|
|
|
Message from the Principal
Welcome to the School of Saint Elizabeth!
As you tour our website, you will learn about our philosophy, our programs and all of
the exceptional happenings that take place at our school.
As principal, I believe that all children require a caring environment that is safe and structured,
an environment that allows and provides for individual and collective growth. Children who
participate in their individual learning also impact their peers academically and socially. This
caring culture is based on Christian values that permeate all activities. Since each child is a
unique individual, he has the right to learn in his or her own way to insure success. To this
end instructional strategies such as differentiated learning, school wide enrichment,
independent learning, and targeted supplemented instruction ensure the academic success
of all students. It is also important to note as a Catholic community of learners, that maximizing
our learning via collaborative learning is also critical to our overall success. An initiative for
the 2011-2012 school year will include the continued development of a sense of empathy via
service. Our children have responded well to the challenge by Mrs. Sullivan and her second graders
to “just do something for others” during the past two years and have registered these good works
on our website. All of our students will do more in this area as we develop projects to “give back”
as a community. Our eighth graders will continue our relationship with our “sister school,”
Immaculate Conception, in the Bronx for joint service projects this year.
My vision for the School of St. Elizabeth comes from its existing mission statement: “to impact
the world positively by nurturing children with Christian values in a Catholic academic tradition
of excellence.” We at our school have a ninety-five year history and tradition that we will rely upon
as we move forward in the future.
During the past three years, we have begun technology upgrade initiatives with the help of
our staff. This endeavor will continue this year with the infusion of computers, Smart boards and
other assistive technology. This is in addition to our Elmo LCD projectors and our own mobile
internet ready lap top lab. Our school is now one of the many Diocese of Metuchen‘s schools
to implement the Power School program. This web-based application automates critical functions
such as attendance, scheduling, classroom grading and reporting. Parents are able to gain access
to their children’s grades and track their progress. This time-saving tool allows our school to focus
on our primary missions – faith formation and student achievement. During the previous school
year we were able to also upgrade our instructional technology with the acquisition of two
mobile “ELMO” LCD projectors and a mobile internet ready lap top lab.
We are also offering several exciting professional development opportunities for our
instructional staff. Some of these offerings will be coordinated by the Diocese of Metuchen, and
some will be funded and sponsored through NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND grant money. Some of
these topics are in the area of reading and writing instruction, differentiated instruction, interdisciplinary unit planning, the common core standards, new assessment trends,
school-wide enrichment, and independent study . As our school moves forward we remain
committed to ensuring excellence in staff development opportunities which is a critical microcosm of creating lifelong learners in our professional staff and our students.
Please feel free to visit our school. We love the excellent things occurring here. Our halls
resonate with warmth and positive energy.
Thank you and God bless you.
William T. Venezia, Principal
|
|
