Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2009 / St. Hugo's honored as a Blue Ribbon School
St. Hugo's honored as a Blue Ribbon School
by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published November 6, 2009
|
Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
Fifth-graders Michaella Merlo and Joseph Mekani practice their typing skills in Betsy Brower’s computer class. St. Hugo focuses on technology to keep its students up to date. |
Bloomfield Hills - Teaching the Catholic faith is first and foremost at St. Hugo of the Hills Catholic School, naturally. But forming well-rounded individuals is nearly as important.
That's why younger students are split into small groups to ensure they excel at reading from an early age. And that's why the school has five different musical bands and a choral program. And that's why, if the yearly standardized test scores show something could be improved, teachers improve it for the next year's curriculum.
"We've always felt we've had an excellent school," said principal Sr. Margaret Van Velzen, IHM. "A lot of it depends on our fine teachers," and their high academic standards, she added.
|
Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
Seventh-graders Paige Spender and Tommy Stefani work on a science project where they build the mitochondria of a chromosome from beads. |
|
Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
Mary Jo Balcer reads to St. Hugo’s first-graders in the school library. |
|
Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
Seventh-grader Michael MacLean works on an art project, what will eventually be a face on a milk jug. |
|
Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
Band teacher Jonathan Napper leads band class at St. Hugo. The school’s music program is also an important part of the curriculum. | |
St. Hugo, which has a pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade program, received the Blue Ribbon Schools award for being a top-performing private school, the only school in Michigan to receive the award this year. The Council for American Private Education nominates up to 50 private schools each year; honored schools are in the top 10 percent in the nation with regard to math and reading.
"Certainly the students, the teachers and the parents should be proud and pleased that the school was recognized for delivering high-quality education - and now serves as an example to other schools," said CAPE Executive Director Joe McTighe.
Their standardized test scores - Catholic schools take the Iowa test - have been above average, and they've thought about applying for Blue Ribbon status before. But, "It's a tremendous amount of work, and running a large school is a tremendous amount of work," Sr. Van Velzen said. (The school educates 721 students this year, with some grades at capacity.)
Finally, staff worked on what she called the lengthy application, "in which you tell all the wonderful things about your school," she said, such as the school's background, demographics and programs.
The staff attributes some of the students' success to the targeted early reading program, which keeps the reading groups small, at about 20 kids per level. They've found it's a way to have larger class sizes and still have an excellent academic program, she said.
In fact, extra teachers are needed to make the program a success, and although it's been suggested a few teacher positions could be cut to help balance the budget, Sr. Van Velzen refused. "That's what makes St. Hugo the excellent school it is," she said. "We've always felt that not every child learns to read at the same time."
The students stop getting grouped together at about fourth grade, when they might start to realize they're being singled out. The first-graders are also split up for math with the same concept. Partly because of the specialized reading program, every square inch of the school is put to use, with storage rooms becoming mini-classrooms.
Academically, teachers expect the students to do a lot of homework, which vice-principal Sr. Mary Ellen Keyes, IHM, said helps to strengthen good study habits. Students start writing research papers in the sixth grade, with students writing more difficult essays every year; this way, students aren't shocked with the amount of school work when they get to high school.
Another important aspect to student life at St. Hugo is its programs for outreach. Students host book and canned food drives for the needy, and take on a larger project for Lent. Plus, counselor Sr. Kathleen Koch, IHM, leads a student group called Project Team, which takes care of the building's recycling and does other service projects.
"They need to be involved helping other people," Sr. Van Velzen said.
One of the reasons St. Hugo has kept on its toes over the years is the number of other private schools in the area, such as Detroit Country Day and Roeper schools. "That is why St. Hugo has to be very competitive academically," Sr. Van Velzen said.
But, as Sr. Keyes said, parents have told her they always knew St. Hugo was a school of distinction; the Blue Ribbon award just confirms that.
And it will continue to be, Sr. Koch adds, "As long as we keep improving what we have, who we are and what we are."
"Our kids don't really realize how lucky they are," Sr. Van Velzen said. "We have a great facility."
St. Hugo is planning a blue-filled Blue Ribbon celebration at 1 p.m. Nov. 20 in the school gym. Sr. Van Velzen was honored this week in Washington, D.C.
Related Link:
|
