From the Principal:
Welcome to the website for St. Joan of Arc Catholic School. We hope you find it informative and interesting.
I am in my seventh year as principal at St. Joan of Arc School. I am proud to say this school has the best faculty and staff in the city of Indianapolis. If you don’t believe me, just ask around!
I am a product of Catholic schools. I believe Catholic schools provide an excellent education. St. Joan of Arc is even a step beyond the others because our community is truly diverse religiously, socio-economically, racially and culturally. This allows our students to learn with a more realistic understanding of the world. This is why we believe St. Joan of Arc is your best choice for Catholic Education.
The school is fully accredited, preschool through eighth grade, by the State of Indiana and the North Central Accreditation Association. Recently, St, Joan of Arc, along with the other schools in the Archdiocese, had our accreditation status changed from regular to Freeway Accreditation. This provides for some flexibility in exchange for achieving and maintaining high levels of performance. The flexibility will allow us to focus on school improvement in the areas of Catholic Identity, academics, and institutional advancement. St. Joan of Arc School has also been designated as an Exemplary School by the State of Indiana.
Be sure to check out the link on the left side of the page, Accreditation/ISTEP to see our dramatic improvement over the past 5 years.
The school provides some financial assistance, and accepts CHOICE Charitable Trust funding.
Again, welcome, and please contact me at mpsharpe@sjoa.org if I can answer additional questions or take you on a tour of the school.
Our school parents are very supportive and would be most happy to talk to you about SJA as well. Please let me know if you would like to learn more about the school from a school parent perspective.
Mary Pat Sharpe
Our Principal, Mary Pat Sharpe
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This Week’s Letter from the Principal:
6.13.10
We are very proud of our 2010 eighth grade graduates!
Although they were a very small class, they were an awesome group! We will miss them as they move on to their chosen high schools.
William House Brebeuf High School
He received the Fr. Pat Doyle CYO Award, The Dr. Gary Tollefson Science Achievement Award and the Families Supporting Faculty (FSF) Scholarship.
Joe Kern Cathedral High School
He was honored with the Joanne and Jack Cougan Memorial Award.
Clay Miller Cathedral High School
Clay was chosen to receive the St. Joan of Arc Altar Server Award and the H. Jack Baker Endowed Tuition Grant for a student from St. Joan of Arc School attending Cathedral High School.
Miles Murray Bishop Chatard High School
Miles was the recipient of the President’s Scholarship from BCHS, the Rees Morgan Book Fund Scholarship, and the St. Joan of Arc Pastor’s Award
Aerial Patterson Cathedral High School
This young lady was the recipient of the Spirit of the Irish Award, and the H. Jack Baker Endowed Tuition Grant for a St. Joan of Arc graduate attending Cathedral High School. She was also honored with the Fr. Pat Doyle CYO Award and the Rees Morgan Book Fund Scholarship.
Tracy Summers Cardinal Ritter High School
Tracy received the Joanne and Jack Cougan Memorial Scholarship as well as the Archie and Betty Smith Education Scholarship.
LIS
Patrick Johnson and Kiehler Joyce, the recipients of the first annual St. Joan of Arc Leadership, Integrity and Service Alumni Scholarship, were recognized at the Cultural Arts event this past May. This program is for a fifth grade boy and girl who will be entering Middle School at St. Joan of Arc in the fall.
A St. Joan of Arc Leadership, Integrity and Service (LIS) Alumni Scholarship has been made possible by those who have contributed to the St. Joan of Arc Annual Fund this year.
The scholarship will be awarded annually. The $1000.00 scholarship will be applied toward tuition and is renewable through the scholar’s eighth grade year for a possible $3000.00.
The scholar recipients will demonstrate an ongoing commitment to Leadership, Integrity and Service throughout their Middle School experience. They will be required to complete a project by the end of each year that reflects the L.I.S. topics. The scholarship recipients will work with members of the L.I.S. committee on the development of the project and portfolios throughout the school year.
Thanks to Mrs. Schenck, Ms. Hatfield, Ms. Batt and Mrs. Powroznik, for their time and effort for the Cultural Arts Event this year. Thanks to the students for sharing their knowledge of the European countries with us. As always, thanks to the teachers and staff who give so much of themselves for our students.
Congratulations to the students who participated in the CYO Track finals last night!
Tomorrow is the Walk-A-Thon and Field Day. Pray for beautiful weather! Thanks to the Athletic Committee, the Field Day committee and FSF for organizing this fun filled day. Volunteers are always welcome to walk with the students, serve as crossing guards, help with lunch and provide the teachers a break during the afternoon.
Next week is our last week of school. Please note the dates and activities:
May 21 Walk a Thon and Field Day
May 23 Parish picnic after 10:30AM Mass
May 24 8th graders to Kings Island
May 25 Athletic Banquet
May 27 Kindergarten Graduation at 9:00AM
May 27 8th Grade Graduation at 7:00PM with dinner at 5:30PM
May 28 Last day of school; prayer service and awards at 9:00AM
Dismissal at 1:00PM
We wish Mrs. Ditsch, Mrs. Powroznik, Mrs. Schaefer, and Mrs. Groves the very best in their future beyond St. Joan of Arc School. They have been a blessing to our students!
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Congratulations to our choir and band on their successful first recording. A special thank you to Ms. Hatfield who has worked with the students and orchestrated this opportunity! The students sounded fantastic! I was so proud of them. The CD’s will be available for sale at our Growing the Arts fundraiser in August. The Growing the Arts Annual fundraiser allows us to continue providing a variety of art experiences for our students. This year GTA will be held at the Indiana Repertory Theatre on Saturday, August 21st. MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
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Last Friday we were honored to have Governor Mitch Daniels and U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood visit the school to kick off our Safe Routes to School Program. The SRTS team will be choosing a firm to help guide us through this project with the Dept. of Transportation.
I want to thank two of our city county councilors, Jackie Nytes and Joanne Sanders, for donating funds for the bike raffle. With the help of Charlie Revard, we were able to raffle off a new bike from Bike Line. Ms. Sanders also gave us two of her family bikes to raffle. Several bike helmets were included in the raffle.
We had over 100 students walk or ride their bikes to school on Friday! It was great to see parents walking and riding their bikes, as well!
Students will complete ISTEP+ testing today. We are supposed to receive the results before school lets out for the summer.
We will be opening 2 new classrooms for 2010-2011. There will be 2 first grade classrooms and 2 fifth grade classrooms. Mrs. Clouse will be moving to first grade to join Ms. Scheidler and Mrs. Bridget Young will be teaching fifth grade with Mrs. Yohe. The Mini Monarchs are also opening a second room for 2010-2011.
The basement of the school will be getting a face lift. We will have 7 classrooms in the lower level. There will be 3 preschool rooms, the resource room, religion classroom and art and music classrooms. This work will be done over the summer. The toddler room of Mini Monarchs will be located in the current Mini Monarch Room. The Infant room will be upstairs in the current art classroom.
There are lots of exciting things going on at St. Joan of Arc School. Thank you!
We will be sending out a survey to get your feedback on our new programs we initiated this year; Spanish K-8, Enrichment program for primary and the Gifted and Talented Program. Teachers will also be asking students to answer surveys in all their classes. We are aiming to have all surveys completed the second week of May. Thank you for helping us continue to improve the programs.
EMAILS are a great way to communicate quickly. However, they also can cause miscommunication. I would ask that parents remember teachers are teaching throughout the day, therefore, they are not able to return emails as quickly as you wish. An Email can also be misinterpreted. The best way to talk with a teacher is to schedule a conference, if there is a concern. This also allows both parties time to process before they discuss an issue.
My other recommendation regarding Emails you may send to a teacher or staff member is to not include other parents in the Email. We run into an issue with confidentiality when this happens. Thank you for your help with this matter.
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Mrs. Groves has announced her retirement at the end of this school year. She is an expectant grandma and is ready to focus her attention in that direction! We are very excited for her, but will miss all the great things she has brought to St. Joan of Arc; as a student, alum, teacher and administrator!
We welcome Molly Perry who will replace Mrs. Groves as the Middle School Math teacher and GT Math facilitator for the 2010-2011 school year. She is a graduate of St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN. She has a degree in Elementary Education with an endorsement in Mathematics and endorsement in Middle School/Junior High education. Mrs. Perry taught Middle School Math at Central Catholic School in Indianapolis and was the Math Curriculum Coordinator for the Project Relates Grant Program. Currently Mrs. Perry is on the clinical faculty at the University of Notre Dame. She has a daughter who will attend Mini Monarchs.
The students have completed the first ISTEP+ testing period. They seemed to do very well. It is true, we allowed students to chew gum during the tests! Snacks were provided throughout the morning to keep their brains functioning at a high level!
During Lent, fasting is another traditional practice.
Suggestions for Fasting
Lent is a good time to think about those things we seem to depend on more than we need to; eating, alcohol, or even shopping so mention a few.
Decide as a family on some food or beverage that you will all give up together.
Watch less TV
Cut back on time spent on the computer or phone
Focus on a bad habit you have such as gossiping, being critical, complaining or not getting school work done on time. We can place ourselves in God’s care and try to give it up or make a positive improvement in these areas.
Mark Your Calendar for Growing the Arts fundraiser on August 21, 2010. This annual event will focus on raising funds for our performing arts at SJA.
Winter Weather—School Closings
If we have to close school, it will be announced through the TV stations, on the school website, and those who are using SKOOP, will receive a text message. I will also ask Mrs. Kaczmarek to send out a Homework Watcher message.
I usually do not call weather related late arrivals or early dismissals. Too many parents need to get to work and this is an inconvenience. We will not count tardiness when the weather is bad, so take your time on the roads! If it is more convenient to pick your child up early from school because of the weather, just call and let us know you are on your way.
PLEASE note that if your child is sick for 3 consecutive days, we need a doctor or medical note when the child returns to school.
Save A Spot
Save a Spot for the 2010-1011 school year will be open to all beginning January 31st, at our Open House. Current families and parishioners may preregister before the Open House to save a spot.
BABY NEWS!
CONGRATULATIONS to Emily Clouse (our Kindergarten teacher) and her husband Ryan on the birth of their first child, Jacob Ryan. He arrived at dismissal time last Friday, December 11th. All are doing well and enjoying this special time.
VIRTUS Training
Parents, relatives and friends of St. Joan of Arc who are working regularly with our students, must have VIRTUS training. This would include parent volunteers who assist coaches, scout leaders or volunteers with scouts, classroom assistants who work daily or weekly in the school. I have a list of those who I know have had the training. If you can’t remember if you attended the training, check with me. If you have not yet had training, you will need to register. If you do not have VIRTUS training, and are not registered for a January class, you will not be able to continue working with the students second semester. I apologize to those who this might affect, but please realize I also must follow Archdiocesan policies.
If you had VIRTUS training but did not register on line or keep up with the on line readings, you will need to go through training again. Please visit www.VIRTUS.org for more information.
We do not want to discourage volunteers, but we do need to be sure our children are protected. Thank you for your understanding.
NEW TARDY POLICY:
The school Commission and the administration have adopted a new policy for tardiness at St. Joan of Arc School, in regard to how it affects Perfect Attendance.
The new policy allows students 1 “freebie” each quarter. This does not include a doctor’s appointment.
Many students strive for Perfect Attendance and we congratulate that effort. However, being tardy for school means you are not at school when you are suppose to be at school. School starts at 8:00AM. Tardiness also affects our Attendance Percentage which is kept by the Indiana Dept. of Education. Parents need to set the example for their children of being on time for work, school, and appointments. This is an important step in learning to be responsible. I am sure parents would be upset if the teachers showed up late for school on a regular basis. Thank you for dealing with this issue.
Teacher Schedules: Many of our teachers are part time at St. Joan of Arc. This allows us to be more flexible with such a small school. The teachers are only paid for the time they are contracted. So, if a teacher is instructing on Monday and Tuesday those are the only days she is actually working at the school. Sometimes this causes problems with communication. Most teachers have email access even if they are not at St. Joan of Arc. This is probably the best way to contact them. The next best way is to call and leave a message at the school office. This message will be put in their mailbox and they will receive it when they return for their next scheduled teaching day. If you have an emergency, please contact me at school and I will be happy to assist.
PLEASE be sure your child knows his/her family dismissal number and that you are displaying it in your front car window. As the weather gets colder, we will begin dismissing students from the gyn. Therefore, we need to be able see your family number as we call students out to get in the car for dismissal. If you have lost your number or can’t remember, be sure to call the school office ASAP. You can make your own sign, but we need to see it displayed in order to dismiss your child/children. Preschool will dismiss from the middle doors at 3:00PM, but the children will be kept inside until you arrive with your number displayed, then they will be sent to your car.
Lunchroom volunteers are ALWAYS welcome! It counts toward your 3 activities. We would also appreciate office help around lunch time, especially on Thursday. Please contact either Mrs. Burnside or Mrs. Kaczmarek if you are able to give us an hour once a week.
Mary Pat Sharpe
Upcoming Events!
We have again received a Keep Indianapolis Beautiful grant to continue the work to beautify the grounds and manage the community garden. We have 2 work days scheduled, May 12th from 8:30-noon and again on Saturday, May 15th from 9-1. We encourage you to join us!
On Saturday, May 15th, the scouts will also be finishing up painting the garage. Students need to wear their work clothes on May 12th, as they will be working outside in the morning with the volunteers from KIB.
The Walk a Thon/Field Day will be Fridat, May 21. Walk-a-thon containers will be given out on Friday, April 30th. We will be giving you more details as they are available. This is always a very special day for the students of St. Joan of Arc School.
