Message from the Associate Headmaster, 2/1/19
Over the last few weeks, Priory students and faculty have engaged in a number of activities related to various elements of our school’s program. Students in Forms I and II took part in both the Geography and Spelling Bee competitions. A number of High School students, together with Father John, traveled to Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life in support of the unborn and their parents. Members of Priory’s 2018 athletic teams that garnered state-level accolades, including our 2018 golf state championship team, were recognized at a home basketball game. And, in the spirit of Benedictine hospitality, our community recently welcomed students and faculty from Taiwan and China who will spend several weeks at Priory.
Our competitive winter teams continue to excel as they progress through their seasons. After finishing the regular season with a 15-4-2 record, our hockey team begins its playoff schedule for the Challenge Cup with two highly anticipated games this weekend. Our wrestling program took home the Metro League title for the third year in a row earlier in the season, and senior Elliott Holdosh joined the ranks of only a handful of other wrestlers in Priory history to win the 101st match of his Priory career. Our varsity basketball team is currently 4-1 in conference play and 14-4 for the year, with outstanding wins over several close competitors. In addition, two of our mock trial teams won their first round trial by a wide margin last week. I am thankful for the hard work and dedication that our young men and their coaches and sponsors continue to exhibit in all of these endeavors.
This issue of Rebel News contains the 2019-2020 planning calendar. The calendar is rather straightforward and parallels for the most part the calendars from previous years. Per the Missouri State High School Activities Association, high school students participating in MSHSAA athletics are expected to begin practices on Monday, Aug. 12. Rebel Round-Up and Form I Orientation will take place on Monday, Aug. 19, and the first day of classes for all students will be Thursday, Aug. 22.
We hope our calendar is clear and can accommodate the needs you have as families. We expect that you will use the many scheduled breaks in the class schedule to plan family trips and other obligations that would otherwise take students out of classes. At Priory, interactions between students, their classmates, and their teachers are essential. "Making up" the learning that takes place during a class discussion is impossible, and thus missed classes create gaps in the educational experience for students that are difficult if not impossible to fill. As a faculty, we have worked in recent years to improve our own scheduling of programs to reduce the number of conflicts we create with our class schedule, and we hope that you will support this effort in your own planning.
As always, I hope that you will take some time to read about the many upcoming events that will take place throughout the month of February in our school community. And I look forward to seeing many of you at this Saturday’s 50th anniversary Xanadu event.
Thank you, again, for all that you do to support Priory!
In Christ,
Dr. Jared Rashford
Associate Headmaster