St. Bonaventure Catholic School in Huntington Beach is eagerly anticipating sharing the “good news” of our unique school community during the annual celebration of catholic schools during National Catholic Schools Week during the last week of January.
The yearly celebration of Catholic schools during Catholic Schools Week allows parents, students, faculty, administration, clergy and staff to celebrate with joy all that makes our school community unique. The celebration and observance this year starts on Sunday, Jan. 28 and runs to Feb. 3.
The celebration of Catholic schools revolves around the theme of community; Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service. This theme acknowledges that our schools are part of a larger community that includes our families, our parish, our city and our country. Our goals for our students throughout the year, not just during Catholic Schools Week, are to Learn, Serve, Lead and Succeed.
As a community of faith, our students will begin the week celebrating Mass with our parish community, followed by our “Welcome Home” themed all-school Open House from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. At our 9:00 a.m. Sunday community Mass the students will give witness to our school motto, “Not words, but deeds” and serve others as Jesus did as altar servers, lectors, and gift bearers. Throughout the week the children will also be writing letters of thanks to our priests, deacons and sisters involved in our various parish ministries, as well as inviting them into their classrooms to have them share their unique call to the religious life.
As communities of knowledge, St. Bonaventure students will showcase their God-given gifts as life-long learners with displays of student work throughout the campus, they will share their love of reading with a local author, dress as their favorite literary character, read with a “Buddy” class and participate in a school wide “Drop Everything and Read” activity. We are especially proud of our enrichment STEM program that fully engages our students in hands-on activities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Our active life-long learners explore different concepts through fun and engaging projects from Chemistry, Rocketry, Physics, Engineering, Coding, Electronics and Robotics.
As communities of service, St. Bonaventure School students are active Christ-centered Catholics throughout the year – not just during Catholic Schools Week. Our monthly “Jesus Jeans Days” focuses on Catholic social teaching; Life and Dignity of a Human Person (Save the Storks), Call to Family, Community and Participation (Parish H.O.P.E. Outreach), Care for God’s Creation for the Poor and Vulnerable (Catholic Relief Services) and most recently, partnering with St. Rose School in Santa Rosa that was recently impacted by the wildfires with a generous monetary donation
As principal, I am very proud of our students and I am looking forward to “welcoming home” our families and friends to share the “good news” of Catholic education. In addition I am especially grateful for the dedication and commitment of our teachers, staff, parents and volunteers who continually give of themselves to make our school a success. It truly is a “Great day to be a Saint!”