St. Wenceslaus School excited to welcome new students, staff

By Sarah Mueller, Principal

St. Wenceslaus School

While there are still lots of occasions for children and their families to enjoy fun in the sun, sleeping in, and all that summer has to offer – the time has come to begin thinking about returning to school! At St. Wenceslaus School, we are anticipating another exciting year of growth and opportunity. Thanks to the support, dedication, confidence and vitality of our whole school community children will again have the opportunity to explore their faith as they learn more about the world in which they live. We are excited to welcome new children to our school and eager to greet returning students.

Faith in Every Student is the theme that will guide our work with children throughout the 2004-05 school year. An important aspect of the mission that guides St. Wenceslaus School is our belief that all children can reach their potential and that it is our responsibility to provide a nurturing environment to make this possible. We look forward to reaching through diversity to help each child become the person she/he was created to be.

Teacher Workshop Week is always a busy and productive time for our faculty. This year our professional development activities will begin with a Bullying Prevention Workshop by Cordelia Anderson. Ms. Anderson is highly regarded in this field, is widely published and has appeared on national television shows. We are pleased to invite staff from Holy Redeemer and Holy Cross to join us for this learning experience. A follow-up parent information event will be announced later.

Summer has been busy around school. Our office and maintenance staffs worked tirelessly throughout the summer to make sure everything is in place and ready to go for our students and teachers. Thanks to our benefactors and our parish endowment, we were able to improve our facilities with additional lockers, by updating the music room and Learning Lab, and by adding technology support. Our Green Team for restored our beautiful landscape after construction. Curriculum was further developed. Our summer tutors worked hard to keep student’s academic skills fresh. It was a productive summer indeed!

We are extremely grateful for all of our returning teachers and staff and eagerly anticipate welcoming our new members to our team.

Courtney Bush – K-6 Music: Courtney is a 2003 graduate of the College of St. Benedict. After having supported this summer’s Generation Theater production, Ms. Bush is eager to begin her first teaching assignment.

Rebecca Smisek – Grade Six: Mrs. Smisek completed the requirements for her teaching license from the College of St. Catherine in the spring. We are pleased she will rejoin our staff in a teaching capacity.

Steve Krampf – Physical Education: Steve is a 2002 graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato. He will join our team in a part time capacity to teach primary level physical education and sixth grade health.

As our enrollment continues to increase, new instructional aide staff will also be joining us. Sherri Notch and Julianne Scrivener have been added to this team to support children and teachers.

Back to School packets were available in the back of church beginning this past weekend. Children have undoubtedly been very anxious to learn who their teachers for next year will be. That detail is included in the packet along with a host of other valuable information. All families are encouraged to pick theirs up soon.

Plan now to attend our Back to School Open House from 4 – 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 31. This is an occasion for children to meet their teachers, unpack their school supplies and meet their classmates. Parents will have the opportunity to fill out information forms and sign up for volunteer activities. We encourage all children and their parents to drop by for this event.