I have three quick updates for you today. The first two are for the whole school, and the third is just for grades 9-12.

Raffle

We’ve passed the 2,000 ticket mark! That means we’ll be raffling off (separately from the main $10,000 raffle) a 50% tuition discount for all families that have sold 25 tickets or more! So far, there are 17 families eligible for that raffle. If we sell 3,000 tickets, then that tuition discount will increase to 75% off!

We won’t be able to host an in-person raffle event as in previous years, so we’ll be live-streaming the raffle, with several smaller raffles and good conversation in between (I expect it will be more fun than watching recent political debates). The live stream will also have a telethon feature for last minute ticket purchasing! The live-stream will begin at 4:30pm on Saturday, October 17. I’ll send out the link to the Raffle live-stream later this week.

Absences and Distance Learning

We’ve had several families who have requested to briefly switch to distance learning due to absence or to regularly switch between distance learning and on-campus learning. Some teachers have tried to accommodate this (a herculean effort!), but it has proved to be too much strain on our already hard-working teachers.

If your child needs to miss school, we will default to treating it the way we would normally treat an absence (see pages 11-12 of the Student/Parent Handbook). If they need to be gone for longer than 3 school days with no end in sight and feel well enough to participate in class, then we can talk about switching them to distance learning. They would then follow the same protocols as the students already doing distance education, including two business days of notice before returning back to in-person education.

If you or your child(ren) have been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 (regardless of symptoms), this will be treated as a special case. Indeed, this is the very purpose of offering distance education. Obviously, those individuals need to self-quarantine until they get a negative test or at least 14 days after last exposure to the COVID-positive case.

As we all saw toward the end of last year, distance education is not the best method of education. We hope to have everyone back on campus as normal, so we intend to cease offering distance learning and move back to the traditional model of education as soon as possible. Until then, we’ll utilize distance education as sparingly as possible.

High School Student-Led Conferences

One of the hallmarks of Classical Education is study and practice of the art of rhetoric. Rhetoric is the art of public speaking and persuasion. We all know that our modern society (particularly in the political class) could use a primer in executing this art with grace and dignity. Some models of classical education set aside the high school years as those years wherein rhetoric is of particular emphasis. We at Saint Joseph Academy think there is some merit to this theory.

I have many more thoughts on classical education as well as rhetoric, but I’ll spare you for now. In order to train our high schoolers in rhetoric, we’re adding a new way for them to practice this important art. In the high school, this year’s parent/teacher conferences will be student-led. As we continually make our school more and more classical, this approach has many advantages. First, I’ll describe a bit what you as parents should expect in terms of the practical procedure, and then I’ll go over some of those advantages.

Student-led parent/teacher conferences proceed thusly,

1. All of the student’s teachers are assembled in a room with the student and their parents. Parent involvement is technically optional, but highly encouraged (more on this below). At the beginning of the conference, students introduce their parents to their teachers.
2. The student presents to the panel of teachers their accomplishments and shortcomings in each of their classes thus far, as well as their academic goals and plans for achieving those goals going forward. The students will receive guidance from the teachers in preparing this presentation.
3. The teachers will briefly respond to the student’s assessment of their progress, goals, and plans.
4. If time permits, parents will be able to ask questions or provide commentary.

The advantages of student-led conferences are many. Here are just a few (in no particular order):

• Students are held to a high standard of academic excellence. This process encourages them to take responsibility for their performance in front of the panel of their educators (including the primary educators, their parents). Students who take responsibility for their own performance consistently outperform their peers who do not.
• The unity of parents and teachers in the enterprise of education is made clear to the student. There is a special clarity and consistency which helps the parents and teachers team up in providing any assistance or motivation that the student need.
• Students learn self-advocacy. Student-led conferences allow for a supportive environment for students to learn the skills necessary to advocate for themselves. These skills will provide lifelong benefits for the students. These skills are essential in the university setting, as well as in their future employment.
• Students take an active role in their education. Some students struggle because they feel that their progress in education is not something they get to choose. They view their classes, homework, etc. as imposed upon them. This mindset can make it difficult to build up the necessary discipline for success. Leading their own conference offers them agency and power over their success.
• It promotes the unity of their subjects. Taking their education as a whole, rather than in individual subjects, promotes the fact that all the student’s subjects are intimately connected. All of their subjects work together to promote the pursuit of truth and the cultivation of virtue.
• It builds maturity. The ability to speak in front of others, especially one’s superiors, is an important step to maturing as an adult, but also as a Christian. These conferences will help train the students in the dignity and grace necessary for success in their future endeavors. Student-led conferences help to build a strong sense of self and community, including a healthy self esteem as well as the virtues of honesty and humility.

We’ll give some more updates on when and how these conferences will be held soon. Thank you for your continued support! As always, the teachers and I are grateful to partner with you in the education of your children.

Be bold and keep the faith!

Mr. Luke Heintschel, M.A.

Headmaster

Saint Joseph Academy