"Let us give thanks to the Father
for having made you worthy
to share the lot of the saints
in light." - Colossians 1:12
This has been a fantastic school year thus far, and the future is even brighter! I have to confess that years ago I began the intentional habit of more concretely using the third person in speech and in writing. This is our school. We all play an instrumental role, here and at home. We rely on the gifts and guidance of others to carry on this mission, in both the daily and consequential decisions we make.
As many of you know, the Tremblay household is growing again. Maria Elise is due in early July. I have been teaching adolescents for quite some time now, and I still can’t wrap my head around the notion that we will have a teenager in two years. Someone asked me this question recently: “To what would you attribute the cause of the mission success at Mount Royal Academy?” I paused, and then honestly reported that I think my prayer life moved to a better place. The house is busy and time is nowhere to be found, but time was prioritized. I made a more concerted effort to be a husband and a father, and I told my interlocutor that those efforts likely transferred over other areas in my life. The area where I have grown the most is my appreciation for my wife. As my gratitude for her grows, I am more inclined to lend a hand. Likewise here at our school, as my gratitude grows for parents, teachers, and students, the resolve to make each day better than the one before strengthens. I find myself going to bed super excited for the next day, with butterflies in my stomach. I credit that to my lenten penances working!
I made a comment today that this is where I find my meaning. Well, we all share the same meaning, and this is the meaning I intend to suggest to you all. Parents - you are sacred! This is what the church has to say about the meaning of being a parent:
“Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators. This role in education is so important that only with difficulty can it be supplied where it is lacking. Parents are the ones who must create a family atmosphere animated by love and respect for God and man, in which the well-rounded personal and social education of children is fostered. Hence the family is the first school of the social virtues that every society needs. It is particularly in the Christian family, enriched by the grace and office of the sacrament of matrimony, that children should be taught from their early years to have a knowledge of God according to the faith received in Baptism, to worship Him, and to love their neighbor. Here, too, they find their first experience of a wholesome human society and of the Church. Finally, it is through the family that they are gradually led to a companionship with their fellowmen and with the people of God. Let parents, then, recognize the inestimable importance a truly Christian family has for the life and progress of God’s own people.” - Declaration on Christian Education (Gravissimum Educationis), #3
On that note, I want to share where we stand with enrollment for the 2022 - 2023 school year. At this moment in time, we have 231 students - the highest ever! The retention rate is 91% (K-1 94%, 5-6 100%, and 8-9 94%). This includes 36 students who are new to our school community, and equally as exciting is that 12 younger siblings of existing families will be joining the academic day. I predict that number to increase even more in the future.
The more students we have from mission minded families, the more good that can be done for all students. We are therefore asking current parents to consider reaching out to other parents whose children are not attending Mount Royal Academy, parents who believe their voice isn’t heard or their children need a normal educational experience. Consider inviting those parents to send their children to one of the many shadow opportunities taking place over the next three months, and encourage them to connect with Mr. McMenaman.
And like I said in the beginning, the good that is done here is done by us all. As parents we know we need this mission for our families. As teachers we know this is where we can most authentically and courageously live out our vocation as witnesses to the faith. I want to thank you all for your efforts in creating a spirit of communion, united in sacrament, word, and deed. The Holy Spirit is the unifier! May St. Joseph - our beloved patron - pray for all the needs of this community, and may our growth in holiness transcend all earthly measures of success!
-Derek Tremblay, Headmaster