Letter From The Principal

Mona Passman, Principal
September 13, 2017

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Welcome to the 2017/18 School Year! It was great to meet our new parents and guardians at our New Parent Orientation and then to see so many of you at Back to School Night.  

As you undoubtedly know by now, we changed our CDH cell phone and electronics policy this year. In a nutshell, we no longer allow students to use cell phones or other electronic devices during the school day.  (For the full policy, please see Handbook, page 24)

The impact of this change on the school learning environment and culture is overwhelmingly positive. Students may continue to use their school-issued iPads but are not distracted by other electronic devices. Students can focus on learning instead of their next social media post or text message awaiting them after class or at lunch. Now students can focus on building face-to-face relationships with their peers and engage in verbal conversations with their teachers and one another.

Technology isn’t a bad thing when used appropriately. In this technology-centered world, however, using it appropriately can be a hard thing to do. Adults are not much better than teenagers at balancing our time on and off the devices. We have our own Facebook accounts, newsfeeds, calendars, text messages, and email. For many of us, this connection can consume an enormous amount of time. At the very least, it can interfere with the quality of our lives

I encourage the adults in this community to model appropriate technology use. Let’s put down our own phones. 

Let’s quit checking every newsfeed and text the minute it arrives. Let’s quit emailing so much. I talked about this with our staff at our staff workshops. I do not expect them to be tethered to their school email and devices. It isn’t healthy or even effective to be “on call” 24/7. It also doesn’t model the behavior we want from our students.

Let’s be mindful and present to one another and the young people in our lives. As Father Pat Kennedy said in his homily at our Opening School Mass, “Look up and let your light shine.”  

Thank you for your support!