Parents - Important notice! The IOWA and COGAT tests will be administered to 1st - 8th graders the week prior to Spring Break (March 5 -9). (3rd graders will have an additional testing day - Thursday, March 1.) Please make an effort to have your child at school every day on time - please refrain from scheduling doctor's appointments during that week. If an appointment must be scheduled, please do so AFTER 2:30 p.m. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated as these tests are the Catholic School System's accountability measures.****************************************************************************WOW - what a great showing the Academic and Fine Arts (AFA) Team had at the recent St. Pius X High School Speech Tournament. Individual results are listed: SIXTH GRADE Triciajane Asuncion; Gold Medal - Art Category 2Kalina Boutte; Bronze Medal - Art Category 1Rachel Foley; Silver Medal - French Poetry (non-native speaker)Gabriel Fonseca; Silver Medal - Quiz Bowl teamMelanie Garibay; Silver Medal - Calculator Applications & Silver Medal - Number SenseBrianna Gonzalez; Honorable Mention - Art Category 2Mario Juguilon; Gold Medal - Spelling; Sixth Place - Calculator Applications & Honorable Mention - EnglishCasey Martin; Gold Medal - Calculator Applications & Sixth Place - Number SenseRenata Reyes-Marquez; Fourth Place - Spanish Poetry (native speaker) SEVENTH GRADE Colton Chu; Silver Medal - Quiz Bowl team; Fourth Place - Calculator Applications & Honorable Mention - Technology Michael Slaten;Silver Medal - Quiz Bowl team; Fifth Place - Math & Honorable Mention - Technology Lauren Turner; Honorable Mention - Math EIGHTH GRADE Joseph Nemec;Gold Medal - Social Studies; Silver Medal - Science; Silver Medal - Quiz Bowl team; Fourth Place - English; Honorable Mention - Calculator Applications & Second Place - 8th Grade IndividualGO SAINTS!! Congratulations to our 2012 SHCS Science Fair contestants that will compete at the Archdiocesan fair on February 12th. 6th Grade1st Place Mario Juguilon2nd Place Gabriel Fonseca3rd Place Matthew MagnoHonorable Mention Alysia Sombillo7th Grade1st Place Kaitlyn Geisen2nd Place Sarah Irish3rd Place Colton ChuHonorable Mention Lauren TurnerGOOD LUCK!!Congratulations to Casey Martin, 6th grader, for her essay selection! Casey has been chosen to represent St. Helen at the Co-Cathedral Mass, Friday, Feb. 3, as part of Catholic Schools Week. Casey's essay will be evaluated by the University of St. Thomas' creative writing team! Kudos to you, Casey!Congratulations to all the students who exerted much effort to participate in the recent Geography Bee for St. Helen School! We had great participation and all involved learned a lot. Special congratulations to winners Joseph Nemec (8th grade, 1st place), Sarah Irish (7th grade, 2nd place), and John Lucas (4th grade, 3rd place)! These winners were presented with trophies and a certificate. Much appreciation is also extended to the sponsors, Cynthia Nemec and Betty Bouley! Congratulations to our spelling bee winners! The 3rd - 5th grade champion is Christopher Guzman. He now advances to the Archdiocesan Bee on February 23rd. Our runner - up is Mario Aurora, and our 3rd place winner is Patrick Cramer. The 6th - 8th grade champion is Gianeen Magno. The runner-up is Miranda Lozoya. We had a tie for 3rd place between Jackson Hale and Eje Ojo. Both Gianeen and Miranda will advance to the Brazoria County Regional Spelling Bee in Lake Jackson on February 10. They have an opportunity to go all the way to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.! We had great competition with lots of participation: all students represented themselves and their homerooms well! Special thanks to Mrs. Summerville, Mrs.Drone, and Mrs. Jones for their support and assistance.In an effort to provide a highly exemplary academic program for all students, we find it necessary to implement a few revisions for next year's schedule. As many of you have probably heard, we are "revamping" our students' academic and enrichment programs at SHCS. Plans include more rigorous instruction in all academic core areas, especially in English/Language Arts/Reading and in Math. (New Science and Social Studies curricula will be coming soon!) The Archdiocese has recently developed a much more inclusive academic curriculum for both ELAR and Math and the elementary teachers require more instructional time with less transitions to fully implement the curriculum. To assist students in entering either public or Catholic High Schools in 9th grade, the 8th grade students will receive a full year of instruction in Spanish in a nationally-recognized program, with geography and keyboarding being offered to 6th and 7th graders. Also planned are semester offerings in Art and/or Music for junior high students. (Junior High changes are being made in response to Catholic High School requests to provide more meaningful offerings for our students so they may be more successful in 9th grade.)It is planned that elementary students will receive music and p.e. classes on a daily basis. Art instruction will be incorporated through the integration of art and core academic subject areas in the classroom. Art will also be offered to interested students two afternoons per week, free of charge, until 4:30 p.m. (more time than they currently have!). The art classes will be taught by our own Mrs. Jones!Some of you may know we are offering tutorial services on campus in the afternoons, instructed by a certified teacher and Reading specialist. We also hope to offer this service next year. Additionally, we will be employing an academic intervention specialist next year to assist both students and teachers in helping all students successfully master the new rigorous curriculum. The intervention services may be utilized by all teachers and all students in any subject area.More information will be coming soon in a letter to parents and in the monthly St. Helen Happenings. We are planning for another successful year! Thanks to all of you for helping make St. Helen the special place it is.Care about the environment? Want to make a difference at our school, parish, or community? Consider serving on the Green Action Committee (GAC). We need students, parents, staff, and community representatives to make decisions about our school’s “green” plan. In order for St. Helen Catholic School to become an Eco-School through the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the team must meet at least 4 times per year, conduct an energy audit, and develop an eco-action plan. The ideal meeting time would be on Monday from 2:05-2:45 so that student representatives from every grade level could attend when the Environmental Leadership elective meets.Mrs. Bouley will speak briefly at the HSA meeting on February 9 to explain what the school has already accomplished as a Green Ribbon School and the steps to becoming a NWF Eco-School.This website shows the 7 steps to becoming an Eco-School. http://www.nwf.org/Global-Warming/School-Solutions/Eco-Schools-USA/Become-an-Eco-School/Steps.aspx We value your suggestions on GAC! Please e-mail your suggestions or questions to Betty Bouley, bbouley@sthelencatholicschool.org.To keep abreast of the happenings here at St. Helen, we encourage you to check out the Monthly Happenings link to the left of this section. Only a few tidbits from that newsletter are included in the Principal's Message.Upcoming Fundraisers:- Steps for Students is a 5K run/walk sponsored by the Archdiocese and endorsed by St. Helen Catholic Church. The kick-off for the fundraiser was great fun! Students are highly motivated to participate……incentives include “Principal for the Day,” and an off-campus lunch for the top 3 money-making students!- The next restaurant night fundraiser is January 31 at the local Chick-Fil-A. Please come out, have dinner, and support our campus! **An important reminder about bringing siblings when you volunteer or visit at school:While we are very appreciative of your volunteer hours, we must caution you about bringing siblings to school during your volunteer times. Siblings are not allowed in the classroom due to supervision and distraction issues. If you are working as a “decorator” in the hallway for various events or tutoring in the hallway, siblings are, again, not permitted. If you have a volunteer duty that entails you working alone or with a small parent group in the workroom (for example, counting funds or copying papers), you may bring a sibling IF the child is well-supervised and contained in your work area, away from other students. (Please check the Family Handbook for more specifics.) If you eat lunch with your child in the lunchroom, you may bring the sibling at that time. Thanks for your attention to this school policy!Thank you for visiting St. Helen Catholic School's website. You will discover we offer a loving, Christian environment, great teachers and staff, and a safe, inviting facility to best serve you and your child. Our theme for this school year is "Faith, Academics and Service." Please join us as we seek to model this theme throughout the school year.You can access individual teacher webpages by clicking on the faculty link. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school office at 281-485-2845. Again, thank you for visiting our school webpage, and we look forward to seeing you on campus soon as we strive to teach spirited children!
Check out our competitive Athletics Program by clicking the "Faculty" tab and then click on the "Athletics" links. We offer baseball, basketball, volleyball, and more!!!