Principal’s Desk News & Information Upcoming Dates High School Counseling

Next week, we begin the season of Lent with the 9am All System Mass at Holy Family Church on Ash Wednesday, February 18th.

Lent is one of the five seasons of the Catholic liturgical calendar, along with Advent, Christmas, Easter, and Ordinary Time. Lent precedes Easter and is a season focused on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. While Lent is often associated with the Catholic faith, many Christians–including Protestant and Orthodox beleivers–observe it as well.

There is no better time to deepen one’s faith than Lent. During this time, we pray for all in our Springs community to draw closer to God as we prepare for the joyous celebration of Christ’s resurrection at Easter.

The SMSA core value we are emphasizing this school year is “LEARNING.” Educators know that the essential practices of school are instruction and learning. When these functions are truly integrated, education is experienced as both an art and a science.

As most parents know, SMSA transitioned from a traditional 8 period daily schedule to a modified block schedule in fall of 2020. This decision was initially implemented as part of our high school health mitigation strategy during the pandemic. The benefits of block scheduling soon became a revelation to those serving and learning in our high school!

Students and teachers embraced the change of our daily bell schedule from the traditional 8 period day with 43 minute classes to the modified block schedule with 85 (now 90) minute classes that met four times per school day. We continue to see many benefits for students and teachers.

In a series of professional development exercises supported by our educational partners at CESA 6, four years ago the high school faculty identified new norms for what a successful lesson “looks” like within a modified block schedule. These norms have become known as our “Visible Learning” standards. These standards are posted in all high school classrooms.

Teachers agree that the following key learning elements and methodologies are essential to a well planned and successful lesson – and should be “visible” (evident) in every high school class block on the Ledge:

– Posting Daily Learning Objective(s)/ Goal(s): Visible goals for a lesson helps to focus students on what they are expected to learn each class.
– Recapping: Helping students to connect to prior knowledge is critical to advancing a lesson.
– Differentiated Instruction: Not all students learn in the same way or grasp new information at the same time. Teachers are dedicated to meeting the diverse learning needs that exist in every classroom.
– Forward pacing: Keeping lessons moving helps to keep students alert and on task with learning.
– Assessment of Student Learning while Instructing: This emphasizes what teachers are learning about students – especially during a classroom lesson. Teachers must employ many methods for determining in the moment how and if students are grasping and processing new information.
– Physical Movement: Integrating thoughtful and task appropriate movement into a class period that lasts 85 minutes is important for keeping students engaged. It helps student learning to have a chance for physical movement that will circulate blood and oxygen.
– General Feedback: Students should expect to receive daily feedback on their learning and performance from each teacher.
– Exit Tickets: Every lesson should have clear closure. Teachers should devise methods for having students demonstrate what they have learned in each class block.

Whenever I enter a high school classroom, I expect to visibly observe these key strategies being implemented. Our St. Mary’s Springs Academy faculty do a wonderful job of integrating these norms into their lesson planning and daily instructional practice.

During the past three years, SMSA has proudly observed an annual increase in its ACT school composite scores. Such increases are rare and hard to come by for schools. This exciting outcome reflects our strong academic program as well as the hard work of Ledgers and their teachers.

In recent years, teachers have spent significant time in professional development, faculty meetings training to better align what students learn in the classroom with what students are expected to know on the ACT. We strive to improve the ‘college readiness’ of Ledgers.

The Wisconsin DPI State Standards are aligned to national common core standards – which comprise the ACT. The standards are intentionally integrated through each core academic area of the SMSA curriculum. By underscoring ‘essential standards’ in each course, faculty reinforce the WI State Standards in each class! Therefore, when Ledgers take the ACT each junior year, they are reading test questions and academic concepts that are familiar.

Students have been working hard to learn and demonstrate competency in the core curriculum, but they have also been given more time to ‘practice’ the Pre-ACT and ACT through some sound ACT test prep programs that have become standard on the Ledge.

Juniors have both mandatory and optional sessions of ACT Test Prep with Revolution Test Prep that are offered each year. One optional Revolution Test Prep session is offered this Saturday . Please Click Here to register.

In addition, during J-Term, freshman, sophomores and juniors that were learning on the Ledge had daily On to College (OTC) ACT Prep sessions to help sharpen their test-taking prowess. Junior Ledgers have more than 20 additional sessions of OTC during Quarter 3, on the run-up to the District Testing date of March 27th.

These extra opportunities to understand testing content and reinforce testing skills help our Ledgers grow in confidence and competence as they take the Pre-ACT and ACT each Spring!

This year our school Testing Day is scheduled for Friday, March 27th. On that day, all freshmen and sophomores will have the Pre-ACT administered to them on campus by SMSA teachers. The ACT will be administered for juniors. That same day, seniors are off campus for a designated college visit day as they plan to continue their learning next year and into their bright futures.

The District Testing Day is also important to SMSA because it provides real data for us to examine student growth, and enables us to measure our own progress as a school year to year.

Developing confident lifelong learners is key to our mission on the Ledge. It’s what we are preparing our young people to do…and we continue to improve on this goal!

Our Lady of the Ledge, pray for us.

Mr. Eamonn O’Keeffe,
High School Principal

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Student writers highlight life on the Ledge for our high school.

Click Here to Read February’s Ledger Pick-Axe

The SMSA Sophomore Class will be hosting the annual Sadie Hawkins Dance on Saturday, February 21st from 7:30-10:30 pm. Tickets will be sold the week of February 16th during lunch at the cost of $15 per person. No tickets will be sold at the door, so make sure to get them early. Inquire after permission for guests in the North Hall Office.

SMSA is hosting the Flyway Conference Solo & Ensemble Music Festival on February 28th, 2026. This is for MS and HS music students to perform. We are looking for volunteers to sign up for a shift to make this event a success. Students looking for service hours can sign up as well!

Click the link below to sign up for a slot: https://signup.com/go/zWZzhDS

Junior & Senior Families:

Post Prom for SMSA juniors, seniors and their (one) guest is a safe and fun event that will begin when Prom convenes on Saturday evening. Your child is invited whether or not they choose to attend prom. This year’s Post Prom event will take place at Kornel’s On the Avenue from 10:30P-1:00A.  The event will feature a casino, pizza, snacks, and lots of great prizes!  

In order to make this special event successful, the SMSA parent led Post Prom committee is asking for your support.  Please consider contributing any amount of funds.  All donations will help to defray the cost of tickets, food, prizes, decor, etc.  

Ways to contribute:

1. Drop off cash or check (made payable to Valerie Everson) in an envelope marked Post Prom at the HS Office.
2. Venmo Valerie Everson @Valerie-Everson-4 – The 4 digits if needed are 3719.
3. Donate $25 gift cards for Target, Kwik Trip, Culver’s or Starbuck’s (The Scrip office sells these.)

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.

Valerie Everson

920-251-3719

valerie@everson-law.com

Thank you to everyone that contributed before Christmas to the SMSA Staff Gathering! On Monday, January 26, the SMSA Staff was treated to a delicious lunch featuring Ala Roma, salads, fruit & dessert. Each staff member also walked away with a $20 gift card of their choosing. We appreciate our all of our SMSA staff, and it was wonderful to celebrate them!

Thank you!
Valerie Everson & Andrea Nuss

Click Here to Make a Donation and Enter to Win!

Click Here for Rules/Regulations

Click Here to Register Today!

We are bringing all the fun, energy, and team spirit you can handle — it’s sure to be a night full of laughs, cheers, and good times!

Location: FCC (400 University Dr. Fdl)
Time: Doors open at 5:00 pm

Get ready… this event is sure to be a slam dunk!
It’s going to be a night you won’t want to miss!

Registration for the 2026-2027 academic school year is open. Registration will be completed online through your Family Access account in Skyward. Step-by-step instructions can be found on the website by following the link Online Registration Instructions.

Reminder, Skyward online registration can be completed using your cell phone.

All current families must complete Online Registration for each student.

Log into your Family Access account in Skyward.  If you have misplaced your login credentials for Skyward, please email jpoetzel@smsacademy.org.

Online Registration includes information verification regarding your family and student(s). Early registration will assist in determining class sizes for the 2026-2027 academic year. The registration fee will become part of your 2026-2027 tuition statement.

If you have questions regarding online registration use this link registration@smsacademy.org.

Click these links to access the following:

• Tuition Policies

• Tuition Assistance

• To enroll a NEW student

• Online Registration Instructions

HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOKS ARE FOR SALE

High school yearbooks are available to purchase online at the SMSA website for $65. Get yours by clicking here!

Our next monthly meeting for the PPA is Wednesday, February 18th at 6pm in the conference room outside the cafeteria near the business office. All are welcome!

Future meeting dates are:
March 18th
April 15th
May 20th

Learn how you can get involved. Contact PPA@smsacademy.org to learn more!

Are you looking to get more involved at SMSA? If so, join our Parent Connectors Group!! We organize events for our SMSA families & show our appreciation towards our amazing SMSA Staff throughout the year!! Please email Andrea Nuss, alnuss@charter.net if you are interested. Thank you so much!!

Did you know? You can Refer-A-Family and receive tuition credit!

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February 18, 2026 – Ash Wednesday (Lent Begins)

February 21, 2026 – Sadie Hawkins Dance

March 9-13, 2026 – No School – Spring Break

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We are excited to announce that several college representatives will be visiting SMSA to meet with interested students. This is a great opportunity to learn more about each school and connect directly with the admissions counselors who will be reviewing applications.

Upcoming Visits

SMSA is proud to participate in another year of Trade Tours through the Fond du Lac R.O.C.K. program, which stands for Retention, Opportunity, Community, and Knowledge. This program aimed at working specifically with high school seniors and juniors who are piecing together their plans post high school graduation. This program provides career exploration through business tours and job shadows. Fond du Lac R.O.C.K. is a program of Envision Greater Fond du Lac.

Please let counseling know if your student would be interested in joining a future tour.

For additional information please visit click here.

The scholarship website has now moved to Naviance! Please remind your senior to check their Naviance account regularly for the latest scholarship updates. The Counseling Department will continue adding new opportunities as they arrive.

These state and local scholarships are specifically available to Springs students. To view them, students can log into Naviance and navigate to: Colleges → Scholarships & Money → Scholarship Search. There, they’ll find an up to date list of scholarships curated by SMSA counselors.
Please reach out to counseling with any questions!

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