Please be assured of my commitment to our school. I've always looked upon St. Mary's as a very special place. From my first association with the school in the late 80's and then as a teacher in the early 90's, I've always felt that there was something very unique and special about this school. St. Mary's has always enjoyed a special charisma, a spiritual quality in which the Faith is cherished, nurtured and earnestly taught. I've referred to St. Mary's over the years as a small, quiet, yet very proud, "hamlet of Faith." I'm sure I speak for the entire faculty and staff when I tell you that we see ourselves very much connected to the Church. Christ, in commissioning the Church, told the Apostles to "go unto the whole world and spread the Good News!" As a parochial school, we are the teaching arm of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Upper Marlboro. Our primary mandate is to teach all who enter here the "Good News" of Christ. We take this charter very seriously. In addition to teaching the children about the "things of God," we very much want them to be informed about the "things of this world." To that end we have an academic curriculum which strives for excellence. Our efforts were affirmed recently, when the Middle States Accreditation team assessed our school and awarded us with an overall rating of "Excellent." Strong Terra Nova® testing results confirm that we have a solid academic program. In an effort to maintain an attitude of continuous improvement we adopted a self-imposed focus or re-focus on math and reading. I have challenged all teachers to prioritize these two core subjects. Additionally, we are reorganizing our teachers' aides. We have adopted a Para-Educator model with allows our aides to be flexible and respond in a more dynamic and fluid way to needs of teachers and students throughout the school. Under the coordination of our resource teacher, the Para-Educators convene on a regular basis to work out their schedules based on the emerging needs of our students. This is an exciting new development here at St. Mary's. I thank our parents, grandparents, guardians, volunteers and everyone else associated with our school. Without your help, our chances for success would look bleak, but with your help and especially your prayers, I am very confident that together we can continue to build a school in which our students thrive and the Faith flourishes. With God's help and your support, I truly believe that our finest days are yet to come. I am very proud to be your principal and I look forward to working with you this year and in years to come. In Christ, |
I
greet you with enthusiasm and the highest of expectations! As principal, I often
marvel at all the wonderful things happening here at St. Mary's School. Our school
boasts of an 80 plus year reputation, replete with rich traditions and in some
instances three and four generations of dedicated families. A fine school from
its inception continues to improve with each new year. New families, new ideas,
energetic teachers and a great spirit of cooperation all combine to help make
St. Mary's an awesome place for children to thrive.