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St. Sabina Academy

Family Bulletin
February 2, 2017
IMANI FAITH
New faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about
what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1
M ESSAGE FROM D E P AUL

Rev. Dr. Michael Louis Pfleger This weeks issue of the Family Bulletin is
brought to you by a group of counselors-in-
training studying at DePaul University. Last
quarter we created and, with the help of the
teachers at St. Sabina, administered a Needs
Assessment to the 5th-8th grade students. In this
bulletin, we will cover some strategies to support
the students both in school and at home. If you
wish to view the full needs assessment, please
visit http://stsabinaacademy.weebly.com/
Self-Advocacy

St. Sabina is, I believe, more than a congregation, but a

teaching ground where countless people from around the
world pass through our doors and take something with them.
It is a ground where denominational walls have been
dismantled and racial barriers removed. It is a ground where
the Spirit of the Lord has brought freedom and where young
and old, wealthy and poor have been welcomed.
One of the best ways to help a student is
St. Sabina Community Superstar:
teaching them how to advocate for themselves.
Since Father Pfleger was appointed the
pastor of Saint Sabina Church in 1981, he has been
Steps For Students to Take:
a beacon of hope and progress in the St. Sabina Figure out what issue you want to solve.
community. From his anti-drug and alcohol Find others who share your ideas.
messages to his anti-violence rallies, Father Pfleger
is always on the front lines in the fight to better Discuss potential ways to solve the problem.
life in Chicago. You can always count on him to Meet with, and discuss your ideas with a
speak up for what he believes in. He has received trusted adult.
many awards and honors for standing up against Tips to Remember When Advocating:
injustice, some of which include the Rosa Parks
Award, the Unsung Hero Award, and the Maintain good posture.
Monsignor Egan Social Justice Award from DePaul Use a polite tone of voice.
University. Father Pfleger has also founded many Stay relaxed.
resource centers in his community to improve the
lives of those who live there. He has done so much Keep appropriate eye contact.
for the people of his parish, the city of Chicago, Stay focused on your topic of discussion.
and of the United States of America making Father
Pfleger the St. Sabina Superstar!

Support at School
Using the data gathered from our needs
assessment, we noted different responses to the
question What do you think would help you better
in school? The following are some ways that
teachers can be more effective in and out of the
classroom.
Do's:
Make an effort to get to know and connect with
each student in your classroom. Always call them
by their names, find out information about their
interests and strive to understand what they
need to succeed in school.
Make an effort to spend time individually with
each student, especially those who are difficult
or shy. This will help you create a more positive
relationship with them.
Be aware of the explicit and implicit messages
you are giving to your students.
Create a positive climate in your classroom by
focusing on improving your relationships with
your students, and also at the same time,
enhancing the relationships amongst them.
Students notice interaction styles such as,
showing warmth and respect towards them, and
to adults at your school. Often, they will model
their own behavior from the behavior they
receive.
Students notice the methods you use to manage
strong emotions. They notice positive strategies,
such as taking a deep breath or talking about
your frustrations. Likewise, they notice negative
strategies, too, such as yelling at students or
making mean or disrespectful jokes about
colleagues.
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Don'ts:
Don't assume that being kind and
respectful to students is enough to
reinforce achievement. Teachers hold
students to appropriate high standards of
academic performance and offer students
an opportunity for connection to their
teachers and fellow students at school.
Don't give up too quickly on your efforts to
develop positive relationships with difficult
students.
Don't assume that respectful and sensitive
interactions are only important to
elementary school students. Middle and
high school students benefit from such
relationships as well.
Don't assume that respectful and sensitive
interactions are only important to
elementary school students. Middle school
and high school students benefit from
such relationships as well.
Don't wait for negative behaviors and
interactions to occur in the classroom.
Instead, include students in discussions
about prosocial interactions and
consistently model those positive
interactions for them.

Meaningful Social Connections
Building positive, meaningful connections is
vital to your childs personal growth and academic
success. Positive peer support also encourages healthy
behaviors and social engagement both inside and
outside of school by building character, increasing self-
awareness and accountability, and teaching conflict
resolution. Peer relationships are so crucial to your
childs well-being that they can serve as risk or
protective factors in their lives. Peers play a role in your
childs social development and learning by teaching
empathy, social responsibility, cooperation and
compromise. Below are a few ways you can work
toward strengthening your childs social bonds.
Promote Your Childs Confidence and Self-Esteem:
Show your child acceptance even when it comes to
their shortcomings.
Listen to your child, and acknowledge that their
voice is valued.
Children with positive self-images are more likely to
participate in social settings.
Encourage Your Child to Engage:
Most social bonds are established based on shared
interests. Help your child find and join school and
community clubs, groups, sports, and
organizations that support their interests and
abilities. Additionally, your attendance at their
events and games is an important part of showing
your support, and encouraging them to stay
committed. Parental involvement positively affects
your childs ability to learn, and is linked to
increased academic performance.
Children who are involved in social groups are able
to expand their support system. It also teaches
them soft skills like time management, goal-
setting, and team-work.
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Model Appropriate Behavior:
Many of childrens behaviors are influenced
by environmental factors; the behaviors
modeled around them. Children learn
through imitation, and thus, observe and
emulate the things adults do. Consequently,
modeling positive social interactions and
healthy behaviors is key. So, talk through
problems, manage emotions, be open to
compromise, and maintain a positive
attitude.
Support at Home
Our needs assessment indicated that
students do have parent support for homework
(74% said parents help with homework).
However, students also indicated that they
needed to build better habits around focusing on
work and doing their best. The comment section
as well as the question that asked about how
they are doing in school, and whether or not
they like school indicated this.
The list below includes a few ways you
can be one of the most effective support
systems at home.
Tip to Keep in Mind:
Be a role model for learning.
Pay attention to what your child loves.
Tune into how your child learns.
Practice what your child learns at school, and
help them with their homework.
Be involved in their lives, and show interest
in their learning.
Connect with what your child learns in the
world everyday.
Keep TV time to a minimum.

The next section includes information on helping
promote a positive relationship with school and
creating healthy study habits at home.
Children learn the best when the adults, support
figures/systems, and siblings in their lives, work
together to encourage and support them.
All the experiences children have, both in and out
of school, help shape their sense that someone
cares about them, their feelings of self-worth and
competency, their understanding of the world
around them, and their beliefs about where they fit
into the scheme of things.
The starting point in any community is to create
opportunities where parents and teachers can learn
and work together.
Working together as full partners, parents,
teachers, administrators, business people, and other
community members can create an educational
program that meets unique local needs and reflects
the diversity within a school without compromising
high performance expectations and standards.
There are a Variety of Roles at Home:
Besides participating in governance, parents can be
involved in schools in many roles. There are the
traditional ways: encouraging children to complete
homework, attending parent-teacher conferences, and
being active members of their school's parent-teacher
organization. Other roles, however, require more
commitment: serving as mentors, teacher aides, or
lunchroom monitors, or providing assistance to schools
and students in myriad other ways.
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Summary of how you can support your
students success in school:
1. Talk with your child. Ask open-ended
questions such as:
a. What was the best part of your day?
b. Tell me about a challenge you
overcame.
c. Who is your favorite teacher and
why?
2. Help your child create healthy homework
habits.
a. Create a homework routine for your
child (for middle-school children,
consider asking your child to create
his/her own homework routine).
b. Be sure your child has a quiet,
distraction free place to complete
homework.
c. Encourage your child to work
through challenges, and try their best
even when they are frustrated. This
may include writing questions to ask
the teacher if homework is difficult.
3. Place guidelines around technology usage
including TV, internet, and cell phone usage.
4. Encourage your children to read about
topics that are interesting to them. This is a
great substitute for technology!
5. Communicate with teachers. Attend school
events when possible, or communicate
through email.
6. Encourage your children, and celebrate their
accomplishments.
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PRINCIPAL HELEN DUMAS

Some fun facts about Ms. Dumas:

She is an avid bulls fan, she loves
the color purple, and she has been bowling
for 32 years! Thank you, Ms. Dumas, for
working so hard to ensure that your
students receive not only a quality
education, but also for guiding children to
discover their place in the body of Christ!

Ms. Helen Dumas became the principal of

St. Sabina Academy in July of 1992. She has not
only been an integral part of the school, but she is
Upcoming Events:
also an important asset to the Church of St. Sabina
and the surrounding community. When asked 1/29-2/4
about her first memory of St. Sabina Academy, she Catholic schools week!
told a touching story about one of her students Early bird registration begins.
going through a traumatic event, and she turned
to him and said, You just have to pray. She went 2/7- Tuesday
on to tell us that she still has a picture of that boy Kindergarten and 8th grade
praying. One of the aspects that she is most fond graduation photos taken.
of at St. Sabina is being able to pray with her
students and faculty.
2/10 Friday
When asked what surprised her the most, Harry Belafonte, social activist, civil
she stated, The general public believes that rights icon, and entertainer, will be
private schools come from money and thats just
speaking at St. Sabina at 7:30 as part of the
not true. One element that she wishes she could
change about St. Sabina is the funding, that way
2017 African American Speaker Series.
she could focus on the students, which is what is
most important at St. Sabina Academy. Currently, 2/24 Friday
Ms. Dumas is focusing her energy on the Million Van Jones, American commentator
Dollar Project. She said, If I could find one million and political activist, will be speaking at St.
people to donate just one dollar, that would Sabina at 7:30 as part of the 2017 African
provide financial stability and tuition for so many American Speaker Series.
students and families.
Ms. Dumass proudest moments
are when graduations approach. She is ecstatic to
see her students not only succeed in school, but
also have the opportunity to see Gods purpose
start to shape that childs life.