Dear Pius Parents,
I hope you had a wonderful Fall Break and time for your family to catch up and enjoy the Balloon Fiesta. Our first quarter ends today, and we will have grades posted next week. The first quarter report cards will be emailed to you no later than Monday, October 23rd. Our students have worked hard, and we are proud of their accomplishments.
Annual Fund
The Annual Fund has raised more than $270,000 to date and has gained momentum with parent participation. The 11th grade leads with 26% parent giving with our 8th grade class close behind with 21% parent participation. We will reward our students with a day off from school when we reach a total of 75% parent participation across all grade levels. Whether you designate your tax-deductible gift for your favorite team or academic department, or you just want your gift to support the area of greatest need, your support strengthens the St. Pius student experience. Strong parent participation in the Annual Fund sends a message to the community and donors that our parents have confidence in the school and its future.
As a reward for reaching early fundraising goals, our seniors will be able to start their off-campus lunch privileges. Seniors will have regular off-campus lunch privileges on Tuesdays. In order to receive this privilege seniors must have 40 approved service hours in x2VOL. Off-campus days for the rest of the semester will be 10/17, 10/24, 10/31, 11/7, 11/14, 11/28 and 12/5.
School-Wide Testing Day
On Wednesday, October 18th, all students in grades 8 through 11 will be participating in our School-Wide Test Day. The 8th and 9th graders will take the Pre-ACT exam, and the 10th and 11th graders will take the PSAT/NMSQT exam. Students are required to arrive at school before the 8:00 a.m. bell. All testing should be completed by 12:00 noon. Additional details will be sent to you next week. PLEASE NOTE: Seniors will have this day (October 18th) off. These tests are important, particularly the PSAT for juniors which is used to receive National Merit recognition. The Announcements section below lists the large number of students who have received these honors.
Final Exams
In order to help families plan ahead we want to remind everyone about semester finals. The first semester finals are scheduled for Monday, December 18th through Friday, December 22nd.
- Students only need to be on campus when they have a scheduled final.
- Per SPX policy, no finals will be administered early.
- Students who miss a final for any reason should contact Mrs. Ducaj at [email protected] as soon as possible to arrange for a time to make up the final.
- The makeup final will be scheduled during finals whenever possible.
- Any final(s) that cannot be made up during the scheduled finals will be administered on the following Saturdays: January 13th, 20th and 27th.
- A $50 fee will be charged for each missed final unless the student missed the final due to illness (doctor’s note is required) or a death in the family (documentation required).
- PLEASE NOTE: If an athlete in a winter sport misses a final exam and makes it up in January 2024, that athlete will be ineligible to participate in his/her winter sport until all final exams are made up and the student's eligibility is determined.
Announcements
Our 8th grade volleyball team completed the inaugural season of middle school sports at St. Pius X, and they went undefeated. We wish to congratulate the girls and the coaching staff.
Last week we announced a number of St. Pius X students were recognized by the College Board National Recognition Program and the National Merit Scholarship Program. We apologize for a typo on a name, and so we are sharing the list of distinguished students again.
Chidike Anozie and Olivia Boatman were named National Merit Semifinalists. They are two out of the 16,000 seniors in the entire country to receive this honor. Congratulations!
The following SPX students were awarded the following recognition: National African American Recognition Award (NAARA), National Hispanic Recognition Award (NHRA), or the National Indigenous Award (NIA).
Kristy Agbemadzo, NAARA; Madison Armijo, NHRA; Gabriella Blea, NHRA; Joshua Brown, NHRA; Jacqueline Cattaneo, NHRA; Liam Chavez, NHRA; Justin Duran, NHRA; Brandon Eklund, NHRA; Sanaa Givens, NAARA; Julie Gonzales, NHRA; Lena Hernandez, NHRA; Denny Rey Herrera, NHRA; Madison Lussier, NHRA; Jacob Maes, NHRA; Christian Marin, NHRA; Isaiah Martinez, NHRA; Andres Navarrete, NHRA; Jayden Notah-Johnson, NIA; Auriana Rey, NHRA; Mia Richards, NHRA; Santiago Aragon Roybal, NHRA; Jacob Solin, NHRA; Mateo Swabenbauer, NHRA; and Juliana Wardroup-Sanchez, NHRA.
Admissions Portal
We already have over 100 applications in just the first three weeks of opening our admissions portal. The first placement test is Saturday, October 21st. It is critical to get your application in early for 8th and 9th grade as we will fill both classes early. Please click this link to apply. If you have a returning student, there is no need to submit a show of interest form or complete an application. We will notify you as soon as the 2024 -2025 registration is open.
Sincerely,
Michael A. Deely
Head of School