Dear HFS Community,
We are incredibly grateful for the amazing year spent together. The amount of hard work and dedication that has gone into this year has contributed to a year of learning, service, community and excellence. We are proud of our students, faculty, and staff who have persevered and all of the families and parishioners that have supported us.
As a newcomer, I personally have felt welcomed by the entire Holy Family community and feel blessed to have become a part of it throughout the course of this year. We have made much progress this year and there is a lot to celebrate. Here are a few of the highlights:
Strategic Action Plan
- Implementation of a strategic action plan including: stakeholder surveys (families and faculty input), presentation of the analysis of each (to the School Board and faculty), creation of the 2021-2022 plan incorporating our WASC accreditation goals
- Addition of the State of the School Address (January)
- Beginning and end of the year family survey to measure growth
- 8th grade students moved upstairs to be better connected with the Middle School as a whole
- 7th grade students classroom renovation completed and new lockers added
- GAINS (Getting Ahead IN School) learning space renovation
- Initiation of Library renovation project
Focus on Student Learning
- Student Learning, according to February STAR data, has surpassed the pre-pandemic scores, indicating that we have eliminated the academic impact of the pandemic (February)
- Regular analysis of standardized testing data in faculty meetings
- Highest percentage of HFS students At/Above Benchmark on the STAR in the areas of Early Literacy and Reading in the past 7 years according to the end of the year data
- Addition of a school counselor with over 150 sessions and 28 students seen since February
- Incorporation of “bullying” chapter in the social emotional curriculum
- Creation of Unit Pacing Guides shared with families in August and regular check-ins throughout the year
- Brand new iPads for all HFS students and faculty
- Student-created school-wide rules
- Return of Athletics program
- 2nd place finish for Mock Trial and Academic Decathlon
Faculty & Staff
- Weekly collaboration meetings are held with a focus on continuous improvement and student learning (modification of school day to accommodate the meeting time)
- Use of mission-aligned criteria in the hiring process
- Creation of faculty and staff Norms of Collaboration
- Beginning of the year initiation orientation for new faculty
- Established Mentor & Support Program, encouraging the growth of new
teachers and leadership roles for veteran teachers
Families
- Beginning of Year Parent Coffees to get to know the Principal
- Parent Education Night held
- Collection of perceptual data (via surveys) throughout the year regarding events
- New Family/Student recruitment process focuses on developing community and encouraging the recruitment of families who believe in and want to support our mission
Faith & Community
- Collaboration with the Parish
- Return of special traditions
- Continued development towards forming disciples of Jesus Christ
Certainly, there is so much more that is not named here to celebrate and be thankful for. We pray that this work brings glory to His name and that God bless us as we plan for another excellent school year in the year to come!
Finally, thank you to our incredible faculty, staff, parishioners, volunteers, coaches, room parents, Parent Guild, and School Board who have helped to make this year memorable and successful. Thank you again for your support and care; it is truly appreciated!
As a school, we are proud to be an extension of Holy Family Parish and the work we have done together forming disciples of Jesus Christ. We ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers this summer and throughout the 2022-2023 school year. We cannot wait to see what the next chapter holds for Holy Family School!
Many summer blessings to all of you, and thank you for your continued support of our community.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Garzia
Principal