St. Gregory the Great Academy

Thursday 3/31 is a "Dress in Your Favorite Color" Out of Uniform day to celebrate National Crayon Day!

Two quick items:

NOTE: The lunch order form will be sent tomorrow afternoon; I am still finalizing two of the items.

REMINDER: Tomorrow (3/17) is a Green Out of Uniform Day (simply because it is my favorite color... 😉)

​​​​​​​Thank you,

Dr. Briggs

Challenges We Face.mp4

Meeting Our Challenges - I set out this afternoon to address some challenges we face as a school community, many of which have been aggravated by the pandemic. I decided that it would be easier if I were to record what I had to say (and let's face it, more people will likely listen than would read my epistle), so please access the the following link: https://vimeo.com/688209025

Please know that these thoughts come from a perspective of great love.

Thank you,

Dr. Briggs

Challenges We Face.mp4 This is "Challenges We Face.mp4" by St. Gregory the Great Academy on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

These are the air purifiers which are being deployed to each classroom. They are useful not only against the COVID-19 virus, but also against other pathogens and allergens in the air.

The first week of March is in the books, and we are approaching the first Sunday of Lent. I encourage everyone to use this Lenten season to assess your own relationship with God and to take an honest look at areas in which you wish to make some changes. Has the status of the world made you more cynical or less patient, thus treating others in a less than charitable manner? Perhaps the pandemic has kept you from attending Sunday Mass, and it is time to make that return now? Is it possible that the busyness of your schedule has caused time for prayer to move toward the bottom of your priority list? I hope that all of us are able to use the beginning of Lent as a time form self-reflection.

Moving to temporal matters, as you know, the requirement for school students and staff to wear masks has come to an end with today's dismissal. This decision is now to be made at the local level. The "lay of the land" here at SGGA has been very encouraging. We are ending the first week since November with zero reported cased of COVID-19. Our shipment of air purifiers for the classrooms has arrived (purchased with federal EANS funding) and the devices are being deployed as quickly as we can get them unpackaged, assembled, and in place. (These are three-stage purifiers, which use a standard filter, UV light, and a HEPA filter to clean the air.) Finally, there is an strong awareness of not sending sick children to school at this point, much more so than prior to the pandemic. With all of this said, there is very little reason to continue mandatory masking at SGGA, therefore mask wearing will become optional at SGGA effective Monday, March 7, 2022. For those who continue to feel that their child should wear a mask, this is perfectly fine and you are welcome to continue to send your child to school with a mask to wear.

It had been two years to the week since the entire school* gathered together in church, until today. In the interim, we missed months of in-person school, gathered outdoors for Mass, set up the portable altar in a classroom and livestreamed Mass throughout the school, and in the last month came to Mass in grade sections. This Ash Wednesday, we once again gathered together in our church as an entire school (with our grade buddies) as we began the season of Lent. Thanks be to God!

*Our Pre-3s visit the church at different times.

Last Thursday, a perfect day for outdoor learning. This Thursday, preparing for sleet. We like last week better!

We will have a 90 minute delayed opening tomorrow, Friday, February 25, 2022, in coordination with local transportation decisions. Students may arrive beginning at 9:15am. Lunch will be served as usual. Thank you.

Admissions

The 2022-2023 Application for Admission is now open. Click below for more information.

Admissions

What Parents Need To Know About Huggy Wuggy and the Poppy Playtime Game Taking Over Elementary Schools

Please be certain that you are keeping track of what the children are downloading on their devices.

What Parents Need To Know About Huggy Wuggy and the Poppy Playtime Game Taking Over Elementary Schools There's a new social media nightmare to keep on your radar.

Dear Parents,

Today, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop regarding social media. It was quite informative, and one of the best parts about it was that in addition to awareness of all of the negative aspects of social media, there were ideas to promote useful and faithful use of various apps. Certainly, the perils of devices and social media are plentiful. That said, one of the major issues discussed is how students' "real life" persona is often disconnected from their social media persona. We most certainly want our children to grow up with a Catholic/Christian worldview (after all, this is why your children are at SGGA), yet many of us do very little or nothing to promote this aspect of their life into their online presence. As a school, I recognize this as a deficiency.

Related to the above, we spend a great deal of time trying to protect our children from the pitfalls of their online presence, and it is important that we continue to do so. Still, since the devices are never going away, perhaps we should look for some ways to show our children how to integrate positive uses into their digital world. What if they took even 5 minutes away from Fortnite, Instagram, or Tiktok and spent that time with the Lord? Interesting question.

Based on this line of reasoning, I would like you to consider installing an app called "Click to Pray" on your child's phone if they have one. It will require registering and confirming the registration. As you may know, our student GMail accounts reject all mail from external senders. For this purpose, I altered a specific setting to allow email from @clicktopray.org to reach student mailboxes.

Click to Pray is a legitimate source of Catholic prayer which is associated with Vatican Media. Now, stay with me here because this next part may alarm some of you. It is my plan, from time to time, to instruct the students to take out their phones, open the Click to Pray app, and for us to pray as a school using provided content. Yes, I repeat, I will instruct students who have phones to actually take them out and use them, in the context of prayer no less, instead of admonishing them for having their phones out of their pockets in school or using them for some mindless game. Now, obviously in the lower grades this will not be feasible and the teachers will need to project the prayer or the students will need to just put on their best "listening ears." Students can also access the Click to Pray website on a Chromebook and get the same content. By the same token, if a child is old enough to bring a phone to school, he or she is old enough to learn that the device can be used in a worthwhile way, and they can EVEN USE THE CLICK TO PRAY APP AT TIMES WHEN THEY ARE NOT IN SCHOOL!!!

It would be great if students who are able to do so have this app on their phones by Monday, 2/14/2022.

Thank you,

Dr. Briggs

Things are starting to resemble the "Before Times!"

Here are the final totals for Jar Races 2022! Thank you to everyone who donated. Grade 3 is the winner for the overall total collected, and Grade 4 is the runner up winner for the total collected per student!

Day Four of Jar Races - today a total of 10,094 quarters were collected. Tomorrow is the final day of Jar Races 2022 - anything can happen! The grade with the highest total gets to choose two days of change of class music, and the grade with the highest average per student will also chose two days of change of class music**!

**A grade can only win ONE of the prizes; if necessary the runner up for the average per student will be the winner for this category. In case you are curious, here are the student counts per grade: Pre = 48; K = 52; 1 = 48; 2 = 31; 3 = 44; 4 = 38; 5 = 55; 6 = 51; 7 = 56; 8 = 51.

FRIDAY 2/4
Fandom Day
DOLLARS for Jar Races

Day Three of Jar Races - that is 10,571 dimes if you are counting!

THURSDAY 2/3
Dress Like an Emoji Day
QUARTERS for Jar Races

Tuesday was "Dress as a Decade" Day!

Dr. Margaret F. Boland, lifelong educator and former diocesan leader, dies at age 79

Please keep Dr. Boland in your thoughts and prayers. She was certainly a frequent visitor and collaborator at SGGA!

Dr. Margaret F. Boland, lifelong educator and former diocesan leader, dies at age 79 The diocesan community learned the sad news Feb. 1 of the death of Dr. Margaret Frances Boland, retired associate superintendent of Catholic...

It was wonderful having the buildings open tonight for families to come see the classrooms. Our 8th Grade helpers did a great job too!

Monday was Colorful Accessory Day!

WEDNESDAY 2/2
Teacher Appreciation Day
PE Uniform/Spirit Gear
DIMES for Jar Races

Day Two of Jar Races - today's total equated to 7,352 nickels!

Day One of Jar Races - that is 22,358 pennies collected.

TUESDAY 2/1
Dress Like a Decade Day
NICKELS for Jar Races

Good morning, SGGA,

Please note that many roads in Hamilton remain extremely icy this morning, and black ice is possible everywhere.

Take it slow and careful as you travel to school this morning. School will open at regular time, however, students will remain in homeroom for first period to allow everyone some extra time to get to school. Do not rush; it is not worth it on an icy morning.

Thank you.

MONDAY 1/31
Colorful and Zany Accessory Day!
COST=$2.00 for
Good Counsel Homes
PENNIES for Jar Races

This evening, I would like to ask for your prayers for the family of Mrs. DeRose (our Pre 4W teacher) and Mrs. Wilson (our 8A teacher). Mrs. DeRose's husband and Mrs. Wilson's father (who is the same person - they are mom and daughter) is currently in an extremely perilous battle with COVID-19. The next few days are critical, and your remembrance in prayer would be very much appreciated.

I also ask that you continue to ask our Blessed Mother to comfort Mrs. Darrah, Mr. Massaro, and Mrs. Hughes as they each continue to mourn the loss of their fathers over the past three weeks.

Thank you,

Dr. Briggs

A Student, Teacher Partnership Leads to Life-Changing Newborn Screening Law

A Student, Teacher Partnership Leads to Life-Changing Newborn Screening Law Thanks to the advocacy of a local teen and her teacher newborn children will be screened for a rare, potentially deadly virus under a new law.

🙏

COVID-19 numbers are coming down nicely; back to regular dismissal time next week!

SGGA 2022-2023 Interest Form - Formstack

SGGA 2022-2023 Interest Form - Formstack We are very happy that you are interested in joining the St. Gregory the Great Academy family!  Please complete the fields below to be notified as soon as the application for the 2022-2023 school year is ready!