Archive for the ‘From our Principal’ Category

Going green in 2012.

Saturday, January 7th, 2012

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Many new partnerships have already been formed this year as we grow ever closer to breaking ground for our new school, which is being planned to be as green as possible.

Wikipedia tells us that…”Green building brings together a vast array of practices and techniques to reduce and ultimately eliminate the impacts of buildings on the environment and human health. It often emphasizes taking advantage of renewable resources, e.g., using sunlight through passive solar, active solar, and photovoltaic techniques and using plants and trees through green roofs, rain gardens, and for reduction of rainwater run-off. Many other techniques, such as using packed gravel or permeable concrete instead of conventional concrete or asphalt to enhance replenishment of ground water, are used as well.”

When we do begin construction, the children will have a solid foundation for understanding many of the elements involved in treating Mother Earth and all of her creatures with tender, loving care.

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This is a Jesus School.

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

What does it mean to be faithfully Catholic? How can St. Anthony of Padua School claim to be Catholic when less than 20 percent of our students belong to our Church? For the sake of clarification, Catholics define church as the assembly of those whom God’s Word convokes, i.e., gathers together to form the People of God, and who themselves, nourished with the Body of Christ, become the Body of Christ. An awesome thought, to say the least!

The word “catholic” means “universal” in the sense of “according to the totality” or “in keeping with the whole.” As part of the Diocese of Charleston and of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, our school is, therefore, Catholic. We are part and parcel of the ministry of St. Anthony of Padua Parish. In the words of our children, “This is a Jesus School!”

In addition, our school is catholic because, as legally and canonically a part of the larger Church, we too have been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race – in particular, to the children of our area. To paraphrase the late John Paul II, the ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to enable others to share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love.

To be faithful to this mission is to travel on the most amazing journey one can imagine! To know that one holds the responsibility and privilege of leading children closer to their true destiny requires a dedication and prayer-filled approach to life not to be taken lightly. It is only by holding hands with an arms-interlocked multitude have teachers and administrators been able to hold firm to this challenge for the past sixty years!

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Why we are Ultimately Successful

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

Our core value of Ultimately Successful reflects our appreciation of the fact that students who graduate from St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School have a greater chance to graduate from high school than most of their counterparts in other school systems. Earning a college degree and landing and keeping a good job encourage the growth of lifetime success.

In the meantime, it is just as satisfying to see the joy on the face of a child who has struggled with math concepts—and know that he or she has mastered them! The ability to carry on a simple conversation in Spanish is certainly a skill bound towards ultimate success. Using the technology skills required to build a robot, to compete with advanced chess players, to use a computer with ease, to compose literary forms are a sampling of the proofs of our students’ success.

Watching a three-year-old show off his “homework”‘ (a picture Mom helped him paste onto a piece of paper) with pride and determination is an experience I will treasure as a sign of the “unquenchable desire to learn” that is fostered here from the earliest grade.

Safety Patrollers on the job, rain or shine, an older child assisting a younger one when needed (without being told), reverence and awe in participating at Mass or in church services, the prayer requests that bring tears to your eyes in view of their heartfelt honesty—all are indicators of the virtue that is nurtured at our school.

Oprah Winfrey recently stated, “success creates opportunities for others!”

St. Anthony’s School has opportunities galore!

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Year in Review: courageous support

Monday, November 8th, 2010

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From our Annual Report:

With immense gratitude, we thank our supporters, benefactors, donors, and God-driven friends. Thanks to your gifts we were able to provide St. Anthony of Padua School children with a year filled with excellent learning activities.

Major events: 2009-2010 found us celebrating success at the Carolina First Center with an International Fest, which raised $80,000. Under Joe Vilardo’s direction, hundreds of folks were involved in planning, gathering materials, decorating, and attending. This event was even more critical than we realized, as the economy forced foundations to reduce their funding. We featured programs that kept everyone busy all year, including Open House, Safety Day, Talent Show, Christmas Pageant, University Night, Black History, Homework Habits and Hugs, a Fashion Show, Career Day, Arts & Music Festival, and, finally, a Family Picnic.

New Programs: With revitalized faith in Divine Providence we were able to increase our Parent Involvement substantially, and recruited a number of volunteers for the activities above. In addition to the Faculty’s successes in the classrooms each day, Marie Weisser kept us on the move with well planned and executed Field Trips. No small task when you consider our dependence on The Trolley! Our first ever All-School outing was a visit to the new Children’s Museum.

Achievements: Once again First Steps awarded St. Anthony’s a grant for our K3 and K4, enabling us to participate in a Clemson University research project. The Sisters of Charity Foundation fell in love with our Elder Buddy Program and, thanks to Tara Mendes and her helpers, our K5 and 1st Graders made new friends and renewed acquaintances with returning “Elders.”

Our Extended Care Program rejoiced in our well-prepared Chess Team winning various competitions. Additionally, our Boy and Girl Scout Troops enjoyed outings and gave enthusiastic service in community projects.

The Notre Dame Club of the Carolinas selected Donna Barkey, our Fifth and Sixth Grade Teacher to attend a weekend with her peers at the University of Notre Dame in celebration of their profession. Donna is also the founder of our new Student Council!

In March, our Faculty and Staff joined with the other 29 Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Charleston to honor those who have given years of service to our schools. Miss Carolyn Lenhardt, with her 35+ years at St. Anthony’s, was a top level honoree! Our teachers, along with those of all 29 Schools, then participated in the first-ever 3-day Conference. Imagine the thrill of being one of only five schools in the country to receive the NCEA Outstanding Board Award at the April National Convention in Minneapolis!

Thanks to Sally Cade, our PTO President, and Sister Mary Jane, our Safe Environment Coordinator, we were awarded a Safe School banner in recognition for all the activities carried out to enhance our children’s safety.

St. Anthony’s 2003 graduates made us proud as they received their High School Diplomas from high schools in Greenville County this June with college plans in hand!

Besides those already mentioned, we were blessed by funding from MANY other sources, as you can see from our Thank You list. Whether the gift was large or small – in the form of time, talent, or treasure – you made a difference in the lives of the Children of St. Anthony’s School and we are extremely grateful.

Thank you for your courageous support!

- Sr. Catherine Noecker, OSF

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Why are we proudly diverse?

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Did you know that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has a Secretariat of Cultural Diversity? Allan Figueroa Deck, S.J., Executive Director, suggests that we take steps to build greater unity in diversity by celebration, prayer and worship, interaction, information, story-telling, and inspirational moments. A visit to St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School reveals just such activities!

It was my privilege to attend the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) Convention in Minneapolis this past April. Over 8,000 educators gathered from across the country and beyond and it was truly a macrocosm of diversity at every level. One of the highlights of the conference was the announcement that Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory, Archbishop of Atlanta, is the new chairman of the board of the NCEA. The NCEA guides US Catholic Schools in establishing and maintaining excellence in all areas.

Archbishop Gregory was born and raised in Chicago where his parents sent him to St. Carthage Grammar School, and where, as a sixth grader, Wilton converted to Catholicism. Archbishop Gregory of Atlanta weighed in on the issues of unity and diversity during his homily May 7, 2010, at a Mass for the Catholic Cultural Diversity Network Convocation at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.

“Our efforts at national unity often depend upon bringing peoples’ diversity into something of an artificial harmony that seeks to minimize the uniqueness and distinctiveness of people. The Catholic Church, on the contrary, focuses upon what we all share in common which is our faith and our oneness in Christ,” Archbishop Gregory said. To be a Catholic one need not abandon one’s individuality. In fact, the Catholic Church is most perfectly herself when all of her children display that rich diversity that God has fashioned into the very heart of humanity,” the archbishop said. “We are most Catholic when we reflect our oneness of faith and worship that is achieved in response to our rich mixture of human variety through the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

Our school is “proudly diverse” and we make every effort to draw upon the richness of each child’s background, celebrating race, color and creed.

By: Principal Sister Catherine Noecker, OSF

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Why are we distinctly Franciscan?

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

Do you know what makes St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School different from any other school in the Diocese of Charleston or in South Carolina? Our marketing/enrollment committee has delved deeply into what makes us unique and has come up with five values that we claim as our CORE—what is truly at the HEART of who we are.

The first value, we decided, is that we are “distinctly Franciscan.” The obvious evidence of that is the presence of the Franciscan Friars and Sisters on the campus.

Our logo has the Tau Cross as its centerpiece. St. Francis blessed every thing he could with this cruciform.

Our artwork depicting St. Francis, St. Anthony, St. Clare, and St. Benedict the Black remind us of what we, like these predecessors, hold to be true: that God is good, all the time; that God’s desire to share goodness is expressed as creation; that creation becomes fully understandable at the birth of Jesus.

Whatever is beautiful, therefore, reflects Jesus’ beauty; whatever is living lives because of him; whatever is true discloses him who is true. With St. Francis, we call every work of creation our “brother” or “sister.”

From this creed we strive to recognize that each child is one to whom has been given a very special status. Students and staff alike help to give each other birth to Christ as together we try to grow in the Life we share.

Our efforts to nurture the on-going growth of awareness of all that is GOD, our attempts to show what it means to give all, to celebrate the richness of this poverty, to embrace our sufferings along with our joys, is what makes us “distinctly Franciscan.”

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Why are we faithfully Catholic?

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Believe it or not, I am looking to Father William J. Byron, a Jesuit, to help me respond to this question of what is means for us to be faithfully Catholic. Jesuits, of course, are famous for being the experts on all things scholastic, so I am in good company! Father Byron says that community and commitment are two keys to the answer.

The commitment must be to the person and Gospel values of Jesus Christ. These values define the culture of a Catholic school and the culture shapes the community that you meet when you walk through the campus or visit the classrooms of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School.

Content and curriculum are two other areas that Fr. Byron addresses in determining the Catholicity of an educational institution. Most, but not all, of the faculty at St. Anthony’s School are Catholic and only 10 percent of our students have been baptized in a Catholic church.

We go to great lengths to make sure that all of our academic classes are following the curricula of the Diocese of Charleston and that our extracurricular programs are consistent with Gospel values. In addition, our Extended Care program offers a wide variety of activities ranging from tutoring, to the care of animals, gardening and cooking.

The Gospel is proclaimed in our liturgies, prayer services, and retreats. Sister Mary Schifferle, OSF, teaches the doctrines of the Catholic faith in each classroom with an attitude of respect for all denominations present without “watering down” what we believe.

As Catholic education must touch both head and heart, the response nurtured in our children is a heartfelt commitment to love their neighbors, especially the poor, at home and abroad. This compassion is evident each time we have a food drive or collect monies for the Holy Childhood Association or the victims of natural disasters.

There is no doubt in the mind of this Franciscan that St. Anthony of Padua School is Catholic!

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Welcome to our new web site!

Monday, January 11th, 2010

We’re really excited to finally have our new school web site up and running. Over the past year, we’ve had St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School volunteers, who are web development and marketing communications professionals, help us with what it takes to develop a new web site.

It was a lot more than just creating a new site. We developed our brand identity, which included a new logo, tagline, core values, marketing plan and other tools to help us communicate and share what our school stands for.

We’d like to thank St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church parishioners Brian and Nicole Cendrowski for leading the effort. Nicole and her creative team at Big Gnome took our school through the re-branding process, which included enlisting the sweet graphic design skills of Roxanne Hicks. Matt and Jenna Daniel of Matt Daniel Photography provided original photos from a two-day photo shoot at our school. Big Gnome partnered with Period Three to design and develop the web site. Period Three’s team included Gene Crawford, Jay Barry and Jason Johnson. And, thank  you to Brian Cendrowski for being a master web guy keeping everything and everyone on track!

We hope this blog and other site features will help you learn more about our school and how you can get involved and become a part of our school family.

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