February 27, 2020
On Thursday, February 27th, we gathered in the St Teresa Church to Welcome our New Principal, Ms. Nicole Garelick Fresca for the 2020-2021 School Year. The Meeting was for Ms. Garelick Fresca to introduce herself to our St. Teresa Families. Our School name will be changed to:
St. Teresa- St. Rita S.T.R.E.A.M Academy.
Key Points of our Meeting:
- Ms. Azzopardi will be our Assistant Principal and S.T.R.E.A.M Coordinator
- We are keeping our St. Teresa logo and adding St. Rita to our signage.
- We will be adding more UPK classes to hopefully retain students for Kindergarten
- Combined we should have over 300 students in grades K-8th
- With the larger enrollment, we can implement a security guard at our front door
- We were not updated on our current teachers’ placement for next school year. We were told that the Archdiocese is basing their decisions on tenure
- As for class sizes, we must wait till registrations are complete, then we can better gauge how many students will be in each grade.
- CYO Sports will remain Parish based. Any additional questions should be directed to the CYO coordinator
- Uniforms:
- We will combine our school colors: Navy Blue, Burgundy, White and Gold.
- Ms. Garelick Fresca will display a few samples in our foyer for families to be able to vote on which colors and uniforms they prefer.
- Uniforms will still be purchased at Flynn O’Hara
- School shoes will also be purchased at Flynn O’ Hara
- On May 12th, we will be hosting a Parent reception for both schools to mingle.
- We will display the new uniform at this event
- The new uniform will not be mandatory for the 2020-2021 school year unless your child outgrows their existing uniform and you are ready to invest in the new uniform.
- Arrival & Dismissal procedures will be changed. Further Info will be shared at a later date
- The request that the current HSA board stay on in full and combine with St. Rita’s board for 2020-2021 school year.
- We will continue to blend our school traditions and events
- After School programs will be announced at a later date.
- Ms. Garelick Fresca will be in communication with us predominately through emails and IRIS alerts
- We are keeping script in 2nd grade
- We will introduce Sol – IPAD based program
- St. John’s University will provide Professors to come to our school to teach S.T.R.E.A.M lesson plans
- SJU will offer a summer program for our students to attend
- More information will be shared at a later date
- Partnership with St. Joseph By the Sea
- As for Foreign Language – no decision has been made between offering Spanish or Italian
- In August, we will be hosting a Back to School Family Night
We look forward to a smooth transition and a prosperous merging of our two schools. We are aware that our families have many unanswered questions for our new principal. Please email any of your questions, concerns and thoughts to Ms. Azzopardi and she will forward your email to Ms. Garelick Fresca.