News - Home RSS Feed

I have never been accused of driving online traffic to Facebook, but today I must break with precedent. Take a moment to visit The Atonement Academy page and relive the welcome that the student body gave Bishop Lopes as he arrived on campus Tuesday. (The dramatic footage is courtesy of alumnus Alex Trevino ’08!)

Last week, I encouraged us to choose the way of thanksgiving. In this week’s letter I follow my own advice. Here in no particular order are my “Atonement Thanksgiving Top Ten.”

At my previous school, my dean of students and I would start every Thursday morning sharing one thing we were thankful for. We came to call this our “Thankful Thursday.” Even now, he and I text each other with our Thankful Thursdays every week.

Good afternoon! I hope you are enjoying this beautiful Texas autumn as much as I am. I would also like to salute the veterans among us ahead of Veterans Day on Monday.

As I sit down to write, I have just returned from a visit to the Kindergarten and First Grade P.E. class, ably led by Coaches Miranda and Skeens.

Yesterday afternoon at the Awards Assembly we celebrated the academic achievements of the first quarter.  It was delightful to see so many of you there and to contemplate the firmness of purpose with which your children had pursued their studies over the past months.

It is an increasingly full time of year at Atonement, and this surge in activity is mirrored by this week’s bursting Crusader Times newsletter.

Greetings from the last week of Quarter I! It seems the year has hardly begun and we are already about to pass the 25% mark.

What makes a Catholic school great? How could you find out which one is the best? If you have checked your email inbox in the last 24 hours, you probably have an idea of what is prompting me to ask these questions.

In recent days, I have been catching myself searching for signs of fall with the eagerness of a child. A cool (relatively) breeze in morning carline, then, by evening, the shadows cast by our high flown steeples and towers tracing ever steeper angles across the cobbles and copses—each an indication that the year is moving along and that we are making progress with it.

I hope this finds you well. This week I have a book recommendation for your consideration.

The half-mast flags that greeted us in carline this morning are reminders that today is a day of remembrance. The events of September 11, 2001 defined a generation, and perhaps for some of you here in “Military City, USA” they also prompted your own service.

This past May, the School Council worked with Father Lewis and Mr. Landry to craft a survey designed to gather input from parents. Overall, parents appeared to be optimistic about the education and spiritual formation their children were receiving, as well as the quality of Atonement’s teachers.

This week, I am writing to ask your help with something near to my heart. At my previous school, I established a core group of parents for each grade between 7th and 12th who served as grade-level “Sponsors.”

I hope you and your children’s first week has been as enjoyable as mine! I have seen faculty, staff, students, and parents working in harmony to execute a strong start. Let’s keep it up!  

As I returned to campus on Monday, the rousing words of William Shakespeare’s “St. Crispin’s Day” speech came to mind. I was feeling that sense of kinship one develops toward those with whom one does hard things.

Although it may still feel a ways off, the 2019-2020 school year begins tomorrow for Atonement faculty and staff. Like many schools around San Antonio and beyond, we will commence a period of reaffirming of our Mission known as “in-service.”

Good morning. I hope you and your children are becoming increasingly eager for the start of the school year. In the meantime—even in the midst of trips to the pool and bike rides and back-yard barbecuing—I encourage you to also find time for silence.

I had the pleasure this past Friday of meeting with several of you at the inaugural “Coffee with Mr. Watson.” This event is a monthly forum for parents to engage with the Academy’s mission as well as enjoy a uniquely personal channel of school communication.

This past weekend, my family celebrated the birth of our nation (243 years ago) and that of our middle son (9 years ago). At my son's request, we spent much of Sunday hiking and swimming at McKinney Falls State Park in Austin.............