St. Clare School Auction News Save the Date! St. Clare School Auction is on Saturday, April 6th! Auction items and sponsorship are still needed. Please reach out to Satyra Johnson at satjohn@msn.com or (313) 231-1631. Mary Poppins and friends are looking forward to seeing you!

We are now into the 2nd quarter in fifth grade.  The students are learning many new things this year.  Our lizard Brownie, and our tree frog Garfunkel are doing well.  We continue to watch our bean plants grow that were planted during an investigation on what plants need in Science class.   In Religion the students are learning about living as Jesus would live.  They recently did skits together showing ways that they could live as Jesus did.

Hello to St. Clare Parish from the St. Clare School Sixth Grade. We are having a great year in Room 13! We welcomed 4 new students in September; then, in October we had a fun time at YMCA Camp Storer where we rode the Little Red Wagon, went on a Night Hike, and mostly realized how well we all get along.   Every year 6th grade is responsible for raising and lowering the American Flag, along with our school flag, at the pole on Charlevoix.  To learn about the proper way to care for the flag and how to raise, lower and fold it the right way, Officers Murphy and Gunther of the Detroit Mounted Police came to teach Kayla and Lilly how to be our flag team. They also taught us to have reverence for the flag and when to put it at half-mast as we did when President Bush died.  When we were done they took Ivan and Andre, their two male Percheron horses, out of the trailer for the whole...

In Religion class, we are preparing for confirmation. (Please keep us in your prayers). As part of our preparation, we will be going on retreat to the Subiaco Retreat House on December 5th. This is always an enjoyable and spiritual experience for the students.   In Literature class, we are reading non-fiction stories such as Mark Twain’s “Cub Pilot of the Mississippi” as well as working on our Accelerated Reading (AR) points.   The 8th graders are writing their personal Michigan Hero papers.  They will be...

Middle School has been a very busy time this year. Take a peek at what has been happening in each class.   MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE Grade 6 - In 6th grade science we are wrapping up mapping and moving on to looking at the structure of the interior of Earth!   Grade 7 - In 7th grade science we learned about the characteristics of life and have just finished learning about what makes up cells. We will be diving into cell division starting this week!

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the parishioners who graciously gave their time and effort towards making this year’s Used Book Sale an awesome success.  Without your help, the job would be so much more difficult and overwhelming. I consider you our special “stars” in supporting St. Clare School. We look forward to continuing a special relationship with all the parishioners of St. Clare.  The importance of the relationship between school, families, and the parish is vital to a successful school.   With many thanks and blessings, Ann Tonissen, Principal

Last year, St. Clare School, went through the Archdiocese of Detroit Accreditation process. It was a long and tedious process as we wrote a report and collected evidence showing we continue to meet the requirements for accreditation. The accreditation process involved addressing 13 standards and 70 benchmarks that correspond to those standards, compiling a report of our findings and attaching evidence that supports what our report stated. Each of the standard falls under the one of the following areas: Mission and Catholic Identity, Governance and Leadership, Academic Excellence and Operational Vitality. This was a very comprehensive self-study of our school and involved a great deal of time and effort by the faculty, staff and our supporting school committees of PTO, School Commission, and Finance.  In May, the Accreditation Site Team came together at St. Clare to discuss and score our self-study report and evidence.

Last school year, we were assigned the task of developing a Strategic Plan for St. Clare School, as were all the schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit. With the dedication and help of our fantastic team members, many who are members of the parish, we successfully completed and submitted our new Strategic Plan to the AOD in August. Now, looking towards the future, I am coming back to the parish in search of volunteers to offer their time and talents to our school.  We are looking for...

In fifth-grade class, the year is off and running.  We have two new members in our classroom, a Crested Gecko, and a green Tree Frog.  The students are enjoying science with our animal project.  The students brought in an insect or spider and are taking care of its needs for two weeks when they will present their project paper and poster board.  We recently did a science lab on turning food into energy to show how an animal gets its energy.  The students have also dissected...

Along with a new school year, we have a new teacher joining us at St. Clare teaching our 3rd and 4th grade blended classroom. The students in room 12 are such a great team and are forming a close bond! They love working together and are also learning how to be independent learners. In Math, both sections have been reviewing place value and learning strategies to compare numbers. In Language Arts, they are reading many stories to determine the author’s purpose and sequencing the main events. We have also discussed major events in our history such as The Constitution and...

If you like to eat something cold and sweet then join St. Clare at our Community Crawl fundraiser on Tuesday, October 2nd from 3:30 – 10 PM. This event will be held at TCBY located at 17045 Kercheval, in the Village. Remember to place your receipt in the “Fundraiser Receipt” jar so that 20% of your purchase will be donated back to the school. Your support is greatly appreciated.

“Make new friends but keep the old” has become the first and second grade motto as several new students have joined our class this year. We have talked about being members of our school family as well as our families of origin, and how we are all called to be part of God’s family!   In Social Studies, the second graders read about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, which included following school rules and how to be a citizen of the world.  In Language Arts, both the first and second graders are reviewing short and long vowel sounds through songs/rhymes like “Miss Mary Mack” and “The Ants Go Marching” while also reviewing math concepts like...

Another school year has begun! The Kindergarten students had a busy week adjusting to a full day of meeting new people, learning the layout of the school building, attending special classes, and learning procedures. One of the highlights of the first week was the fire drill. It was a bit scary for some of us, but we have one emergency drill down, and future drills should run more smoothly. The first order of business is to help the children learn to hold a pencil correctly and form letters. We have completed the first page in...

On behalf of the entire faculty and staff, I hope that you have enjoyed a restful and relaxing summer!   As I begin my second year at St. Clare, I am particularly grateful for the blessing of this community of staff, students, and families in my life, and I was thrilled to see everyone again on our first day of school, Tuesday, September 4th.  We are proud and excited to launch the 2018-2019 school year with our incredibly talented and dedicated teaching staff and your ongoing...

All students grades K-8 had the opportunity to complete a summer reading challenge. Reading logs for that challenge need to be completed and turned-in to the school office by Monday, September 10th.  Please keep track of the Title, Author and number of pages.  Both the child and parent should sign the log. If a child completes his/her individual goal, a special jean day ticket will be given out each month.

The first day of school is Tuesday, September 4, 2018 beginning at 7:50 a.m. When you arrive on September 4th, please park your car and walk your child to the garden door where Mrs. Reik will meet you. The garden door is located past the gazebo heading towards Charlevoix. There is a red stripped awning above the door. Parents should walk their child into the school and sign them in. Please remember that the first week of school is half days only (Sept. 4-7). Full days begin on Monday September 10th.

The first day of school is Tuesday, September 4, 2018 beginning at 7:55 a.m. When you arrive on September 4th, please drop off your child according to arrival procedures or park and walk your child to the line-up area where teachers will be waiting to meet their class. We invite parents and guardians to join us in the schoolyard the first day of classes to meet and greet other parents and teachers. When the bell rings, teachers will take their class to the classroom. Please help us reduce congestion and confusion by saying goodbye to your student in the schoolyard. September 4th is a half day of school with dismissal at 12:00 pm.

This past November, all schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit were asked to develop a new Strategic Plan for their schools. The purpose behind this endeavor is to strengthen and refocus Catholic Education in the Archdiocese of Detroit. Using Archbishop Vigneron’s “Unleash the Gospel” as a guide, Pastors and Principals were asked to put together a team and begin looking at how St. Clare School presently functions. Our Strategic Planning Committee includes parish members, a current family member, alumni, former teachers, a current teacher, alumni parents as well as our principal and pastor. Since December, we have been meeting twice a month and will continue to do so until our planning process is completed. At this time, we feel strongly that we will be finished by the end of July! 

St. Clare School is in the process of preparing to open a preschool classroom in the main school building.  We have had many telephone calls asking if we provide full-day preschool classes. It became clear that there is a need for a full-day program. Our purpose in opening a new classroom for 3 and 4-year-old preschoolers is to support parents in early childhood education within an affordable Catholic environment. St. Clare School has always been committed to working closely with parents toward the spiritual growth and welfare of their children. Opening this new classroom will allow us to reach our younger children and make their first learning experience, both spiritual and academic, fun and exciting.

The results are in! St. Clare of Montefalco's School Strategic Planning Committee would like to extend a sincere "Thank you" to all who participated in the Catholic Identity Program Effectiveness Survey.