Saint Anselm Newsletter Week 9
Ocotber 9, 2026
The Principal's Perspective
A day off! Yes, Friday is our only day off in October and it is for professional development. Our staff will be looking at Star Testing, discussing curriculum, and identifying target students based on their grades.
A fantastic Update about pre-school school meals.
Effective today, October 8, 2026, and for the remainder of the school year, preschool students at our participating schools may now receive meals through the National School Lunch Program. The AOD food program has been working hard to secure this for our pre-school students.
What Does this mean? For students who already ordered meals for the Month of October, you will not be charged for those meals starting today.
If I did not order a breakfast or lunch for the month of October, can I put in orders now? No, the order has already been placed. We would not have enough food for students if we allowed that.
When you receive the November menus, please take advantage of this amazing program. It covers both the breakfasts and the lunches.
Gel filled squishy toys
We are 100% in support of students using school approved fidgets. Please know that Needoh squish balls or other fidgets that have gel or fluid on the inside are not permitted in school. These items burst and the chemicals get on other students. These chemicals can cause skin irritation, redness, peeling, or chemical-type burns if the toy breaks open and leaks onto the skin. Please know if a toy such as these is discovered they will be thrown away immediately as they pose a safety risk. If you have any questions on school approved fidgets, please contact Mr. Owens or Mrs. Wells.
Special Persons Day
Special Persons Day is October 19th. Special Persons Day is a day for that special person, a grandparent, godparent, aunt, uncle, or parent to come spend time with our students. It starts with mass at 8:30. Please be to the church by 8:25 because if you are there before mass starts, then the your student can sit with you. After mass, the teachers, students and special persons will go back to class for some fun activities. The event will end at 10:15. Please fill out the RSVP form, indicating if there is a special person coming, and who that special person will be by October 14th. https://forms.gle/xQM1SvaxYu5rELDQ7
Veterans Day
We are trying to decide if we are going to do a special veterans mass on Monday, November 9, 2026. We would love to honor the veterans in your families. We would like to ensure that we have enough people interested in attending that we do not put any individuals on the spot. Please, if you have a veteran in your family, and they would like to attend, fill out the RSPV form so that we can determine if we will move forward with the program. https://forms.gle/9VY6KVXvrhCDNAa98 . Please RSVP by October 22nd.
AI in schools
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the new challenges schools are facing, and it is something educators have been navigating for several years now. I am not anti-AI. In fact, I think AI can be an incredible tool for students and teachers when it is used appropriately. The concern is not the technology itself; the concern is when we allow the technology to replace the thinking and learning that students need to do for themselves.
I have found that students will sometimes take homework home with the intention of “getting help,” but that help can look very different from what we might expect. A student may take a question from a homework assignment, type or speak it into ChatGPT or Google Gemini, and then simply copy the answer onto the assignment. AI can even be instructed to write an answer using language that sounds like it came from an 11-year-old.
So why am I bringing this up?
Over the past few years, I have noticed a trend that should concern all of us: some students are doing very well on their homework but are not performing at the same level on assessments. There can be many reasons for this, but one increasingly common explanation is that the homework does not always reflect what the student actually knows and can do independently.
Our assessments are completed in a controlled setting where students do not have access to AI or other technology to provide answers. As a result, a student may receive an A on a homework assignment because they submitted an excellent answer, but then struggle on the assessment because they did not actually do the thinking required to arrive at that answer.
Getting the right answer is not always the same as learning. At Saint Anselm, we want students to use technology and AI as tools while still doing the thinking, problem-solving, and learning themselves, and that is something we must work together as parents and educators to encourage.
Mass
We will be celebrating mass every Monday for the rest of the year. Please join us. The church doors will be locked at 8:30 for safety reasons. Students in grades 2 and up will be staying after mass for the Rosary. I am excited that we are offering both adoration and the rosary every month. Adoration is a great way to refocus on what is the center of our Catholic Faith, the Eucharist being the true presence of the body and blood of Christ in our midst. The Rosary is am amazing prayer, that combines rich Catholic Traditions with mindfulness and meditation. The repetition of the prayer allows us to truly find our calm, relaxed self and focus on our inner dialogue with the Lord.
If you are picking up your student early, please make sure that you contact the office at least 30 minutes prior to pickup time. It is wonderful if you contact the teacher, but more important that you contact the office.
Just a reminder any billing for lunch or breakfast (early childhood) or for extra slices of pizza (all students) is done through the AOD food program website. https://4.files.edl.io/15b2/08/24/23/155752-5455dc5a-8fd3-4e56-a0d3-43d50b3e72e4.pdf
