News & Stories

Regional Newsletter

Campus Connections – February 2020

 

FEBRUARY 2020

Catholic Schools: Learn. Serve. Lead and Succeed!

National Catholic Schools Week is the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. The theme for the National Catholic Schools Week 2020 is “Catholic Schools: Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed.”Last week, all of our campuses observed the annual celebration week with Masses, open houses and engagingactivities for students, families, parishioners and community members.

Faith, Leadershipand Serviceare the hallmarks of Catholic schools and considered gifts given to each of us from our loving God. Last year, SJPIICA students gave over 4000 hours of service. Our projects included food, clothing and toiletries for shelters and veterans, visiting the elderly, creating cards for the sick, collecting clothes for the needy, tutoring, sending messages to our troops and helping at home!

SJPIICA and Catholic Education Track Record

Catholic schools are the largest private educator of children in this country. Research shows that Catholic school students test higher than their public and charter school peers.

  • The graduation rate for Catholic high schools is 97%, with 96% of students going on to post-secondary education, 92% to four-year colleges.
  • 60% of Catholic schools are in urban settings, and the schools are open to all families who are interested in quality Catholic education.
  • 30% of students in the Archdiocese who attend Catholic schools are not Catholic.

Learn: SJPIICA students are showing great growth in our MAP testing. Our MAP testing provides a personalized assessment of each student’s growth. Our teachers are personalizing their instruction for each student!

  • 80% of our classrooms have scored above that National Mean on our MAP testing!!
  • Over 91% of early childhood students are ready or advanced for Kindergarten and first grade!!
  • Over 50% of our students are accepted into exam schools.
  • 100% of our 8thgraders are accepted into Catholic high schools. Our students are learning!!

SJPIICAis preparing well rounded, faith filled and academically prepared young men and women for the future!  Please share our great story and your experience to families who may not realize the gift of a Catholic Education!

 

 

Dates to remember!

  • Month of February = Black History Month
  • MAP Testing
    Monday, January 6th – Friday, February 7th
  • February Vacation
    Monday, February 17th – Friday, February 21st

A Message from the Business Office

Re-Registration is open for the 2020-2021 school year! Please log into your ParentsWeb account to register.  The fee is $150 for our current students and $350 for new students to register for next school year.

The tuition rates for the 2020-2021 school year are as follows:

Early Childhood K2 – Grade 8
Preschool (Age 2.9)      $8,800 per child One child: $5,500
Pre-K (Age 3)                $6,900 per child Additional children $4,800
K1 (Age 4)                    $6,900 per child

We will be hosting Campus Financial Aid Open Houseson the following dates:
Neponset:         Tuesday February 11th. 2:30pm to 6pm

As always, we are available in the Business Office to assist you.  Financial aid open houses will take place at the Regional Office.  We have listed dates below for your convenience. However, you may also book an appointment if the below dates and times do not work well for your schedule. Please call (617) 265-0019 ext. 7004 or 7202 to book an appointment. Business Office hours are Monday through Friday 8am to 4pm.February 18th9am to 11amFebruary 19th9am to  11amFebruary 20th9am to 11amFebruary 25th11am to 2pmFebruary 27th11am to 2pm

The Deadline for Financial Aid Applications is April 16, 2020

As in years past, the requirements are as follows:

  • The financial aid applicant must claim the student(s) on their tax return and students must be enrolling in grades K2 – 8 to be eligible. We need all families to submit the Grant and Aid application for the students that will attend the Academy even the Pre-K and K1 students. This will help SJPIICA when we apply for grants for education programs, technology, services, etc.
  • The federal tax return and W2’s for 2019 must be submitted and/or proof of nontaxable income if not employed.
  • Anyone with a past due SY 19-20 tuition balance will not be awarded financial aid. If you have a past due balance you must reach out to the business office to make a payment arrangement for the balance.

To make an appointment for financial aid assistance or to discuss a payment agreement for your past due tuition please contact  Judith Walker at 617-265-0019 x7202 or Mark Hegarty at 617.265.0019 x 7004or jwalker@sjp2ca.orgor mhegarty@sjp2ca.org

Lower Mills student recognized for essay

Lower Mills student Ryan Meristil’s essay “Eradicating the Trifecta of Injustice” received 3rd place in the King Boston contest Monday, January 20, 2020 at the Museum of Fine Arts. Meristill was the the only middle school student to place in the contest!

For two decades, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), has honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by inviting everyone to a free, all-day celebration at the Museum. Made possible by Citizens Bank, this year’s celebration of Dr. King focused on young people, including a first-ever exhibition curated by Boston teens and a citywide essay contest.

Catholic Schools Week Celebration

Catholic Schools week was filled with excitement as we celebrated faith, community, our students, our staff and our families. Throughout the week each Campus had special events and days for the students. The Lower Mills Campus kicked off their week by inviting the community to their campus to share their own school community. Special guests included Senator Nick Collins and District Attorney Rachael Rollins alongside Boston Police Superintendent Nora Baston and BPD command staff and officers, Boston Fire Department Commissioner Joe Finn and fire officials, Boston City Councilors Annissa Essaibi-George and Frank Baker, Massachusetts State Rep Dan Cullinane, Quincy City Councilor Ian Cain, Quincy City Council President Nina Liang, NBC Sports Boston’s Kwani Lunis, Community Activist Peter Ng, and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital- Milton President Richard Fernandez. We were also honored to have members of Campaign for Catholic Schools, Catholic Schools Office and Lower Mills Parent Corps. Guests listened to the words of Lower Mills alumni including Damara Andrade and Nikolas Taylor. They then assisted students with a community project of  making baskets for new college students and reading to early childhood classrooms.

Across all of the Campuses students had color days, days where they dressed in cultural attire, crazy sock days, dress like community heroes and so much more. Special events at the Neponset Campus included their annual Simon Says competition, a GeoBee,  and Boston Bowl. At Columbia, they had a visit from Boston Police Canine Unit and a visit to the Science Museum. While Lower Mills has an Afro-Brazilian Ensemble and a packed week of celebrations!

Helping Australian Wildlife

by Beth Sheehan 2B Lower Mills Campus

Grade Two B at the Lowers Mills Campus has been concerned about the Australian wildfires, the displacement of families, and damage to the environment, especially the animals. So we decided that we needed more information about what was happening. First we learned about how forest wildfires are fought and contained. We learned about smokejumpers and how they decide which side of the fire to reduce first. Grade Two was very interested and wondered how the smoke jumpers retreated out of the fire once they parachuted in. The multiple ways to fight the fire included fire retardant sprayed from a plane, water dropped from a bucket attached to a helicopter that can be refilled from lakes, and the smokejumpers themselves, clearing brush.

Once we learned about how the wildfires were handled, the animals were our biggest concern. Besides the koalas and the kangaroos, the students learned about different animals like the sugar glider, the laughing kookaburra, the dingo, the platypus, and the blue-tongue skink. The children learned about which habitats were devastated by the fires, and what people were doing to help. Our Tag Day money will help to take care of an injured Koala and keep us updated on its healing process.

We made Australian animal hats to show our support for Australia. We know that Australia is halfway around the world, and that we cannot go there to assist the people and animals in jeopardy, but what we can do is pray. As we pray each day for the people of Australia and all the animals, God is listening. God hears our worry and will answer the prayers of all who are in need there. “Dear God, As we continue praying for the people of Australia, firefighters, the animals that are in danger during the wildfires, please help everyone there feel your love and your strength. Please stop the fires, and heal the country. We ask this through our Lord, Jesus Christ. AMEN.

Opportunity Doors at Lower Mills

by Rose Curran, Pre-K B Lower Mills
Students in Pre-K B decorated their own “Opportunity Doors”. They were able to visit four stations to decorate them. They used Bingo Dobbers, crayons, stamps, and stickers to create a personalized entrance to wherever they imagined it could lead. Students were then given the prompt “If this door could take me anywhere, I would want it to lead me to…” and answers ranged anywhere from “my home” to “a rocket ship”. They are up on display on our classroom’s student work board!

Feast of the Epiphany

The Neponset Campus kicked off the new school year with Fr. Brian and Fr. Bob blessing their classrooms to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany.  Our door frames have the initials of the Three Kings “20 + C + M + B + 20”  reminding us that we are called to use our gifts for the glory of God.

Happy New Year!

Our Columbia Campus celebrated the Chinese New Year by decorating their hallways, sharing red packets as a sign of gartitude and wearing traditional attire.

Godspell Jr.

Students at the Columbia Campus premiered their production of “Godspell Jr.” on January 21st. The production was part of “Take the Stage! Theater Workshop!” by the CIC Theater Company. CIC Theater Company provides children & families exposure to artistic expression and theatrical performance at minimal to no cost.

January Artists of the Month