More than 200 students were welcomed by St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School (STA) to its building on August 27. Students in grades 1-8 started their first day of school. While the Kindergarten class comprised of 26 students did their orientation on August 29.
STA’s enrollment this year surpassed its number from previous year with 47 new families joining the school community. The STA community is unique in the Independence Mission School (IMS) network in a way that STA has a very diverse student body. This year, more than 34% of its students are from families with more than one language spoken at home. These languages are English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Tagalog (Filipino), Khmer (Cambodian), Mandarin, Lao and Arabic.
Some special guests joined the STA faculty in welcoming the students. IMS President & CEO and STA alumna Gianna D’Angelo greeted students as they arrived to school and also welcomes the students at the assembly. Representatives from the 17th Police District, Officer Kim and Lt. Smith, also wished STA students a fun learning experience this year.
This year, Principal Sharon McCloskey reinstated the wearing of a full regular uniform which largely contributes to the Catholic school identity of STA. “We relaxed the uniform during the 2020-2021 school year due to CoVid restrictions. Many families continue to believe that the uniform policy is relaxed and I wanted to remind families of our uniform expectations,” according to Principal McCloskey. STA wants its students to be proudly recognized in the community because of their character but also of their appearance.
While students will be back in their learning routines, they can still expect all the fun things that they did last year at STA plus more. Students will enjoy the Fall Festival, Trunk-or-treat, Christmas Tree Lighting, and Talent show plus even better afterschool clubs to join in. STA continues to focus on providing students with rigorous academic training so they can grow intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.