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Mrs. D. |
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FAQFrequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.
How do we apply for FACTS? ( Tuition Assistance) Go to our school web page and there is a link to do it online. http://www.stmarkcatholicschool.org Do you need to be Catholic to enroll? No. We do give enrollment priority to parishioners but students from all faiths may apply. Our teachers must comply with N.C. certification process. What is your approach to rewarding /holding students responsible I�m not one to do much recreational reading. I do like professional journals and non-fiction that helps me gain insight and perspective to help me with my job. Recently something I read peaked my attention and enticed me to share some thoughts with you to think about as you continue the very difficult job of parenting� Mel Levine, a professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School in Chapel Hill, says today's children �may well shatter.� For sure that got my attention. That comment coming from a report on �60 Minutes� last fall which discussed how the so-called echo boomers -- the children of baby boomers, who were born between 1982 and 1995 -- are �over- managed� and �very pressured� and are treated by their parents as pieces of �Baccarat crystal or something that could somehow shatter at any point.� His message is that, �Children are being coddled and protected to a degree that threatens their ability later in life to strike off on their own and form healthy relationships and proper job skills� These parents are trying to create a really terrific statue of a child, rather than a child,� says Levine, author of �Ready or Not, Here Comes Life� (Simon and Schuster, 2005) Felix Carroll of the Albany Times Union wrote, �They're your little Renaissance kids. You shuttle them from soccer practice, to clarinet lessons, to karate, and -- because they will be going to a great college -- to SAT prep class�� What do most parents want for their children? Most parents would cite that what they want most for their children is: happiness, success in school, satisfaction with their lives, and solid friendships. For Catholic school parents we�d add an appreciation for the role God plays in their lives and sensitivity to social justice issues. In order to reach these goals, our children need inner strength to deal competently with the many challenges and demands they encounter. Some label this ability or capacity to cope and to feel competent, resilience. It�s also a word some use to dismiss the affect life experiences have on children who endure difficult circumstances, because, they seemingly make it through OK. All children experience pressure of some nature and all children need to develop some form of �resilience.� This comes from children working through things not getting through due to adult intervention or compensation. The self-assured child learns to use problem solving skills and learns how to make decisions. They learn how to succeed, when they learn how to get past failing at something. They learn to invest their energies into those things they can control rather than succumbing to those things over which they have no control. We have to present opportunities for our children to develop interpersonal skills and to advocate on their own behalf. They need to appreciate the benefits of trial and error to foster the resilience they will need later on. We are seeing the effects of hovering and interceding too much for our children. Dr. Beverly Low, one of the deans at Colgate University, says that �where before parents would drop their kids off to college and get out of the way, parents now constantly call her office intervening in a roommate dispute or questioning a professor's grading system.� Employers are seeing parents show up to negotiate employment terms. That isn�t empowering our children. Another comment which Carroll wrote caught my interest as it aligns with my philosophy of recognition. ��You inflate their egos. You give them graduation ceremonies even when it's just from preschool. You give them a trophy at the end of the season even when they lose.� His target group is the coined �helicopter parent�. I don�t subscribe to all of the innuendoes connoted by the term but I do find merit in stepping back to give children the opportunity to work through challenges, to pick themselves up, brush themselves off and to start all over again, until they make it. That�s when self esteem and self worth kick in. That�s when they�ve earned the trophy. Are there any asbestos issues at the school?
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