"Why do we have so much art programming in the Saint Ann curriculum?"

First, the mission of the school calls us "to provide quality, innovative education" and to create a program that helps students "to foster a sense of self". We live out this mission partly through offering a comprehensive arts program, not found in many other schools; theatre arts, musical arts, and visual arts for all students, in grades K-8. Involvement in arts reveals glimpses of humanity and of ourselves and stimulates thinking about the world in ways unique and foreign to other disciplines. Acting a character, drawing a feeling, or drumming a cultural rhythm is engaging because it draws students outside of themselves and illuminates the world around them.

In addition to the personal development, arts classes enhance performance in other non-arts classes, such as math, languages, religion, literature, test scores, attitudes, social skills, critical and creative thinking. They exercise and develop higher order thinking skills including analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and problem-solving. Study after study suggest that students learn more, integrate more, participate more, score higher on standardized tests, and have greater self confidence in schools that emphasize arts integration as a regular part of the curriculum.

"Why do we have those crazy Red, Navy and White cycles running on 6-week rotations throughout the year?"

As you can imagine internally, 6-week cycles in a school with 9-week quarters cause us more than a few headaches, however the benefits make it all worthwhile. First, all students get to experience concentrated units of study for each of the art disciplines; musical arts, visual arts, and theatre arts. Rather than having these classes once or twice a week, students have the classes from 3 - 5 times per week -- allowing for more effective teaching and learning. Secondly, the arts teachers don't have nine different preparations for each week, instead they see fewer number of different students each week allowing them to focus more intently on the students and the lessons. Thirdly, the concentrated units of study allow the classroom teacher and the arts teacher greatly enhanced opportunities for cross-curricular integration. We know that evidence of true learning occurs when students can use new information from day to day, and across different academic disciplines. Lastly, the order of the academic classes rotates each cycle for our Upper School students. For example, in the Navy Cycle 5th grade students start with Religion class and end with science, but in the White Cycle they start with math and end with Religion. All the classes change order from cycle to cycle allowing students to have subjects at different times during the day. Just like adults, each student performs better at different times of the day, rotating the class schedule provides important variations to their days. For cycle rotations and times, click here (pdf files):

• Red Cycle
• White Cycle
• Navy Cycle

"Why in the world is every Tuesday folder so large that it takes me all night to go through it?"

We know that people are busy and that many of us live on the verge of information-overload. This the reality of society today and we don’t want to make it worse, but we work hard to creatively and effectively keep you informed about events going on with your child and the school. I would dare say few other schools work as hard as we do to keep you informed about school events. Why you ask? I believe that a foundational element of any relationship is communication. After all, it is the quality and depth of communication we experience in our day-to-day existence that will ultimately determine the quality of our lives. Reflect on times in your life when doubt and the unknown have caused problems. I believe the relationship between the home and the school as strengthened and affirmed by the communication that flows between these two institutions.

The core communication occurs between the parent and the teachers. We’re honored to he present with your children nearly as much of their waking hours as you are. With the opportunity to she in your child's life comes the responsibility for teachers to share with you their thoughts and concerns. We've worked hard over the past few years to open many channels for this classroom communication to flow; email, phone/voicemail, websites, PowerSchool, Google Calendar, student planners (grades 2-8), teacher newsletters, and my favorite—talking face to face. Additionally, I communicate with you via the Tuesday Folder.

To be a good communicator, one also has to be a good listener. A helpful way to accomplish this is to remember that everyone is working to accomplish the same mission on behalf of the students. We need to hear from you about what’s working and what should be a priority to address. We can't fix everything, but we also can’t work on problems unless we are aware of them.

We can’t forget the importance of students learning self advocacy skills enabling them to address problems and concerns directly with the teacher or me. In the long run, successful students are those that are able to personally confront obstacles to their education. We in the school and you in the home can’t forget that ultimately we are both trying to work ourselves out of a job.

"What goes into deciding whether the school is closed for snow?"

The decision about whether to open school or not is never an easy one. I go into each of these decisions knowing I’m going to make the wrong call, then if it works out, even I’m surprised! Of course student safety is the primary deciding factor related to school closing decisions. But beyond that, I take into account two things. First, you pay us to educate your children and being at school is our responsibility and the job we get paid for. Who doesn't like a day off work? Bottom line, it doesn't really matter, our priority is to teach your children. Secondly, in 72% 01 your homes there is no one at home during the day, so calling off school causes a real imposition on you and your children. Because of that, we tend to be in session more than other schools. St Ann School works hard to be of service to the families and students.

Ultimately, you are the parents and you have to make the decision about whether driving in your neighborhood is safe or not. I make the decision based on what I think works for the majority of families, but each of you have extenuating circumstances that affect the safety of your driving situation.

Before making the decision to close school or not, I spend considerable time driving the western areas of town. Typically I drive west to Highway 249 towards Ashland City and then turn on River Road and head back to Charlotte Pike. Then I drive in the West Meade area and cross Charlotte Pike at Annex and drive throughout Charlotte Park and finally to Sylvan Park. This gives me a pretty good idea what the highways and neighborhood roads are like before I make a decision. While driving, I call other Catholic school principals to find out what they are seeing in their own part of town. I work hard to make a responsible decision.

Once a decision is made, I call the SAS Weatherline and Tweet those following our school (instructions for Twitter are found on the school’s homepage). Then I change the Google calendar and call the news stations. There are ample ways to stay informed.

"Why don't we put all the student assignments on Google calendar and get rid of the student planners?"

Well for most teachers, this would be the easiest thing to do, no more checking planners and writing all the assignments on the board. However, we realize by doing this we reduce the responsibility we place on the student and interfere with an important organizational skill development. What may seem an easy solution on one hand, is really rather complicated on the other. I can assure you this very discussion is revisited frequently by teachers throughout the year. Teachers want students to succeed, but not at the expense of failing to teach them important life skills. Short cuts, like relinquishing student responsibility for tracking upcoming assignments and pushing this responsibility onto parents, may produce short term results, but will end up hampering students later in life.

I have made a decision that teachers will use their website for static, little-changing information such as class rules and policies. Teachers will use the Saint Ann Google Calendar to communicate upcoming projects, quizzes and larger assignments, and PowerSchool largely for reporting grades. Students will use their planners to keep track of daily assignments, subjects need to be studied.

This will accomplish two things; first, you as parents will have the information you need regarding larger projects and at the same time students will be held accountable for managing and organizing their daily work. This results in students learning important organizational skills and allowing parents a balanced means of partnering with teachers in the learning process.

Secondly, teaching and learning are dynamic events with ever changing timelines. Assignments necessarily change as a class learns a concept more slowly or more quickly than anticipated. Therefore, posting future daily assignments to the Google Calendar or on PowerSchool would confuse even the most adept parents as a multitude at things can happen in the classroom affecting the pace and resulting homework assignments. By keeping assignments and daily work centered on what’s happening locally in he classroom, teachers and students can make homework adjustments on the fly. This reduces parent frustration caused by constantly changing daily homework due dates and at the same times teaches student responsibility.

"What is the story behind the two beautiful mosaics in the school library?"

The mosaics are direct result of the inspiration, generosity and hundreds of hours of hard work of a former parent and local artist, Mary Borgen. I would love to say that the school had anything to do with the beautiful work of art, but I can’t. It was a true gift that fell from the talented hands of Mary into the story of Saint Ann School.

A year or so after the Home and School completed the library renovation in 2006, Mary came to Ms. Graham with an idea. She was intrigued about what the purpose was for the large empty wall in the back of the library. The space was not designed for anything in particular, but rather was left for future development. Mary knew she had a plan for the space and went to work sketching out what would eventually become our beloved mosaic. Ms. Graham and I met with Mary to look at the initial drawings. When we saw them we knew current and future generations of students would be blessed by their beauty and that Mary's idea had a home.

As you can tell from the finished work, Mary wanted to send various messages to students. Significant among these is that we are all equal in eyes of Christ. To that end, she illustrated a wide variety of students playing with Jesus. So powerful is this image, that on the day we were looking at the pencil drawings the then second grade class came to the library, and spontaneously all 20 students could see themselves in the images. No one cared that during the encounter, other second graders had already pointed and called out that the figure represented them. Each was content to be in the circle of imaginary students encountering Jesus in a child’s game. The three adults at the table looked at each other incredulously and we knew that the designs that Mary brought that day were indeed filled with God's grace and effectively portrayed to students the infinite love that the person of Jesus brings to all. It comes as no surprise when I frequently see students staring at the artwork, enjoying its beauty, marveling at the artistry, and of course — naming which figure represented on the mural is in fact the one that looks just like them.

Please stop by and see the mosaics for yourself!

"Why do we have all those crazy arrival and dismissal procedures?"

We've worked on developing procedures that promote student safety and efficiency. Just like established morning routines and procedures get your family out of the house on time so too we use these routines to keep your child safe and arrival and dismissal running smoothly. At my house a couple of things out of the ordinary on one morning, and we all get to school and work late. A couple of parents not following arrival/dismissal procedures and student safety is compromised.

"Why do I have to sign my child in if I'm late?"

We don’t actually know your child arrived late until you sign them in at the main office. If you drop them off and they get lost getting to the front door of the school we have no way to know they arrived on campus. Infrequently we've found a child standing at the locked side door sobbing because they were dropped off with no staff person outside and the doors had been locked for the day.

"Why can't I turn left out of the parking lot at dismissal?"

Simply put, we release too many cars at one time during dismissal to get through the light, resulting in a backup in our own parking lot. This happens to a small degree in the morning, but because arrival happens more slowly and with fewer cars at once the back up is much less.

"Why can’t I park off campus and walk up to get my children at dismissal?"

The reason for this procedure is student safely pure and simple. What parents deem convenient or safe for their family may in fact be putting other children in danger. Imagine what dismissal would be like if you have parents and children walking all over the place at the same time we have cars queuing up at dismissal: an accident waiting to happen! Our staff are strategically placed to allow them to supervise children as they wait for and enter their cars. We can’t watch students on the 52nd street side of the campus nor could we watch children walking across 51st street to their waiting cars. Some families live close enough to campus that they have the opportunity to walk to and from their home: don’t think they are somehow working the system to their advantage.

Bottom line -- we need you to follow the policies in order to keep all the students safe. Yes, this means even if you are in a hurry, or tired of waiting, or have crying children. Help us care for your children by following our simple arrival and dismissal procedures.

"How do you arrive at the prices you charge for lunch?"

This question is based on the following letter received from a Saint Ann parent:

Dear Mr. Foreman,

Another of the hallmark's of Saint Ann's school is the wonderful lunches and options that the children receive every week.  They rave about how wonderful the choices are, and how good tasting the food is.  We also have appreciated the amount of input about meal offerings and types of snacks that the school has solicited over the years; as well as, the extra special care that they take for those children that suffer from food allergies.  But there is one inconsistency that I have always been curious about.  Why does pizza day (the inevitable highlight of the lunch menu week) cost $4.00 for upper school children to get two pieces of pizza, but $5.00 for lower school children to get the same number of slices?  Do I need to ask Mr. Wiley for help with my addition?

Signed,

Overly Curious Parent At Large

We do occasionally use "innovative spelling" with our students but never "inventive math".  Thank you for the question "curious parent at large". (Yes, this is a real parent question -- I m not desperate enough to make up all of my own questions.)

I understand the question; why does adding an additional piece of pizza at $1.50 each to a Lower School $3.50 lunch raise the price to $5.00 -- one full dollar more than a two slice Upper School lunch? I'd love to tell you about a wonderful cost per calorie calculation we make, but rather it has to do with our communal life at Saint Ann. There are two main reasons this exists. First, the actual cost of each menu item varies; sometimes St. Charles Catering makes a reasonable profit on a lunch item and other times they barely break even. As an example, a hamburger costs the caterer more than the turkey dogs served. In this case, some lunch menus "subsidize" others. The charged lunch price stays the same whereas the cost to the caterer varies -- it all comes out in the wash. Secondly, there are times when the "profits" of the Lower School "subsidizes" the Upper School and times when the opposite is true.

In this case, the actual cost of the Lower School lunch is helping subsidize the Upper School lunch. When looking at cafeteria costs in their entirety, we need to ensure that St. Charles Catering makes a small profit over the course of a week, and on pizza day, we need to adjust charges so that we can ensure a small profit margin and maintain our food service program at Saint Ann.

"Why does Saint Ann include a gardening program as part of their curriculum?"

At Saint Ann we believe in teaching the whole person using all the senses. Gardening is about movement, appreciation of beauty, getting your hands dirty, smelling and tasting a successful harvest, and praising the God of all creation. True education is much more than just "book learning". Rather, our devotion to holistic education means we are concerned about improving every students’ spiritual, intellectual, social, physical and emotional development. You can’t do this by sitting in desks all day.

The Ofsted report on learning outside the classroom published in October 2008 recommended that ‘Schools and colleges should ensure that their curriculum planning includes sufficient well-structured opportunities for all learners to engage in learning outside the classroom as a key integrated element of their experience’. Learning outside the classroom can take on many guises, but school gardening can be one of the most potent.

Our garden must be seen for what it is—an outdoor classroom. Garden lessons integrate science, math, religion. reading and the arts. These lessons can spark a child’s imagination by making academic topics leap to life. We want our students to be curious enthusiastic life-long learners, and learning in the garden is an important means to that end.

"Why do we have recess and why is it so unstructured?"

Though recess uses up 100 minutes of the school time each week, it is an important part of the physical and social development of students. A school can't claim to be concerned about the whole child and not offer varied opportunities for students to grow stronger, healthier, and more socially competent. At Saint Ann we intentionally use a hands-off approach to recess. Children often have too much structured time, like that found at sports practices, planned parties, and "play dates". However, children need more safe free time to learn how to be friends, how to be leaders, how to use their creativitiy, and how to compromise with others. Recess is just that sort of time. The playground teachers monitor the students, but don't solve all their problems as students should be given opportunity to work some conflicts out on their own. Recess can be as much an educational time as the classroom.

"Why did Saint Ann recently switch to a new math curriculum?"

Our school's strategic planning process helps us maintain and pay for regular upgrades to your school's curricula. Your support of the 2011 Spring Fling helped us pay for a new school-wide math curriculum. We spent time researching and reviewing several of the most successful math curricum; such as Saxon Math, Singapore Math, Everyday Math and Pearson's Envision Math. We collectively chose Envision Math because of its use of hands-on math manipulatives, fun math activities, online math textbook, and a rigorous, innovative curriculum. Research illustrated that schools across the nation have had successes with this math program. During the summer of 2011, teachers attended a training session and received the new textbooks to allow ample time during the summer to plan out a year's worth of math lessons.

"How does the school accommodate my child's unique academic needs?"

Wow! If this question doesn't drive at the heart of teaching and learning anywhere. We take these accommodations, or differentiation as it's sometimes called, seriously. In the past, our yearly faculty read has been a book on how to best differentiate within the classroom. From that discussion we realized we need a variety of tools to help us identify student academic strengths and weaknesses. Our current use of Yearly Progress Pro (YPP) allows standardized assessment twice a month. Once we identify strengths and weaknesses, teachers can structure learning environments that address the variety of learning styles, interests, and abilities found within each classroom. Innovative instruction, rigorous arts, creative and technology opportunities are another way to ensure all students are getting what they need.

"What do teachers do all day at school?"

We have a most unbelievable group of teachers who not only work hard to prepare for and teach every day, but they also put in countless hours doing curriculum planning, meeting with peers and parents, and grading papers.

Teachers arrive between 6:45 and 7:15 to prepare for the day as there is little time once the 8:00am bell rings. During the day, teachers are working hard to teach important concepts to 20 eager, yet 20 different students who learn differently and at different paces.

During planning time they call or email parents, meet with the principal or colleagues, or get ready for the remainder of the daily lessons. (We do give them time for lunch!)

After school, if there are no meetings, teachers plan for the upcoming day or grade papers; some of this is done at school and the remainder at home. Have you seen how much teachers bring home to do each night? Teaching is a fast-paced and rewarding occupation!