The Countdown Has Begun…
He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
And changes deep darkness into morning,
Who also darkens day into night,
Who calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The Lord is His name. - Amos 5:8
The countdown has begun! We are only 8 days away from our admissions portal opening. Every principal, every teacher, every mom and dad, and almost every student has first day of school jitters. I can honestly say that as a person privileged with opening a brand new school, I have first day of admissions portal jitters! There has been so much excitement surrounding the opening of St. Michael Academy. Many people have even asked to pre-fill out the application!
Please be assured that our Director of Admissions and Communications, Matthew Staley, will take good care of each family. All applications will be handled through FACTS via our school website, stmichaeltn.org. Priority admissions will close on November 15. Once the application is complete, an admissions test will be scheduled for your child in December. Admissions testing for PreK and Kindergarten will be done one-on-one and should last approximately 30-45 minutes. Testing for rising 1st grade students will be done in small groups. Testing for 2nd-5th grade will be in classrooms with an adaptive online test. During the month of December we will have various open houses so your family can tour our beautiful school. Each family will have an interview with me during the month of January for approxinately 30 minutes. Admissions decisions will be sent out during the last week in January.
As a parent of four adult children, I remember our own admissions process well. I recall being nervous when our girls were ushered down the hall for their admissions tests. Will they do well? What if we say “the wrong” thing at our family interview? What if one of the children misbehaves? Good Lord! If I only could go back twenty plus years and tell my younger self to relax and enjoy the process. At the end of the day, we were looking for a Catholic school that wanted to partner with us to help the girls be the people God intended them to be. We found just that in our parish school. After spending 19 years at the school as parents I was asked to stay for another 5 as the principal! To think, a quarter century of our family’s life all started with that first family interview in 2002! And so it will be with our SMA families. The long and fruitful partnership we will have with our future Defenders begins in a few days. I invite everyone to relax and enjoy the process as we get to know each other.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to Matt or myself if you have any admissions questions. May the Lord richly bless you in the week ahead.
Yours in Christ,
Shana Druffner
Principal