Blog

Dear Families,

An ongoing conversation I seem to have with other parents, both here at school and among friends, is that of our children’s social media use.  As parents, we walk the fine line of wanting to trust our children’s ability to make good decisions and knowing the minefield that is social media.  I am always curious how other families navigate this issue.

It is interesting to me that both kids and adults have the tendency to say things on social media that they might not in actual conversation.  Perhaps it is easier to speak without a filter when the other person is not directly...

Mount Royal Academy has announced academic awards for the 3^rd Quarter of the 2017-2018 school year. 37 students earned a position on the Headmaster’s List with a 4.0 average for the 3rd quarter.

More than 60% of the student body attained Honor Roll recognition; placing on the Headmaster’s List, the High Honors List (no more than one B), or the Honors List (no more than one C). In total, 112 students received Academic Honors.

Grade 1

Headmaster’s List: Chad Hemingway, Emma LeBlanc, Lucy Treece, Jubilee Tremblay, Bethany Tuck, Juliana Yost

High Honors:  Emma Kelley, Avilina Orlowski

Honors: Isa...

Dear Families,

Thank you to all of the families who have already signed enrollment contracts for next year. As you likely figured out, we are trying to improve our practices to both simplify and make the process more effective. We do value reconsidering current practices in all facets of our mission- even if considered best practices - to make sure we do not miss an opportunity to improve.There are tools available now that were not before, but perhaps due to my own obsessive focus on the reasons behind all things, I began to wonder why the world seems to be moving in the direction of better an...

Dear Families,

The Nation's Report Card was just released, which generally leads to a lot of discourse about academic achievement. This report only addresses reading and math scores for students in grade 4 and 8. New Hampshire's scores decreased slightly since 2015, and the summary observations reported on the official website indicate "no significant changes compared to 2015 for most states".

The Union Leader captures NH closer with the following insights:

• About 43 percent of New Hampshire’s fourth-graders scored at or above proficient on the reading assessments, and 48 percent of fourth-grad...

Dear Families,

It is difficult to believe that we are almost to Holy Week and the end of third quarter.  It has long been a tradition at Mount Royal to have Holy Thursday and Good Friday off from school in order to allow families to participate in these days without distraction.

Fulton Sheen wrote an amazing book called The Seven Last Words, a meditation on each of the last seven statements of Christ as He hung on the cross.  It was introduced to me many years ago by my dad, who always read it between noon and three on Good Friday, and if you don’t mind I’d like to share a short excerpt which...

Dear Families,

I thought it might be a good idea to continue our Lenten focus on gratitude towards God as the fundamental motivation for every spiritual sacrifice we make during this holy season. 

It was also very fitting that I came across the following quote in the Little Book of Holy Gratitude, especially in light of all this unwelcome weather of late. 

"Neither must we think that too much is being asked of us when spiritual writers tell us we ought to return thanks to God for afflictions and tribulations, both those that are passed and those that we may be suffering from at the present ti...

The student body was blessed with a visit from Hal Liberty this week. Hal is an octogenarian who has devoted his life to bringing joy to children. For over 30 years, Hal has been crafting handmade wooden toys. What began as a simple hobby that focused on his own children has become a wonderful ministry to disadvantaged and special needs people of all ages.

From his 1,000 square foot wood shop in Bradford, Hal builds up to 1,500 wooden toys that are sent to area churches, soup kitchens, crisis centers, and prison ministries. Although the raw material is donated, there are still the utility cos...

Six Mount Royal high school students were recently inducted into Mount Royal Academy's St. Thomas Aquinas chapter of the National Honor Society. The inductees were Hannah Fraioli (’19), Kateri Kalpakgian (’20), Mary Grace Klucinec (’20), Aidan Moorehouse (’20), Tristan Ouellette (’20), and Antigoni Souliotis (’20).

Dr. Mary Mumbach, a professor of literature from Northeast Catholic College, gave the keynote address. She praised Mount Royal for it’s commitment to classical education and noted the synergy of missions between the two schools. She further explained the importance of a classical e...

Dear Families,

March 19th marks the feast day of our school’s patron, St. Joseph. Scripture tells us little about this patron of the church, fathers, workers, families and a happy death, but perhaps that is a lesson in and of itself. Joseph is striking in his silent obedience to God and steady commitment to Jesus and Mary. We know nothing of the words Joseph spoke, but see instead the work ethic he shared with Jesus, the kindness and loyalty toward Mary, the unwavering courage and faith with which he protected his family. Joseph exemplifies the words of St. Paul, “If I speak in the tongues of...