Message from the Director
On your mark, get set, go! On behalf of the faculty and Regional Staff, I officially welcome you “back to school.” The month of September has always been a personal favorite. It represents a time to set goals and begin again. It signifies a moment of “growing up” as we progress on our educational journey, and it marks a seasonal turning point when God masterfully dots our landscape in color. I hope that, you, too, are invigorated as we turn the calendar page into this magical month.
The principals, faculty, regional staff and I have been busy this summer preparing for this week’s opening. We are pleased to announce that our enrollment this year is closely approaching 1,400 students! We welcome our new families and students and are thrilled to have them as members of our Academy family. As always, please continue your efforts to spread the good news of all that is happening at PJPIICA.
Due to our higher enrollment this year, we have had to do some work on our Neponset and Mattapan campuses to accommodate more students. New Pre-K classrooms were created on both campuses. These classrooms will be used for this year only at the Neponset campus, as we anticipate moving forward with the formal construction of the middle school floor next summer. We have also created official “Resource Rooms” on all campuses where our Coordinators will engage in one-on-one and small group instruction.
Promethean Boards have been installed in all classrooms for grades 4 – 8. These boards will assist teachers with integrating technology in their instruction, and in making the learning environment fun! In the younger grades, “Ladibug” technology has been purchased through a grant which will add to the impact and effectiveness of instruction. Stop in to see both of these latest forms of technology at work.
The Regional Offices moved to 2200 Dorchester Ave in late July. We are now located next door to the Lower Mills campus on the second floor. One of the greatest features of this new location is our Professional Development Conference Room. The PJPIICA “Professional Development Institute” is being launched this month and will consist of various workshops, courses, and seminars for faculty and staff. Many of these classes will be led by faculty members who possess an expertise in a particular area: Reading Strategies, John Collins Writing, Promethean Board Use in the Classroom, Anti-Bullying curriculum, Making Math Meaningful, and Utilizing Standardize Testing Results in the Everyday Classroom are just a few of the classes already scheduled. Through the Institute teachers will have significant opportunities throughout the year to participate in free, creative, and educational professional development opportunities.
Parent involvement in the life of our Academy is an important goal of mine this year. Your principals will be reaching out to all who are interested in becoming a Parent Corps member. Information on our Parent Corps program will be coming out shortly. Before then, please join us on Friday, September 24th at 10:00 at St. Peter’s Church in Dorchester for our Academy-wide Liturgy: PJPIICA 2010 … Look at Us Now! A light luncheon in the St. Peter’s Teen Center will follow. We view this Liturgy as an opportunity to celebrate our founders and visionaries and to thank God for the countless blessings He has bestowed upon us in our initial years as an Academy.
To all of you I wish a wonderful year guided by the loving hand of our Lord. May He help you to dream big, and may He be ever present in your efforts to make this year everything you envision it to be today.