Update On School Assignments for Next Week

St. Ann faculty members met this morning and many are still here at school working in order to plan how best to continue the teaching and learning process while the school is closed due to the Coronavirus.

Teachers have created or are in the process of creating blogs so they are able to post lessons, assignments, handouts, and videos. Please see the homepage of our website under "TEACHER BLOGS" to see what work is being posted. Only a handful of blogs are listed at this time. As teachers create the blog, we will update the list. Teachers are also sending out emails to the parents to update everyone on assignments.

We are limiting the different online programs to those each grade normally uses: PlusPortal, Khan Academy, IXL, easyCBM, BrainPOP, Istation, ACT Academy, Lyrics2Learn, RQ, ReadWorks, Padlet, Flocabulary, ShowMe…  If we aren’t currently using it, then the teachers probably aren't going to use it. The learning curve of adding a new program will not be helpful to the teachers. One of the exceptions is Starfall. We are sending home activation codes to the PK3, PK4, Kinder, and 1st grade students.

Remote/Distance Learning is something extremely new and different for all of us. It is common for some high schools and all colleges/universities, but not for elementary/middle schools. Even though I am sad we have to close our doors and we will not see the students for awhile, I'm happy about this opportunity for us to learn and grown as an educational community. Our focus is to keep things simple so we may all work together. Some of the things we do might not work, but we won't know until we try them.

I am thrilled with the work my teachers are doing and the positive attitudes as they work during Spring Break because of the love they have for their students. We have an incredible staff of people at St. Ann and it really shows when working through adversity.

Please keep the lines of communication between students, parents, and teachers open so we may support each other in the best ways possible. If there is something you would like to suggest so we may do the remote/distance learning process better, please contact me directly. My email is didier.aur@sascolts.org. We are taking a terrible situation and doing the best we can with it.

The Catholic School principals will meet on Wednesday to discuss future plans and the diocese will make a decision on Thursday regarding re-opening the schools for the following week. We will keep everyone posted.

On Sunday from 2-4pm and Monday from 8-9am, parents are to come to the school to pick up packets with student work and assignments, iPads, Kindles, books, and whatever else teachers want to send out.

Thank you for your support.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

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

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

I Asked. You Answered!

St. Joseph Catholic Church
York, PA

Want to start off by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. Hope your Christmas was wonderful, and filled with happiness, family, and a time to reflect on your faith. I also hope you have made time to just exhale a bit.

Kelley and I have taken advantage of this break to visit friends and family in York, PA. This was actually my first time in Pennsylvania. Wish we could have stayed for awhile longer but it was just a quick trip up and back. I want to come back here in the summertime. This place is beautiful in the winter. Cannot imagine how beautiful it is in the summer.

St. Ann Staff Christmas Luncheon

In my last blog, I asked that you share your expertise with our school to help make St. Ann better for our students, and you have answered the call! I asked. You answered! Here is a way several people have stepped up to help.

An issue many of our students are facing is reading comprehension. You ask the students to read out loud a passage from Harry Potter, an article from ReadWorks, or a story in an English book, they can read it. They just don't know what they have read. Ms. Ferrante in the LIFE

Christmas Dinner with
Family in York, PA

program has made huge strides with her students in reading comprehension. The problem is we need more adults reading with our students one on one. Ms. Ferrante, Ms. Williams, Ms. Ghio, and I have met to organize a team of reading volunteers to work with our students. Currently, we have nine volunteers who will come in at different times to work with our students one on one on reading fluency and comprehension. If you are willing to help our students become better readers, please call the school office to volunteer your services. The more volunteers we have, the more we can help our students. We are no different than any other school in that we have students with Dyslexia, students with reading difficulties, students a grade or two below in their reading level, students who are reading at a college level, and your average students who are reading at grade level. All students can benefit from reading one on one with reading volunteers. All volunteers will have to go through a background check, and receive Virtus training (Protecting God's Children).

Thank You Note On My Computer!

It has taken awhile but student council is finally getting under way. I will be the moderator for the student council starting January. I have met with Blake Arey, student council president, to start putting a plan together. The other members of the student council are:
Luca de Jong- Vice President
Abigail Adams- Secretary
Joshua Parker- Treasurer
Landon Willins- Director of Publications
Zach Griffith- Chaplain

Blake plans to contact the other members of the council to get their ideas on what they would like to do. My first suggestion is they work with PK3 and PK4 on setting up a plan of chaperoning the little ones at school Mass every Thursday. We did this at Resurrection and it worked out well. The 8th graders can chaperon the PK3 students. The 7th graders can chaperon the PK4 students. The 6th graders can help chaperon both grades. This will give the middle schoolers more responsibility, and give the little ones a Mass mentor/buddy. We will soon see what else the student council plans to do for the spring semester.

Extracurricular Exploration (EE) classes have ended for the first semester. For the fourth session which begins in January, we are offering seven classes in five sessions. Sign up for EE will take place the first day we return from Christmas Break. Here is a list of the next EE classes:
1.  Sewing/Art
2.  Volleyball/Basketball
3.  Chess
4.  STEM Building- This includes a competition on Feb. 23rd at Southwest Community College.
5.  History of Pop & Country Music
Sewing and Basketball are student led with a faculty member supervising.

Support St. Ann!

Our annual giving campaign is underway. So far, we have had many new/first time donors! Having spent many years raising money for different schools, getting new donors is hugely important. Even more important than that is to get donors to become recurring donors. If you are doing good work, it is easier to keep a donor than it is to find new donors. Our development department, led by Angela de Jong, sent out annual giving brochures to our parents and grandparents. We have been receiving gifts for the school every day. We are excited about the support, and how people are stepping up to help make the school better for our students. Once we get back from the Christmas break, we plan to reach out more and more to our alumni.

Brett Skydiving!

For all you alumni out there, don't forget to save the date: Tuesday, March 5th for our St. Ann Alumni Fat Tuesday Party! For more information about this party, please contact Angela de Jong at angela.dejong@sascolts.org.

Brett After Skydiving

I want to send a huge shoutout to St. Ann 7th grader, Brett Battle. On  Saturday, December 22nd, Brett became one of only 50 people his age in the whole world who has been skydiving. Rumor has it that he is ready to go skydiving again. Maybe I'll find the courage to join him or maybe not.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal
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

EE, CPR, 1st Aid, Advanc-ED, and De La Salle

I wrote my first blog in 2011 when I was the president of Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City, MO. That first blog was on St. John Baptist de La Salle's 3rd guideline in his Meditations for the Time of Retreat, which stated: "That those who teach the young are cooperators with Jesus Christ in the salvation of souls." That blog explains why I believe in Catholic education. Seven years later, I feel even stronger about our role as Catholic School educators. If you get a chance, Click on the link below to read that blog.
http://didieraur.blogspot.com/2011/07/catholic-education-de-la-salle-style.html

St. John Baptist de La Salle

Back then, my blog wasn't a weekly blog. I would write when there was something I felt like sharing. Also back then, the blog got 12-35 hits. That number has been increasing as I've published more blogs. Now, my blog is weekly, and averages about 1,200 hits. The purpose of this blog is to create a positive culture of transparency while generating support for St. Ann Catholic School and my students.

Writing a weekly blog isn't easy. I don't develop an outline with the main points. I don't create a first draft, rewrite, second draft, rewrite... I just think about those things you should know about what's happening at St. Ann, and I start writing. When I'm finished writing, my wife reads it over to help find mistakes. Kelley also lets me know if what I'm writing makes sense. I definitely cannot proof read my own writing. We aren't English majors. We just do the best we can on the editing part. When she gives me two thumbs up, I hit the publish button.

New Fences
Campus Beautification

All that to say that I hope you find this blog informative. I hope it gives you a sense of ownership as to what's happening at St. Ann. I also hope that my students are reading the blogs, and it creates in them a desire to start writing a blog. You don't have to be a certain age or in a certain grade to create a blog. If you feel you have something worthwhile or interesting to share, start your own blog. I highly recommend it.

I'm excited about the great things going on at St. Ann. The Extracurricular Exploration (EE) classes have been a hit. The 3rd session of EE classes begins October 10th. Ideas for EE classes keep coming. I believe Mrs. Griffith is going back to the robotics class and combine it with the Robotics Club. The Robotics Club could start during the EE time and continue after-school. This is something she is working on.

I also want to try something new with EE. Our students are bright and creative. Are there classes they could actually teach if we have adults to help supervise? Yes, we do have classes they could teach. Just for starters, Ruby Langford can teach a sewing class and Michaela Crews can teach a baking class. When I mentioned this idea to them, they were super-excited about the possibility. Let's find a way to make it happen.

The girls self-defense class has been a hit. Like to take this a step further and include the boys. Tracy Angotti wants to add a dance class to EE. Maybe we can alternate between dance and self-defense just like the A and B day schedule. We could have the dance class on A days and Anime on B days. That's another possibility.

Our development committee is growing with the addition of Sr. Connie Tarallo. The committee continues to meet every Thursday at 4:00. Our alumni database continues to grow. We are hearing from more and more alumni. The plan for the Fat Tuesday Alumni Party is materializing. We have lots of ideas brewing. But, we are not going to do anything until after the St. Ann Fall Fest. The Fall Fest is everyone's top priority. We will do nothing to distract from the Fall Fest.

Fall Fest Events

Speaking of Fall Fest, if you haven't volunteered yet, my question is: Why Not? To me, every parishioner and school parent should give a little of their time to help. We are all talented people with something positive to share. It is going to be a great event. I hope we can all enjoy that weekend together.  To volunteer to help with the Fall Fest, click on this link.
https://stannfallfest.org/home/contact-us/volunteer/

Since this is a school accreditation year, we are using the Advanc-ED ELEOT classroom observation form. It is a student and not teacher-centered observation. The ELEOT observation identifies seven student-centered areas within the classroom environment. The other observation form we use is teacher-centered. The ELEOT is much more detailed and comprehensive. It also takes twice as long to complete but it is worth it. There is a good short YouTube video on the ELEOT observation form if you are interested in seeing what areas this observation covers. Here is the link to that video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2yx8sfoLig

St. Ann Volleyball Team

The 3rd-8th graders completed the Advanc-ED surveys, which is part of the accreditation process. The teachers will complete the survey this next week. Parents were asked to complete their survey last school year. I will find out if this year's parents will have the same opportunity to give feedback.

On Monday and Tuesday, all St. Ann staff members (teachers, front office, E-Care, administration) will go through CPR and First Aid training with the Bartlett Fire Department. This means that all of our employees will be certified in CPR and First Aid. We want to be prepared. This isn't a part of Advanc-ED certification but is a part of Pre-K certification with the State of Tennessee.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Looking forward to another great week of educating our students, continuing our development work, doing more classroom observations, mentoring the young men in fourth grade, teaching my geography class, working the carpool line, and having treats for the puppies in the carpool line.

Finally, remember that without your support, St. Ann Catholic School would not exist. If you are looking for ways to support the school, please contact me at didier.aur@sascolts.org. Look forward to hearing from you.

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