winning. Students will answer questions based upon the books in their classroom for the preliminary rounds to be held Friday, May 25. The winning teams, one from the girls and one from the boys for each grade, will compete in the finals at our Friday Community Gathering on June 5. There will be three champions crowned - one from each grade.

Students have their first books and are preparing a poster based upon their reading. The poster will be judged upon its persuasiveness - does it entice the spectator to read the book. Poster deadline: April 25.

Science Activities

The fifth grade girls of Mrs. Couch's science class will visit the Connecticut Science Expo. This fair features exciting projects, many interactive, to attract the interest of young people. School children from throughout Connecticut visit the expo during the week. The Expo is also a great way to spend a Saturday with your family. The fair is open to the public on Saturday, April 26 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $4 for children. It's a fun and educational way to spend some valuable time with your kids.

We will be sending a team to Lauralton Hall to participate in their Science Olympiad. This team will be composed of sixth, seventh and eighth grade girls who have an interest in science. Our team participated in the fall and did very well. Ms. O'Leary is the advisor to our team.

We Are Recruiting for 2008-2009

Interviews and testing for the Class of 2020 and new sixth graders will begin this week. As you know, a decision has been made to only accept 15 students into our fifth grade. The fifth grade will be almost a self-contained class and there will be a coed homeroom with some subjects single sex. Students will have to meet new restrictions in order to be accepted. Only those students whose families meet the income requirements will be accepted. No students who have suspensions in their record will be accepted in the future. In addition, it is very important that we have families that are supportive of our entire program. If you know of students who are willing to accept the academic challenge, please let us know so that we can send them an application. We expect to accept a very few new students into our sixth grade and we presently have nine applicants. We will not accept any seventh or eighth graders.

DATES TO REMEMBER

• April 14-18 Spring Recess
• April 25 - Honors Assembly @ 4 p.m.
• Parent Forum: May 7 @ 5 p.m.
• June 9 - Graduation
• June 13 - Spring Concert (mandatory for all students)
• June 20 - Last day of school
• June 30 - July 6 : mandatory summer program

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think creatively. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mr. Bowes, Mrs. Surowiecki, Ms. Anderson, Ms. Rivera, Mrs. Baloga, Mrs. Champlin, Mrs. Couch, Ms. Del Guidace, Mr.Dillon, Mrs. D'Urso, Mr. Eloi, Mrs. Gongaware, Ms. Kalimon, Sr. Louise, Mr. Messina, Mr. Marrero, Mrs. Moore, Mr. Murphy, Ms. O'Leary, Ms. Penn, Ms. Peters, Mrs. Shevelinka, Ms. Stahl, Mrs. Staples, Mrs. Swift, Mr. Velazquez, and Ms. Williams.