Parent Tributes
Wendi McAleese I hope that Lisa shared with you my recent early morning phone call to her where I, as usual, couldn’t say enough good things about St. Mary’s. In case she did not adequately express my comments, I thought I’d send you this summary myself. Hayley received her first report card from Hillsborough IB last week and she received straight A’s. We were thrilled, not only with the grades themselves, but also with the level of commitment she has brought to the program. IB, as you know, is hard work and there are many extremely bright students in her program who are simply not used to having to work so hard. Hayley, on the other hand, is very well prepared for the challenges of the program because of the level of expectations set at St. Mary’s. They say that success breeds success and her time at your school has started off her high school career on an incredibly high note. Additionally, I recently attended a parents’ meeting for a special USF grant program that is being offered to IB students. The program director was discussing that in his career as an intelligence officer, he has always had his pick of new recruits who were bright and hard-working, but most of them had no experience in public speaking. He lamented the lack of training school children receive in this important skill. I, of course, sat there looking smug, thinking about Hayley’s numerous public speaking and performing opportunities over the last 10 years – from shaking your hand at car-pool, to Friday assemblies, to science fairs, Latin Forums and the 8th grade speech class. As parents of a current St. Mary’s student, as well as a recent St. Mary’s alum, we will remain forever appreciative of their time spent in the St. Mary’s community.
Written: 2011 St. Mary's Episcopal Day School 2101 South Hubert Avenue Tampa, Florida 33629 (813) 258-5508 Fax: (813) 258-5603 |
