Everything Under The Sun: St. Ursula School Happenings

Thursday, July 7, 2016

St. Ursula School Happenings

Students outside the school for Race For Education.

It's a Catholic school that has been in operation for about 75 years, with close ties to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur for much of that time period. This school, located on Harford Rd., in Baltimore, serves students in grades pre-K (4) to Grade 8. This is none other than ST. URSULA SCHOOL (SUS).

Although, like most schools in the area, SUS students are all on summer vacation, this past year's eight graders were featured in The Seton Way magazine. These eight graders were among thousands of students who visit THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON each year. Teacher Maureen Hahn led the group.

According to Ms. Hahn, "We do an annual retreat in late October for our 8th grade students. We prepare them by teaching about Mother Seton and how special she was, and by showing the video about her. This year we'll have 85 students on the visit. Many parents accompany the students and they love the tour!"

Ms. Hahn has been leading this student visit for about 18 years. She said, "My late husband started the tradition when he was president of the school board. It has continued as a tribute to him and has become a very special tradition - definitely a highlight of my job! It's extra special for me because I went to college at St. Joseph's - the last class to graduate in 1973. And I met my husband at Mount St. Mary's." You can check out the above link to the Shrine, if you are interested in making a visit yourself.

SUS also runs a Partner Program before the start of each new school year. A family, who is already part of the school community can become actively involved by getting to know a family new to the school. That family also introduces the new family to the school and help them to get acclimated. Interested families have already been matched before the start of this month.

Remember having to read summer books during your summer vacation during your elementary school years? That summer reading program still happens - at least at SUS, it still does. The school had a special arrangement with Barnes and Noble to conduct a shopping trip before the end of the school year. Students were encouraged to purchase books they liked from the summer reading list, to the accompaniment of the school choir. A percentage of each purchase went to the school when the purchaser specified SUS.

Students participate in a hallway activity on a rainy Field Day.

That's just a small scattering of the activities at SUS, not bad for summer vacation. I wish the best to all of their students, to enjoy their summer, get their book-reading done, and have a happy and successful school year.