St. Agatha Newsletter
Christ Centered, Academic Excellence!
May 4 - May 10
Staying Connected
Due to Covid-19 (Coronavirus) the school transferred from “attending physical” school to online learning. Our students have been at home for six weeks and have been doing their work virtually. Our teachers have been doing all they can to stay in touch with us. Some of the ways our teachers have been connecting with us are through Edmodo and Plus Portals, which our teachers use to assign the work and messages to us. Another way we have been staying in touch is through Zoom, a video conferencing platform, where teachers and students talk and review lessons assigned during the week. Teachers have also started using other platforms such as IXL and Khan Academy for the students to take courses and lessons to review what we have been covering. Our amazing teachers are still trying to implement more websites to make these tough times easier for all of us. So, thank you to all the great teachers for making these challenging times more bearable for us students and our parents. Please continue to stay home and connected.
-Felipe Fernandez, 6B
Knocked off Balance
The thing is, we see them enter our classes as 6th graders. They’re nervous, scared, and they don’t know what to expect, but we make an unspoken pact to take on this journey together. For two and a half years, it’s very similar to a tough uphill bike ride...together we’re working hard, getting over the humps, guiding them through their pitfalls. We see glimpses of their true potential, we work hard, and we encourage them to get to there.
When we get to 8th grade, we have the final push for high school. We continue the uphill journey preparing them, calming them from the anxiety that they are facing on one of the first big decisions of their lives. We lose sleep praying for them. We worry about all of them. They are ours too. What brings us peace is that we know God has a special plan for all of them. The results come in and we all exhale, we’re at the top of the hill! The months that come after are special…we get to celebrate! The downhill joyride has begun!
This is when we pray for them as they receive the Holy Spirit and are confirmed. When we play, sweat, and cheer them on donned in our school colors at their last Field Day and jokingly brag about the faculty’s win record at the annual volleyball game.
This is when the shy girl, with the messy hair, takes on the Fashion Show runway and she owns it! We see the beautiful, confident, young lady she’s become and we’re blown away!
This is when we see them rally behind a student that they choose, not because she’s popular, but because they’ve seen the face of Christ in her, for May Crowning. It’s when they sing at their last 8th grade mass together, the song they’ve been practicing with Mr. Bornot for weeks.
As their educators, this is when we happily spend a week, assembling their pins. The middle school teachers gather together, we bring snacks, Tere Veciana brings her killer rum cake and we assemble medal by medal. One by one. We iron the ribbons. We make sure that each child’s medal is flawless. We add pin by pin, one by one. We alphabetize them. At that moment, we see how far they’ve come. We cheer for them and we reminisce about their last 3 years. We remember funny moments and we recall some tough ones, but we’re happy because the journey has been fruitful.
The last days of school are a combination of happy, sad, and hectic…This is when we get to sign yearbooks and wish them well and remind them that they’ll always have a home in St. Agatha. It’s when the student you least expect, quietly hands you a thank you card and you realize all along that he was right there with you and that your class meant something to him.
It’s when we gather in the hallways as one St. Agatha body, and we clap for them, and we watch them take the halls that saw them grow for the final time as students of our school. Our tears are of joy, it’s not a goodbye…we know they’ll be back. We’ve given our all and we know they will be successful. We know, because they come back the following year and tell us how right we were all along, and how much they’re learning, and how prepared they are.
This year, time’s interrupted…in our classrooms it’s still March…
To our 8th graders, the St. Agatha Class of 2020, we, your teachers, want you to know that we stand with you. We miss these moments with you.
We are with you in your pain and in your joy.
We are united in faith and in hope.
We pray for you now and will continue to pray for you and what is to come.
Above all, we are so PROUD of ALL of you.
No one will forget this class. You will be etched in our hearts forever.
-Mrs. Quesada, Literature Teacher
Helpful Videos For Parents
How To Print Student Weekly Agenda
How To Submit Digital Assignments via PlusPortals
7th Grade Science Project
MUSTANG MERITS
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