Ursuline Update

A Message from the President – Gretchen Z. Kane

I don’t think I’ve really come down from Cloud 9 yet! The Saints DID win the Super Bowl, no? We couldn’t have asked for a better game, for a better display of fan support, or for better PR for the city of New Orleans. As the open letter to the NFL which appeared in this past Sunday’s Times-Picayune declared, “After 43 years of being treated as America’s experts on losing, we’re ready to become the new national role models for passion and perseverance.”

As my mind races ahead to imagining the future and the additional achievements it holds, I have to admit that I have to remind myself that “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Patience is not one of my strengths and may not be a characteristic we find so much in society these days. So, I found myself reflecting on the future and thinking beyond dealing with those items requiring immediate attention.

What is the culture we’re going to be dealing with in the year 2020 and the impacts on that culture? Communications will become faster and more immediate. Space and time will expand and shrink, simultaneously. The search for intimacy, as evidenced by the increase in Internet dating, will most likely continue. I remember a line from a British play that says, “we live as we dream…alone.” I believe that this will be a part of the world we’re going to have – the part we’re going to struggle with in light of technological change. So, our students are going to need communication skills and interpersonal relation skills. They will need to have tools for decision making so that they can sort out the sources of information and judge the values of the larger society that are bombarding them. They have to know how to think. They have to realize the real world. It may not be MTV, but this is reality, and the more reality they submerge themselves into, the more human they become and the more adept they are at understanding themselves.

One of the greatest challenges facing society in general and education in particular, it seems to me, is recognizing technology for what it is and can be, and integrating it into the larger picture of human destiny. The question that occurs to me is: is the incredible speed with which current technology is enabling us to access information beginning to encroach on our willingness to invest time in reading and reflection? Reading and reflection have served the human enterprise well down to the present time. Immediacy has its place, but it can’t be the ultimate goal.

Ursuline Academy will face many challenges in the 21st century. But, know that, in the tradition of the Ursuline sisters who founded this great Academy over 282 years ago, we will strive to continually improve, not only as an educational institution, but as a center of culture and faith.

A Message from the High School Principal – John Gabriel

After the excitement of the Academy’s first state championship last November with our volleyball team, it is time to recognize the accomplishments of our winter sports teams.  In soccer, Head Coach Winston Lewis and Assistant Coach Aaron Walters have guided their girls to an undefeated district championship and a number four ranking in the state polls as the team enters the playoffs. The soccer team’s overall record as they enter the playoffs is thirteen wins, three losses, and three ties. The team’s number four ranking has provided the Lions with a first-round bye in the state playoffs. We wish our soccer team the very best as they prepare for this important quarterfinal action.

Coach Joey Favaloro’s basketball team, with a record of twenty-four wins and four defeats, is currently ranked seventh in the state’s AAAA classification system. The team, who defeated AAAAA Dominican last week, is currently undefeated in district play this season. The Lions enjoyed a key victory against district rival Cabrini last Friday night. After games at Pearl River on Wednesday night and at home against Salmen this Friday, the girls will enter the state playoffs. The basketball team looks forward to its second consecutive trip to the Final Four tournament in Hammond and an attempt to capture Ursuline’s first-ever state championship in basketball. As with the soccer team, we wish Coach Fav, Coach Roker, and the girls the best as they prepare for the playoffs.

The Carnival season is performance time for the cheerleaders and the Lionettes. Both groups participated in Cleopatra (on the West Bank) and Pontchartrain (in New Orleans) this past weekend. This coming Sunday, both groups will march in Thoth through Uptown New Orleans. Please come out and see our girls in action during their performance.

And, just in case you were wondering, spring sports begin this week. The softball team scrimmages Belle Chasse on Tuesday at JPRD before participating in the Fontainebleau Jamboree next Saturday, while the tennis team begins its season versus McGehee on Monday afternoon (at the UNO Tennis Center) and Dominican on Tuesday (also at UNO). Please come out and support our girls’ efforts!

A Message from the Elementary School Principal – Kim Harper

Who Dat!!! Good Morning! What a wonderful weekend it was! Congratulations to our Saints – World Champions! I hope everyone enjoyed the Saints Super Bowl holiday. With only two days left in this week before the Mardi Gras holidays, let’s try to give our class work and homework our very best efforts before the break. Progress reports will be mailed home this week.

The entire Ursuline faculty and staff enjoyed a wonderful retreat on Friday. We spent time together listening, sharing and reflecting on our call to be educators and role models in the likeness of
 St. Angela. The afternoon was spent in camaraderie and community building.

I wish to thank our Ursuline dance and cheer squads, as well as their parents and Mrs. Pusateri for the superb job they did marching in Cleopatra and Pontchartrain this past weekend. They were all real troopers, and they made Ursuline proud!

Happy Birthday to Mr. Lou, who celebrated his birthday on Monday, Feb. 8.

Kalee Banks will fill in for me on Thursday, Feb. 11 as “Principal for the Day.” Congratulations to Kalee, and good luck!

Friday, Feb. 12 is a big day here at Ursuline, because it is our annual Grandparents’ Day. We will begin the day, for grades 1st -7th, with Mass at 9:30 a.m. followed by a reception and then our famous toddler parade. Pre-K and Kindergarten will have Bingo at 9:30 a.m. in the gym followed by the toddler parade in the courtyard. The T-2 and T-3 classes will start with a reception in their classrooms at 10:30 a.m. followed by the parade in the courtyard at 11 a.m. I hope all of our special grandparents, grand friends, and/or parents can join us for a special morning.

Friday, Feb. 12 is a noon dismissal. No aftercare. Mardi Gras Holidays are Feb. 15 – 19. School resumes on Monday, Feb. 22.

Don’t forget about our annual Ursuline Thoth party on Sunday, Feb. 14. This great time is sponsored by our dynamite Dads’ Club! The dads and moms will set up the Ursuline tent and BBQ pits on the neutral ground at the corner of Napoleon and Magazine streets. The Ursuline HS and MS girls will be marching, and we need everyone to come out to cheer them on and enjoy a fun time with our Ursuline family!  

Mardi Gras Holidays are Feb. 15 – 19. School resumes on Monday, Feb. 22.