August 11,2005

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to Nativity BVM School! It is with a great deal of excitement and expectation that I look forward to this new opportunity of working with you and with your child. This is the 49th year of our school’s beginning! What a special time!

We, as a staff, are proud to be part of this school family. Over these forty nine years, Nativity BVM has provided quality Catholic education for the children and families of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It is our privilege to be part of the rich tradition of excellence here at our school. Our staff members, like our school families, come from various states, educational backgrounds and experiences. However, we share a common goal of wanting to share our beliefs and talents with children and in turn, helping them to share their beliefs and gifts with others.
We are so fortunate to be blessed with the leadership of Father Tony Arguelles, Rector of the Cathedral, and the other members of our parish staff Their support, prayer and encouragement aid us greatly in our ministry. The strong support that we receive from our parish members is one of the factors that makes our school so successful.

As parents/guardians, school and parish staff members and those who care about children, we are challenged to do what we can to provide for the needs of the children in our changing world. We are invited to grow along with them and we are challenged to support them and one another, through the exciting times and through those times that may be more difficult. This can truly be an awesome task, but together, we can accomplish a great deal. Our 49th year provides us with the opportunity to dream, revise and renew our commitment to Catholic education.

In beginning this new year, we certainly think of those who have gone before us and have helped make our school what it is today: the American Sisters of Mercy who first staffed our school; the Sisters of Mercy from Ireland who nurtured our school from 1958 until 1991; the former teachers and staff members; the countless families and benefactors who have shared so much with us; those who have served as members of our School Advisory Council , Parent Association (NPA) and various committees and, of course, the children. We thank God for the blessing of past and current “Nativity Saints.”

Over the last two years our school completed accreditation visits by the State Department of Education and by the Southern Association of Schools. Each of these visits provided us with the opportunity to assess our school and name its strengths and areas of challenge. Using this information, we will continue to look at ways to better respond to the needs of our children.

We are excited to announce that for the first time, a foreign language will be offered to all students - Kindergarten through Grade 6 - right during the school thy. Mrs. Lorena Fulton, a native of Mexico, will teach Spanish to each grade for one half hour each week. Mrs. Fulton provided those lessons after school last year and we are so pleased that we will be able to make this available to all students.

Have you seen the print ads and flyers about Nativity BVM School? A big thank you to Kelli and Donn Mitchell for initiating this project, to our School Advisory Council for working with the marketing team, to the parents of students who served as a focus group that generated ideas about the “heart and soul” of Nativity BVM School, to BBW (Brown, Baer and Wilcox) for their creative “genius” in putting these ideas into words and pictures and to our two models... .Drew Mitchell and Morgan Fournier.

Renovations and changes in our school building over these next months will help us to respond better to the needs of our students. Our Nativity School Advisory Council has been working with various professionals to develop a master plan for plant improvement. Although the list is long, it includes: stage/gym curtains, new asphalt on parking lot replacing floor tile in hallways, lowering hallway ceilings, painting or treating hall walls, replacing current heating/cooling units, lowering classroom ceilings, replacing lighting in hallways/classrooms and renovating the bathrooms in the entire school. The installation of a fire alarm system throughout the building is planned to be completed yet this year. The list is long - the needs are many! Money realized from the sale of the preschool building has been earmarked for these projects. Your support and involvement in this project are appreciated!

Finally, after much spirited discussion, our Nativity BVM School Staff has decided that our school theme will be: “Come, follow me!” During this year, we will look at the ways in which God calls each of us to use our gifts and talents to make our world a better place. We look forward to expanding the ideas behind this theme with the children.

One of the beliefs that I hold dear as a Franciscan Sister is that God is particularly present to us in creation. May we recognize God’s presence in all creation.. .but especially the presence of God in each person we meet. May we work together to bring about a strong family of faith within our school community. May God bless us this year as we work together!

/s Sister Mary Jo