Holy Cross Catholic School

From the Desk of Mrs. Wagner

June 25, 2021

Hello Everyone! I hope summer is in full swing and you are finding time to soak up the sun. I wanted to take this time to introduce our new music teacher and to share the great news about our new reading program.

For the past few years, our teachers were discovering that our reading program needed more and more supplemental resources in grades 3-8. Our K-2 program adopted Super Kids and it proved to be amazing providing our students with the foundational skills needed for beginning readers.

The Kansas State Department of Education's new Dyslexia Initiative begins the 21-22 school year. We are compliant in most areas as we already use a universal screening K-8 and implement tiered levels of support. Areas of improvement for the initiative are to find a science of reading structured literacy program and recommendations of instructional time of ninety minutes each day. An example of how a lesson will be structured is below.

We were already researching and reviewing our 3-8 program when we decided that we would like a program that is comprehensive from Pre-K- 8 grades. After many meetings and extensive conversations comparing several different programs, our amazing curriculum review team has decided on the Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA).

Amplify CKLA is a structured literacy program that provides a fundamentally different approach to language arts. It is based on decades of early literacy research that demonstrates the importance of wide-ranging background knowledge that provides explicit and systematic instruction in foundational skills. It specializes in reducing the risk of reading difficulties, aids in improving achievement gaps for English learners, and enables students to make better than expected progress. The program also individualizes instruction for students which is vital to student success. We are so thrilled to have a program that will benefit all of our learner's PreK-8 grades.

Let's get together! We will be hosting an Open House on Sunday, July 18 at 5 pm in the back parking lot. Please feel free to bring friends and family to view our new preschool and primary school classroms. We will have a food truck and Kona Ice and cannot wait to see everyone.

Miss Megan McCoy

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Miss Megan McCoy comes to us from the University of Kansas. Most recently she joined Holy Cross Catholic Church as the new music director. We are so pleased she has so kindly agreed to also teach our students music at the school. This will provide our school and church a more coordinated liturgy both during the week and weekends. We have secured the Saint Thomas Aquinas band director, John Burgess, for our 5-8 grade band students during their specials time. We are still in communications with a representative for strings but have some great options. When we have confirmed an instructor I will share the news. This provides a broader range of music opportunities for our students to engage in choir, band, and strings. We are thrilled to expand our music programs at Holy Cross. Below is more about Miss McCoy. Please help me in giving her the best Holy Cross welcome!

Megan McCoy is the music director at Holy Cross Catholic Church, and will be the music teacher at Holy Cross Catholic School! She is a student at the University of Kansas studying organ performance and has worked as an organist, choir director, piano teacher, and music theory tutor. What she enjoys most about being a musician is sharing her love of music with others. She is marrying her fiance Aidan Hill on August 21st at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita, Kansas. Megan loves to cook, sing in choirs, thrift shop, and learn about her faith by reading. Megan hopes to become a great music teacher, a loving wife and mother, and one day, owner of multiple dogs and cats!

Where in the WORLD are our HC students and families?

Please wear your HC spirit wear while on vacation or if you are exploring KC! If you want to send your pics to mwagner@holycrosscatholicschool.com, I will post them so we can see all the wonderful experiences our students are having while exploring God's beautiful Earth! :)