December 28, 2014
Dear St. Raphael School Families and Parishioners,
I hope that you all had a very Blessed Christmas, and that you are enjoying your time together over the holidays. We resume school on Monday, January 5 ^th, 2015.
With the start of the new year, we will soon begin preparing for our Open House and registration for students in the 2015-2016 school year. As many of you know, our enrollment has held steady for the past 40 years, with just a few dips here and there. We like to consider ourselves “small, but mighty!” We all work very hard to be the best possible Catholic school that we can be, and we know that this commitment to excellence is our best marketing strategy. We now have neighbor schools calling us for advice on academic and technology programs – we really are in a positive place at St. Raphael the Archangel School.

That said, we need your help! Please help us spread the word about the great things happening at our school. If you have neighbors, family, or friends with school-aged children, please tell them about our school. They can find lots of helpful information on our website at straphaelarchangel.org, and we are happy to answer questions and give tours to any interested families. Invite them to our Open House on Sunday, January 25, 2015 from 11am to 3pm. But most important is a recommendation from you, our school families and parishioners. You are our best and most effective proponents of our school. With your help, we can continue to remain strong, and a positive force in the St. Louis Hills community.

There is an exciting project underway at school, and I think you will join us in our enthusiasm for this endeavor. It’s called Discovery Town, and it is currently under construction in the former Preschool room used by Mrs. Reck. Discovery Town is the brainchild of our Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. JoEllen Sarich, and it will be an inviting and creative, hands-on learning center for all students in Preschool through 3 ^rd Grade. Discovery Town will be made up of four separate learning centers: Literacy Village, Technology Station, Science & Sensory Square, and Math & Construction Junction. Picture a mini Magic House right inside our school, and you’ll get the idea. Through generous funding from the Incarnate Word Foundation, the SRA Men’s Club, and the SRA PTA, we are starting work on Discovery Town now. We are continuing to look at funding opportunities to complete this project, and I will keep you posted. If you are interested in helping us complete Discovery Town, either financially, or with your time and talent, please let me know! We hope to have at least one learning center in place before our Open House in January.

Please pray for our students and teachers, and for the continued success of our wonderful Catholic school.
Peace and Blessings,
Kim Vangel
Principal