Ursuline Update

A Message from the President – Gretchen Z. Kane

The Ursuline community is preparing for two events, and I wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of you in advance for your support. The first is our annual Spaghetti Supper, one of three major fundraising events that support our operating budget for the year. Please plan on attending this Sunday’s Spaghetti Supper to show your support of Ursuline Academy. Another highly anticipated event is the Academy’s production of Annie. Performances are scheduled for March 25, 26, 27 and 28. The girls have been working very hard, and our beautiful auditorium should prove a great venue for the show.

As we rapidly approach Easter and the end of our Lenten fasting and abstinence, I thought back about the times during my childhood when I asked my parents about why Lent was a time we needed to give something up and to eat fish sticks or cheese pizza on Fridays (of course, in those days, we had the non-meat choices every Friday … not just during Lent). It’s probably important to remind ourselves about why Lent is important to our faith. The reason we fast or abstain during Lent is to help us connect with the suffering of Jesus. Suddenly, giving up our favorite thing doesn’t seem so trying in light of what Jesus endured for us. Lent is also a season for reflection and a time when we rededicate ourselves to the Church as we prepare for Easter.

As we continue to prepare for Easter during this Lenten season, let us pray:

Lord Jesus, often enough, we’re burdened by our past,
by what we have done or failed to do.
We condemn and we judge, losing hope in others as well as in ourselves.
We walk in the dark.

Inspire us, like your Apostle, Paul, to forget what lies behind
and press on to what lies ahead, to pursue the goal, the glorious prize,
which, by your grace, you help us gain. AMEN.

A Message from the High School Principal – John Gabriel

The scheduling process for the 2010 – 11 academic year continues this week as we analyze all the information we collected last week regarding students’ choices for electives and the placement of students in honors and non-honors core classes. Alice Bairnsfather, our academic assistant principal, has done a masterful job of reviewing all academic data on each student in the High School. Her placement recommendations for all returning High School students were disseminated earlier in the month. 

Some parents have expressed their concern about these placement recommendations because they seem to contradict placement decisions from years past. Please know that Ms. Bairnsfather spent many hours working with me to make the proper placement recommendations. Unlike the process Ursuline has used in the past, Ms. Bairnsfather placed students using not just teacher recommendations and current grades, but also all available standardized test scores. These test scores are an important tool for accurate placement in classes. Data-driven decision making is critically important in helping Ursuline move forward – and in helping our students achieve more. It is our firm belief that the changes we have instituted will significantly help our students.

Consultants from the national educational consulting firm Sustaining Excellence will be presenting the data they have compiled to the High School faculty and administration during the week of April 5. After we get the opportunity to look at the data, the consultants will meet with the school’s Sustaining Excellence Team on Saturday, April 17 to start planning our strategy for implementing the findings into our program. We will meet with the entire faculty at the end of May to get their input for the school’s plans on improving teaching – and learning – in the High School.  I want to take this opportunity to thank the faculty members serving on the school’s Sustaining Excellence Team for their invaluable help during this process. Alice Bairnsfather, Amy Calloway, Brian Cordes, Sharon Linton, Erin Plauche and Susan Young have done a great job in spearheading this important program. Their help and support have gone far beyond professionalism. These are educators who are clearly committed to the Ursuline mission.

I also want to congratulate the students and teachers who performed so well at the Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair last week. Junior Madison Roussel placed third in the Behavioral and Social Sciences; Junior Kimia Kaviani placed third in Chemistry; Sophomore Ghazal Magharehabed finished second in Plant Sciences; Junior Sarah Stuckey won first place in Biochemistry; Junior Brennan Ferguson won first place in Medicine and Health Sciences; and Junior Anna Landry won first place in Microbiology.  Additionally, Brennan Ferguson won the Bruce Heim Foundation Award for the Outstanding Medical Research Project; Sarah Stuckey won the Chlorine Chapter Iota Sigma Pi award for Outstanding Project by a Female Student in Biochemistry; Brennan Ferguson placed second in an award presented by MENSA for a “project showing creativity backed by rigorous scientific reasoning”; and Anna Landry won the US Department of the Navy’s award for the outstanding project in microbiology. I also want to congratulate faculty member Elizabeth Harney for winning a Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Teacher/Mentor Award. Needless to say, we are very proud of all of these accomplishments.

The Academy is pleased to announce that the Drama Department will be presenting its production of Annie later this week. Performances will be Thursday the 25^th – Saturday the 27^th at 7 p.m. and Sunday the 28^th at 4:30 p.m. All of the girls involved in the production have been working hard to prepare for their performances.  Please come out to support them and see the show.

 This week is the last week for students to submit their raffle tickets to qualify for the extra holiday, which has been scheduled for Tuesday, April 6. Students who do not sell their forty tickets will be required to attend school on that Tuesday. Those students who meet the forty-ticket quota will be granted that day as a holiday. The deadline for ticket stubs to be returned is Thursday, March 25. Please encourage your daughters to participate in this important fund-raising event for the Academy. And please come out to participate in the annual Spaghetti Supper, which will be held on Sunday, March 28, from noon until 4 p.m.

A Message from the Elementary School Principal – Kim Harper

We are finishing up with Terra Nova Testing on Monday and Tuesday of this week. The students have been doing their very best, and I am proud of them. Parents have been doing a good job of getting the students to school on time, so let’s please keep up this effort even after testing is finished. School tardiness negatively impacts school success.

We are in the final stretch of raffle ticket sales! All tickets are due back on Thursday, March 25. Don’t forget that we must reach 100% participation in order to earn the day off of school on Tuesday, April 6. Many classes are already there, but some have a way to go.

The Academy musical, Annie, opens this Thursday evening, March 25 and will run through Sunday, March 28. Contact Ms. Melanie to reserve your tickets at 504.866.5260 or mprovenzano@ursulineneworleans.org. Our cast and crew has been working very hard for many months. Don’t miss a spectacular performance!

The annual Academy Spaghetti Supper will take place this Sunday, March 28 from noon until 4 p.m. Please bring your family and friends out to enjoy some delicious spaghetti and meatballs, desserts, games, music and fun!

Easter Holidays will be Thursday, April 1 through Monday, April 5. Those students who sell their tickets will also receive an extended holiday on Tuesday, April 6.

The final Parents’ Club general meeting will be held on April 15 and the final Dads’ Club meeting will be held on April 20. Please mark your calendars now. An agenda will be forthcoming.

The Elementary School Mother/Daughter Mass and Brunch will be on Sunday, April 18. Please mark your calendars. An invitation will be coming home soon.