As the 2021-2022 academic year nears its end, Catholic schools have continued to excel while fighting COVID-19. Schools are focused on improving administrative leadership and adopting new tools to help students succeed. Read all about their stories in this special section. Let us all pray for the safety and health of students, parents, teachers and staff as they finish the current term and look forward to summer break.
Four schools announced the retirement of seven longtime teachers and staff members. Conway, St. Joseph: Tamara McMillian has been a second-grade teacher for 24 years. Shannon Chamoun has been the K-6 art teacher for 12 years. Little Rock, Mount St. Mary Academy: A former teacher and youth minister, Lou Ann Gieringer has worked at the school for 16 years, most recently as the campus ministry director. Beth Pursley, dean of students, has been the MSM for 22 More...
When Immaculate Conception kindergarten teacher Kim Wine asked her students to journal about either Holy Week or “Wacky Weather Wednesday” April 13, as stormy weather raged outside, she had a few instructions first. “First thing you need to do is think about it. Count your words. Feel the sentence. Write the sentence,” she said, as students repeated each phrase, holding up fingers and moving their arms. “Am I going to help you spell a word?” Wine asked. “No,” More...
Every Friday, students at Trinity Catholic School in Fort Smith get a taste of Hispanic culture. Parent Agueda Guerrero leads a group of volunteers who cook lunch for the students to raise money for the school’s tuition assistance fund. While the school buys the supplies, a group of mothers prepare the food for some of the 212 students. On a typical Friday, they might serve grilled chicken with Mexican rice or pupusas, a flatbread traditionally made in More...
Standardized tests aren’t like they used to be. Students in the past were accustomed to dedicating days each spring to taking standardized tests to gauge where they were compared to other students across the state and country. Teachers would prepare their class for weeks to anticipate what might be on the test. The students filled in bubbles on sheets with their No. 2 pencil. Results came in the summer when the students had already moved on More...
Fayetteville church hopes to break ground this summer
Why am I becoming Catholic? RCIA students share journey
685 Arkansans prepare to join Catholic Church at Easter
Parochial schools can nudge some students to convert
Total solar eclipse: Get thee to the path of totality