Sts. Peter & Paul School, 1115 Young St. PO Box 160, Nauvoo, IL 62354

With the help of God’s grace, we form the mind, body, and spirit of each child

within our school family; we form children to be

Leaders for Christ.

Upcoming Events

May 3 - Fine Arts Night

May 5 - First Communion

May 9 - Spring Blood Drive

June 2 - 20th Annual God’s Portion Day

Auction

stspeterpaul.org SPRING 2019

Bringing Back Junior High…Intentionally!

For a number of years we have dreamed about bringing back junior high to Sts. Peter and Paul School. Parents have asked for it, and a junior high would fit right into our mission of forming Leaders for Christ. Still, we never had a pressing motivation to push past the obstacles to a junior high…until now.

Up until very recently, our parish and school, like so many in the United States have held onto the hope that our students’ faith would survive after graduation. Well, we’ve taken an honest look at things and realize that our hope wasn’t well grounded…and didn’t aim high enough! At a most important and sensitive time of their lives (adolescence), we have been sending young people into a very secular world. In addition, we have been sending them without a mission! We have come to realize that at the end of sixth grade we are not done forming leaders and that these leaders need to know they are being formed to lead others to Jesus.

So, as we look forward to bringing back junior high this fall, we are planning intentionally. Beginning with the end in mind, we expect to form our students to be missionary disciples to whatever high school they attend. We not only want our students to survive high school with their faith intact, we want them to bring others to a deeper belief in Christ. Is this an ambitious goal? Yes! Do we believe it’s possible? With the help of God’s grace, we do! And we appreciate all the support and prayers that you offer for us as we look forward to an amazing year.

-Contributed by Fr. Thomas Szydlik

Alumni & Friends Newsletter

Are you an alum of SPPS?

We would love to hear from you!

Please send your name, contact infor-

mation, and SPPS graduation year to:

development@stspeterpaul.org

From the Principal’s Desk… Bringing Back Junior High...Logistics

We are so excited for the opportunity to bring back Junior High at SPPS and

continue forming Leaders for Christ! The Diocese has given approval to begin 7th

grade this fall (2019) and 8th grade next fall (2020).

So what will this look like? Recent changes in education and advances in

technology have led to thinking differently about student engagement and

learning. This does not resemble the traditional classroom structure with the

teacher at the front of the classroom and students sitting in rows listening to lectures during the school day;

instead, it involves movement, alternative work spaces, small groups, whole group learning, active learning,

collaborative digital spaces, and using technology for personalized learning and instant assessments.

Can this be done without an addition to the school? Yes, we believe it can, even with our limited

space. With the technology we have, we are utilizing the available space (the gym, stage, music room/

library) to work collaboratively outside the classroom. We do not see adding on as a necessity right now;

however we do expect that this will lead to an addition in the future to meet the needs of the school and

parish.

Won’t you need to add staff? No, we won’t need to this fall; the 5th and 6

th grade will be next year’s 6

th

and 7th grade in the same classroom with Mrs. Scheetz. We will combine 4

th and 5

th grade (both small

classes) with a current teacher. In the fall of 2020, 8th grade would be added and we are anticipating adding

a co-teacher for the junior high school structure with departmentalization of classes.

Learning can take place anywhere and studies are proving that using technology to actively engage

students will help them be more successful independent learners. As a result, accountability and ownership

of their responsibility for learning are naturally developed; skills that will drive them to excel at learning in

their higher education. Small steps for a bright future! Thank you so much for your prayers and support!!

May God Bless You! Lisa Gray, Principal

#sp

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Touching the

Future Update

We are halfway through the 2018-

19 Touching the Future campaign

year, with a goal of raising

$75,000. To date, over $55,000

has been collected. As members

of our SPPS family, we depend

on your support to continue

forming SPPS students into

Leaders for Christ. We are proud

of what we have built over the

years with your help and support,

and will continue to grow and

improve as you join in our

mission!

Please contact the school if you

did not receive a Touching the

Future request in the mail. Online

donations are also currently being

accepted on the SPPS website,

www.stspeterpaul.org, under

SPPS Giving.

SAVE THE DATE!

The 20th Annual God’s Portion

Day auction will be Sunday, June

2, 2019 in the SPPS gym. This is

our largest fundraiser-please

mark your calendar to attend!

Continental Breakfast items

available beginning at 9 a.m.

Auction begins at 10:30 a.m.

Kid Zone from 12-2 p.m.

We are currently seeking

donations for the auction. Please

contact the school office, 217-453-

2511, or email

gpd@stspeterpaul.org, if you are

willing to donate.

Thank you for your continued

support!

Check out the new 5th & 6th grade website which has been put together and updated

by the students!

It features information & photos about their weather station hydroponics project.

https://sites.google.com/stspeterpaul.org/aquaponicsweather-station/aquaponics-and

-weather

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tatio

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ics P

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Connect with the 5th & 6th graders’ Weather Station app! Download

the Weather Underground app to any mobile device and search for

our school in Nauvoo, or use our assigned station ID (kilnauvo4) to

connect with our weather station that is broadcasting data straight

from SPPS! You can also bookmark this website address to any com-

puter - https://www.wunderground.com/weather/us/il/nauvoo/62354

Mrs. Scheetz and the 5th and 6th grade class received a $1,000 grant from

Toshiba for a Weather Station Hydroponics Project. Thank you Toshiba

Innovation!

Students will obtain and assemble a weather lab, consisting of a weather station trans-

mitter, assembly pole and materials, and computer software to run the station. Concur-

rently, students will be growing plants in an engineered hydroponics station. Plants will

be selected that will be planted in a monarch rescue garden in the spring. Weather

data collected will be used to analyze conditions favorable to plant and to maximize

viability of plants and ultimately monarchs.

As a results of the Weather Station Hydroponics Project, students will be able to: as-

semble and construct a weather station structure; operate technology associated with

the weather station transmitter; analyze data collected by the weather station; broad-

cast weather data to the local and broad community via a specialized application;

graph and calculate weather patterns; use software to create digital spreadsheets for

local interest and beyond; identify necessary conditions to grow plants successfully in

mineral-rich water; identify and grow plants that will help the monarch population thrive

through our rescue garden; analyze and interpret weather conditions associated with

successful seasonal planting; observe the life cycle of the monarch butterfly from egg

to larva to butterfly; identify stages of metamorphosis in a monarch butterfly; make real

-life connections between STEM process and helping our community.

Stay Connected with Us!

www.stspeterpaul.org

1115 Young Street

P.O. Box 160

Nauvoo, IL 62354

www.stspeterpaul.org

We form children to be Leaders for Christ!

Look inside to see what’s new at

Sts. Peter & Paul School!

5th & 6th grade students

participated in Living Stations

during Lent.

“A Journey Through 100 Years of Catholic Education”, Vol. 1, 1918-

1962, and Vol. 2, 1963-2018 are now available to order. These books are a

“yearbook” of SPPS, providing a glimpse into our past. The God’s

Portion Day Committee is selling the book as a fundraiser.

Cost is $150 per book. Orders can be placed with the school

office.