Principals Blog

May 2012 Blog Rigorous academics are the reality and the expectation in Catholic schools. While the Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Denver t...

 

March 2012 Blog

Quality Assurance Review

 

On March 27^th and 28^th we are having our Quality Assurance Review for AdvancED accreditation. Various stakeholders have been working on this since the beginning of the school year, and with the visit just around the corner it might be helpful to review why we are going through the accreditation process. Simply put, it is about continuous improvement.  We want to ensure that we are meeting the Standards for Quality Schools established by AdvancEd and to demonstrate quality assurance.

 

This is an internal review conducted by principals and teachers from the Archdiocese of Denver Catholic Schools. The team will be lead by Colleen McManamon, principal from Most Precious Blood. Ms. McManamon’s team will be:  Jan Altevogt, principal from St. Thomas More; Barb Markulik, assistant principal St. Thomas More; Mary Bartek, principal from Good Shepherd; Patty Cisle, assistant principal Good Shepherd; and Lexy Tokarski, teacher at Most Precious Blood. I know you will join me in making the team feel welcome. We are fortunate to have this outstanding group of professionals reviewing our self-study.

 

The Notre Dame Catholic School teachers have completed a self assessment of the seven AdvancED standards. They have gathered evidence to demonstrate how we are meeting each of the standards. As part of this process we have written a school improvement plan. It is the visiting teams’ responsibility to review all of the documentation of the self assessment, conduct interviews with representative groups of stakeholders, review student performance data and observe practices and operations at the school. The team will provide an oral report at 3:30 on March 28^th in the Parish Hall for all stakeholders. They will complete a formal written report that will be submitted to the Office of Catholic Schools for review. That report will be made available to us either at the end of this school year or at the beginning of the next school year. Because the Archdiocese of Denver Catholic Schools are all accredited as a district, not individually, the data gathered from this visit is what the Office of Catholic Schools will use for their district accreditation visit in 2014.

 

The purpose of the Quality Asssurance Review is to:

1.       Evaluate the school’s adherence to the AdvancED quality standards.

2.       Assess the efficacy of the school’s improvement process and methods for quality assurance.

3.       Identify commendations and recommendations to improve the school.

4.       Make an accreditation recommendation for review by the Office of Catholic Schools and by the national AdvancED Accreditation Commission when they accredit the Archdiocese of Denver Catholic Schools.

 

Let’s look forward to this visit as an opportunity to celebrate our strengths and to identify areas where we can improve to make our school even better.

 

 

 

Dedicated to Rose Anyone who has been around Notre Dame Catholic School will often sight community as one of our many strengths. This has never been...

 

January, 2012 Blog

 

Social Media has exploded with the Tim Tebow story, and I will not be the exception. When you ask anyone what they admire about our Denver Bronco’s quarterback the answers vary, but for me, my first response is always thank God we finally have a professional athlete that we want our children to emulate. There are many qualities that this young man possesses that we would love for our children, (and adults), to model.

 

Tim Tebow’s faith is the most important aspect of his life, win or lose. He is humble and selfless when talking about their wins. He always thanks God first, then his teammates, followed by the coaching staff and the fans. Amazing that it is never about what he did to contribute to the win. He is grateful to God first for giving him the opportunity to do what he loves. His teammates are praised for their efforts and mistakes or failures are never mentioned.

 

Have you ever witnessed an athlete who refuses to get caught up in the negative media? Now I am sure there are plenty of athletes out there who have this same positive attitude, but perhaps have not gotten the attention garnered to Tim Tebow. However, what I am seeing more of is that with Tim Tebow as a model of putting God first other players are modeling similar behavior. What a difference one person can make.

 

As a Catholic school our children are learning everyday to put their faith first, and they now have the benefit of a popular sports’ figure to witness how to do this with unwavering grace. GO BRONCOS!

 

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