SIDNEY — Holy Angels Catholic School continues to grow in faith, academics and service.

“Our students, staff, faculty, and school community have been blessed in a variety of ways this year and we are looking forward to the exciting additions and changes coming in the 2023-24 school year,” said Principal Denise Stauffer.

Her report continues:

Our youth ministry programs continue to flourish. All of our students have the opportunity to attend weekly Mass together, go to adoration, and participate in daily prayer. Damascus Retreats are offered to students in grades 6-8. Along with this, our eighth graders participate in a Patriotic Rosary; our 6-8 grade students lead our Discipleship Program, a religious mentorship opportunity, for our younger students in grades K-4; and our 5-6 grade students lead a Living Rosary for the school and parish family. We also offer a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Program for our PreK and Kindergarten students.

Our music department offers a wide variety of opportunities for students to use their God given talents. Ten of Lorie Beigel’s choir students — Annabelle Holthaus, Sophie Sollmann, Elyse Dembski, Emma Sollmann, Mason Verhotz, Catalaya Wilson, Maggie Witt, Mila Geise, Addie Witt and Audrey Zimmerman — were selected, through the audition process, to participate in the 2023 All-State Children’s Chorus by the Ohio Music Educators Association. Chase Fitzpatrick qualified and participated in the OMEA District 11 Junior High Choir this year. Our junior high band members also have an opportunity to join the Lehman marching band and pep band.

As a result of God’s blessing of knowledge, our students and school were once again recognized with the Governor’s Thomas Edison Award for Excellence in Student Research and STEM Education. This honor is based on the incorporation of scientific inquiry and technological design through student-focused, project based curricula to increase engineering skills, collaboration, problem-solving, creative innovative design and critical thinking in our science and STEM classes, taught by Gwen Stiver and Ellen Brandon. Our sixth- and eighth-grade students participate in our school’s local science fair in February, the district fair in March, and the state fair in May. Last year nineteen of our students received superior ratings and went on to participate in the district fair at Edison State in Piqua. Eleven of these students received superior ratings at the district level and went on to compete at the state science fair. Five students, Henry Petersen, Taylor Platfoot, Bailey Cotterman, Kari Stewart and Avery Wyan, received superior ratings at the 2023 State Science Fair Day.

We also celebrate our students chosen for publication in the Peculiar Pets Poetry Contest through the Young Writers program. Eight students, from Dee Jutte’s Language Arts class, were selected among several thousand entries to be included in this year’s book of approximately 225 writings. These students included sixth graders Kendall Hart, Charlie Herring, Sandy Lee, Jared Lofton, Kieran O’Leary, Brianna Schneider, Eden Snow, and Sophie Sollmann. The Poetry Anthology is scheduled for publication in May 2023.

New for the 2023-24 school year, we will be adding 3 year olds to our Preschool (3 and 4 year olds) and Pre-kindergarten (4 and 5 year olds) programs. Holy Angels School will be offering a Preschool/PreK information night in conjunction with our Kindergarten screening night for the 2023-24 school year on Tuesday, April 4th. The Preschool will be open from 4-6 p.m. to provide an opportunity for prospective families to learn about our new 3-year-old Preschool and Pre-K programs.

Kindergarten screening sessions, on April 4, will be offered at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.for your convenience. The Kindergarten screening will last approximately two hours. To schedule a kindergarten screening appointment, please call the main office at 937-492-9293. Prospective students must have an appointment to attend. The deadline to register for a screening time is Tuesday, March 28.

Holy Angels Catholic School is also currently registering students in grades 1-8 for the 2023-2024 school year. There are several scholarship opportunities available for students: The St. Michael The Archangel (parish members), Guardian Angel (multi-student and/or extra help), Jon Peterson (special needs), EdChoice (residential), EdChoice Expansion (income-based), the Catholic Education Foundation Scholarship (needs based) and the Welcome Scholarship (PreK-K first time families). Please contact Mary Jo Baker, our business manager, at [email protected] for more information on scholarships, deadlines to apply, and tuition assistance.

All are welcome to be a part of our Holy Angels School Family as we develop the student’s mind, body, soul, and service to others, rooted in the Catholic teachers of Jesus Christ. Feel free to contact the school’s principal, Denise Stauffer at 937-492-9293 or [email protected], if you would like any further information.