Pius Proud
Help us to Spread the Good News of St. Pius!
This is an area of our weekly communication with parents designed to spread the good news of the SPX community. All are invited to forward your observations, accomplishments, etc. of our students, faculty/staff, school and church communities on an on-going basis. Let us know by either sending information to the school office or via e-mail at lbarrett@piusxparish.org.
Our Good News this week:
5/14/08 - Old Dominion University's assistant athletic trainer Scott Johnson has been named the Division I Assistant Athletic Trainer of the Year by the College and University Athletic Trainers Committee of the National Athletic Trainers Association. Johnson will be presented the award on June 18th at the NATA national convention in St. Louis, MO.
Johnson has been an assistant athletic trainer at Old Dominion for 20 years. He served as the men's basketball athletic trainer for 19 years. He is currently a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association and the Virginia Athletic Trainers Association. Johnson graduated from Bridgewater State college in 1986 with a bachelor of science degree in education. He earned a master's of science degree in education from ODU in 1987. Scott and his wife Elena, who is a 1991 graduate of ODU, have two sons, Andrew and Michael.
Good News this year:
Scott Johnson named Assistant Athletic Trainer of the Year
4/23/08 Kathy Olivar will receive her Black Belt in Karate on Saturday, May 10th at 9:00am in the St. Pius Gym. Make plans to attend and to wish her congratulations!
What a performance! Kudos to Mrs. Adams and the performers in “A Thousand Cranes” last Friday! Everyone did an OUTSTANDING JOB!
4/9/08 Kayla Airaghi 5B for winning the State Championship for Free Throws in Basketball held March 29th! Airielle Prevatte 6B won 2nd and 3rd place in her Dance Competition for Jazz and Tap this past Sunday.
4/2/08 A copy of the Letter to the Editor in the Virginian Pilot from Jeanne Johnson in response to their article “Seats full at Catholic Schools” (Hampton Roads
Section, March 9th):
Your article touched a real chord in our community. As chairman of the St. Pius X School Board, I am not surprised that some of our Catholic Schools are full. The benefits of a Catholic education go well beyond instilling morals and 4/2/08 Christian values; the academic standards are also hard to match. At St. Pius X, graduates have a 99 percent acceptance rate in IB/Academy programs. And the last two valedictorians at Granby High were St. Pius X graduates. Our small yet mighty “neighborhood” school has the lowest tuition in the region and is proud of a tremendously diverse student body and faculty. What truly sets St. Pius X apart from other schools, though, is the incredible sense of community. Whether a spouse is deployed, a house burned down or any unexpected situation occurs, St. Pius X families know “we’ve got your back.”
I am proud to be associated with Catholic education, and, again thank you for showcasing so many of our great schools.
3/17/08 Four of our fine 8th graders, Selene Ornelas, Jessica Price, Josh Airaghi and Timothy Singer, have been selected as nominees by Sr. Roseanne for the 2007-2008 Official USAA Scholarship Foundation Who’s Who in History and Government. These students will receive the honor of inclusion in the USAA Yearbook. They are also eligible to qualify for one of 400 scholarship cash grants through the program.
3/12/08 Stephanie Byrd & Anna Change: Both students were winners in the Tidewater Area Catholic Schools Spelling Bee Competition held last Saturday at Holy Trinity.
2/27/08 Kayla Airgarhi won the District Championship for Free Throws in Basketball last week. The event was held at Holy Trinity. Kayla will move on the State Championships held March 29th! We wish Kayla the Best of Luck!
2/20/08 Congratulations to Jasmeen Singh 5B for being a winner of the 12th Annual African American History Month Youth Art Contest held by the City of Norfolk Department of Libraries. She and her family will attend the awards ceremony at downtown’s Kirn Memorial Library on February 24th!
2/13/08 Congratulations to 8th grader Jessica Price who won first place and one hundred dollars in the Fleet Reserve Association Essay Contest, Her essay titled “Why I am Proud to Be an American” was selected from numerous entries submitted by all private and public schools in Norfolk. We are PIUS proud of Jessica!
2/6/08 Novisk & Wiedmaier Community Star Award “We would like to send a special heart-felt thank you to Mrs. Ramirez for nominating us for the Community Star Award. We would also like to thank the wonderful families that supported the team throughout the year. Words cannot express our appreciation and gratitude for such a thoughtful, caring gift! Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts!” from Mrs. Novisk 4B & Richard Wiedmaier
1/30/08 Take a look in the Sunday Break section of The Virginian Pilot and chances are you’ll see a St. Pius X bookworm! Young book lovers from our 1st grades through Middle School have written outstanding reviews about interesting books that they have read. Additionally, by writing these reviews for their books, they have enhanced their ability to fully understand what they have read and develop their writing skills. Having their picture and review published in the newspaper for others to see is very rewarding! Recently featured students are Oscar Martin 8th, Joshua Airaghi 8th, Connor Bailey 6th, Michael Johnson 7th, Anna Chang 6th, and Michael Castillo 7th. Look for more of our bookworms in future editions of the Sunday Break. Students at St. Pius X School love to read and it shows!
1/23/08 Take a look in this past Sunday’s Norfolk Compass and within the pages you’ll find a story about people reaching out to South Africa. Our own, Mrs. Virginia Davis is pictured delivering the first shipment of books for the fledgling library at Christianenburg Public Primary School in South Africa. Mrs. Davis is a Yates foundation board member from Norview who visited South Africa in 2006. She helped to create the library in the South African school. The school’s Principal, Nomusa Shandu and their librarian, Thandeka Putini, visited St. Pius last fall. They have forged a valuable relationship with St. Pius that will continue via mail and e-mail and with perhaps future exchanges. Awesome Job, Mrs. Davis!
1/16/08 A letter written by Cecelia White, the Coordinator of Charities at St. Pius X Church to the students, parents, teachers and staff of St. Pius X School: “Today, I mailed a check to N.E.S.T. for $585.20! This was the total of the money collected during your Pennies for the Poor campaign. The money will be used for, among other things, blankets, mats and bus repairs. Thank you for your most generous hearts and may God bless you all.”
1/2/08 The first weekend Masses of the month are dedicated to St. Pius X School. Students who attend a Mass dressed in their school uniform receive a free dress pass. Sr. Linda has been giving out these passes to the students. She definitely sees a growing trend in the number of St. Pius X School families who attend. At the December Mass, she handed out over 60 passes to students!
12/12/07 A few weeks ago a survey was sent home to all parents called the Net Promoter Score. This survey measured customer satisfaction and how likely parents were to refer St. Pius X School to others. The average score nationally is between 5% and 10%. Top performing companies like Amazon.com come in at 73%. St. Pius X School scored 88%! This level of customer satisfaction is almost unheard of! Thank you for the great responses and help us spread the GOOD NEWS about our school and Catholic education!
12/05/07 Last Friday was our Pep Rally to kick off our Basketball Season! Our band’s performance was exceptional under the direction of Mr. Finn. And our cheerleaders definitely got everyone in the spirit with guidance of Mrs. Pecil. We would like to acknowledge all the coaches that have given so much of their time and effort to making our St. Pius Basketball Teams GREAT!
11/28/07 Per Geoffrey Thomas, father of Richie Thomas 5A and a new parent to St. Pius X School…“I am very impressed with the level of care, concern and commitment the staff of the C.A.R.E.S. Program has for the children. It is very obvious that they enjoy what they do. Their involvement with the children is truly an asset to St. Pius X School.”
11/14/07 Within the pages of “Lilly’s Kids”, a supplement catalog to Lillian Vernon, are pictures of our very own Breanni Gill 2A modeling for some of their merchandise! Take a look!
11/07/07 An excerpt from a letter written by Page O’Flaherty, a parent of three at St. Pius, about her mother who observed our students…“With three children and seven grandchildren, my mother has had the opportunity to visit many schools. She said that the students at St. Pius X School were the most polite students that she has ever seen! She noted that everyone had good manners; they opened doors for her, said “please”, “thank you” and “excuse me”, and they always greeted her with a smile. My mother was very much impressed with our students and the atmosphere of our school!”
