OUTDOOR CLASSROOM
What are you grateful for? Andrew wrote: Me – the Earth – Jesus – My Family – My Food.
Me too. And I’m grateful for this beautiful patch of land that houses our campus. Every day brings us one step closer to an outdoor classroom at the Villa. Combining all the elements of our beautiful campus – sea, land, and sky – into an environmental lab to complement our STEM program, beautify our campus and grow good stewards of God’s green Earth. A leadership team is coming together, containers are being built, seeds are being planted and an after school “Green Thumb Club” is being formed. We welcome the support of members of our Villa family – current families, alumni, neighbors. If you have a green thumb, access to gardening supplies or connections to grants, please volunteer to participate. Call me at school at (718) 824-3260 or email Caroline at chennessyvma@gmail.com. Stay tuned!
For a bit of Mother Earth inspiration, we look to Dr. Seuss…
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…..
Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss! Villa pre-K, kindergarten and first-grade celebrate one of America’s best-loved authors by participating in “Read Across America.” We spend a whole week – wearing wacky Wednesday costumes, imitating the Lorax and wearing Cat-in-the-Hat hats! Parents come in to read Dr. Seuss books to the children too.
Performing Arts at the Villa
We are spoiled at the Villa to have an active musical program. Two student musicals punctuate the school year. Our 4th-grade class production of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” is coming up on March 11th at 7p.m. in the Visitation Center. Our students auditioned in October and have been rehearsing 3 times per week (with the exception of next week when they’ll be practicing every day.) We are all so proud of them. They’ve worked hard but it’s been a lot of fun too. They’ll be singing and dancing, big ensemble pieces, adventures, chases, and engagements. They pack a lot into a one-hour performance!
You can read a profile of 9-year-old Peyton who plays Tom Sawyer here and find out more here.
“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” takes place on Saturday, March 11th at 7 p.m. in the Visitation Center. Tickets are $5. Please come out and support our 4th-graders!
Villa Heritage
This statue of the Visitation inspired the founding of the Congregation of Notre Dame.
This famous statue can still be seen today in the Church of St. Jean au Marché in Troyes, France. It depicts the Blessed Mother visiting her cousin, St. Elizabeth, when both were pregnant. St. Elizabeth’s baby, John the Baptist, ” lept in the womb” with joy and recognition of his cousin, Jesus. Our foundress, St. Marguerite Bourgyeos, was baptized in this church. The soaring structure was built in the 13th century and houses many important pieces of art. People come from all over the world to marvel at them. This particular statue is important to our Sisters because it inspired St. Marguerite’s dedication to Visitation spirituality. That same dedication is still alive and well in the Villa Maria Academy and in our community of learners who recognize each other with joy.
A print of this image was recently hung in the Great Hall. We keep images and reminders of St. Marguerite around us because we know she guides our work. Every morning all Villa boys and girls join us in praying, “St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, pray for us.”
Lent at the Villa
Ash Wednesday begins the holy season of Lent. Here at the Villa, Sr. Blanche, Mrs. M, and I administered ashes to the students. Mrs. M and Sr. Louise lead a family Lenten hour on Thursday, March 2nd at Hall Marguerite from 6:45 pm – 8:00 pm. These forty days will be colored with acts of service and prayer to give the children a useful preparation for the Easter celebration.
Villa Family Events
Villa alumni coming back for reunions – whether they graduated 50 years ago or 4 years ago – always say the same thing, “The Villa is a family.” Thanks to our active Mothers’ Guild and Fathers’ Club we have a robust calendar of events so Villa students and families can have many opportunities to socialize and build community.
Look into the calendar of events for the remainder of the school year. We are looking forward to seeing you there.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the Mothers’ Guild and Fathers’ Club.
We have some Villa science ringers moving on to the District Science Fair at Mt. St. Michael’s Academy on March 23rd. Please join me in congratulating and encouraging our Villa students who will no doubt represent our school in a wonderful way:
(click on Ernie and Bert – it’s a .gif)
WISH US LUCK!
That’s really just a thing to say. Who needs luck when you have talent combined with effort? Villa students work hard on their studies and it’s always reflected in our standardized test scores. Last year, Villa students had the highest collective scores in math and second-highest in ELA comparing all schools – public and private – in the region. State testing occurs during the last week of the month. Study hard everybody! You always make us proud.
The Principal's Corner 