Mass attendees dressed in school uniforms.
PHILIPSBURG--Foundation Catholic Education St. Maarten will be celebrating its annual Catholic Schools’ Week February 2-9. The idea behind the week is to enhance unity amongst schools and to celebrate their 128th year of Catholic Education in St. Maarten.
A series of activities has been planned to highlight this occasion. The theme this year is “We are called to follow Jesus.” The school board has been established since 1890 and is the competent authority for seven schools.
The Foundation said that during this week students and staff will be reminded that they are all children of God and thus brothers and sisters in Christ. “As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul and with all our mind and to love our neighbour as ourselves.” (Mathew 22: 37-39)
There are six primary schools (four that have Dutch as language of instruction and two that have English as language of instruction) and one English high school. Attached to every primary school is an Early Childhood Stimulation Group and an Afterschool Programme until 5:00pm. The Foundation caters to a total of 1,933 students and a dedicated staff of 235.
Catholic Schools Week Mass 2017 at L.B. Scott Auditorium.
The programme is: Friday February 2, Teachers Formation Day at St. Dominic High School. There will be no school for students. There will be a School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) Conference and workshops for teachers. Prior to the conference there will be a study week for the teachers who will be the presenters. Joke Kamstra and Margreet van Oudheusden of Expertise Centrum PBS Zwolle Windesheim in The Netherlands will train the staff.
Saturday and Sunday, February 3 and 4 there will be a Mass. In the weekend of February 3-4, students and staff members will wear their school/work uniforms when attending Mass, to highlight the awareness of Catholic Schools Week 2018 and to demonstrate the connection between the Catholic Schools and the Catholic Church.
