From the Principal's Desk

Saint Vincent de Paul School, inspired by its Catholic legacy, provides an educational environment where students take risks and challenge assumptions by embracing opportunities, learning to think innovatively, and growing courageously in relationship with Christ.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

-- Romans 12:2

Dear SVDP Community,

It’s hard to believe we’ve already closed the first trimester! Earlier this month, the Advisory Board met, and I wanted to share a few highlights from our discussion. I remain deeply grateful for your wonderful children and for your partnership with SVDP.

Your students took the STAR Assessments at the beginning of November. As you may recall, the diocese now administers three testing windows each year. Since the November test is no longer on the diocesan calendar, we are unable to provide “district” results. However, we chose to administer the STAR Assessments because the data is valuable in planning instruction and addressing student needs for the second trimester. You will receive your student’s STAR results on Friday, November 21st.

At SVDP, we view learning as a lifelong journey—not just for our students, but for our administration, faculty, and staff. We are always looking for ways to improve, refine, and grow as a school community. One area we are focusing on this year is shifting attention away from traditional letter grades and toward the learning process itself.

When students receive an assignment or assessment, the learning intentions are clearly communicated. When the work is returned, students are evaluated on how successful they were at meeting these intentions. The feedback, corrections, and suggestions provided are tools for growth. Students are encouraged to use this feedback to strengthen their understanding, build new skills, and apply this growth to future assignments. This approach reinforces the mindset that success is built through continuous effort, reflection, and improvement.

To support this focus on growth, we are introducing a shift in grading language for grades 3–8. Rather than emphasizing traditional letter grades, the language highlights mastery of grade-level content over time:

Please note that this shift in language will not impact high school applications; numeric grades will still be recorded and available for transcripts.

This change will help students and families focus on the questions that truly matter: “Am I growing?” and “Am I learning from past performance and improving?” By prioritizing learning over outcomes, we encourage students to embrace challenges, reflect on their progress, and develop resilience.

Thank you for partnering with us to nurture confident, resilient learners who carry a love of learning throughout their lives.

Julia Stahura, our Extended Care Director, will be leaving us and not returning after the Thanksgiving break. We will miss her smile and wish her the best on the next part of her journey.

We are excited to announce that Jillian Young will be stepping into the Extended Care Director position. Mrs. Young has after-school and summer camp experience that made her the perfect choice to fill this position.

Ayla Nathan will be joining our team full-time by supporting first grade and the front office. You may know Ms. Nathan from the after-school ceramics workshop she led last year. Ms. Nathan is a graduate of SFSU where she studied Psychology and Health Education.

As partners in your child’s education, we encourage you to review the CODE OF CHRISTIAN CONDUCT before reaching out to teachers or administration. Please consider the purpose of your email and the outcome you hope to achieve, always assuming best intentions. If emotions are high, give yourself a day to reflect before sending. Together, we can model respectful, faith-filled communication for our children.