What I Hope to be Thankful For!

Considering it is Thanksgiving Break, one would assume I would write a customary "What I'm Thankful For" blog. Since it isn't like me to do the expected or usual thing, I decided to make this a "What I Hope to be Thankful For" blog. My reasoning for this change is we work so hard today in order to obtain certain positive outcomes tomorrow. Today we sow; tomorrow we reap, especially for the sake of our children.

We envision a thriving school for all children that will provide a premier education in the Catholic tradition. As our vision statement looks to the future, I'm future-casting my thankfulness.

With that being said, I hope to be thankful for (in no particular order):

• our students to continue to grow and succeed in faith, service, and love.
• the continued improvement of the education we offer.
• student enrollment to continue to climb.
• being able to keep our incredible faculty and staff together.
• teachers who continue to look for opportunities for the students to learn, grow and experience the world outside of the classroom setting.
• teachers who continue to use innovative classroom lessons if they believe it will help students succeed.
• having the resources to provide our teachers with the training necessary to better serve students.
• the increase of alumni giving back to St. Ann in order to help current families with tuition assistance.
• our friends to continue to support through in-kind giving and helping to fulfill our wish list.
• the growth of our annual giving campaign to the point we can actually decrease tuition.
• St. Ann Church and School to be seen as one.
• the growth of St. Ann Church and School together.
• adding two sections of every grade.
• being 1-to-1 in technology in all grades.
• providing our students with more individualized learning opportunities.
• all students to participate in SPARKS.
• all students having more opportunities for project-based learning.
• having the resources to provide our teachers with the training necessary to better serve students with dyslexia.
• having the resources to provide our teachers with the training necessary to better serve students on the autism spectrum.
• an increase in Title I funding for professional development.
• having two plays each year that involve more students and are funded through sponsorships.
• all students participating in extra-curricular activities.
• an increase in tutoring opportunities for our students.
• the new HVAC system for the classrooms still on the boiler system.
• for continued parental involvement especially in being the students' first teacher.
• some of our families to be able to use Education Savings Accounts (ESA) to attend St. Ann.
• expanding service opportunities to include parents, alumni, and parishioners.
• expanding service opportunities with Ave Marie, Catholic Charities, and Room in the Inn.
• a week-long vacation to the Cayman Islands for the school principal.

Of course, there's a lot more I hope to be thankful for.

The faculty, staff, parents, volunteers, and supporters work hard every day to make St. Ann a great school for our children. We are life-long learners and want our children to be life-long learners. The work we put in now will have an impact on the future; their future. So, let's work hard together to make these and many more "hope to be thankful for" a reality.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

Donor Luncheon

Thank You Donors!

St. Ann family and friends are very supportive and are an extremely necessary part of our school. Because of the generosity of those who support St. Ann Catholic School, we have been able to hold steady on tuition from last year. We hope to hold steady again for next year. We won't know if this is possible until March of 2020 when we put the budget together. If we can follow the plan we put in place for each department to not go over-budget, we will probably be able to hold where we are on tuition. To me, Catholic education needs to be affordable and available to all who want to be a part of St. Ann.

St. Ann Donor Luncheon

The cost of operating a school goes up every year. So, how can we expect to hold steady on tuition? The answer to that question is that our donors make this possible. Simple. No secret formula. No magic spells. No complicated master plan. Our donors provide the school with gifts to make financial aid possible in order to help families needing tuition assistance. Our donors fulfill teacher wish lists to better help educate our students. Our donors pay for school improvements, renovations, and updates. Our donors purchase classroom furniture. Our donors enable us to improve school security. Our donors help us keep current on technology... You get the picture.

St. Ann Donor Luncheon

Because of what all our donors do for St. Ann, we are able to hold tuition steady. Donors pay for all non-budgeted items the school needs. If we add those items to the budget, the per pupil cost would increase. The per pupil increase would reflect on the tuition. The lower the per pupil cost, the lower the tuition.

We just need to continue to work hard to improve our school (Good things come to those who work hard and never quit.), stay true to our mission statement (Our mission is to provide a Catholic education through faith, service, and love.), stick to our philosophy of transparency (the reason this blog exists), include our families in day-to-day operations, continuously develop an already incredible faculty and staff, and do all this while keeping Christ and our students first.

This past Thursday, St. Ann hosted a donor luncheon. We wanted to bring our donors together to

St. Ann Donor Luncheon

simply say "Thank You" because without you, not sure St. Ann would still be here. Thank you for your faith, service, and love.

Sixty of our donors where able to break away from their busy lives to come tour St. Ann, have lunch together, and allow us the privilege of appreciating their commitment to St. Ann. It was a great day for school. For some of our donors, they had not been in the school building in decades. For others, this was their first time to visit the school.

Thank you parents, grandparents, alumni, parishioners, and friends of St. Ann Catholic School for your support. Thank you for helping to improve the lives of our students. Thank you for helping to keep our tuition affordable. Thank you for helping our teachers educate our students. Thank you for valuing a Catholic education. And, thank you for your love.

If you would like to support the students at St. Ann Catholic Schools, here are some ways you too can help.

Annual Giving

Sister Connie Passing on the Faith Scholarship

Alumni: Click Here to share your information with the school

Wish List Part 1

Wish List Part 2

If you have questions on how you can support St. Ann Catholic School, please contact Angela de Jong at angela.dejong@sascolts.org. Mrs. de Jong is our development director.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal
St. Ann Catholic School

2019-20 St. Ann Wish List

We have a number of very generous supporters who asked me to post a school wish list for non-budgeted items the students and teachers need. Below is a wish list the teachers have started sending my way. There will be more items to come and some items have already been gifted to us, so I have taken them off the wish list.

If you would like to contribute to one or more of the wish list items, please CLICK HERE to access our giving page. In the comment section, please designate the wish list item you would like to help purchase.

For the computer lab near the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade classrooms- Califone International CII3068AV10L Switchable Headphones Classpack of 10.  Each set of 10 is $93.13.  We need two sets for a total of $186.26. To be used for IXL and ReadWorks.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013TQ7E50/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

For our growing school band: Used musical instruments in good condition.  If you have a used band instrument you no longer use, we are in need of instruments because the school band is growing, improving, and competing.

Patrick’s Press Quiz Pro Deluxe buzzer system for Knowledge Bowl competition.  The cost of the system plus shipping is $525.  $510 has been donated so for towards the purchase of the buzzer system. We are on $15 away from being able to make this purchase for the Knowledge Bowl team.  http://www.patrickspress.com/buzzers1.htm

BrainPop and BrainPop Jr. are educational websites with over 1,000 short animated movies for students in grades K-12, together with quizzes and related materials, covering the subjects of science, social studies, English, math, engineering and technology, health, and arts and music.  The cost for an annual subscription for the whole school is $2,550. An annual subscription for an individual teacher is $230 for BrainPop and $175 for BrainPop Jr.  https://www.brainpop.com

Starfall was created to teach children to read.  It includes language arts and mathematics for PK-3rd grade.  Starfall’s emphasis on phonemic awareness, systematic sequential phonics, and common sight words in conjunction with audiovisual interactivity has proven effective in teaching emergent readers.  Starfall activities are research-based and align with individual and common core state standards in English language arts and mathematics.  The cost for a school membership is $270.  The PK teachers have added Starfall to the school’s wish list.  

www.starfall.com

Jupiter JTU700 Tuba is the band director's dream. This 3/4 size tuba includes a detachable lead pipe, valve body and bell for easy cleaning and repair, plus durable construction that is perfect for the classroom. The tighter wrap and compact size will not overly tax younger players, while still offering an ample dynamic range and rich, sweet tone. The 378 tuba features stainless steel piston valves for easy action, plus a size, which makes the sound easy to control for beginning tuba player. The Jupiter JTU700 is a full-sounding 3/4 tuba any band director will enjoy hearing hold down the low end.  The cost for this tuba is $3,389.

If you have any questions regarding the wish list, please feel free to contact me at didier.aur@sascolts.org. Thank you.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

St. Ann Alumni Matching Challenge

A number of years ago, I was introduced to Dallas businessman Mike Devereaux. Even though Mike is not Catholic, he loves the role that Catholic education has played in his, his wife's, and children's lives. Mike is a product of Catholic Schools in Cincinnati (Our Lady of the Rosary and Roger Bacon High School). His wife is a graduate of Bishop Byrne here in Memphis. His sons graduated from Jesuit Dallas.

Mike has been a supporter of Catholic education in Memphis for many years. In our conversation, Mike has decided to continue to support by challenging St. Ann Catholic School.

Mike and Carol Devereaux have a $10,000 challenge match earmarked for tuition assistance for St. Ann. We are required to raise $10,000 to receive the match. This $20,000 will help provide families with much needed financial aid.

It is important for the future of St. Ann to have more alumni involvement and support. We are turning to our alumni to help meet this challenge match. We need your support to help our students become St. Ann alumni just like you.

Our goal is to not only match the Devereaux donation but to match it several times over because we are currently giving over $100,000 in tuition assistance for the 2019-20 school year to help our families. And, our fundraising goal for the new school year is $130,000 in tuition assistance. That's a tall order but we believe we can reach this goal. $130,000 is our BHAG (Big Harry Audacious Goal)! In order to achieve big results, we need to set big harry audacious goals.

Do you have to be an alumni to give? NO! We want and need our alumni to give and that is the main target audience but not the only target audience. We need support from everyone.

Financial assistance at St. Ann is not merit based (scholastic or athletic).  All financial assistance is awarded on the basis of need.  The average families receiving aid is headed by a single parent with two children in school and have a yearly income of approximately $35,000.

Please consider supporting St. Ann in order to help more families with tuition assistance. We cannot underestimate the importance of a Catholic education for all children.

And, let’s not leave money on the table.

Please contact me at didier.aur@sascolts.org for more information.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal
St. Ann Catholic School

Annual Giving

Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference. And, the best way to make a difference in the life of a child is through education. Education is the best way to help reduce poverty. Education expands economic development. Education will help boost individual income. Education increases our chances of living a healthy lifestyle. Education promotes gender equality. Education promotes peace. Education helps to eliminate crime. Education promotes the development of life skills. Education leads to a lifetime of learning. Education bolsters abstract thinking. Education is one of the most important investments we can make in our children and their future.

Investing in quality education brings the highest returns from individuals, societies and countries. Children who have access to quality educational programs do better in primary school and will have better education outcomes later. It is vital that we invest more in our children's education.

At St. Ann, it is vital that all of us invest more in early childhood, elementary, and middle school education. Providing families a quality education is the reason the St. Ann Annual Giving drive is so important to the future of our children. Our mission statement tells our story. "Our mission is to provide a Catholic education through faith, service, and love." If we want to continue to fulfill our mission, annual giving has to be successful.

We have many families who are able to pay full tuition, but not as many as you would think. We have many who struggle, stretch their budget, and sacrifice to be able to give their children a Catholic education. And, we have many who no matter how much they stretch their budget, cannot afford to pay full tuition. That's why we do everything in our power not to increase tuition. That is why we are leading the charge to find a way to make Catholic education affordable to all. And, that is why the annual giving campaign is important to St. Ann.

Here is a break down for overall giving to St. Ann for last year and this year. Last year's goal was a very modest goal of $30,000. Knowing that we need to work hard to keep tuition steady, we set a very high goal for St. Ann in overall giving for this year. We are nearing our goal but are behind in St. Ann families participating as well as in alumni giving. As I've mentioned before, without alumni support, private schools will not survive. We will not survive because tuition will have to increase to the point that only a handful of families will be able to afford to pay.

You will also notice on our giving spreadsheet that in-kind donations are over half of the giving. The in-kind donations come from supporters to pay for school improvements and enhancements. The in-kind donations go to support a particular ask such as speakers, chess boards, tripods, security cameras..... We have asked and you have responded in kindness. Thank you.

The donation spreadsheet does not cover Vision money, Home & School fundraisers, and Fall Fest.

Click on the Picture to Donate

We are still in need of a few more donations to help with the purchase of the knowledge bowl team buzzer system. Contact our school office if you are willing and able to help with this purchase. If we do not budget for an item, we may not purchase it. It can only be purchased through in-kind donations. After working in non-profit for thirty years, I have learned to be very frugal with other people's money.

Some of the donations are earmarked for specific items or even departments such as band or physical education. We honor the donor's designation of gifts. If the donor does not designated the recipient of a gift, we earmark that towards annual giving. That's our favorite donation because we use those donations to help us balance the budget. Just like any business, we have to balance our budget.

A friend of mine in Dallas taught me a lot about fundraising and business. He would tell me that as a non-profit, every time I send out any type of communiqué, an ask should be included. Without raising funds, non-profits would not exist. Much like a for-profit business, if you don't make the sale, you'll soon be closing your doors.

Click on the Logo to
Support St. Ann

With that being said, here's my ask for this week's blog. If you have not participated in our annual fund drive, please consider a gift of $100 to St. Ann Catholic School. Without support from our families, friends, and community, the affordability of an education at St. Ann will continue to exclude families wanting a Catholic education for their children. Being a Catholic School, we need to be inclusive and not exclusive.

I do want to clarify a misconception about scholarships. Please think of scholarships as financial assistance. We do not give scholarships in the form of merit (scholastic or athletic). All scholarships are awarded on the basis of need. The average family receiving aid this year is headed by a single parent with two children in school, and have a yearly income of approximately $35,000. In the past, scholarships were awarded for other reasons. We want to be accountable and transparent to our donors who give to help families in need. If we award financial aid to families who can afford to send their children to St. Ann, we would be doing an injustice to the donors' wishes.

Student Update:

Dominic Podesta has been training with Bartlett ATA since he was five years old, starting in the the Tiger program. At the age of seven, he aged out of that class and had to test for his next belt. Normally, you get either an orange or yellow belt and then go into the lower rank class. He tested out of the lower rank class and earned his camo belt, which only two other children had  earned in the last twelve years. For the past two years, Dominic has been in the higher rank class earning his belts. He started competing in tournaments for one and a half years. This year, he finished the tournament season earning 1st and 3rd places at nationals in Orlando, five state titles, and will be going to districts in Atlanta to compete in eight events. He also recently earned his 1st black belt!

Cassie Harmon has had a big year as a dancer. On April 6th, she competed at Revolution Talent Competition West Memphis Regionals to qualify for Nationals. Her seven groups did very well with several high awards and top 5 ranking. Cassie's solo took home 3rd place overall in intermediate junior soloist age 9-11, 1st place in contemporary category intermediate age 10, and a platinum score award winner. On the weekend of the 27th, Cassie represented Dance Dynamics Memphis. Seven of her eight dances earned platinum scores and placed in the top five rankings in their individual overall line ups, multiple category winners, and a special outstanding choreography award. She won several first place honors for her age group in junior soloist and contemporary category. She place first out of thirty-one entries in her solo division. Next up for Cassie are two shows at her end of the year recital for Dance Dynamics Memphis taking place at Briarcrest High School on Saturday, June 8th, at 1 and 6 pm. The performance is free and all are welcomed to attend. She finishes the 2019 competitive season at Revolution Talent Competition Nationals in Pensacola, FL, June 24th-28th, Good luck Cassie and keep us updated on your progress.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal
St. Ann Catholic School

A Thanksgiving Blog

1 Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

With the Thanksgiving break and as hard as we have been working, I took advantage of this break in many ways including not publishing a blog the past two Sundays. Instead, I spent part of the week wrapping up some work that needed to get done and to get caught up on the Advanc-ED accreditation process. Didn't get nearly as much accomplished as I hoped to but that is typical of my ADD life.

My Family in San Antonio

Plus, my daughter, Celina, came home for Thanksgiving! I'm extremely thankful for the opportunity to be with her. Kelley and I get to see her about every three months or so. She lives in San Antonio, which makes for a long drive. To fly to San Antonio isn't cheap especially for two people. Frontier is supposed to have direct flights between Memphis and San Antonio. Good luck trying to find those flights. It is much easier and less expensive to fly her back to Memphis. The problem is we miss out on the opportunity to visit San Antonio. Once Celina returned to San Antonio, we might not see her till maybe March of 2019.

On the other hand, my son and daughter-in-law, Jonathan and Brittany, live half a mile from my house. We get to see them almost every day. So, Kelley and I will appreciate and take advantage of our proximity to them as best we can.

Madonna & Child
by Katie Jones

Our art teacher, Katie Jones, is working to incorporate religion into her art classes. During art class for the next few weeks, the students are working on the Keep Christ in Christmas poster contest for the Knights of Columbus. Teachers are asked to speak to the students about the history of Christmas, have the students write a special Christmas prayer, and/or discuss what images they think of when they think of Christ and Christmas. This is also part of incorporating Religion and Art into our STREAM program. I look forward to seeing what the students come up with on their Keep Christ in Christmas poster projects.

IXL Stars Wall

The IXL and Honor Roll Walls are complete! Teresa Ferrante and
Annmarie Ghio put together the Walls to honor student achievement. The IXL Wall honors the top three students in each grade level in Math and Language Arts. The top three performers in each of those two subjects are listed on the wall. The Honor Roll Wall honors the students on the Principal and Faculty Honor Roll.

The Father/Daughter Dance took place last night. It was a magical evening of dinner and dancing. Not sure who enjoyed the evening more: daughters, dads, or volunteers who made the evening possible. Lots of thank yous to go around starting with Lori Locke and Home & School for organizing and putting on this event. It was such a fantastic dance, especially for a first time event, that Home & School wants to add another dance event to the calendar for the students and parents. Thank you to the daughters for getting your fathers on the dance floor. The dance floor was rockin' last night as DJ Cel cranked out the tunes. Thank you to the fathers for putting their daughters ahead of everything else to spend a memorable evening sharing lots of love and a great time. The memories fashioned last night will last a

life time. Congratulations to Greg and Cassie Richardson for winning the dance contest. They better spend a lot of time preparing for next year's Father/Daughter Dance because they will have to defend their title. There will be plenty of Father/Daughter Dance Teams ready to take their title away. Next on the agenda is the Mother/Son Video Game Night in February. Should be another great evening for our St. Ann families.

The Christmas Door Decorating Contest was a big hit! With enthusiasm, creativity, and Christmas spirit abound, the contest brought out the best in staff, students, and room parents. The winner

of the 2018 Christmas Door Decorating Contest was Mrs. Metaxas and her 5th graders! I have to admit that their door was better than the school office door, but only barely. 2nd place went to Mrs. Odum's 2nd grade class. 3rd place went to Mrs. Harty's 1st grade class.

Mrs. Metaxas: 1st Place

Through Title II program with Shelby County Schools and Bartlett City Schools, we have been able to send teachers to national conferences for professional development. The latest to take advantage of this program is Annmarie Ghio. She just spent part of this past week in Charlotte, NC at the National Science Teachers Association Conference on Science Education. The conference sessions provided hands-on learning opportunities for science educators. The sessions were geared towards the latest in science content, learning strategy, and research to enhance and expand professional growth, as well as having opportunities to collaborate with science education leaders and peers. This was a wonderful opportunity for Ms. Ghio to gain more knowledge and experience to help her students.

Mrs. Odum: 2nd Place

We have been able to take advantage of the Title program to fund our CPR training; dyslexia workshop with Bodine School; easyCBM webinar; Tracey Angotti attending the state physical education conference; Deborah Harty participating in a learning behavior management seminar; and I attending the Advanc-ED conference. We are greatly benefitting from attending these conferences, and helping to make St. Ann a better school. So far, eight teachers have already been approved to attend conferences in the spring for professional development. We also plan to bring in an expert in gifted learning to assist our teachers on working with our gifted students.

Click Here to Support St. Ann

Finally, our annual giving campaign started this past week. Annual giving brochures have been mailed to our school parents and grandparents. Soon, they will be going out to our supporters and alumni. This year's goal is $50,000. Quality schools like St. Ann that offer exceptional programs, staffing, and facilities could not continue to operate and maintain such high standards without substantial support beyond just tuition. The actual cost of a St. Ann education is supplemented by generous gifts and additional financial support that make the difference between a good school and a great one. Please join us in supporting St. Ann Catholic School.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Prinicpal
St. Ann Catholic School

Saint Ann Annual Giving

In the next two weeks, you should receive in the mail a St. Ann Annual Giving brochure. The purpose of the annual giving is for parents, grandparents, alumni, parishioners, faculty, and friends to help strengthen and support St. Ann and its educational programs, professional development, community projects, and facilities.

Since I'm big on transparency, I want you to know about annual giving and why this is important to St. Ann.

Annual Giving is a fundraising activity designed to stimulate regular giving. Annual giving is important for many reasons, including it: (from CASE: Council for Advancement and Support of Education)

• Provides income both for specific projects and unrestricted funds,
• Establishes giving habits and enable patterns of giving to be tracked,
• Establishes a donor pipeline, enabling the identification of donors with the potential capacity and propensity to give bigger gifts in the future,
• Increases donor participation rates,
• Helps improve and keep data about prospects up to date,
• Is a great stewardship tool,
• Helps reinforce core messages about an institution,
• Helps identify the enthusiasts who might be leaders or significant volunteers and
• Strengthens the bonds between an institution and it prospects

There are five steps to an annual giving campaign.
1. Case for Support- This is where we have a compelling story for why our organization exists. Instead of telling you why we exist, how about if I show you why we exist! Just check out the pictures in this blog.

2. Database- A good database can help us streamline fundraising, be more donor centered, and raise more support for St. Ann. Our database will help track donations, including annual giving.

That's why we invested in our new Bloomerang database. (https://bloomerang.co/)  Bloomerang's mission is to be the world's best developer and deliverer of tools and perspectives that generate value for nonprofit donor relationships.

3. Direct Mail- We need to have a direct mail campaign to keep our current donors and attract new supporters. Both recurring and new donors are extremely important to the success of any annual giving.

That's why our development committee has been working closely with Jeff Blankenship of Blankenship Creative to develop our direct mailing piece, which will be going out this next week. (http://blankenshipcreative.com/) Jeff produced our direct mailing piece as a donation to St. Ann. I'm anxious for you to see our good work.

4. Website- We are updating our website especially our "Support US" page. We are in the process of linking our support page with Bloomerang to help us better track our supporters. We want to make donating to St. Ann easier for our supporters. We want our donors to be able to designate their gifts for what interests them most. Those areas include scholarships, financial aid, classroom supplies, professional development, athletics, maintenance and upkeep...

5. Support Acknowledgment- The most important part of receiving any gift is saying "Thank You," and doing so right away.

Development is an important aspect of the existence of any non-profit. Non-profits that don't value the development (also called Advancement), will not exist very long.

Look at the websites of successful schools (universities, high schools, and elementary schools). A commonality is of an investment in a development team. The most successful have a development army, not just one or two people.

At St. Ann, we have Angela de Jong as our development director.  As the principal of the school, it is my job to support Mrs. de Jong in moving development forward to ensure that St. Ann will be financially viable and in existence for many years to come. That's why Nick Scully, Lori Locke, and Sr. Connie Tarallo have joined our development team. Development and the future of St. Ann is the reason we have been working hard on the annual giving. Our children deserve a great Catholic School. We want to make sure St. Ann is there for our students and their families for decades to come. If we do not work to make it the best school, and receive support from the thousands of students and families who have walked the halls of St. Ann, it will go the way of the Jubilee Schools, Bishop Byrne, St. Anne Highland, Memphis Catholic,....

As for me, I love Catholic Schools.  I hope to never see another Catholic School in our diocese shut its doors to students and their families. If we do not do the development work that's needed and support the schools, we will only have ourselves to blame if we fail.

For a successful St. Ann both today and in the future, let us work together. Support Catholic Education starting with our own St. Ann Catholic School.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal
St. Ann Catholic School

Transparency: Keeping People Informed

Being Interviewed by Local News

I had a number of people this week, many of whom I never met before, thank me for the culture of trust via transparency we have created at St. Ann. The way to build a culture of trust is to let everyone know what's going on good or bad. Don't hide the truth. If I'm trying to accomplish something you might not completely agree with yet I'm transparent in what I'm trying to accomplish, at least there is an understanding. If I don't let you know what's going on, I'm not developing a culture of trust. A lack of communication usually leads to rumors and mistrust. Instead, fill that void with transparency and communication, and you won't have to worry about rumors and mistrust.

Abe Abuelouf
Being Interviewed

Communication and transparency! That's why this blog. That's why Monday Notes. That's why Flock Notes are sent out by Fr. Ernie, Kathy Schober, and Nicole McGlaughlin. That's why we post as much information possible on the school's Facebook page. That's why there is a Colts Parent Page on Facebook. We are on Twitter @stannschool. We are also on Instagram and YouTube. If we don't have a LinkedIn page, that's next.

Last week's blog received more publicity than all my other blogs put together. Channel 3 and Channel 5 news came out to the school to interview us. People stopped me everywhere I've gone to talk about it. Kelley and I enjoy going to Maximo's on Broad for Friday Night Date Night. Customers and employees alike were talking about it mainly because they know Fr. David Knight. Abe Abuelouf and our staff are heroes, and I come out looking like a genius. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read last week's blog.

The crazy thing is that my blogs receive anywhere from 800 to 3,600 hits. Last week's blog didn't even receive 400 hits. Fewer hits but much more publicity. Funny how that works.

Last week was an extra busy week even though we were off for All Saints Day. I took full advantage of the school being closed on Thursday to lock myself in my office to get some of my work done. We are playing catch up with the AdvancED accreditation process. We are basically having to do five year's worth of work in eight months. With students, teachers, staff, and parents completing the surveys, I'm confident our AdvancED leadership team will be able to create the school improvement plan.

I also worked on paperwork that's been building on my desk. I was taught to do the most important/urgent work first, the important/non-urgent work second, and everything else when you can. I believe I finished the important, the urgent, and some of the everything else.

I also learned from a former superintendent of mine that sometimes, when important/urgent work needs to be done, take a day away from campus, hole up somewhere, and get the work done. That's what I did last Friday. I spent a big chunk of that day at Panera on Stage Road, and worked without any interference. It was nice getting work done, but I missed the blessing of the pets, and my dogs need some major blessing. I did get to treat myself to a Panera breakfast. I do love me some egg & cheese on a plain bagel.

Sewing E.E.

If you were to ask me what are my least favorite things to do as the principal at St. Ann, they would be payroll and paying the bills. I reserve Wednesday mornings to do payroll. The first couple of times I did payroll, it probably took me five hours with more mistakes than I can count. Every time there is a mistake, I can expect a phone call from HR at the diocese. If there is a mistake on payroll, it is no one's mistake but mine. So, I've got to fix it. I don't like to make mistakes, but it happens. Now, I've got payroll down to two hours and only one or two mistakes. The week I don't receive a phone call from HR will be a very good week.

Sewing E.E.

Paying bills I reserve for Thursday mornings so that I can get them to the church office before Friday. Reviewing the bills is probably the day I cringe the most. I've been in Catholic School so long that I know we have to watch every penny. We have to scrutinize every bill to make sure we aren't being overcharged.

Sewing E.E.

Joni Crocker is our controller. So that we can keep a closer eye on our spending, I have asked Joni to add many lines to our budget so we can see how much we are spending with individual companies. I'm hoping this will give us a better idea of how we can save money, and help us build a better budget for next year. Thank you Joni for your leadership with the budget.

Thank you to everyone who responded to our request for the classroom speakers. The response was so enormous that we have more than we actually need. Mike Green is in the process of installing the speakers in the classroom with SMART Boards and also the gym. Installing the speakers with the SMART Board is a bit more complicated because more electrical work is needed. I believe speakers are already installed in all the other classrooms.

PEYOU Tripod for SPARKS

Romana Wendenon, our SPARKS teacher, requested five tripods for the work the students are performing in her class. She purchased one of the tripods herself. We asked some of our families who donated speakers if they could return the speakers they ordered and purchase a tripod instead. We were able to exchange three sets of speakers for four tripods. Thanks to our wonderful donors, this was a win-win for the students and school. Now, Mrs. Wendenon has the tripods she needs for her students.

Sewing E.E.

My favorite Extracurricular Exploration (EE) class this go-around is sewing. It is very practical for our students to learn how to sew. The best part is that it is taught by two of our 8th graders, Lauren Truelove and Ruby Langford. There is interest in having sewing EE class again next time. Starting in January, we will offer volleyball and hopefully scrapbooking. Who can lead scrapbook?

Food Drive List

The St. Vincent de Paul Food Drive starts on Monday and runs for two weeks. The food will be presented on Thursday, November 15th during Mass. Attached you will find a picture of what each class has been assigned to bring.

Also on November 15th, we will host STREAM Night from 5:30-7:00 pm in the school gym. Check the school's website and Monday Notes for more information.

League of Million
Word Readers

I love what Annmarie Ghio is doing with The League of a Million Word Readers. This is a new reading program designed to motivate students to read more, which will develop vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. After reading a book, students take a reading comprehension quiz, which calculates word count. Ms. Ghio's goal is to have 100% of our students in grades 1-8 participate. 3rd grade is at 100% and 1st grade is at 94%. 4th grade had the highest increase in participation (31%) from September to October. Please help encourage your child to participate in the League.

Congratulations to 8th grader Alex Galvez for reaching the one million word mark. He joins Michaela Crews as the first two students to reach that mark. Way to go!

When the opportunity arises, I want to brag on our students for

Dominic Podesta
ATA Champ

accomplishments achieved outside of the school setting. 3rd grader Dominic Podesta competed in the ATA Fall Nationals in Orlando, and earned 1st place in Combat Sparring and 3rd in Traditional Weapons. From now on Mr. Podesta will serve as my dean of students. If you get in trouble, you will have to deal with him.

In my next blog, I hope to address our annual giving campaign, the importance of the campaign, and why it is necessary to have an annual giving campaign.

Support St. Ann

Until then, thank you for following my blog. If you aren't following the school on Facebook, please do so. That's where you will get the majority of the news about the school.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal
St. Ann Catholic School-Bartlett