St. Margaret of Scotland Families:

A couple of weeks ago we had a visiting team at St. Margaret of Scotland view our school and our strategic plan.  During the process, they found several commendations in the areas of Catholic Identity, Academics, and Institutional Issues.  I would like to include these commendations for you here.  While we all know that we have a very special school, it is always nice to receive positive feedback from an unbiased, third-party source. 

God Bless, 

Patrick Holley

COMMENDATIONS

The Visiting Team commends St. Margaret of Scotland School:

Catholic Identity

• Providing a vibrant and faith-filled experience at the celebration of All School Mass that included student leadership and a large amount of parent/family/parishioner attendance.

• Having a dedicated school anthem, St. Margaret of Scotland song, that is sung by all at each Mass, prayer services, and other celebrations.

• Providing a dedicated space for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, where it is currently being implemented with the preschool classes.

• Having a Christ-like faculty, staff, students, and parents who were warm and welcoming during our visit.

• Ensuring student faith and leadership development by having older students partner with younger students to help with transitions to Mass and providing faith-focused electives to promote leadership skills. 

• Dedicating themselves to Catholic Social Teachings, as evidenced by engaging students in No Place for Hate and the Anti-Bias Anti-Racism programs.

• Evangelizing the entire school community and welcoming and accompanying non-Catholic students and families into the Catholic faith.

• Engaging students in multiple service opportunities, as evidenced by their participation in Forces for Food, Our Lady’s Inn, the Teen Outreach Program, and the Feast Day 5K.

• Forming strong relationships with students, where students are deeply known and loved by their teachers. 

The Visiting Team commends St. Margaret of Scotland School:

Educational Issues

• Commitment to differentiating for a diverse group of learners, as evidenced by a learning lab, learning support staff, and flexible work spaces.

• Pursuing sustainability and creating meaningful real-world connections through the Green House Venture partnership and commitment to urban agriculture on campus.

• Developing curriculum, as evidenced by work with national curriculum experts and the Office of Catholic Education and Formation as well as continued faculty work in the Chalk/PowerSchool curriculum platform.

• Embracing the Science of Reading in their primary grades’ reading instruction along with explicit instruction of phonics and phonemic awareness.

• Providing an abundant amount of aides to support teachers with classroom efficiency.

• Offering parents the choice of a Montesorri or traditional preschool classroom.

• Committing to mindfulness and social emotional learning by establishing dedicated roles of a counselor and a mindfulness teacher to work with students and providing teachers with tools to use in the classrooms, as evidenced by calm down corners, fidget devices, and flexible seating.

• Offering a variety of middle school electives for the students to choose from that meet their desired interests. 

• Being committed to teacher growth and collaboration by scheduling common plan periods across all grade levels.

The Visiting Team commends St. Margaret of Scotland School:

Institutional Issues

• Living the school’s mission as a proud and dedicated community, as expressed by students, parents, staff, and administration. 

• Committing to the culture of inclusive excellence through educational programming and by establishing a dedicated role of Coordinator of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity.

• Nurturing a highly-invested PTA, as evidenced by parent volunteer crossing guards on Mass days to the running of the library and other activities, fundraisers, and community engagement.

• Maintaining financial stability accomplished through a combination of robust enrollment, lowered parish subsidy, and effective fundraising for the school.

• Implementing safety and security measures on and around the school campus including gates, cameras, exterior locks, and more.

• Coordinating logistics for a large school spread throughout several buildings and multiple city blocks.

• Maintaining well-kept facilities and grounds, especially with the challenge of a large campus.

• Using square footage in a thoughtful way to facilitate classroom and resource space.