The Lenten Season is upon us. Bishop Soto reminds us that,
“[Lent] is a time for reflection and spiritual renewal, a time to
examine one’s relationships with God and with others.” I
hope that these weeks leading to Easter are a time of fruitful
prayer and spiritual renewal in your lives and the lives of those
you love.
I hope that this Thanksgiving week finds you happy and healthy
and anticipating time with family and other loved ones. As
I count my blessings this year, I am grateful to be part of this
community that is so committed to serving and caring for others.
Throughout this holiday season, our students and parents, as well
as our faculty and staff, will be participating in many
activities to care well for others. Each year we collect
everything from food to coats to gifts for families in need of
those things to help make their holidays a little brighter.
I am impressed not just by the amazing direct service our
community does but also by the ways that we advocate for
others. Last summer, the Jesuit Refugee Service asked
Jesuit Drama, led by Ed Trafton and his wonderful staff, to
author and produce a play about the refugee experience. The
group spent the fall doing just that and created the documentary
theater piece, Imago Dei. The play was an
incredibly poignant show about the harsh realities faced by many
refugees; it was also a piece about hope. I was moved by
the experience of it, and I hope that many of you also had the
opportunity to see this incredible work.
In preparing to write this letter to you, I looked back at my
letter from this time last year. It seems that much of what
I put in that letter is pertinent to the message I would like to
send home today, so rather than “re-inventing the wheel,” I am
going to go ahead and directly quote much of last year’s letter
here (italicized below).
I need to communicate with you all about a very serious topic
this month and ask for your help moving forward.
Jesuit High School is a great community to be a part of for
many reasons. I feel privileged to be the principal of this
wonderful place. In a small community like ours, however,
rumors can sometimes be a problem, and it has come to my
attention that there are many rumors swirling around in regard to
some recent disciplinary situations. Please know that when
difficult situations arise, the administration works together to
look at each student individually—including his personal history
at Jesuit and his current actions—to determine the consequences
he will face if he has made poor choices.
I need to have some incredibly difficult conversations with
students and families on occasion, and I am committed to being
honest and doing what is best for each of our young men on this
campus. Whenever a situation involves a student being asked
to leave Jesuit, I consult with other administrators, counselors,
and when appropriate, faculty members. I also spend time in
prayer and reflection over decisions of this nature. Asking
an individual to leave the Jesuit High School community is the
most difficult thing I have to do. If I genuinely believe
it will be best for that individual in the long run and/or will
be best for our school community, I must make that hard
decision.
Recent events have brought to light (again) the fact that we
have some students who are engaging in illegal behaviors during
their free time. Drinking and smoking marijuana have become
commonplace for some of our students. Because of peer
pressure to “fit in,” even good students and good young men can
make poor choices. I also urge you to be attentive to
your son’s internet and phone texting activities. Over the
last few years, particularly this year, we are seeing more and
more difficult situations arise from internet use and
texting. Some of these situations even require that we
contact law enforcement.
I often talk about the partnership between school and
home. As your partner, I am asking you to please review the
Student-Parent Handbook and discuss with your sons the serious
consequences that can result from these kinds of negative
choices. I ask that you remind them of the message I shared with
them at our beginning-of-the-year orientations: be
heroic. Encouraging your sons to think about making
positive choices before they are faced with different kinds of
situations will help them to be better equipped to deal with
actual situations that are tricky when and if they do arise.
The young men we serve at Jesuit are bright and
interested. They look to their teachers, coaches, and
administrators as role models. They look to you, their
parents, and the parents of their friends as role models.
All of us are charged with an enormous responsibility in helping
to form the character of these young men. Our partnership
in this regard is essential. Thank you for continuing to
support the school as we move forward.
I know the message of this letter is serious, but our
partnership requires us to be honest with each other, and we are
serious in our commitment to be co-educators with our Jesuit
families. I am open to receiving any reflections on this
topic that you may have.
It is hard to believe that we are beginning the Second Quarter of
the year. First Quarter Report Cards will be mailed home
later this week. Please take some time to discuss your
son’s progress in his classes with him. The end of the
semester will be upon us before we know it, and it is important
for students to stay on top of their studies and communicate well
with their teachers.
Edline is the computer program that Jesuit High School has used
for the past three years to communicate your son’s academic
progress to you through Progress Reports, Quarter and Semester
Report Cards. It has further capabilities and a number of
teachers have begun to use Edline to post homework and to provide
access to on-going grade progress.
In response to discussions with teachers, parents and students
over the past few years and realizing the value of these on-going
grade reports to students and parents, the school has adopted a
new policy regarding Edline.
Starting in the second semester, all teachers (with the exception
of Physical Education and Visual and Performing Arts) will be
posting detailed grade reports at least every two weeks. This
will give your son a clear picture of his own performance in the
class: all assignments to date, their point values and grades. It
will also provide a new avenue for teacher and student dialogue.
We always encourage students to talk to their teachers about
their progress, and this will give more timely information to
them.
As part of this new change in policy about the use of Edline, we
have also created a new policy regarding communication about
student grades. As we continue to guide your sons to be their own
best advocates, the new policy is clear that all questions
regarding grades need to initially come from your son to his
teacher. We stress that grades represent a student’s progress:
these are their grades, and they are responsible for them. As
always, you are welcome to communicate with a teacher if you
still have questions about a grade after your son has spoken to
his teacher.
It is important to note that this new policy will eliminate the
need to e-mail Progress Reports home every four weeks, as has
been our practice. We will continue to send home paper
copies of Quarter and Semester Grades with comment codes
regarding behavior.
If you have any questions about this new policy, please contact
Mrs. Lorraine Paul, Assistant Principal for Curriculum and
Assessment.
You asked and we delivered! Many Jesuit families seek rental
homes or condos for vacations and traveling sporting events. But
how do you find that perfect property, that reliable source? At
the same time, many Jesuit families have rental properties they
would like to offer to reliable renters!
I hope that this letter finds you rested and relaxed as we bid farewell to another summer. The 2011-12 school year is off to a great start. I always feel good about the way we welcome the newest members of our community, and this year is no exception. Members of the Class of 2015 were greeted (quite literally) with open arms by their Big Brothers from the Class of 2012. The Senior students took great care in preparing for the Freshmen to arrive, and I am confident that they will continue to look out for them as we move forward. There were many smiling faces and full backpacks (One student told me he weighed his, and it came in at 15 lbs!) around campus as students from all class levels greeted friends and teachers during our opening week of school.
Those of you with returning students may remember last year I challenged our students at the orientations to choose well in the coming year and to look to trusted adults and peers to help them do just that. I also reminded them to bring God into their decision-making throughout the year. I reiterated that advice a bit this year but also gave our students an even bigger challenge, imploring them to be heroic in big and small ways throughout the year. I assured them that I was not expecting them to don a cape and reverse the earth’s rotation but rather to strive to be the kind of young men who are “admired for [their] brave deeds and noble qualities” (as defined in Webster’s American Dictionary). I explained that being a hero can be as simple as reaching out to that student who sits alone at lunch everyday or as hard as hard as standing up for that student who is being mocked by others and making him feel like he, too, is an important part of the Jesuit brotherhood… I shared several examples of simple and hard choices that are admirable and noble.
Over the last couple of years that I have had the privilege of being the principal at Jesuit, I have seen firsthand our young men accomplish incredible things. I have seen them serve and love others. I have seen them pray together and play together. I have seen them form bonds with each other that will last a lifetime, in many cases. I have also heard wonderful stories about their accomplishments from our parents, teachers, staff, coaches, moderators, and students themselves. I have witnessed some truly heroic moments over the last two years, and I look forward to the many more I am sure will come. I imagine you do, as well.
I look forward to working with your families in the coming year, as well. A good partnership between school and home is imperative. As their primary educators, you are our best partners in educating your sons. We must work together to reinforce the values we share. I also encourage you to have open and positive communication with other parents who play a large role in caring for your sons because of the friendships that they develop as well. If the adult community works together to care for these outstanding young men, they will surely reap the benefits of our efforts.
As we move through the 2011-12 school year, I hope that God’s love and grace surround all of you.
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