St Mark Blog

 Parents,

I want to take this opportunity to communicate some positive things at our school this year. While
we
continue to improve each day, we understand that your role as a parent is the most important piece of that improvement.  We are constantly looking for more ways to help all of our children reach their potential in faith, academic, leadership and service growth.  Here are some ways that will help with that
growth.

ALEKS- as most of you know, every child in grades K thru 8th has a user name and password for ALEKS online Math program.  All students should have finished their assessment and should be able to logon from home or school to work at their own individualized level for Math. If you do not have a username or password for your child, contact their teacher.  Our computer lab has been very busy and we have seen great growth in only a few weeks in our Math efforts. If you have any technical questions about ALEKS you can contact our rep Steve Harris at (317) 413-3607 or email him at:   harriseducation1@gmail.com. The technical support for ALEKS is: (714)-619-7090 from 7:00am –11:00pm.

We will begin the NWEA MAP test in a few weeks for grades K-7. This test allows for true assessment of our students and gives our teachers an actual grade level performance in Math and Language Arts. The MAP test is computer based and is done in our computer lab. Parents will be sent home the results of the MAP test a few weeks after its completion and our staff uses these results for ability placement and individualized curriculum.

As some schools are decreasing their fine arts classes, we are looking for ways to increase their offerings at St. Mark Catholic School.  Spanish is once again being offered to grades Pre-K thru 8th grade and new clubs are being offered for our middle school students. Scouting is also a big help to our students in building character and leadership. We are happy to have Josh Schaffner more involved with our school and the opportunities for our students in youth ministry activities.

Our middle school 7th and 8th grade students, through their leadership classes, are working with our Pre-K thru 5th students to mentor, tutor, read to, and assist in their growth. This not only aids the younger students, but instills positive, Christ-centered principles in our older students. Our 8th grade will go to the Cathedral Soup Kitchen and volunteer to help feed the homeless of our community on Friday’s and many middle school students are a part of the parish youth choir.

Much is going on at St. Mark Catholic School. We need your help, support and prayers.  We will be asking each staff member and family in the school to help with the Roadmap to Success Campaign to install new HVAC by August, 2012.  I hope you will give prayerful consideration to leaving a positive legacy to present and future students of our school. We are growing in Christ, but we cannot be happy with where we are currently at. We must keep giving our children the best education possible, so they can be strong, Christian leaders in our community and our world.  Have a terrific day and we will see you at Mass this weekend!

God Bless,

Rusty Albertson
Principal
St. Mark Catholic School
September 16, 2011
ST MARK CATHOLIC SCHOOL…..FAITH IN EVERY CHILD