We have many events upcoming before Christmas break The 5th grade will host a mass next Friday for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We are looking forward to next week's Santa's Workshop and Christmas Marketplace. Our Tree Lighting and Prayer Service will be held next Thursday at 6 pm during the Marketplace. Holy Name's Christmas Nativity and Show will be held on Tuesday, December 19 from 9 am to 11 am in Parish Hall. Parents and families are invited to attend.

Yesterday and today, our second graders presented their Native American dwellings. Students researched one of three tribes: Powhatan, Pueblo, or Sioux. After learning about the culture, family structure, and lifestyle of one of the tribes, students constructed a model of their dwellings. It is one of my favorite days of the year to see the second graders present their work. While I appreciate the creativity of their projects and admire the confidence they display when they present, I enjoy the class comments the most. After each student presents, he or she can call on a classmate to ask a question or make a comment. Students almost always opt for a comment and it is always a positive one commending their classmates on a job well done.

On behalf of the students and faculty at Holy Name, I'd like to thank all the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces. We are grateful for your service. Many of our students created Veterans Day cards and pictures that will be delivered to veterans at the VA Hospital. This month students are focused on gratitude. It is important for children to take time to reflect on what they have and they already put much effort into this. Throughout the hallways, students have found creative ways to express their gratitude through gratitude wreaths, notes to classmates, and letters of gratitude.

During November, Holy Name is hosting a food drive to support the Backpack Program at Rose's Bounty. We are looking for instant potatoes, gravy mixes, taco kits, and other items. Please click here for more information.

Holy Name Parish School turns 70 AND you are Invited to attend The SOCKHOP Celebration! (1953-2023) Saturday, November 18th from 6:30-9:00 pm Tickets are on sale now, click here! Enjoy stepping back in time! Sponsored by Student Council

The hallways are filling up with fall colors and leaves and the pumpkins, ghosts, and witches that indicate the coming of Halloween. October also brings with it the Community Helpers project where parents visit some of the ECC grades to share their professions with the students. Thank you to the parents who have visited so far.

We have some budding poets in 4th grade. After reading "Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams, students composed their own poems about colored pencils, footballs, pens, and Chromebooks mimicking Williams' style. Some of the students in Mrs. Foley's room shared a special reading with me during their class yesterday. The 4th grade is reading "Love That Dog" about a boy who overcomes his initial dislike of poetry to find his voice through words. I admire their creativity and artistry; the poems are brightly decorated and hanging outside their classrooms. It has been a busy week for the 4th graders. They also celebrated their Teaching Mass with Fr. Evans this week. Teaching masses for grades one through six will follow later this month.

This week we finished up fall MAP testing. As a school, Holy Name students performed very well. The median score was at the 71-percentile in reading and 74-percentile in math. While the MAP results are only one measure of student learning, I am proud of our results. It is a testament to our teachers and to our students themselves. We look forward to the growth the students will continue to make throughout this year.

At Tuesday's Opening Mass, Fr. Denis offered a special prayer at the conclusion of his homily asking the Holy Spirit to guide our school year. We also hope the Holy Spirit inspires our Student Council members who were inaugurated at the conclusion of mass. We look forward to their leadership this year.

A heartfelt thank you is extended to Mr. Martin and his hardworking landscaping crew for transforming the Prayer Garden back to its' original beauty. This natural space provides students and staff a place for prayer and quiet reflection. Mr. Martin’s father, out of gratitude to the Sisters of Saint Joseph for the comfort and care given to his beloved wife, originally created the Prayer Garden. Mr. Martin continues his father’s legacy of honoring the Sisters of Saint Joseph out of deepest gratitude for their mission to care for others. Thank you for bringing renewed life to this very special place!

Thank you to those who joined us for the first through sixth grade Meet the Teacher Night last evening. We look forward to tonight's movie night sponsored by the Parent Ambassadors. I hope to see many of you there to watch Sing 2. Also, I hope to see many of you on Sunday for the Parish's annual outdoor mass and picnic. Click to read the entire newsletter.

Save the DATE: October 14th Home and School is excited to be hosting their annual Touch a Truck fundraiser again this year! Be on the look out for more information!

We capped off our first week back to school with an afternoon school assembly focused on kindness, the culmination of a week spent discussing kindness through Character Strong, a new program that will be used this year. Thank you to our Parent Ambassadors for welcoming parents back with this morning's coffee and refreshments. I would also like to thank our Student Council for leading our morning assemblies outside this week. With the beginning of the car line next week, morning assembly will move back inside. Next weekend, we have two special events that I would like to highlight. The Parent Ambassadors are hosting a Welcome Back Movie Night on Friday, September 15th (see more details below) and Holy Name Parish will be hosting its annual picnic on Sunday, September 17th.

We hope everyone has had a great few months filled with plenty of time for family vacations, bbqs, hikes, camps, and the many other activities that make summer special. We are looking forward to the opening of school on Tuesday, September 5th for our kindergarten through 6th grade students. We look forward to welcoming more than 75 new students joining us this fall. Click on the image for the Family Update in its' entirety.

This afternoon we will honor the Class of 2023 with a Graduation Ceremony in the Church. We look forward to awarding them their diplomas and celebrating their time at Holy Name. We wish them the best of luck as they move on to seventh grade.