Ursuline Update

A Message from the President – Gretchen Z. Kane

As it is the Lenten season, I thought I would share reflections from Sarah Stockton, a writer, writing teacher and spiritual director, whose articles have appeared in America, the Christian Science Monitor, The San Francisco Chronicle, and many other publications. She is the author of Restless in Christ: Answering the Call to Spiritual Commitment.

“We come together in Lent as a faith community to be a companion, witness, and disciple of Christ as he begins his long journey toward death and resurrection. How can we best be attentive to the spiritual journey during this time of grieving, introspection, seeking, and redemption? As Christians we are offered two significant pathways toward a closer communion with God, in Christ. First, we are invited into a community of fellow seekers. And second, we are invited into our own personal relationship with Christ, as we seek to find points of connection through his words, his story, his example, and his living spirit, to our own lives today.

Lenten Reflection
Lent comes each year laden with the memories, teachings, assumptions, and wisdom that each of us has accumulated over the years of our church experience. This can be both a blessing and a challenge. A blessing, in that we are reminded of the cycle of birth and resurrection. We are re-called, called again, to our connection with not only the liturgical calendar, but the cycle of life itself. In the familiarity of our rituals and celebrations we are re-connected to our faith and the family of God. The challenge of Lent is to find a way to make it a vital, living, immediate experience of the life of Christ and our connection to that life, in all that it both asks and promises. The writing exercises offered here invite you to explore both the blessings and challenges of this season.

The Blessings of Lent
Take a few minutes to think about what it is you truly look forward to in the Lenten season. This could range from daily events to more general feelings or awareness. Now go beyond what first comes to mind. Is there something that attracts you every year, when the season of Lent first begins its approach? What about it especially beckons you, what is it that draws you to want to be a part of this experience? Is it the change in seasons, the promise of spring? Is it the comfort of tradition? Is it some sense of a new start in your life, or a chance to go deeper into your prayer life? It may be all, or none of these things. Write about what the blessings of Lent are, for you, this day.

The Challenges of Lent
There are several challenges before us during Lent as well. How to stay the course of Christ’s journey without losing heart. How to not judge the way others are “doing Lent.” How to keep the incandescent reality of our faith alive in the midst of the harsh reality of daily life. In some Christian denominations, Lent has also traditionally been used as a time of giving up something we enjoy or rely on, in order to demonstrate our personal repentance and our allegiance to the suffering that Christ experienced. Yet the story of Christ is not just a story of suffering, but of a human being who lived in the complete fullness of God. Our challenge therefore is to learn to live in that same complete fullness, as best we can, through Christ’s example and his ever-present love. What is it that keeps us from full communion with Christ? What can we “give up” this Lenten season that has until now served as a barrier between us and Christ? Is it some behavior, some pattern, some way of thinking about ourselves or others? Or could it be some unrealistic desire that keeps us from the present moment? Or are we avoiding an unexplored dream that might fulfill us? Write about what you might “offer up” to God during this season as a way of acknowledging your desire to come closer to God. What door could you open, in what way could you stop hiding from God’s love?”

A Message from the High School Principal – John Gabriel

In an attempt to better serve the needs of our students, the High School Division of Ursuline Academy has recently embarked on a partnership with a group of educational consultants from Philadelphia called Sustaining Excellence. Sustaining Excellence attempts to help schools analyze data already available to schools (in the form of grades and standardized test scores), as well as to help schools generate additional data (in the form of surveys and questionnaires), so that schools might better identify how to fulfill the school’s mission. The data that is generated and then analyzed will tell us how well we’re doing – and what we need to do to improve.

In January, we sent our standardized test scores from the last five years to these consultants. This week, Sustaining Excellence will be training several of our teachers on how to observe classrooms for certain “indicators of learning” that should be occurring in each classroom. These observations are not intended to be used to evaluate teacher performance; rather, they are intended to generate data concerning what students learn in classes. After our trained teachers observe, they will then submit their findings to the consultants, who will compile this data and present it to the school later this year.

Another important source of data will be surveys that will be administered to various groups associated with the High School. Over the next couple of weeks, Sustaining Excellence will be administering a series of surveys to students, faculty, parents and alumnae that will ask these constituencies to rate Ursuline’s effectiveness as a school.   We in the Academy look forward to receiving this feedback, because we know it will help us become a better school. Should you be asked to participate in one of the surveys, we ask that you take the time and effort to complete the respective survey carefully. Your candor and honesty will be critical in this process of evaluating Ursuline.

After all of this data has been compiled and analyzed, Sustaining Excellence will present it to the Ursuline community in March and April. These consultants will meet with school leadership (including several members of the faculty) and start a dialogue intended to help Ursuline see itself more clearly. The data that has been generated and analyzed will serve as the impetus for all of us to see how we might better serve our students. Identifying “best practices” in teaching, and matching those “best practices” to what can help our students, will help us make a better Ursuline.

Again, our goal is simple: all of us want to serve the girls who attend Ursuline as effectively as possible. We in the High School are excited about this opportunity to work with our students, parents, alumnae and some nationally-known educational experts in making Ursuline even better. It is our hope that you join us in this process.

A Message from the Elementary School Principal – Kim Harper

Welcome back. I hope everyone had a fun and restful Mardi Gras break.  As we enter this Lenten season, we do so in hope that our hearts will be opened anew to each other and to God’s grace.

As most of our Ursuline community is aware of, we have lost a very dear parent of our children. Mr. John Ward, father of Charlotte and Isabelle Ward, and husband to Ursuline alumna Nathalie Ward, passed away during the break. Please join me in offering your prayers for the family.

I’d like to offer a very special thanks to our Dads’ Club for a super great Thoth Parade BBQ, which was held on Sunday, Feb. 14. The weather was beautiful, the Ursuline girls who marched looked terrific, the food was delicious, and the company of Ursuline families and friends was wonderful. This continues to be one of my favorite events. Also, thanks to the Castay’s for opening their home to all of us.   

The Cash Raffle will begin next Monday, March 1. We will be offering some really cool incentives for the students to get motivated to sell.  A separate e-mail, as well as a hard copy, will be going home this week. We very much count on and appreciate your support of this most important drive.   

We are well in to the second half of this 3rd quarter. As a parent myself, I am aware of the struggle to keep moving ahead with homework and nightly studying. Please support us by helping your children stay motivated. A consistent routine, organization, daily studying, and a positive attitude all make a huge impact on success. 

6th and 7th grade exams will be in two weeks: March 10 – 12.