Office for Schools

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Even as we are galloping into the final stretch of the 2018-2019 school year, planning for next year is well underway. At this time of the year I am often approached by our Catholic school members who are discerning either a move up or a move out of Catholic education looking for an answer (e.g., taking an administrative position, considering retirement, transitioning to another Catholic school, etc.). My question is the same:If you could do anything with your life, what would it be?

Too often people are bound by fear when it comes to change, preventing them from being all that God has intended them to be. My own operating principle has always been to never let fear be the deciding factor in life’s decisions. No regrets. This becomes a question of mission, a question of knowing where you are essentially rooted. Our collective mission in San Diego/Imperial Catholic schools is to educate in the image of Christ for our Church and for our world. If our eyes are ever-fixed on the One who called us into this ministry in the first place, then we can be assured that we will have strength for the journey. Remember Peter walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33)? There’s a lesson in that scenario for all of us.

Wherever you are in your journey of faith, your Catholic school, or life in general, I encourage you to live in the post-Easter promise that not only is God with you, but God will transform you to meet the challenge. We are each in the process of “becoming.” We never quite arrive. Together, I believe that we are working toward an audacious vision that is a connected to our “becoming” as a Catholic educational body. Wait for it…Catholic schools can transform our world. I told you it was audacious! Our Catholic schools graduate leaders who understand the needs of our world and their role in making a difference. Whether you realize it or not, you have a part in this. More importantly, there is nothing to fear.

Thank you for all you do for all the students you so faithfully serve. You continue to guide them to high academic achievement and they are coming to know the person of Jesus Christ throughout.

As you wind down the current school year and look forward to the next, never forget that you can do all things through God who strengthens you. Let’s finish 2018-2019 strong, friends!

In Mission,

John

• Congrats to our two CA Green Ribbon Schools! St. Martin of Tours and St. James Academy! St. James Academy has been named a California Green Achiever, and will be nominated to receive the prestigious National Green Ribbon School designation from the U.S. Department of Education.
• As shared at our final principals' meeting, all 4th grade teachers in the Diocese of San Diego will be meeting in a 4th grade PLC on May 17, 12:30-4:00 at the Pastoral Center to discuss the implementation of the new CA Native Peoples 4th Grade Modules.
• Our annual Catholic Educators' Banquet at the Academy of Our Lady of Peace is coming up on May 30! Early bird pricing ends May 10. See details below.
• Don't forget to purchase your tickets for our annual Catholic Schools' Night at the Padres! Ticket information is below. Check out the special staff offer as well - fewer than 25 tickets left for this special offer!

Click here to register for the webinar below. This 30-minute webinar will familiarize schools to the new SD Catholic reporting template as well as provide an overview of the available resources and necessary steps to become an SRG user.

This spring, 24 SD Catholic teachers participated in the Inclusive School Practices certificate program. We would like to encourage all educators to consider forming school-based teams and registering for the next cohort. If you would like to connect with a teacher who participated this year, please indicate on the interest form. All SD Catholic educators who would like to participate, need to complete the interest form as well as the SDCOE registration form linked below.

Program and registration information: https://www.sdcoe.net/human-resources/teacher-prep/Pages/certificate.aspx

SUMMER BOOK STUDY - VOTE NOW!

Vote for the book you'd like our group to read this summer - click here. The selected book and the RSVP will be shared in our final e-news.

The first 20 respondents to RSVP in May will receive a copy of this text for free as long as they attend the first session. You will receive an email confirming your attendance in mid-May. We will meet 3 times this summer (sessions 2 & 3 will be mutually agreed upon dates) at the Pastoral Center.

Where: Pastoral Center

When: Monday, June 24 at 2:00 pm

RSVP: Will be shared in final 2018-2019 e-news

Do you need to clear your Preliminary CA Credential? If so, consider participating in the diocesan Induction program sponsored by SDCOE. Please complete an Interest Form to receive more information on clearing your credential.

Do you already have a CA Clear Credential? If so, would you like to support one of our Catholic school teachers through the Induction process? Mentors (formerly called support providers) receive stipends for their work. Complete the Interest Form.

All Induction information can be found on the PL Website

The 5th annual STREAM Festival 2019 will be held on May 15, 2019 (12:30-3:00) at Good Shepherd School. This festival will be comprised of several events, including: a design challenge (Kid Spark), a STREAM showcase, and mini-STREAM contests.

Register your team(s) here. Final registration confirmations will be sent our next week.

Click here to access the SD Catholic Professional Learning Website. Click here for the latest Professional Learning e-newsletter.

Forty TK-12 participating teachers shared their action research at our annual Induction Colloquium. Read the executive summaries here! Thank you to all of our support providers who helped guide our participating teachers through this process!

The Catholic Educators Awards Banquet will take place on May 30 at the Academy of Our Lady of Peace. To take advantage of Early Bird pricing on tickets/tables before May 10, please click here.

If you missed out on acknowledging any of your employees' milestones, please email the information to Anne Noya as soon as possible. We are recognizing those with 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 years of service, in addition to any school employee who will be retiring at the end of this school year.

Congratulations to all participating schools! Congratulations to St. Joseph Academy who represented the Diocese of San Diego in the annual State Academic Decathlon in San Francisco!

It's back and even better!! Join us for Catholic Schools Night at the Padres on May 31 as they take on the Marlins. The game starts at 7:10 pm.

NEW! ONLY 28 TICKETS LEFT!! Limited to the first 150 people, the Padres invite all of the Catholic School teachers and staff to celebrate this year's Catholic School Night at Petco Park in the Estrella Jalisco Landing! Located in Left Field, this space is ideal for guests to mix and mingle against the backdrop of gorgeous Petco Park! All food and drink included! Menu: Fresh Popcorn, Roasted Ballpark Peanuts, Ballpark Hot Dogs, Veggie Dogs, Sodas and Water

Click link to purchase tickets for this special opportunity - SD Catholic school staff ONLY ($49 - Includes all you can eat from menu above and game ticket for Estrella Jalisco Landing): https://groupmatics.events/event/CatholicSchoolStaffOffer

Click link for general flyer to share with school community (Ticket order form below!): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nyIqsbVXv2KC7hqmyZqRKIGF1GVWgCcy/view?usp=sharing

Link to ticket order form (share with your school families): https://drive.google.com/file/d/18cQupUfb9n2-fR4plIZE1aAxWkq_Cape/view?usp=sharing

The diocese is also holding an online job fair again this year. Click on the attachment below for more information on how to sign up. Your information, including resume, will be available to all principals who may have open positions for the 2019-2020 school year.

We have a new STAR web page that is accessible from the Schools page of the Diocesan website. Once you are on the Schools page, you can click on Professional Learning for Principals and Teachers. There you will see different tabs across the top. Click on "More" and there you will see Renaissance STAR. The page has templates, tips, and reports for improving your use of the STAR data. Click here to check it out!

If you're looking for ACRE analysis templates, check out the samples here. If you have a template you currently use, please share. Thank you!

We have 6 schools going through the full WCEA/WASC accreditation process next year as well as a number of school revisits. If you are interested in serving on a team, please discuss with your principal, and then complete this Interest Form. If you would like to learn more about the WCEA/WASC process and your responsibilities as a team member, please see the Visiting Committee handbook here. Thank you!

The state of CA purchased licenses to Britannica and Teaching Books for all PK-12 schools. All Catholic schools have FREE access to these resources. I have linked the resources to our professional learning page. Please ask your principal for your school's user name and password as this information was shared with principals in a recent Administrator's E-news.

Good Shepherd teacher, Connie Hubbard, recently had a successful author visit and would like to share this information with our schools in case they are interested in scheduling a school visit.

The National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) releases monthly information for parents as part of their commitment to parent engagement. Please see all flyers here.

Email: anoya@sdcatholic.org
Website: http://www.sdcatholic.org
Location: 3888 Paducah Drive, San Diego, CA, United States
Phone: 858-490-8240
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sdcatholicschools/
Twitter: @DioceseSDschool