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St. Gregory Episcopal School _______________________________________________________________________________ |
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ABOUT ADMISSION NEWS/ACTIVITIES EVENTS |
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News & Activities Newsletter
– A collaboration with the NNM, our
students are enjoying a hands-on experience with Notebaert’s
‘Science on the Go’ program. K, 1st and 2nd grades are
studying biology with the Amazing Animals curriculum; grades 3, 4 and 5 are
learning scientific inquiry as the conduct and analyze physical experiments.Grades 6, 7 and 8 are studying the components
lf the scientific methods , working together to carry
out experiments such as designing and testing rockets made with effervescent
tablets and discovering absorbing abilities of sodium polyacrylate. LANDSCAPING Kyle, who attends All Saints Episcopal church in Western Springs
and is working on a eagle scout project has taken
the lead in renovating the front yard. With the help of the 4th grade,
they have transformed a grass and weed patch into a real garden with
perennials, a ceramic bench, paving stones in the shape of a cross, a bird
bath. We are immensely grateful to Kyle, his father and all students who have
helped with this project. The garden will be dedicated and blessed this
Spring when the flowers re in bloom. CLASSROOM DEPLOYMENT St. Gregory is moving forward with another long term goal, class
segregation by garde, by isolating the first grade
class and combining the 2nd grade with the third grade. This is
the first step toward elimination of all combined classes when enrollment
reaches 135. Our new 2nd grade teacher, Jennifer Leach, inspires the all 1st
grade students to learn all they can. SCHOLARSHIPS St. Gregory’s has been blessed with a gift from two generous
donors who have agreed to financially support the costs of secondary and
post-secondary education for the next four graduating classes of St. Gregory’s.
This will allow many of our students to apply to and attend schools that are
ordinarily considered too costly for low income families. Students will have to
meet specific criteria in order to qualify for these scholarships. We hope
this gift will energize our faculty and have a significant impact on our
students and their ability to claim the best education possible. Four year daniel murphy scholarship Olatunbosun Osinaike
successfully completed the application and interview process with the Daniel
Murphy Scholarship Foundation and was awarded four years of scholarship
support. He was one of only 100 students out of thousands across the city
that had applied. In addition to financial support, the foundation will
provide Olatunbosun with mentoring, academic,
summer program and college counseling support. We are so proud of Olatunbosun and all of our other students who work diligently
to secure a solid education. WISH LIST Typing Software, LCD
Projector, Display Easels, Educational VCRs and DVDs Heavy Duty Printer, Book Shelves, Trophy Display Cases, Overhead
Projector, Mouse Pads and Mice. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 2006 and 2007 highlights: WELCOME An intensive search for a new Headmaster/Headmistress has begun, and until the search is successfully completed, we are happy to welcome Dr. Marguerite Jackson to the interim position of Headmistress of St. Gregory’s. Dr. Jackson holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction and a Doctorate in Administration and Supervision. She comes to St. Gregory’s following a distinguished career with the Chicago Public Schools. Dr. Jackson is also a member and current Senior Warden at St. Thomas Episcopal Church. New Development Resources Added We are happy to announce the promotion of one of everyone’s favorite people to a newly created position within the Development Department. As of July 1, Martice Gray, formerly the Administrative Assistant in the main office, became our new Development Associate on July 1st. During the past year, Ms. Gray has split her time between purely administrative duties and helping with development tasks, primarily the recruitment and management of volunteers and the coordination of our many collaborative activities with parishes and other organizations. She has proved herself invaluable, displaying a natural ability to organize and establish positive relationships for the betterment of the school and its students. Assuming the position of Office Coordinator is Ms. Sheilah Harris, who has long been involved with St. Gregory’s as a tutor and grandmother to one of our students. Ms. Gray will continue to be responsible for church, parent and volunteer relationships and for coordinating collaborative activities and events with all the great people and organizations that support us. She will also assume responsibility for the many school-based volunteer-involved projects we coordinate each year. The additional hours added to the development function at St. Gregory’s will free Alexis Leslie, Director of Development, to focus more effort on corporate and foundation fundraising, increased outreach to donors and creating a planned giving program for the school. PARENT COUNCIL Until official elections can be held this fall, our parents have endorsed the following individuals to serve as leadership for the Parent Council: Charmaine Sanders, Chair; Kim Osinaike-Davis, Co-Chair; Tasha Bearden, Treasurer; and Valerie Henley, Secretary. REMINDERS. . . . • The St. Gregory Boychoir is filling our performance schedule for the coming year. If your church is interested in having the choir out to sing, please contact Martice Gray at (773) 277-4447. • Save the date for St. Gregory’s annual Education is Freedom benefit, which will be held on March 3rd. A Year of Fellowship During the past year we have been blessed with the friendship and support of many Episcopal and non-Episcopal parishes. It is difficult to imagine where we would be without them and the many generous gifts they bring to the school. Often these gifts are financial, and they are much appreciated. Gifts of time and energy however, are also invaluable to the school, and often work on a number of levels to both bring additional resources to the school and provide opportunity for our students to expand their experience of the world beyond their communities. Kenilworth Union Church Children’s Ministry “adopted” St. Gregory’s. There were several opportunities for fellowship, with our children traveling to Kenilworth and their children visiting us at the school. We collaborated with KUC and Do Your P’Art, a non-profit arts group that brings together diverse groups of children to learn and grow together. We all worked on an art project that was later displayed at Northerly Island. Our Boychoir also sang with KUC’s Children’s Choir at a concert in April that raised funds for arts programming at St. Gregory’s. During the year, friendships were forged and differences faded as two groups of children learned that they had more in common than once thought. Grace Episcopal Church in Hinsdale’s confirmation class came together with our upper grade students on a project that taught them about homelessness in a very hands-on manner. A two-day project, the first day brought the Grace Church group to St. Gregory’s. A discussion on opinions and stereotypes about homeless persons was held, followed by two speakers from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Both of the women speakers shared their stories as formerly homeless individuals, and it was a very emotionally powerful experience for all. The second day the two groups of youth prepared and served a meal to residents of a long-term shelter for the homeless. Other events this year have included Girl Scout Cadet Troop #3733 putting on a literacy fair for our primary grades; 16 parishioners from Church of Our Savior spending a Saturday painting classrooms and weeding our front yards; and Grace Episcopal Men providing a carpentry workshop called Joseph Was a Carpenter to our third and fourth graders. Wrapped inside the obvious lessons learned from these experiences, there also comes one powerful message: God loves you and wants good things for you. It is important for children to not just hear those words, but see the words become action in the willingness of others to walk part of their journey with them; to teach them and create a positive and inviting environment for them. To care when there is no obligation. St. Gregory Initiatives Enhance Academic Program In the four years since our relocation, we have seen lows, as we struggled with transition and an increased list of expenses, and highs, as we steadily accomplished goal after goal related to our primary objectives: to establish St. Gregory’s as the standard for the elementary education of inner-city boys, and to do so while attaining financial stability and exploring options for growth. This has meant a restructuring of our operations and fiscal management in order to become more efficient, as well as a thorough review of academic standards and curricula. Recent improvements and additions to St. Gregory school life include: • The end of our first year with our reading specialist. In her first year, the reading specialist provided support to teachers, assessed students, worked up plans for those with the lowest reading scores, retrained tutors and strengthened our tutoring program, and reworked our summer remediation program. Next year’s projects include the hiring of an assistant to manage a fluency lab, and the introduction of computer-based monthly assessments that reveal potential problems, allowing for rapid intervention. • Implementation of a successful and innovative six-week, full-day summer school program that offered both remediation and enrichment courses in art, music and martial arts. • The expansion of our religious curriculum, The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, which will now serve two classrooms. • The expansion of our volunteer corps, which provides tutoring, teaching assistance, computer instruction and health and nutrition counseling to the students. • An increased commitment to higher teaching standards via the introduction of a tuition reimbursement program for the faculty. • The funding of a technology coordinator and computer lab that will enable faculty, staff and students to achieve mastery over technology and bring teaching, management and recordkeeping at St. Gregory’s into the 21st century.
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