St. Elizabeth's School

SNOW DAY! School is CLOSED Feb. 3rd

ses — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:01:14 +0000

Due to inclement weather St. Elizabeth’s School will be closed Friday, February 3. Classes will resume Monday, February 6.

St. Elizabeth School is adding a middle school

ses — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:25:09 +0000

On January 19, the SES Board of Trustees approved unanimously a resolution that St. Elizabeth School intends to add a middle school, grades 6-8, as we have been doing, one grade at a time.

We have two location options on the table.
· Clayton executives would like for us to remain in our current facilities, which can accommodate kindergarten – fifth grades. This scenario would allow us to add fifth grade next year in the north section of the 3601 building (East Wing), which would give us a year to find a site to accommodate a middle school or a K-8 building.

· The second option would be to move to the St Ignatius Loyola Church building, formerly the Loyola Grade School, this summer, pending an acceptable lease proposal from the Catholic Archdiocese. This facility would accommodate kindergarten – eighth grades as it stands. We would continue to add a grade each year.

We are awaiting formal lease proposals from each party and hope to have a decision soon.

Admissions Open House

ses — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:05:35 +0000

Admissions Open House on February 8, 10:00am – 4:00pm.

Children’s Christmas Program Dec. 12th

ses — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:12:30 +0000

The children of St. Elizabeth’s School are performing in a special Christmas pageant: “Christmas Around The World” on December 12th at 6:30 pm at the Clayton Theater on the Clayton Early Learning Campus. This presentation will last approximately 45 minutes followed by refreshments. The Clayton Theater is located at 3805 Martin Luther King Blvd., Denver, CO 80205. If you have questions please call the school 303-322-4209. The following link will open a pdf which has a map to the event:

StEsChristmasInvite

7News Bertha Lynn Facebook post regarding 3rd Graders’ visit…

ses — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:45:53 +0000

St. Elizabeth’s School’s third grade class visited the 7News broadcast center (thanks Pam Norris) and news anchor Bertha Lynn posted some photos on her FaceBook page.

Bertha Lynn’s Page

Dr. Robbin’s reflects on Pat Bassett’s supportive speech.

ses — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:13:06 +0000

I/’m always looking to refine my elevator speech about Saint Elizabeth’s School. You know, the pitch you are able to make to someone about why SES is so important to support—in that brief, imaginary span of time you have with a captive audience, just after the doors of the lift have closed, while you ride up a few floors to your intended destination.
Pat Bassett, president of the National Association of Independent Schools, provided me with some new talking points last Wednesday during his keynote remarks at our breakfast held at the Denver Art Museum.
“We offer the four “I/’s,” he said of private schools like Saint Elizabeth/’s. “We are on the cutting edge,” of education “because of our independence, our interdependence, our inclusivity, our innovation.” Independence. Interdependence. Inclusivity. Innovation.
I was particularly interested to hear how Bassett elaborated on the characteristic of “interdependence” that distinguishes our mission. “We are intimately tied to our communities,” he noted, “not separate from them. We work with kids, and families and neighbors, other agencies and other schools to enhance all of the educational opportunities available.
Hmmm. We/’re not engaged in a “winner-take-all” competition. It’s not about denigrating the public schools or siphoning off their best and brightest. It’s about working together, complementing a shared goal to serve our young people by meeting a diversity of needs.
“It’s about balance,” Bassett said, punctuating his point. I/’m down with that. I think others would be, too. That’s a keeper. Emphasizing “innovation” allowed Bassett to extol the freedom and flexibility schools like Saint Elizabeth/’s
have to think creatively about curriculum. “We can be laboratories of experimentation,” he said, “for finding what works, what works best.”
I know that to be true of Saint Elizabeth/’s. At our last board of trustees meeting we had a wonderful presentation by Kim Frantz, our SES principal and lead 2nd-grade teacher, about the new math curriculum we are adopting, “Math Expressions.”
“It is an approach,” Ms. Frantz shared, “that I find more challenging, with homework every night. It is one that fosters parental involvement and responsibility in student learning.”
She also noted that Math Expressions/’ significant technology component does not substitute “bells and whistles” for the tried-and-true equation of student + teacher + class engagement. Indeed, it finds a place for “paired” work in the classroom. For every element of the program, assessment is key, she stressed.
That’s innovation at work! And, of course, everyone at SES knows how great our programs are in the visual arts, music, and the development of the whole person—mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Pat Bassett gave me additional language for underscoring just that point. He said private schools like SES are all about developing not merely the “intellectual quotient” (IQ) of our students, but their “emotional quotient,” their EQ.
“Students equipped with both IQ and EQ,” he maintains, “are prepared to be agents of change” in their communities. He went so far as to say, “Why, they/’re students who can make for a smarter school board!”
One of the most remarkable ways Saint Elizabeth’s School brings all four of the “I/’s”—indepen-
dence interdependence, inclusivity and innovation—together, Bassett concluded, is our flexible, com- (over)
passionate approach to tuition, our Family Commitment Plan. “It reflects a brave, profound, tangible commitment to social justice,” he declared, a policy shared with only three other private schools in the na- tion.”
In the nation… Little Saint Elizabeth/’s, after only four years, on the national stage!
Bringing his astonishingly perceptive and illuminating remarks to a close, Pat Bassett drew our attention to a column (“Psst! ‘Human Capital/’”) written by David Brooks and published in The New York Times on November 13, 2005. Brooks/’ words served as a stirring encapsulation of what we/’re all about at SES. He wrote, “We now spend more per capita on education than just about any other country on earth, and the re- sults are mediocre….the long-term gains are insignificant.”
“These programs are not designed for the way people really are. The only things that work are local, human-to-human immersions that transform the students down to their very beings. Extraordinary schools, which create intense cultures of achievement, work. Extraordinary teachers, who inspire students to transform their lives, work. The programs that work touch all the components of human capital. There’s a great future in Human Capital, buddy. Enough said.”
Saint Elizabeth’s is an extraordinary school. It has a great future! Independence, interdependent, inclusivity, and innovation are the keys that open the door to that future.
Before the elevator doors open, I ask, “And, wouldn/’t you like to come for a visit?”

Dr. Robbin’s Complete Text

NAIS President Addresses St. Elizabeth’s School Community

ses — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:54:40 +0000

St. Elizabeth’s School, celebrating its fifth highly successful year, is hosting a celebratory breakfast October 12 for over 100 friends at the Denver Museum of Art. Its featured speaker is Pat Bassett, president of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), a membership organization for more than 1,400 independent (private) schools and associations of schools in the U.S. and 250 affiliated schools and associations internationally. St. Elizabeth’s School is honored to have Mr. Bassett speak on one of his favorite subjects, the “Public Purpose of Private Schools.”

With its sliding-scale tuition formula, the Family Commitment Plan, and its 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 economic breakdown, St. Elizabeth’s offers all the advantages of high quality private-school education in a genuinely inclusive environment. For more information, please visit its website: www.stelizabethsdenver.org or call 303-322-4209.

Pat Bassett speaks at a breakfast for St. Elizabeth’s School

ses — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:29:34 +0000

Learn about St. Elizabeths/’ commitment to a community of learners that has a true socioeconomic balance, enabling the school to give a unique opportunity to many deserving and under-served children and resulting in an exemplary learning environment for all. St. Elizabeth's was recently touted in 5280 Magazine as one of the best private elementary schools in Denver. Click here to view the invitation.

5280 School Fair on October 22

ses — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 16:27:23 +0000

Mark your calendars for this year’s 5280 School Fair on October 22. Please see attached document, detailing everything we know so far.

Click Here for a pdf flyer of the event