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News from the ORE Office

The children of St. Mary Magdalen School and of the Faith Formation program celebrated their First Communion on April 25th and May 2nd. Preparations for this very special time in these children's faith journey actually began in September.

The children first spent 3 months preparing to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. They learned about how much God loves them and how God is always ready to forgive them when they are truly sorry for having done wrong. First Reconciliation celebrations were held in November.
As the time for their First Communion got closer, the children and their parents gathered for a special retreat day March 21. The retreat offered special activities for both the parents and the children. One favorite activity had each child, with help from their parents, making their very own rosary. Another favorite activity was touring the church with Fr. Olson; Fr. showed them all of the special places in the church and explained to them the importance of each. The retreat ended with a special pizza lunch.

The First Communion masses brought together the children and their families and friends to celebrate this very important step in their faith journeys...their first time to come to the table of the Lord and receive our Lord in Holy Communion. The girls were beautiful, the boys, quite handsome, as they gathered for these very special masses. Music was lead by the Jubilate Children's Choir. After group pictures were taken, everyone was invited to attend the receptions downstairs in the parish hall.

Now there are 47 children who can join their parish family at the Table of the Lord! Alleluia!!

News From SMM School

OUTSTANDING ITBS SCORES

We are so proud of our Fifth through Eighth Grade classes! In October this school year, these students scored in the top ranges of a national, objective assessment called the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

These scores are “percentiles” based on national school norms and show that our students perform in the top 10% of students across the nation. That is, they scored better than 90% of other students tested during the same period. Our students consistently perform at the top of Snohomish county and Archdiocesan schools.

ST. MARY MAGDALEN SCHOOL ACCREDITATION VISIT

A national Accreditation Team of six members, representing the National Association of Accredited Schools (NAAS) and the Western Catholic Education Association (WCEA), completed a three-day site visit to St. Mary Magdalen School in March. At the conclusion of the visit, the school received an extremely positive and very detailed report.

Our Principal, Pastor, teachers, students, and parents should be filled with pride as all received very high praise! The first sentence of the report commends the school “for creating a learning environment that continually strives to meet the needs of the students.” The report further states that the “community fosters a Catholic environment where positive attitudes and respect for the individual permeate the entire day. It is obvious that quality education is a priority.” The committee found their visit to be “professionally rich and personally rewarding.”

The team highlighted several areas of strength, especially evidence of our Catholic identity and that students are “living their faith.” We are also very pleased that the team commended the administration for a unique record of fiscal responsibility and stewardship of funds, specifically for operating without a deficit for ten years.

Other areas earning a rating of “Highly Effective” include the following: