My shoes are packed

As our students pack up the artifacts of their school year and head out to celebrate a year of growth and accomplishments, this last "last day" that I will shepherd my students and staff into summer, marks, for me, the official end of my career.  I watch it all wistfully and am overwhelmed with a flood of emotions that presently eludes words (although I'm sure "the way to say what I would like to say will occur to me after I'm gone!").  

You have honored me and gifted me in so many remarkable ways, but the it's the grace and blessings I have received from my everyday work and encounters that have gradually transformed me and left an indelible mark on my soul.  I am so humbly grateful for the privilege to have walked beside you on this incredible journey.  

THANK YOU for final school days filled with love and recognition and so many happy moments:

• For a princess day complete with tiara that began with breakfast made by my colleagues and was  followed by dozens of surprise PA messages from students 

• For a beautiful platter signed by the eighth graders recalling my daily adage to "Work hard, be good to each other, and make it a great day!"

• For a seventh grade book of specially chosen inspirational quotes concluding with a dictionary definition for "Mrs. Beckmann"

• For a framed collage of sixth grade adventures with my "big head"

• For high-heel vases ceremoniously filled with fifth grade origami tulips--and a matching handbag filled with their love notes

• For a voluminous basket of gardening items hand-selected by the fourth graders and accompanied by a magnificent flat of red geraniums

• For an earthy wooden prayer bowl filled with heartfelt third grade wishes and prayers

• For a handmade quilt proudly signed by all the second graders

• For a sturdy apron marked with the names and handprints of every first grader

• For a watercolor painting of our beloved church and a celebratory dinner from the kindergarteners

• For a pre-kinder serenade of my routine maxims set to music

And THANK YOU for honoring me with a milestone celebration and treasured keepsakes that I will hold in my heart forever:   

• For the creative vision and commitment of the mighty planning team of Lisa Sweeney, Maggie Zincke and Kristi Felber and their months of labor in bringing this special event to life 

• For cloth tablecloths and real glassware; for stunning floral centerpieces and orange balloons

• For an alumni musician and alumni bartenders 

• For so many guests and so much love extended to both my husband and me

• For deeply moving words of honor and recognition from John Dunn, Father Enrique, Kathryn DeLapp, and Laura McGartland 

• For my own framed Bobcat jersey and a stunning gold cross marked with 16 diamonds

• For generous gifts to our beloved school in my honor

• For enough cards and mementos to make these magical moments tangible and to carry me lovingly into an unknown future

The seductive breezes of summer call us all to new life.  You will find refreshment in your brief respite and will return to a school that will always be home.  And I will take my shoes -- and a heart filled with memories and love -- into a different tomorrow.  

Our stories will continue as God has ordained, and all will be well.  

Amen.

Mille grazie

In the spirit of "students first and always," I announced my upcoming retirement to your children after Mass this morning. Following is the text of that message, altered only slightly to include you!

I know that Thanksgiving has become the gateway to a generic season of celebrations known as “the holiday season,” but I’d like us to pause and think about how important it is as a stand-alone feast day.  And not only as a day, but as an opportunity to reflect on the idea that an everyday attitude of gratitude makes for a healthy and satisfying way of life.  Even research studies have shown that gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness and greater health. 

And so, we put a reminder on our marquee sign out front to encourage the whole neighborhood to take the time to be grateful.  Have you noticed it?  It says “DO THE MATH: COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS.”

Well, I wanted set a good example, so I decided to do some math of my own to put a number to some of my blessings. I thought it would be fun to focus the lens of my gratitude this year very specifically on the blessings and privilege of leading this great school, so I needed to come up with some numbers to quantify that.  It didn’t take long to recognize that it’s the people God has entrusted to my care - the students and teachers and staff that I’ve worked for and with over the years - that are the greatest blessing of my work.  So I tried to figure out just how many students and staff have walked this journey with me over the 16 years of my principalship.  Here’s how I did it:

To figure out the number of students enrolled at St. Robert over the years of my leadership, I started with the enrollment of the school in my first year as principal. Then I added the new 4K students that came each year after that, plus 15 transfer students a year (which was our average through the 2019-2020 school year).  For last year and this year, when we had an unusually large number of transfer students, I used the actual number.  My math yielded a grand total of 993 students.  

Then I calculated teachers and staff by starting with our current staff and adding on everyone else who had been part of our team at some point since the fall of 2006.  That yielded 105 faculty and staff members.  Combining the number of students with the number of teachers and staff brought my grand total to 1,098 people.

A thousand people.  A thousand who’ve taught me and challenged me and loved me and inspired me.  A thousand gifts God has given me to care for, but who’ve ultimately made me who I am today...because while I was busy transforming the school, you were transforming me.

So here I stand like the Velveteen Rabbit.  A little worn out, but so much better.  Profoundly gifted.  Deeply grateful.

This will be my last year as the principal of St. Robert School.  I’ll be retiring at the end of the school year and I wanted a chance to tell my students personally even before I sent this message to you, their parents (who I opted to leave out of my math purely to keep the message simple).  We’ll continue on and do our work and walk this last great mile together... But today, I’m inspired by my math to share an expression from my Italian grandma who often said, “I thank you a thousand times.”  Mille grazie.  A thousand thanks to Almighty God and to you for a thousand ways you’ve gifted me.

Do your own math.  And enjoy a happy Thanksgiving and the abundant blessings of a happy, holy life.

 

Pointing the Way

Several weeks into our office renovation project, an ancient wooden pointer revealed itself from a long-hidden place at the back of a closet shelf.  At first glance, it seemed a quant reminder of a bygone era to be tossed in the trash.  But then...could it be a providentially-revealed artifact that could point the way forward in trying times?

In the many long decades that the pointer was a classroom staple, teachers were the receptacles of the knowledge to be passed to a new generation.  The pointer was the central tool that focused whole-class attention on the information to be learned; that signaled call-and-response recitation of memorized facts from a body of knowledge that changed only glacially through the decades.  

But what of today?  Knowledge changes at lightning speed.  Our children can access information at the touch of a keystroke.  We are preparing them for a world in which they will need portable, flexible skills and the dispositions to think and solve problems we can’t even yet imagine. Likely, one day, they will even be called upon to create new knowledge.  Our educational currency has evolved over the past twenty years from facility with a finite body of facts to the ability to think critically.  And we can only bring this capacity to life in a new generation by nurturing it and modeling it, which is exactly what we did at our School Advisory Commission (SAC) meeting on the issue of masking Wednesday night.

Some weeks earlier, I was asked how I feel about masking. I replied that my feelings should be irrelevant. I am called as a leader to be well-informed, to triangulate data, to filter, to think; and, ultimately, to base decisions on facts and needs relevant to our mission.

The ever-evolving facts about our ever-evolving pandemic are dizzying. I have listened to competing truths, fears and rights, and to mountains of uncertainties.  But school starts in a week and we need to move forward. Our Healthy School Plan was developed in thoughtful response to insights, concerns and passions that have been shared and heard.  The decision framework that informed the 2021 iteration of our Plan was: 

• Grounded in mission

• Committed to a holistic view of child wellness

• Aimed at a proper balance between the competing realities of mission effectiveness and disease mitigation 

• Informed by experts in medicine, mental health, and parenting, and

• Born of critical thought

For the first time in my fifteen years of leadership, our SAC was unable to reach consensus on a key issue. Our parent community-at-large holds vastly opposing views on the value of masking their children; and, after hours of discussion, our SAC reflected this same division. Nonetheless, it was not really difficult to see the way forward through the murky darkness of chaos because shared values also resonated loudly.  We want our children in school.  We care.  Deeply.  In the end, every member of the Commission, every guest commenter, and every expert panel member contributed some bit of wisdom that became part of the whole.  And the whole is, indeed, so much greater than the sum of its parts.

It is, in truth, a heavy burden to bear responsibility for the safety of other people’s children while trying to engender the confident trust of a diverse community. Though we will not all agree on a single way to educate and care for our children during this pandemic, we hold diversity as a core value; "welcoming, accepting, and respecting the unique gifts of every person."  I hope you will see the wisdom and good that will come from respecting diversity of thought and loving each other through challenging times.  Our shared humanity is worth the effort. Let’s point the way. 

New beginnings

Almost as long as children have been attending school on an agrarian calendar, common rituals have been associated with the return to school each fall: clearing out and cleaning up; fresh haircuts and shifting schedules; new pencils and new shoes; new friends and new beginnings.  This year is no different - and so different when we add to the list the new ways we must prepare to start afresh.  

Some new ways to prepare for school this fall:

1. Build mask-wearing stamina by wearing a mask indoors for gradually increasing periods of time

2. Establish routines for washing hands frequently

3. Practice maintaining safe distances from people outside of your family

4. Make a plan for child care in the event that you are informed that your child must quarantine for a period of time

5. Bring some special supplies

1. Stadium seat (Here’s a reasonably-priced one: https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-2000020281-Stadium-Seat/dp/B003399128/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=stadium+seats&qid=1596811043&sr=8-5 )

2. A baseball cap or sun hat to leave at school for outdoor classes

3. 5 masks labeled with day of week (M-T-W-Th-F)

1. Cloth or disposable only

1. No valves

2. No neck gaiters

3. No bandanas

4. No fleece (based on effectiveness studies)

2. Large ziplock bag for daily storage

4. 8 oz. pump-style hand sanitizer

5. Box of facial tissues

6. Durable, washable water bottle

7. A beach towel or yoga mat (for PE yoga classes)

Another part of a new year is new members of the community.  We are excited to welcome 60 new students from 45 families into every grade in the school!  We are also delighted to welcome these new teachers to our professional staff:

Ali Grindle, Special Education Coordinator

Ali comes to us from St. Dominic School in Brookfield where she served her children’s school community in a part time special education role after both regular and special education roles in public and Catholic schools in Lincoln, Nebraska.  She brings contemporary practices - and her four children - to St. Robert, where she is looking forward to leading a full inclusion Catholic School program.  Ali replaces the recently retired Marilyn Meservey.

Kathy O’Dell, Reading Specialist

Kathy is returning to St. Robert for the third time!  She was a school parent and a temporary special education teacher before joining our permanent staff this year.  She brings extensive experience in both Reading and Special Education and also teaches pre-service teachers at Marquette University.  She replaces Sue Klawans who resigned for personal reasons.

Samantha (Sam) Windsor, 4K

Sam is an early career teacher with a bundle of creativity and energy.  She comes to us from one of our Milwaukee Urban schools and is anxious to continue her professional journey in a program aligned with best practice philosophies.  Her position was added to accommodate enrollment interest at the 4K level.

Maggie Sather, 5K

Maggie grew up in the North Shore, but comes to us via Austin Texas, where she most recently worked in a primary school teaching in a curriculum based on the esteemed Reggio Emilio philosophy.  Her professional journey also includes a stint teaching English to preschoolers in the Czech Republic!  Her position was also added to accommodate new enrollment interest.

Eileen Day, 5th grade

Eileen comes to us after a short sabbatical from her 20-year career in the Mequon-Thiensville School District.  She has extensive experience in Readers and Writers Workshops and served in numerous leadership roles including leading her school to Blue Ribbon status.  She brings strengths in project management and a particular passion in the area of social-emotional learning.  Eileen is replacing recently retired Barb Dietz.

Kelly Steinberg, PE long-term substitute

Kelly is a certified yoga instructor who will bring a yoga program to our PE classes during the first three months of school when our beloved Mr. Jefferson is on a leave of absence.  We’re looking forward to accommodating stretching and breathing workouts that will not involve the heavy breathing associated with strenuous exercise; and we think this will be a great time to focus on mindfulness and self-regulation. 

Caroline Potter, Special Education Aide

Caroline is passionate about inclusion and Catholic education.  She is just finishing her Master’s degree in Special Education and looking forward to gaining practical experience in a school program.  She will fill a vacated position.

May our blessed Mother Mary, patron saint of Catholic schools, protect us and guide us in our studies and help us live and work each day in the glory of God.

And how are the children?

On my very first day at St. Robert in 1999, I had the privilege of participating in a faculty retreat where I was introduced to the the traditional greeting of the Masai people of eastern Africa: And how are the children?  The response, All the children are well, means that peace and safety prevail and the priorities of protecting the young are well in place,

I was immediately inspired by the high societal value that the Masai place on their children's well-being, and this became a lens through which I have continued to view our culture through all these many years.

As the nation mourns the brutal murder of George Floyd and the violence against innocent citizens and police officers around the nation, discussions of racism and violence dominate the national conversation - and our children are watching and listening.  This is a pivotal moment in our shared humanity.  We have to get this right.  If we look at our response through the lens of our children's well-being, I believe we truly can rise from the detritus of this shameful time and become a people of honor in the sight of God.

I have shared some resources to help you start - and continue - these important conversations with your children.  We must acknowledge our shared responsibility to teach our children in developmentally sensitive ways that it's not okay to classify and characterize others in generic groups.  And, most fundamentally, we have a responsibility to explicitly teach them that whether our actions are performed by one against another or hidden in the actions of an angry mob, it's never, ever okay to be dismissive of another, to speak ugly words, or to harm or destroy; not thoughtlessly; not jokingly; not in the exercise of power or even the expression of pain.  It's never okay.  Period.

As a Catholic institution, we denounce violence in any form for any reason.  We honor the right to peaceful protests.  We believe in the dignity of all people.  We celebrate the glorious tapestry of human differences.  We acknowledge our responsibility to welcome and include all members of God's family at our table.  And we believe in the unlimited power of prayer.

But in the end, what will remain is the legacy of our actions.  Words are not enough.  What did we do?  What did you do?  This will be our legacy.

Guided by the gift of Right Judgement, I hold eternal hope that we can create a community where every person is received and loved as a child of God.  Then, peace will prevail.  And then, the children will be well.

For as you judge, so will you be judged,

and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.

Matthew 7:2

Welcome back, welcome home

Welcome to the 2019-20 school year!  The cool winds have truly brought a sense of fall, and with it, a renewed sense hope in all the wonderful things God has in store for us.  As we say farewell to summer, it is my hope that you, like your children, enjoyed the recreation that "makes us new again."

Thanks for sending your children to school with new supplies and the fresh haircuts and uniforms that signal in a concrete way that school is serious business.  But more importantly, thank you for sending them with the good attitudes and respectful demeanors that can only come from home.  Your children are ready to learn and we are off to a wonderful start!

The story of this particular year has begun with an unprecedented level of energy and optimism due in no small part to our expanded cast of characters!  In addition to the new teachers and staff that have already been introduced, please join me in extending the love of our community to all our new 4K families plus our new transfer students:

5K
Campion Camera
Evan Checota
George Gosman
Joseph Haddad
Ana Requejo

1st Grade
Alice Haddad
Benjamin Moriarity

4th Grade
Roger Gosman

5th Grade
Ozzie Colvin
Ian O'Brien
Catalina Perez

7th Grade
Tahlia Khan
Ryver Moore
Nate Patzer

As we come together to write the story of this year of limitless possibilities, may our oneness of purpose and vision be a powerful force for good that will inspire us to accomplish great - and truly good - things.  And so we turn another page and embark on this wonderful adventure called school.

Welcome back.  Welcome home.

Looking forward

As this school year comes to a close, we look forward with anticipation to a year of exciting growth just ahead.  The imminent change wrought by recent staff turnover, in particular, provides us with a unique opportunity to take a systemic view of skills and dispositions that will enhance our collective expertise and our professional culture. 

Additionally, a byproduct of the anticipated salary savings of multiple simultaneous new hires, together with an additional $25,000 commitment from the Home and School Association, will enable us to maintain middle school staffing at the current level rather than reducing by one as originally planned.

Our first new hire for the year is an old friend.  Please join me in welcoming former middle school ELA teacher Marisa Riepenhoff back after a five-year hiatus.  While she was away, Mrs. Riepenhoff completed her Masters in Educational Leadership, led system-wide shifts in curriculum and grading at Messmer schools, and most recently, served as the Vice President of Education at Sharp Literacy (a non-profit that partners with schools to implement research-based shifts in practice) - all while continuing her longtime work providing professional development to teachers through the National Writing Project.  Mrs. Riepenhoff is very excited to return to her professional roots in the classroom where she will serve as our new 5th grade literacy and social studies teacher.   She is a lifelong learner who has "continued to cultivate many of the best practices I first learned at St. Robert."

God has been good in sending us a larger-than-usual pool of qualified candidates for other open positions as well.  Interviewing for primary positions is well underway and we will soon be screening candidates in queue for our middle school positions.  We had a promising interview just today with a very excellent candidate for middle school math.  

It can be unsettling to let go of the known and embrace the unknown.  Our human weakness can sometimes lure us down a path of fear and negativity.  While it's always sad to say farewell to partners in mission, it's an important truth that change is growth-inducing on both an individual and institutional level.   

Let's step back and be grateful for the possibilities before us as we strategically build a power team to advance our mission into the next decade.

Until we meet again

The nature of the school year almost invariably brings personnel changes in the spring and summer months. Despite that dozens of staff have come and gone during my tenure at St. Robert (38 by my count!), we have been curiously blessed for many years with very small turnover in any one given year.  This year will be different, however, as multiple personal, family, and professional factors have coincided to create a larger than usual number of changes at one time.  

And so, it is with bittersweet emotion that we will say farewell to these beloved members of our staff at the close of this school year:

• Kristen Byers, 4K, 2 years

• Jennifer Luna, 2nd grade, 22 years

• Jan Ebel, 3rd grade, 4 years

• Ann Schroeder, 5th grade, 3 years

• Andrew Brehm, 7th/8th grade ELA and Religion, 4 years

• Meg Kinateder, Middle School Math, 2 years

• Alexandra Hoslet, Administrative Assistant, 1 year

Each of our departing colleagues has left his or her unique mark on our culture; and each leaves big shoes to fill as they move on to pursue a variety of next steps both within and outside of the profession.  

We are blessed that our paths converged in this time and place for a little while - or a long while - to do God's work; and blessed that our individual pathways will diverge under the guidance of God's loving hand.  

Please join me in extending profound appreciation to Kristen, Jennifer, Jan, Ann, Andy, Meg, and Zan for their immeasurable gifts to the service of our children and the mission of Catholic education.  If you are able, you are invited to join us at Mass this Friday where we will acknowledge their service and wish them well in their next endeavors. 

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back. 
May the sun shine warm upon your face; 
the rains fall soft upon your fields 
and until we meet again, 
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

(traditional Gaelic blessing)

Living gratefully

Today we said farewell to "the face of St. Robert School," our receptionist, Mr. Berg.  With every arrival and departure - of colleagues, families, students - I am reminded of the sheer number of people that have touched my life in my nearly 20-year tenure at this institution.  Only seven of our current 34 staff members were on the team when I joined in 1999.  Many more have come and gone along the way, and I'm not quite sure how to even estimate the hundreds of children who have passed through these doors in the span of those years.

I am grateful for every single one; the ones I easily loved and the ones that challenged me; the spirited and the pensive; the creative and the analytical; those with burdens and those with answers.  Gratitude for all of them and the encounters we shared is what sustains me and gives my life meaning and joy.

As we prepared to send your children off to their holiday celebrations today, I invited them to consider making gratitude a way of daily life rather than just a ritual for special occasions. The formula is a simple one, though it takes a bit of discipline to get started.  It begins with being fully present to every person, place, and experience of the day.  That might be the hardest part.  Focus!  Put down the digital devices.  Turn off the noise.  Look.  Listen.  Notice.  Then, allow yourself to feel.  Grateful.  Really.  You will be amazed at how observation and attentiveness gets you there without much conscious effort.  Finally, express it.  What we say becomes real, even tangible.  It begins to defines us and finally becomes us.

Notice, feel, say.  These simple habits can lead to a truly grateful way of life, which, I think, cultivates a happy, healthy, fulfilled life.  And so it is my Thanksgiving wish that God will bless each of you with the abundance of a grateful spirit to sustain you all the days of your life.

Safe travels, safe returns, and a happy, healthy Thanksgiving.

We are ONE, version 2018

Looking out at the faces gathered with anticipation in the warm gym on Monday gave me an overwhelming sense of enthusiasm for the adventure - and potential - that lies just ahead.  If we define our school by its people, the good-byes and hellos just behind us have given us a fresh face and a new identity.  From among these many distinct voices and hearts and minds, we have actively begun the work of forging one community of purpose.

In addition to 25 new 4K students, we welcomed new students in most grade levels this year - 18 in all - with seven in the middle school alone!  Several of our new students are also new to the Milwaukee area, and I am very grateful for the warm welcome you have extended to them.  We have room for more, so please don't stop your ambassadorship!

In addition to moving Ann Schroeder to the fifth grade team, we welcomed three new members to our staff

• Reading: Mrs. Klawans
• Middle School Math Long-term substitute:  Mr. Rohlinger
• Administrative Assistant:  Ms. Hoslet

And we have just negotiated a partnership with the Conservatory of Music to provide us with a new music and choir teacher who will be introduced soon!

Our new students and staff members come to us with their own stories and passions and will follow their own distinct pathways into the future, but for this moment in time and space, we are ONE.  And together we will accomplish much that is good and holy.  

Let us give thanks, for God has indeed been good to us!

We thank you for a safe and comfortable school where everyone is known and loved.

We thank you for inspiring teachers who guide us and learn alongside us.

We thank you for a rainbow of friends with many gifts and many stories.

We thank you for learning tools that bring the whole world to our classrooms

We thank you for fresh rooms and shiny floors; for new pencils and new shoes; for hopscotch and kickball and new friends and new beginnings...

Help us to live and work each day in the glory of God

AMEN

Tick, tock...turn

Earlier this summer, I noticed that the clock in my office had stopped working.  I replaced the battery without effect, so took it home for my husband to investigate.  After cleaning the contacts and trying a different battery, he declared that there was no way to repair it.  The cherished memento of fifteen years at St. Robert would likely have to be relegated to life as a fancy paperweight.  I moved it to my dresser at home while contemplating how to proceed.  Then, ever so mysteriously, it simply resumed ticking in the middle of one night.  It's back in my office now, in a new location where I can keep a closer eye on it - and where the rhythm of the tick brings a new kind of mindfulness to my work.

The "Mysterious Incident of the Clock in the Night" has become a bit of a metaphor for the seasons of life: a time to rest, a time to work; a time to scatter and a time to gather.  On a personal note, I was blessed with the opportunity to travel this summer.  My husband and I took a road trip to the Rocky Mountains, giving us a cherished week to reconnect with each other and immerse ourselves in the grandeur of God's presence.  I felt so small, so awed - and so restored.  I hope that you, too, have had moments to appreciate sunshine and gentle breezes and to make some new family memories - whether at home or away - as you begin to bring a new school year into focus.

And focus we must.  As the school year ahead comes more clearly into view, the projects of summer increase to an almost dizzying cadence.  This summer, our work in the school office has centered heavily on five work streams:  enrollment and marketing, facility maintenance and improvements, curriculum enhancements, personnel shifts - and as always - bringing financial closure to the year just completed.

This summer, our marketing efforts have been directed not only at active recruitment, but also heavily on finishing the content development for our soon-to-launch new school website.  A year and a half in the making, we are both nervous and excited to see how our words and images will align with our developer's vision.  We are hopeful that this contemporary new tool will more efficiently serve our current stakeholders, in addition to attracting a growing community of school families to St. Robert through improved search engine optimization as well as an updated look, message, and functionality.

Facility upgrades are almost always on our summer task list and this year has been no different.  We're excited to welcome you back to first floor classrooms refreshed by contemporary new flooring and carpeting.  We're also grateful to have been awarded a $20,000 grant by the State of Wisconsin toward a planned update of our phone and PA systems.  After weeks of cabling and network mapping, our new phone system is due to go online next week Monday through Wednesday.  Thanks for your patience as we make this massive transition that will serve us all more reliably.  We have also been invited to apply for a second round of state safety grants, which, if granted, would allow us to upgrade our classroom door locks to ADA- and lockdown-compliant standards.  Stay tuned!

Summer is always an important time to focus deeply on curriculum work.  The year ahead will see us take important next steps in the development of our literacy curriculum.  With a major investment from our School Society endowment fund, we have been able to retain two literacy consultants (K-2nd grade and 3rd-5th grade) who will guide us in full implementation of Readers' and Writers' Workshops, the industry standards of excellence in literacy education.  We started the summer with two days of professional learning and are in the process of making a significant investment in books and resources to support more personalized and scaffolded reading development.   Additionally, we are privileged to be among the first schools to launch a beautiful new Theology of the Body program across grade levels that will supplement our religion curriculum in cultivating a rich understanding of God's plan for humanity and developing a school culture that confidently upholds the dignity of every person.  Also in the area of curriculum, we are excited to roll out our first Project Lead the Way (PLTW) course in robotics.  And finally, the nine schools in our Archdiocesan deanery (North Shore and Ozaukee County region) are hard at work on a continuous improvement plan and collaborative professional learning that will begin to bring our schools into closer alignment on the journey toward best practice initiatives.

The nature of the school year almost invariably brings personnel changes during the summer months as well.  Early this summer, we bid an unexpected farewell to our general music teacher, Thea Janisch, who has accepted a position in her hometown of Stoughton, and just recently, to our reading specialist, Sara Lasic, who has stepped away for personal reasons.  We are currently close to closure in the searches for their replacements and hope to be able to announce new team members in our next communication.  We thank Thea and Sara for their contributions to our mission and wish them well in their next endeavors.  Also in the personnel arena, former first grade teacher Ann Schroeder will be bringing her expertise in literacy to fifth grade, and we are pleased (and relieved) to welcome Alexandra Hoslet to our office team just in time to update the data bases for the new school year and help us put together our first fully digitized back-to-school packet!  Ms. Hoslet replaces Administrative Assistant Emily Tanski, who left us in October.  She will gradually assume additional responsibilities in the area of communications (newsletter, website, social media, coordination with event chairs, etc.).  Be sure to introduce yourself next time you're in the office!

Finally - as always - summer is heavily colored by tasks related to financial closure of the year just ended.  Thanks to all of you who have cleared your accounts, allowing us to invest responsibly in personnel and resources for the year ahead.

The ferris wheel at State Fair is about to turn, and so too must we.  My clock reminds me that we are fortified by times of respite, just as we are energized by the purpose and rhythm of a return to work. May these last precious weeks of summer bring you fulfillment and rest and may you return your children to us a little taller, a little wiser, and ready to write the script of a new year of learning and growth.

Man plants, God grants

At today's school Mass, we blessed and thanked the gardeners who have tended our parish grounds over the past three decades.  Months ago, when Father asked me to dedicate a school Mass to recognizing this special group of volunteers, I wondered if a humble school Mass was the best setting for such an important tribute.  As I pondered it, however, I soon came to realize that it would be a perfect opportunity to form our students to live gratefully - which is one of our most important responsibilities as a Catholic school community.  And what better thing than a garden to teach us to pause.  And notice.  And appreciate what God has lovingly, miraculously granted.

One particular part of our landscape has profoundly influenced my own development of a grateful life.  It's those three magnificent trees planted directly in front of the school - just outside the office windows as my luck would have it.  They seem close enough for me to touch at times.  As it turns out, they reach out and touch me every season.

The life of a Catholic school leader is complex and requires extended hours and days inside the school walls.  Hyper-focused on a distracting range of tasks, on a schedule that often starts and ends in darkness, makes me especially vulnerable to missing God's gift of the seasons.  But just when I least expect it, the trees catch my attention, take my breath away, and ground me once again in God's goodness.  Whether it's when the bare branches are traced with snow and ice or exploding with a snowstorm of white blossoms as they did just about a week ago; whether they're covered with lush greenery that attracts songbirds, or transformed by a blanket of warm autumn colors; like silent sentinels, the trees are a powerful reminder that God is always here - right here - watching over me, over your children, over our beloved school.

I know He's here because I'm a gardener, too.  And every gardener knows that we can stick a seedling into the ground.  We can water it and tend it and groom it, but it's God that gives it the transforming miracle of life.  Short of giving birth, I think there is no more powerful way to co-create with God than to plant and tend a garden.

Join me in gratitude for our parish gardens and for the men and women whose hands and backs and love have given them to us.  To encourage the hundred of students and parents who pass through our doors each week to pause and reflect on this gift, we have planted a little plaque near the Jesus and children statue at the southeast corner of the school.  It reads:

St. Robert Parish 

recognizes with gratitude 

the generations of laborers 

who have created and tended these holy grounds. 

+

 All for the greater honor and glory of God

Our little sign won't grow into a plant that changes with the seasons, but we hope it will grow generations of grateful people - and perhaps, a future gardener or two.  I hope to one day be among them.

Special thanks to Mrs. Dietz and the fifth graders, Fr. Dennis, and Mrs. Flynn and the kindergarten teachers and students for beautiful words, beautiful roses, and a beautiful song.  And thanks to Ms. Lesjak for organizing all the details - as always!

Destinations

As winter exhales its final blustery breath, we look forward with anticipation to the changes just ahead.  But be careful!  Our longing for the freshness and color and life that these days will inevitably bring can block our view of the most amazing renewal of all: our own transformation as people of faith walking the journey of Holy Week.

The holiest of weeks invites us into deep companionship with Jesus - and into the incredible gift of his Divine Mercy.  Don't miss it!  I know that many of you will be hitting the road or the skies for wonderful family adventures during our Easter break.  As you make your final travel checklists, be sure to include the most fulfilling experience of the year on your itinerary.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday this weekend.  Lent ends on Wednesday, and on Thursday, we enter into the Triduum, or "Three Days" that recall Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection.  We are so blessed that we can join Christians anywhere in the free world for these very same rituals: The Mass of the Last Supper on Thursday night; remembrance of Jesus' suffering and death in the early afternoon of Good Friday; and our celebration of the resurrection at the Easter Vigil after sundown on Holy Saturday - a high liturgy complete with the blessing of fire and water, the story of salvation history, and the first, grand A*******s of the season!

This morning, an unknown visitor rang our school bell looking for assistance finding a church with a sunrise service on Easter - so she would be able to implement her Sunday morning travel plans.  Even in a Catholic community, it seems that this confident prioritization of lived faith is too rare.  So here's your challenge:  Don't be shy about joining with a church community wherever you find yourself during these high holy days.  It's your faith.  It's your destination.  Live it - and pass it on.

Wishing you safe travels and a deeply fulfilling Easter season.

Context matters

I've often quoted the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Optometric Association when reminding parents about the quantitative limits we should place on our children's use of screens.  The more ubiquitous screens become in our daily lives, however, the less effective a simple number is in providing adequate guidance in making these important parenting decisions.  

In just a few years time, we've moved from clear quantitative guidance - no screens before 18 months, no more than an hour a day between age two and five, no hand-held devices before age five - to having to consider the complex interactions of a host of factors.  

Just last year, in fact, researchers from the Oxford Internet Institute and Cardiff University found that there was no correlation between parents’ adherence to screen time guidelines and their children’s psychological wellbeing, concluding that it's the way we allow our children to use these tools that is decisive in impacting their wellbeing.

• Is the experience passive, as in watching a TV show or movie, or active as in video-chatting with a grandparent - or somewhere in the middle like playing games?

• Is the activity balanced with healthy amounts of active, creative, and social activity? 

• And always, what is the redeeming value of the media itself?

Not all screen use is equal.  Thirty minutes watching videos is very different from thirty minutes programming a robot with a coding app.  When children are negatively affected by technology, it’s not just that they are using screens, but the way they’re using them.

I've been triangulating information from a variety of sources on this topic for many years.  My own take-aways are these:

• Parents need to direct, guide and monitor the use of all media.
• Devices themselves are neither inherently good or bad. 
• The right kind of screen time can have a positive impact on development.
• The amount of media consumption, age of use, time of day, and type of device are factors that do impact neurological and physiological development and performance (e.g., quality of sleep).
• It remains wise to "consume with caution" and consider the intersection of quantity and quality.
• We need to preserve media-free times, activities, and locations.

So, we need to conclude that simplistic guidelines no longer serve us independent of context.  The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends the development of a Family Media Plan.  I agree that this is not only something we should all be intentional about, but something we need to revisit often.

See, do, and understand

There's an oft-quoted Chinese proverb that says, "Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand,"  or, more succinctly, "I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand."  Despite the wisdom of the ages, all effective instructional pedagogy is still based on this simple principle of active learning.  We know how to apply it in the classroom, but it's good, now and then, to think about how this principle applies to learning skills and forming character in the broader school of life.

Earlier this week, our parish staff shared some important take-aways from an Archdiocesan conference on the spirituality of stewardship. A discussion ensued about how we adults came to integrate this theology into our own lives.  It quickly became clear that generosity and the responsibility to care for the resources we have been granted is instilled by our families.  And it didn't take long for us to recognize that in this age of online giving, children no longer have ready role models or vehicles for the financial aspect of parish stewardship.

When most of us were growing up, both children and parents brought weekly envelopes to church.  One colleague mentioned that her family's church envelopes were kept on a table near the door so as not to forget them on the way out on Sunday morning.  Children were routinely taught that a portion of their weekly allowance was for church and followed their parents' example in dropping coins or an envelope into the collection basket. 

Today, even churches encourage online giving.  It's a good stewardship of everyone's time and resources.  But we haven't really considered how to replace the modeling lost to children's eyes - and somewhere along the way, as our adult habits changed, many families stopped teaching children how to allocate a defined portion of their allowances to charity in general, and church in particular. 

Fr. Peter Patrick brought a clarity of understanding in which lies, I think, a way to restore lost opportunities for this important formation of our children.  He explained that tithing and coming to church with an offering are two distinct responsibilities of Christians.  It seems that tithing based on our income can occur outside the context of liturgy, but an essential part of our participation in the sacrament of the Mass is to make an offering - not just the symbolic offering of the fruit of the earth and the vine and the work of human hands, but something tangible from each of us.  So, in truth, we should be bringing something of ourselves forward at the Offertory each week - even if we tithe or fulfill our designated pledge to church online.  This was, in truth, a revelation for me.

Stewardship, of course requires our time and talent and involvement as much as our treasure.  But we can't forget that it does require treasure, too. When we think about financial stewardship in this radically simple way, it doesn't seem so difficult to get back to the family ritual of weekly giving to church.  And it is precisely the rhythmic and ritual nature of this kind of giving from which habits are born and spirituality grows.

Our responsibility for the faith we've been given and the Church with which we've been entrusted requires that we give some thought as to how we can pass it on.  Let's be intentional in nurturing a theology of stewardship in our children by providing both a model and a vehicle for their generosity.  Let's let them see and do to make sure they will understand.

The snow comes in silence

Enjoy this beautiful reflection submitted by St. Robert Parish Life Coordinator, Merridith Frediani

Snow comes in silence.  As I lie in bed I have no idea what is happening in the world outside my window.  I wake to the surprise of a changed landscape, a softer surrounding.  Everything I know to be out there is still there, but it is different.  It is transformed and beautiful.  Edges are less sharp. Lines are blurred.  Trees glisten under the weight of snow.   

As we dig out, we reconnect with our similarly confined neighbors.  Those with snowblowers walk the length of the block sharing their bounty with others.  Teenagers are dispatched with shovels and younger children build snowmen and snow forts.  It feels like Christmas.

In preparing for Christmas in Italy, a family will assemble an intricate, detailed nativity scene called a presepe.  This custom was started by our beloved St. Francis of Assisi on Christmas Eve 1223.  The presepe goes beyond a mere stable to include a landscape of village and hillsides.  In addition to Mary, Joseph, assorted shepherds and wise kings who have often arrived too early, are villagers going about their daily chores.  The ordinary life of ordinary people is depicted.  What is not immediately part of the display is the Christ child.  In true Catholic tradition, the baby Jesus does not arrive until his appointed time of Christmas.

One tradition is to hide the babe somewhere in the village.  Viewers are tasked with trying to find him, a subtle reminder that Jesus can be anywhere, even in the mundane and prosaic.  The presepe is also a remembrance that our Lord was born without pomp.  The greatest thing to happen to the human race occurred quietly one night.  The next day, all but a handful of people went about their daily life with no change.  Men and women labored.  Children played.  No one knew that the Son of God was in their midst and the world was going to change.

The Son of God is still in our midst.  Men and women still labor.  Children still play.  Now we celebrate each year.  As we search the presepe for the Christ child we also slow down and search the world for him.  He is present in the people we encounter and the tasks we complete.  Like a snowfall, Jesus brings beauty and unexpected joy.  He softens the harshness of our lives.  He connects us to others.  Everything's the same but so much better.  He comes during the darkest time of the year and brings us hope and light.

If we still our minds and hearts, if we step back from the hustle, if we just pause and breathe, we will find him quietly beckoning to us, inviting us in.

The snow comes in silence.

So does Our Lord.

New tools, next steps

In discussing office systems with a candidate for our open administrative assistant position earlier this month, the candidate remarked, "We sure didn't have tools like these when I was in school!" I would add that we didn't have tools like these a few months ago!  With the release of our Alma parent accounts last month and our online directory last week, it is clear for even the casual participant to see concrete evidence of the shifts in the way schools do business.  As the world goes, so too must schools.

In anticipation of report card distribution next week, I'd like to take an opportunity to give you some background on the contemporary new tool from which our reports will be generated.

Alma is an integrated database and "learner management" system.  The database functions are sophisticated, including everything from more contemporary directory information (e.g., moms and dads are now separate entities) to medical and behavioral records, but it's the learner management side of the product that brings us to the next level of functionality.  With this tool, we take a significant step forward in the authenticity of the standards-based grading approach we have been implementing for the past eight years. 

Previously, we evaluated outcomes on course goals or "standards" by attaching these standards to assignments.  Although our software collected scores by standard, it was cumbersome for teachers or parents to track progress by standard because scores were reported in topical clusters.  In other words, performance on each standard was collected with others under a related topic and averaged as a simple mean to an "anchor standard" or umbrella topic further up an organizational hierarchy. These averaged proficiencies on sets of standards were what we reported on the report card.  The reason for reporting averages on clusters of skills was largely functional in that reporting out on every one of the 200 or so standards per grade level would have made our paper report card about eight pages long by the end of the year, which was simply not practical.

All that has changed with our new tool.  Now, we are grading standards instead of assignments.  We track each students' performance on every standard in a color-coded way that allows us to easily track mastery.  Our tool allows for digital archiving of all of our data, so report cards will be sent and stored electronically - allowing for us to report on every standard.  Most new, however, is that the mastery is calculated with a "decaying average" tied to learning theory.  The formula automatically weights the most recent assessment for each standard most heavily, with the understanding that it is more representative of a student's current mastery level than assessments from earlier in the cycle when large leaps of learning were still occurring.

These changes will take some getting used to for all of us, to be sure, but we can be assured that they will better support learning and report a more refined picture of your children's actual proficiencies relative to grade level expectations.

In addition to Alma, we recently added a digital parent directory to our arsenal of tools thanks to the generosity of the Home and School Association.  Directory Spot replaces our paper Blue Book and, if you install the app on your phone, works pretty much like your phone contacts and needs little to no explanation.  I hope you love it as much as we do!  If you need help logging in for the first time, just give the office a call.

This week our teachers and students started using the TADS Lunch module, replacing very antiquated lunch ordering and billing software tied to our old student information system.  With apologies for the delay in getting this up and running, you will soon have the capacity to see your lunch balance online - and we will have the capacity to assure you get auto-messages reminding you when it's time to reload your account.  We're hoping this improved communication will help us work together to better steward the school's fiscal resources.

Finally, we will launch the TADS Admission and Enrollment module with the opening of our January enrollment season.  This digital process will take paper out of the equation.  Stay tuned for more information just after the holidays.

At school, we're ever learning, ever growing - even in the office!

Great night out

Guest blog by school parent Susan Callanan

It's time for the St Robert School Annual Fund party set for 7 p.m., Friday, November 17, 2017. We hope you have the date circled in red on your calendar. If not, read on to find out why the Callanans do. 

This fall marks our 13^th year as a St. Robert family. We graduated two daughters, who currently attend Divine Savior Holy Angels High School. And we have a 5^th grader, Jane, who started as a 4K student and is now enjoying her first year of school sports and beginning band – i.e., the “big kid” activities. Over the years, we've always looked forward to the Annual Fund party and made a point of attending. Here's why. 

It’s a great night out! Parents enjoy an evening of gracious hospitality at a beautiful home with fellow friends of the school. This year you'll be welcomed into the home of Margaret and Michael DeMichele, parents of current 8^th grader Mio, as well as three older children who are all Bobcat alumni. 

You can make new friends. At St. Robert, we often spend a lot of time with parents in our own grades at those wonderful class parties and on the sports sidelines. At the Annual Fund parties, Liam and I have met some of our favorite St. Robert people that might not otherwise have crossed our paths.

Experience the depth of the St. Robert community. You may meet St. Robert supporters who actually have not set foot in the school in years. We have had the pleasure of meeting a number of alums, and even parents of alums, all of whom have wonderful stories and histories to share about the school. We can say thank you to them for continuing to help keep St. Robert financially strong. 

Learn more about the Annual Fund. This is one of the most critical financial pieces of St. Robert’s success. It’s the easiest tax-deductible way to support the mission of the school, and relies on the support of current and alumni parents, alumni, grandparents, parishioners, foundations, and friends. 

   

Cross one thing off your to-do list. Gifts and pledges to the 2017-18 Annual Fund will be gratefully accepted – and will make you eligible for a prize drawing that night! Even if you can’t commit anything the night of the 17^th, come by for a taste of community and camaraderie.

So uncap that red pen (or crayon) and circle November 17 on YOUR calendar! We look forward to seeing you and perhaps forging another new friendship!