Dear Families,
As many of you may recall, the high school was named a Catholic Honor Roll school by the Cardinal Newman Society. The Newman Society recently expanded their efforts to support excellent Catholic education all the way down to the elementary level. Schools all over the country have been invited to apply, and so did we. We are pleased to share this message from the Deputy Director of K-12 Programs, Denise Donohue:
Congratulations! After further review of your elementary school handbooks and test data, we are pleased to inform you that your elementary levels are now included in...
Dear Families,
Happy New Year! Hoping you all had a peace and joy-filled Christmas with your families. We are all happy to see your kiddos again and attack the rest of the second quarter.
Right after midterms this month, students in grades 7-12 will depart for the March for Life in Washington D.C. This year’s theme is “Love Saves Lives,” a succinct statement of what this event is about. The March, often associated strictly with the issue of abortion, does an excellent job of expanding our understanding of the term “pro-life.” To say one is pro-life means not only that we value life from co...
Dear Families,
I will be saying merry Christmas in a more formal fashion as the date approaches, so I wanted to share a couple of thank you's instead this week.
Thank you to all of the parents, who in the midst of increasingly hectic weeks leading up to Christmas, supported our students by donating time, treasure, or talent to the all of the amazing activities. Your gifts and sacrifices are never unnoticed.
Thank you to all of the students who prepared and participated in our traditional Advent events including Lessons and Carols, the Garden Christmas Pageant, baby items drive, and the Re-Pu...
Read MoreDear Families,
It struck me in chatting with teachers and parents at school today that we all share the same feeling about yesterday’s snow day, a deep appreciation of time home with our families. For some reason, family time has become a guilty pleasure rather than a component of what Aristotle termed “living well.” Our family often comes second to work obligations because yes, we do have to pay the bills. How often do we put our kids on hold while we tend to some other obligation? But our kids regularly need us to spend time playing Scrabble and going sledding, and honestly, we need it to...
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Dear Families,
December 6th has always been an important day on our academic calendar. As many families customarily celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas, so too the MRA family honors one of the most popular saints in the Western world. For those who may not be familiar with the narrative acted out by the high school students for the elementary children, here it is:
Popular legends have involved Saint Nicholas in a number of charming stories, one of which relates Nicholas' charity toward the poor. A man of Patara had lost his fortune, and finding himself unable to support his three maiden daugh...
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Dear Families,
It recently struck me that November has taken on a new level of meaning for our families and extended school community, for the entire month of November is dedicated to the souls in purgatory. This past year - call it 18 months just to be safe - has been a particularly difficult one in the sense that many beloved family and friends have passed away.
Purgatory is not simply a place where people who don't deserve heaven go until God declares they are ready. This is because we are all made for heaven but we do not always love God for his own sake. "All who die in God'...
Given the recent decline in math and English proficiency in the state of NH, below are some key indicators from the most recent data we have:
PSAT 8/9 (Spring 2017)
- 100% of 8th grade students reach proficiency in ERW (evidence based reading and writing) and 73% were proficient in math.
- 91% of 9th graders were proficient in ERW, 91% in math.
This compared to statewide proficiency numbers below 60% in math and English for students below grade 11 taking the Smarter Balanced test, and then 66% proficient in ERW in grade 11 and only 49% proficient in math on the actual SAT.
When you look at a...
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