Prayer, pancakes, and St. Robert pride!

If you've been anywhere near a St. Robert School student or teacher in the past few days, you know that we are at fever pitch preparing for our big celebration of Catholic Schools Week.  The building is an explosion of color and creativity.  The halls are shiny and bright and filled with evidence of rigorous, relevant learning.  And, this year, more than ever before, the reason for the celebration seems more acutely understood.  One hundred years of Catholic education in these very rooms is a pretty powerful idea even for a first grader.

Please set aside a couple of hours on Sunday to celebrate this great gift.  Our Catholic Schools Week Kick-off Mass is at 8:30 a.m. in the church, followed by our annual Pancake Breakfast and school Open House until 12:30.  We've invited company and hope that you have, too.

See our product.  Visit with teachers and friends.  Feel the energy.  Spread the enthusiasm.  St. Robert School.  One hundred years and going strong!

Message from the Archbishop

Coffee and curriculum

Thanks to everyone who braved the brutal cold on Tuesday morning to participate in a conversation on our science curriculum. Together with science teachers Chris Stefaniak and Jeff Kierzek, we looked at the overall structure of the Next Generation Science Standards and examined the shifts they have brought to science education generally, and to your children's classroom experiences specifically.

Included below are the high points of our discussion - minus the contributions of parents, which were these:

• Your kids love the hands-on, investigative nature of science
• Parents appreciate the new emphasis on engineering practices
• Computer coding is an essential language of the future and merits our serious exploration
• Statistics is an important mathematical skill required for deep investigations in science
• We should explore the possibility of offering an after-school science enrichment club (e.g., FIRST Lego League, Future Cities, Science Olympiad).

NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS

____________________________________________________________

THE FRAMEWORK

Science and engineering Practices

• Science involves formulation of a question that can be answered through investigation
• Engineering involves formulation of a problem that can be solved through design

Crosscutting Concepts

• Apply across all domains of science (e.g., cause and effect, patterns, stability and change, structure and function)
• Explicitly taught

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• Less content (the most important/enduring aspects of science such as life science or earth science)
• Studied deeply

THE SHIFTS

1. K-12 science education should reflect the interconnected nature of science as it is practiced and experienced in the real world

2. The Next Generation Science Standards are student performance expectations – NOT curriculum

3. The science concepts in the NGSS build coherently from K–12

4. The NGSS focus on deeper understanding of content as well as application of content

5. Science and engineering are integrated in the NGSS from K–12

6. The NGSS are designed to prepare students for college, career, and citizenship

7. The NGSS and Common Core State Standards (English Language Arts and Mathematics) are aligned

Look here for more information on the standards that drive our science curriculum.

An intellectual diet

As a closet student of the neurosciences, I've always devoured information on brain development, in general, and the intellect, specifically.  The field has long understood that activity and experiences are drivers of neural development, but I don't think the development of intelligence is as widely understood.  We could write a dissertation on just what intelligence even is, in fact.  But if we think about it very simply as the purposeful application of thinking skills, we can begin to see that it is something distinct from academic knowledge, and, moreover, that it is not an automatic byproduct of that knowledge.  In other words, knowledge is power only when it is actually applied - and learning to do that is a skill in and of itself.

Intelligence is manifested differently in different domains, but it is essentially an active brain function that involves the construction of knowledge, the manipulation of information to solve problems, and the creation of new ideas and solutions.  Intelligence is dynamic and ever-evolving, but the foundation for its capacity is laid very early in life. Despite that it is always a work in progress, science is showing us that we have critical opportunities and windows of time to most powerfully influence its development.  Some important take-aways are these:

• Genes provide the blueprint for brain development, but it is the outside world that influences both its physical structure and the way it functions
• Early experiences and environmental influences determine how genes are expressed and even whether some are ever expressed at all (i.e, the brain is uniquely organized in response to experiences)
• The brain is "plastic" and will continue to organize and develop throughout the lifespan (albeit more slowly with advancing years)
• The three most powerful sources of stimulation to a growing brain are movement, nutrition, and relational interactions

So, how can we take advantage of this knowledge to maximize our children's intellectual potential? Scientific evidence across disciplines leads us to some broad conclusions about how a child's diet of activity and experiences shapes the physical brain and contributes - or interferes - with developing intelligence.  As you organize family life in 2016, consider these opportunities to positively impact your child's developing intellect.

Provide a diet rich in:

1. Natural whole foods
2. Language shared in conversation with adults and literature read aloud and discussed
3. Daily unstructured time for child-directed play
4. Daily time for processing and relaxing
5. Purposeful movement
6. Sensory experiences
7. Opportunities to explore the natural world - deeply 
8. Love, Hope and encouragement
9. Ritual and routine
10. Faith and prayer

Limit "calories" from:

1. Sugary treats and processed foods 
2. Adult-directed play and activities
3. Schedule-packed days
4. Car seat time
5. Virtual experiences
6. Screen time (TV, video games, computers, mobile devices)

DNA isn't destiny.  The choices we make can change our genes and those of our kids. Let's be intentional about filling their childhoods with healthful offerings and limiting developmental toxins. It's the best shot we can give them at intellectual power - and mental and emotional health.

Begin again

With the turn of the page to a new calendar year, we all seem to turn our attention - at least momentarily -  to ways to achieve better versions of ourselves.  Most often, we think in terms of lifestyle changes that will improve our physical or financial health. Sometimes intellectual or emotional wellness are the goal.  And once in awhile we might even resolve to improve our spiritual lives.

Wisdom culled from Pope Francis's words throughout the past year suggests simple changes of habit that have the power to shape us into better people.  Why not push this goal to the front of the line? You might be surprised at how all the other areas of wellness will fall into place!  As one of our teachers remarked: "many times the most significant changes are those that are small, sincere, intentional and practiced daily."

See this unconventional list of New Year's resolutions for some ideas.  Why not adopt just one and see the power that a little change can make - when it's the right change.

Happy New Year!