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It is often said by guests of our school they sense a "comfortable, family spirit" when coming into the building. Over the years the staff of St. Monica has worked hard to build that family spirit. One of the efforts in that line is having Family Groups each year.
A Family Group is composed of students from each grade led by an 8th Grade Family Group leader. Depending on our numbers, 2, 3, or 4 groups meet in a homeroom with a particular teacher who supervises, but generally does not lead groups. Students look forward to when they will be the 8th Grade leader. We schedule Family Groups at least once a month.
The purpose of Family Groups is to get to know one another and develop a family spirit, to encourage bonding among students from all grades, to provide leadership opportunity for 8th Graders, and to provide activities to expand our annual goals/themes.
Returning students are very anxious to know who their new Family Group will be. We always mix up groups so children get to have new Family Group members each year.
Our older students certainly bring forth their leadership abilities when they are working with the younger children. We often notice a "gentling" of our older students when they are with the little ones. Another outcome is that teachers get to know students even before they are teaching them.
Would we ever want to give up Family Groups? I'm afraid we would have some very unhappy children if we did! "We Are Family...."
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