GREENSBORO — St. Pius X School kicked off an exceptional new school year Aug. 23.
Parents and students were greeted by new floors, fresh paint colors, and new water fountains. However, these were not the only changes that caught students’ attention.
Third- through fifth-grade classes found new science and reading textbooks in their desks from publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Elementary Spanish students began their first week of school enjoying a new Sonrisas Spanish curriculum with bright word cards, fun cultural posters, and integrated technology features. Middle school students began to reap the benefits of a new Friday writing lab, where they revised and published their summer reading essays.
All students are also enjoying a few changes to the religion curriculum as each class K-8 began writing Mass homily responses right after Mass on Tuesdays. Students are also encouraged to participate in weekly stewardship by bringing a canned good to Tuesday Masses. In addition, all classes are getting in the habit of saying the Angelus prayer together as a school each day just before noon.
Parents are enjoying new advancements as well. The school’s website now features syllabus, rubric, pacing guide, and technology links for parents, along with a new set of “Parent Learning” videos posted through Vimeo.
St. Pius X School has many new enrichment programs happening before and after school allowing students to participate in extracurricular activities such as a Foreign Language Lab, dance, chess, sports, drama, geography and spelling bees, Battle of the Book competitions, choir, and the opportunity to learn a new instrument.
All these new features in the school go far to demonstrate that the student is the center of St. Pius X School. Classroom instruction is differentiated within all subjects, especially during a dedicated reading and math morning block. Teachers assess students frequently to learn each student’s individual needs and provide constant feedback to parents and support staff. Teachers also use adaptive math technology such as Redbird, Khan Academy and ALEKS to add additional supplementary math practice to the students’ day. This year parents are also receiving weekly newsletters from teachers, as well as email communications, and constant access to the Renweb platform giving parents grades, lesson plans, uploaded documents, and classroom calendars.
As the year progresses, St. Pius X School hopes to offer alumni events for past graduates all the way back to the Class of 1955, as well as a parent book club As St. Pius X School leads the way in academics and faith formation, students can look forward to an engaging new elementary STEM lab and being able to communicate with students around the globe through collaborative 21st century projects. The school also hopes to add enough Chrome book labs for students in each class to have one-to-one access to technology.
— April Parker, Special to the Catholic News Herald. April Parker is the director of curriculum and instruction at St. Pius X School in Greensboro.
CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School announces that 127 students have been recognized by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation for their valuable volunteer contributions in the community. The students received their certificates at a recent All-School Mass.
The President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation was established in 2003 to recognize the valuable contributions volunteers make in our communities. By recognizing those who serve others, the council hopes to encourage more people to serve. The council created the President’s Volunteer Service Award program as a way to thank and honor Americans who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.
The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizes individuals, families and groups who have served others in their communities for a specified number of hours over a 12-month period.
The Bronze Award is presented to students aged 16-18 and have performed 100-174 service hours. It also is presented to students aged 14-15 and have performed 50-74 service hours. The 48 CCHS Bronze Award recipients are: Lily Alford, Christina Andrysick, Emily Ayers, Davis Barnett Blake Beecher, Blythe Bishop, Samuel Bohmer, Lucas Boyle, Joel Casingal, Nina Casingal, Ashleen Coyle, Anne Culicerto, William Davison, Alivia Dettinger, Serena Le Do, Madeline Dudley, Liam Fitzpatrick Jr., Victoria Fontana, Adam Franek, Anna Fuller, Becket Granelli, Anna Greeley, Daniel Harty, Tommy Hoefling, Karlie Kazmierczak, Grace Kunik, Audrey Leach, Mae Levin, Emma Lowry, Amanda McKernan, Garrett McKernan, Will Murlless, Ryan Nofsinger, John Nowak, Alexandra Pallander, Shiya Patel, John Polking, Joseph Pons, Carson Robbe, Anna Schroeder, Ethan Scott, Juli Snoke, Parrish Srnovrsnik, Blaise Tamol, Elvia Tshunza, Ramsey White IV, Austin Wright and Karla Zamorano.
The Silver Award is presented to students aged 16-18 and have performed 175-249 service hours. It also is presented to those aged 14-15 and have performed 75-99 hours. The 19 CCHS Silver Award recipients are: Harrison Barnett, John Coleman, John Curry, William Dettmer, Kate Dumser, Ethan Elaasar, Brynn Heslin, Michael Hussey, Liza Kammerer, Madison Kelley, Payton Morgan, Anna Mullin, Paul Neel, Melia Patcha, Carley Reitz, Julianne Ruiz, Catherine Schilli, Aidan Tibbitt and Abigail Tyson.
The Gold Award is presented to students aged 16-18 and have performed more than 250 service hours. It also is presented to those aged 14-15 and have volunteered more than 100 hours. The 60 CCHS Gold Award Recipients are: Isabella Ackermann, Chloe Allen, Christian Alston, Elizabeth Borkowski, Jackson Bowers, Emma Bryson, Molly Bunta, Carly Centanni, Natalie Charlonis, Julia Chaverin, Louis Ciano, Will Craig, Stewart Dautel, Rebecca Denton, Emma Doncaster, Anna Dougherty, Maura Egan, Anayensi Escobedo, Julianna Hancock, Christopher Hoefling, Emma Iles ,Emily Rae Kearney, Elizabeth Kelly, Scarlett Lovallo, Ryan Ma, Erin Macalintal, Wynne Mayeux, Laney McBride, Brynn McClatchy, Madison McLane, William McTier, Thomas Mooney, Michael Moritz, Oliver Nazarian, Emily Nguyen, Katrina Nilles, Maggie Olsen, Carissa Pallander, Samantha Pean, Anna Pederson, Andrew Permenter, Arabella Pires, Isabel Plym, Caroline Prendiville, James Ramich III, Sophia Ritz, Carrie-Anne Rogers, Matthew Ruff, Morgan Salvino, Mary-Kathryn Samuelson, Emma Sciotta, Kristen Sedam, Nicole Shooman, Joseph Silvestri, Nicole Tamol, Jacqueline Tavares, Adam Tesch, Joseph Tully, Sabine Yessayan and Melissa Zeleznik.
— Carolyn Tillman