Latest Updates

CSW: February 1 – Celebrate Your Students

Posted: January 20, 2022

What do you do to celebrate your student body?  Do you have events/activities recognizing your student body’s accomplishments?  Do you encourage students to reflect on the benefits of receiving a Catholic education?  All students contribute to your school community no matter how big or small.  Sharing stories allows current families and prospective families to see all of the wonderful opportunities Catholic education can bring.  Make sure you share these stories on your website/social media platforms.

Ideas for Celebrating your Students

• Have a Dress Down Day.
• During snack or lunch have a special snack for them (Philly pretzel, water ice, etc.).
• Make a special video from the faculty and staff.  Kids always love when they see their teachers doing something fun.   This can also be posted on social media.
• Highlight students’ achievements.  This can also be posted on social media.
• Wear your school colors.
• Teacher swap for a class period.  Have your Pre-K teacher do a fun activity with the 3^rd grade, etc.
• Schedule times for older students to do an activity with the younger students.
• Take pictures and short videos throughout the day highlighting your student body.  Families love seeing pictures of their kids on social media.  When they see pictures they instantly share them so all of their friends and family can see them.
• Have a “parade” for your students.  Make signs for morning drop-off, balloons, etc.  Celebrate your students.

CSW: January 31 – Celebrate Your Community

Posted: January 13, 2022

 

A central aspect of Catholic education is learning the importance of service to others.  Let’s celebrate our school community by taking part in service activities, both local and beyond!  What do you do on this day to celebrate your community? To me, we always remember how someone made us feel.  That feeling stays with us.  That feeling will then touch another person.  Let’s celebrate our communities and have warm feelings filer through.  CSW is a great opportunity to market our school.

Ideas for Celebrating your Community

• Do you have families who are essential workers?  Do you have families who are active duty military?  Have students create care packages for them.  Write personalized notes.  A handwritten note has a different “feeling” and “meaning” than one that was typed.
• Host a dress-down day fundraiser, asking students to donate $1 toward a charity.
• Schedule visits for community members/prospective families to come in for muffins and coffee.  This can be an opportunity to have your school community interact with members of your community/parish and along with meeting your students.  This can be another great way to have prospective families come into your school
• Have students make a thank you video that you can promote on your social media platforms and website.
• Schedule student lead community tours.  You can get alum, parishioners, prospective families into the school and they can “feel” the excitement and warmth of catholic education.
• Reminder that anything you do is a great way to market your school and your social media platforms and website.

 Whenever having any type of event or activity it is always a great practice to gather their information (name, address, and phone number, etc.).  Sending out a handwritten thank-you letter can go a long way.  Have a student, teacher, family member, board member etc. send a handwritten thank you letter.    Create stickers or small magnets that can go into the card.  Sticker mule is a great site for inexpensive stickers and magnets.  Create your own postcards that you can use to send out these written letters.  Vista Print is a great site for this.

CSW – January 20: Celebrate Your Parish ~

Posted: January 11, 2022

 

As we kick start CSW we begin by celebrating our parishes!  What a great way to do this than having a special mass on Sunday, January 30, 2022 for our school community and parishioners.  *TIP: Even if you are not a parish school, reach out to local parishes to see if you can be part of a Mass during CSW. This is a great way to reinforce the shared commitment of faith and academics forming the whole child. 

Tips on preparing to Celebrate Your Parish during Catholic Schools Week:

• Personally invite your school community, parishioners, alum, PREP students to mass.  Have your PREP students and current students have a special seat in the front that is reserved for them. Post on social media platforms, email invitations (make an invitation on Canva), mail an invitation to prospective families (PREP, CYO, baptism, families who have toured).
• Personally invite families who have children under 3 and have been baptized to mass letting them know about CSW.
• Involve students and teachers in the liturgy when celebrating mass by offering readings, speaking, and singing in the choir.
• Invite your Home and School, Board, students in uniform to welcome families to mass.  Do this at each mass.
• Have a family, alum, student share their story of your school at mass.
• Encourage random acts of kindness by distributing written prayers.
• After mass invite everyone to your Open House.  During Open House plan some activities for the kids like a scavenger hunt and once they are done with the scavenger hunt they get a prize (candy is always a hit).
• Throughout the day remind families about CSW and the events/activities you will be hosting.
• When posting on your social media platforms make sure you tag your parishes and tag us, as well, so we can see how you are celebrating CSW.

The Miraculous Medal Shrine is also  offering to come and bless classrooms and students during Catholic Schools Week right on site (or via Zoom if you prefer). Faculty, administrators, and ministers only need to reach out via our website—or just email Gina directly, gingiosi@cammonline.org to schedule a time to participate in this free event.

Visit the CSW web page for all of your marketing material needs.  Thank you for all that you do!  We can’t wait to see how our schools Celebrate Your Parish during CSW!

Celebrate Catholic Schools Week 2022!

Posted: January 10, 2022

 

Visit our 2022 Catholic Schools Week web page for more information and marketing tips and ideas!

Schedule of Daily Themes for CSW

• January 30 (Sunday):  Celebrating Your Parish
• January 31 (Monday):  Celebrating Your Community
• February 1 (Tuesday):  Celebrating Your Students
• February 2 (Wednesday):  Celebrating the Nation
• February 3 (Thursday):  Celebrating Vocation
• February 4 (Friday):  Celebrating Faculty, Staff, and Volunteers
• February 5 (Saturday):  Celebrating Families

Young Audiences Creativity Consultant Project

Posted: January 3, 2022

Please click the image below for the entire bulletin about this opportunity.

High School Placement Cards

Posted: December 9, 2021

High School Placement Cards are completed in January and June.  Please send your initial eighth grade placement cards by January 15 to the Assistant Principal for Academic Affairs of the Archdiocesan High School the student intends to attend.  If the student is undecided, the cards should go to the local Archdiocesan High School.  Placement cards for students attending private and public high schools are sent to the Office of Catholic Education in June only.  Thank you.

Presentation BVM Thanksgiving

Posted: December 9, 2021

 

 

Recently our school community came together to celebrate and give thanks for all God has given us this year. The Kindergarten and Honors Math students lead us in telling the story of the Pilgrims and Native Americans and how they thanked God for everything He gave them to survive in the world. Students from each grade then helped place leaves and pictures onto a tree of gratitude showing what our school community is thankful for each and every day.

Great Opportunity!! Barnes Art Adventures – Grades 5-8

Posted: November 3, 2021

Click HERE for the pdf version of the information below.

Questions?  Here are some answers.

CAR Has Come to Pres!

Posted: October 20, 2021

 

CAR (which stands for Creative Arts Rotation) is a new piece in the curriculum at Presentation BVM School. The inspiration for CAR came from the students! The teachers knew that the students wanted to participate in more after school activities but due to outside commitments and lack of transportation, were not able to.

After some brainstorming, the teachers came up with the CAR initiative. CAR allows every student at Pres to participate in these after school activities, but during school hours! For one hour every Friday, students throughout the building can be seen baking, learning life skills, creating various art projects, participating in Book Club, and more! Each trimester the students will begin a new CAR program which ensures that they will be able to get as many new and enriching experiences as possible.

We are looking forward to tackling this new adventure this year and hope the students love it as much as the teachers do!

2022-2023 Secretary Grant Registration Now Open!

Posted: October 4, 2021

The Office of Catholic Elementary (OCE) is proud to provide the Secretary Grant as a resource to support our elementary school teachers who have children that attend an Archdiocesan elementary school. Please note the list below for guidelines and qualifications:

• One parent/guardian must be employed full-time as an Archdiocesan elementary and/or early childhood school teacher at the time of submission of the application and continue to be employed in the 2022-2023 school year.
• The child/children must attend an Archdiocesan elementary (not early childhood) school in the 2022-2023 school year.
• The grant is applied toward elementary school tuition.
• The grant  is based on the number of applicants and the calculated need of each applicant, so award amounts may vary.
• The application process is a two-part process, as follows:

1. 1. Completion of the Secretary Grant Application. (This will determine the eligibility of the applicant.)
   2. Completion of the FACTS Application. (This will determine the amount of the scholarship.)

Please retain a copy of your confirmation for each application filed.

The deadline for submitting the application December 31, 2021. No applications will be accepted after this point. OCE is working to streamline the Secretary Grant process, as we understand that it has been confusing in the past. As we move forward, if you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us: cjennings@archphila.org