Monday, May 9 -
Friday, May 13 Buy-a-Share Casual Dress Week Sign up now!
Wednesday, May 11 All School Mass - 8AM
Thursday, May 12All School Rosary 1:25PM
Fine Arts Night
6 - 7:30PM
Wednesday, May 18 All School Mass - 8AM
Friday, May 20
Box Tops
Free Dress Day
Saturday, May 21
Archdiocesan Chess Tournament at BSCS
Tuesday, May 24
8th Grade Exit Presentations and Interviews
Wednesday, May 26
All School Mass - 8AM
Friday, May 27
8th Grade Mass and GRADUATION!!! Monday, May 30Memorial Day No School No Falcon's Nest Tuesday, May 31 Third Trimester Awards Ceremony 1:30PM
Wednesday, June 1All School Mass - 8AM Kindergarten Graduation 2PM Thursday, June 2Last Day of School
11:30AM Dismissal
No Falcon's Nest
Friday, June 3
No Falcon's Nest |
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Dear Parents,
I hope the month of May is treating you and your darling children well! I want to give you a bit of an enrollment update and what research suggests is the optimal class size for student achievement.
We are pleased to share that many of our K-8 classrooms will have 18+ students, we have a wait list for P2 students, and we are opening up a new P4 classroom as to accommodate the students that were on the P4 wait list. Moreover, we are welcoming 54 new families and 85 new students. The new students are enrolling in classrooms throughout the P2-8th Grade program. This is a testament to our wonderful program and our teachers!
We speak often of our school model and small class sizes as they relate to student achievement. Although this may seem like a promotional point of interest; the correlation of the two has been researched proving achievement increases due to low class size.
According to the Center for Public Education (2006), the Brookings Institute (2011), and Johns-Hopkins University (1998):
- Smaller classes boost student academic achievement;
- Small class size ratio per teacher is required to produce the greatest benefits;
- Supports, such as professional development for teachers and a rigorous curriculum, enhance the effect of reduced class size on academic achievement.
- In the Tennessee STAR experiment, researchers have found positive effects of small class sizes on academic achievement in school and college attendance, with the economic benefits of the program outweighing the costs. These are important results from a very strong research design.
- Not only do large class sizes have an adverse impact on learning, but also on the educational staff itself. Many teachers who work in overcrowded classes have low morale and self-esteem. Motivation suffers and classroom methods are restricted to little more than lecture, which brain-based learning has already shown to be, by itself, the poorest of all teaching methods. With overcrowded classrooms, new and more dynamic teaching strategies and techniques cannot be implemented. Overcrowded classes also burden teachers with an increased workload. This leaves less time for dealing with the other duties teachers must attend to. Some may think that all educators do is teach. But equally as important are developing the necessary relationships with students, for consulting with colleagues and for meetings and contacts with parents.
In order to get around large class sizes and a large student to teacher ratio, many elementary and middle schools hire in class paraprofessionals to assist. Although this helps with classroom management, it does not necessarily correlate to student achievement. According to Gerber, S. B., Finn, J. D., Achilles, C. M., & Boyd-Zaharias, J. (2001), suggests that many paraprofessionals are ill prepared to perform tasks. The results showed that teacher aides have little, if any, positive effect on students' academic achievement. The only positive effect was an improvement in reading scores for students who attended a class with a teacher aide for 2 or 3 years. These results were the only exceptions to a plethora of negative findings. The study also showed that the types of duties aides performed had no bearing on student achievement.
We believe the model that has been in place at BSCS speaks for itself. From year-to-year, our ITBS student achievement data shows that our students are 1 to 2 years above their peers. Here, teachers differentiate instruction in order to maximize individual student learning, they receive professional development and re-certification credit every year, and an intense one-on-one academic support is provided by one staff member using the "pull-out" model.
We are a great school, our enrollment trend is on the up-tick, we believe in what we do, we are BSCS!
God bless all of you and your children,
Carla
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We concentrate upon the work of the Holy Spirit, the active presence of God in our hearts and in our Christian families and communities. He pours forth the love of God in our hearts, inspires us to perpetual prayer, and guides us into all truth, as Jesus promised. Come Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Mass Times:
Weekdays: 8:00AM
Weekends:
Saturday
Anticipatory Mass:
4:30PM
Sundays:
8:00 & 10:00AM
Children's Liturgy
of the Word
During 10AM Mass on Sundays
Adoration:
Saturdays
8:00AM - 4:00PM
Reconciliation:
Saturdays
8:00AM until finished
and again from
Middle School
Youth Group
5:30 - 7:00PM
Saturday, May 14
Grounds Maintenance and Clean-up 9AM
HELP is NEEDED!!!
Saturday, May 28Parish Pig Roast Sunday, May 29Corpus Christi Procession Check out Formed.orgEnter code 4D4R77 for free access!!!
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