Principal's March Message
Updated: Mar 2
Dear Families,
We recently celebrated our 100th day of school. We are three weeks from the end of the 2nd trimester. With the 3rd trimester beginning on March 15th, the school year is flying by. We are presently preparing for Report Cards. It is a very good time to take stock of what we have done and what we have yet to do; we have much to prepare for.
We are in the thick of the registration season and I want to take the opportunity to make you aware of a special grant opportunity made available to us. The Kerzner Grant is a one-time grant of $1,000 to the first 25 new students to register for St. Matthias Catholic Academy for the 2024-2025 school year. This grant may be coupled with our incentive program, so if you bring in a new family, you will still get a $500 tuition discount, and they will get a $500 tuition discount.
Our Nursery/Pre-k Staff will be hosting an Open House on March 15th. We are grateful to all who have committed to the sacrifices of making a Catholic education available to their child. We look forward to working in partnership with you.
Our second graders are preparing for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Communion, our 7th graders are preparing for Confirmation, and our 8th graders are preparing for Graduation. “Save the Dates” were distributed to 8th grade families with more information to follow shortly.
In addition to these very exciting rites of passage, we remain busy with day to day school business. We are very pleased with the progress our students are making in iReady. They recently completed their second round of diagnostics for the year and, as a whole, they are showing major gains in both typical and stretch growth for Reading and Math. In Reading, we are 65% towards our annual typical growth goal and 35% of our students have met their annual growth goals, while 9% of our students have met their annual stretch growth goals. In Math, we are 47% towards our annual typical growth goal and 23% of our students have met their annual growth goals, while 7% of our students have met their annual stretch growth goals.
Our 8th graders have received their TACHS results and Catholic High School acceptances/offers. Among the schools our students have been accepted to are Archbishop Molloy High School, Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School, Xavier HS, The Mary Louis Academy, Cathedral High School, St. Jean Baptiste High School, Cathedral Preparatory High School, Holy Cross, Christ the King, and Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. The Class of 2024 has so far earned a total of $179,900 in scholarships, an average of $8567 per applicant. They are looking forward to receiving their public school acceptance letters on March 7th.
As we work towards readying ourselves for these major events in the lives of our students, we also recognize that we are also in the middle of Lent. Our students in grades 3-8 will participate in Penance and Stations of the Cross. We begin Easter Break at dismissal on Wednesday, March 27th. We will return to school on Monday, April 8th. I ask that families be cognizant of the return date when planning vacations.
In gratitude,
Keri-Ann Wade-Donohue, Principal