Dear Mercy Families,
I am honored and blessed to have been so warmly welcomed by the Mercy community, and I now extend that welcome to you as we begin the 2017-2018 school year together. This summer, I was privileged to become acquainted with our tremendously talented and dedicated staff. I learned of many exciting initiatives and programs that continue to ensure academic excellence and unique experiences for each of our Mercy students.
We also welcome three new staff members to Mercy. Mrs. Margaret-Ann Wommer joins both the Social Studies and English departments. Margaret-Ann and her husband Greg recently relocated to the Detroit area. Margaret-Ann attended Catholic high school in her home state of California, and has taught in both Baltimore and Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Christianna Navarro, a 2005 Mercy graduate and a practicing registered nurse, brings valuable medical expertise to our Attendance Office where she will be working twice a week. Mrs. Navarro also currently works in the ICU at Detroit Receiving Hospital, and we are enthused with ideas she has for sharing practical health tips with our girls.
Fr. Jerry Brzezinski is a golf enthusiast and retired chaplain from Oakland University who will be joining us on a part time basis. We are pleased to work in partnership with Fr. Jerry, and share with you throughout the year his creative ideas for optimizing student faith-filled experiences.
Aside from our new staff members, we also welcomed this summer the continual student involvement on campus. Although classes were not in session, our girls stayed Mercy active! Student athletes conditioned and assisted coaches in youth sports camps. National Honor Society students tutored our math support workshop. Our Riveters planned and hosted a hands-on robotics exploration event for children ages 6 -12 from the St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center tutoring program! Link Crew leaders coordinated strategies to best welcome the incoming freshwomen, ensuring a strong support network is in place for our new Mercy girls. These are just a few examples of the many opportunities Mercy students proactively embrace to continually develop and share their skill and character.
We also welcomed many facility upgrades this summer. The pool is repaired and filled with water, awaiting the first Marlin swim! The enhanced lobby concession stand from Witte’s Wish will be ready to greet visitors this fall, and there are lighting upgrades throughout the campus.
Outstanding academics continue to define the Mercy experience, and we start the school year with changes to continually enhance student learning. Throughout classrooms, ultra-HD flat screens and Apple TVs are being installed for more seamless and secure integration of technology. Our World Language Lab debuts technology that allows students to practice and assess their fluency and receive more customized feedback. Course projects await over 40 students who registered to learn Java programming through our new Introduction to Coding course!
We are very proud of our continued commitment to technology education. With facilitation from Associate Principal Larry Baker, our technology team recently completed a renewal application for the rigorous Apple Distinguished School (ADS) certification. A 25-page multi-touch eBook was submitted as evidence to Apple showcasing the innovative ways that our staff and students consistently use technology across the curriculum. Once our application is approved, we look forward to sharing this publication with you.
Plans are well in place as Mercy hosts the fifth annual Tech Talk on November 3. As we draw closer, you will hear more about the impact this forum has on technology education across Michigan.
The energy at Mercy is evident everywhere, and I am excited to share in this year’s activities with you. Please feel free to introduce yourself whether you are at the school, or we meet at an event. I wish you and your daughter(s) a blessed and fulfilling year strengthened through being a part of the Mercy family.
May God’s Grace and Blessings be in your path,
Patricia Sattler, Principal