Saint Mary's School of Sagada

Saint Mary’s School of Sagada

Principal’s Bulletin, 2011-2012 Series # 7

August 26, 2011

Dear Parents, Students, Alumni, and Friends:

The school is on its third week of the second quarter. As we continue to seek on how to improve our children’s progress, it is essential to look at the performance of the school during the first quarter.

The general average of the school is 83.31%. This means that the school in general is performing below the minimum grade for honors which is 85%. The table below shows the school average in the six subjects from first to fifth year levels. The elective subjects of the third and fourth year students and Introduction to Psychology and Theory of Knowledge of the fifth year students were not included.

RECOGNITION: We don’t rank the students here in SMS by their individual grades but we set the standards for them to attain. There were instances in the past where all students in a section obtained honors. To obtain honors a student should have an average of 85%-88.99%. High honors are given to those who garner an average of 89%-91.99% while highest honors are given to those who obtain average of 92% and above. To be recognized, the student should have no grade lower than 80% in any subject and had no major violation during the quarter.

We had the Recognition of Honors for the first quarter last Tuesday afternoon. Sixty-two (62) out of one hundred seventy-two students (172) belong to the honor roll. This is equivalent to 36% of the student population. Below is the breakdown of honors for the first quarter.

FAILURES: I am alarmed with the fact that there are 40 students with failures during the first quarter. Majority of the students with failing grades come from the first and second year levels.

I had conferences this week with the parents of most students who have failures and the students who are at risk of losing their financial assistance due to low grades. These are the general comments of the students and the parents.

1. The failing grades are due to non-submission of requirements and poor quality of work.

2. The students spend around 20 minutes daily in studying their lessons at home. This is very much less than their time in front of the TV and/or computer.

Parents, we need your help to address the problem of non-submission of requirements and poor quality of work. We are imposing an assignment notebook starting next week. The students will write all their assignments daily in their assignment notebook to be signed by their subject teachers. Please monitor their homework at home. Make sure they study for at least two hours every night. Unplug the TV or computer. This needs to be done to develop the study habits of your children. We do what we can to help the students in school; it is your responsibility, as parents, to supervise them at home. This is how you reinforce what we teach here. You may also come to school so we can come up with a plan to address the problem regarding the low grades of your children. As of now, there is a group of students who are required by their parents to do their assignments in my office every afternoon before they go home.

REPORT CARDS: The Report Cards are ready. Parents please come and get the report cards of your children as it is important for you to read and discuss the comments of the teachers with your child. The report cards of out of town students will be sent through them this weekend. For those who want to receive an electronic copy of the card, please send your request through This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

PAST EVENTS

The second school dance went smoothly last August 12, Friday. The students had three presentations. The youth ministry members and the dormitorians sang “I Love You” to their parents. 1A Class and the “Unknown Crew” presented a dance. The faculty, who does not want to be out of the stage, amazed the crowd with their fashion show and modern dance. Dinner per homeroom followed after the parent-child dances. The students then continued with the dance while the parents had the 2^nd quarter PTA meeting at the library.

Ms. Susan Ngagan, a faculty member and an SMS alumna, taught a traditional SMS song to the parents. This will be a part of PTA meetings this school year especially that we will have the centennial homecoming in March. Padi Princel Balitog talked about praying in public as requested by the PTA officers. I presented the first quarter report to the parents before they planned the YCAP. Both the school dance and the PTA meeting ended at 9:00 PM.

We had the YCAP the following day, August 13. There were around 60 parents who joined us. They cleaned the garden, the orchard and prepared the drainage for the water in the gym. Those who did not come paid for the food by contributing P250 which is the current daily working rate in Sagada. There were some students who were absent during the YCAP. They have to come on Saturday, August 27, to work or we will be forced to impose a fine of P150 which is the daily working rate of students during the summer here in school. The amount collected will be used for student development which the Student Government Organization can audit.

The faculty members attended the ordination of our chaplain, Sir Stephen Ofoob, to the diaconate last August 15 at the Cathedral of All Saints in Bontoc. Congratulations Padi Stephen.

The students took over the classes during that time under the leadership of the SGO officers. Jansen Domoguen was the principal, Langsa Tuguinay was the guidance counselor, Kate Kollin was the librarian, Zuriel Docallas was the computer technician, and Elwin Pingol was the attendance clerk. To the SGO officers: Congratulations for a job well-done!

ANNOUNCEMENT

There is a music workshop for both elementary and high school teachers here in SMS starting tomorrow, August 27, until Monday, August 29. We expect around 120 teachers coming from Mountain Province. We requested the music students from Poblacion, Dagdag, Demang and Ambasing to come on Monday afternoon. The teachers will apply the principles of conducting on them. The school will provide their dinner because they will present in the evening also.

August 29 is declared holiday in honor of National Heroes’ Day and August 30 is Eid al Fitr. Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity," while Fiṭr means "original nature.” The holiday celebrates the conclusion of the thirty-day dawn-to-sunset fasting during the entire month of Ramadan.

Enjoy the four-day weekend students but please be reminded to STAY OUT OF TROUBLE because the school rules apply at anytime, anywhere.

Nemia Ngalob-Lite

Acting Principal