Letter from the Principal


Dear Parents, Students, Alumni, and guests of this site,

Welcome to the official website of St. Bernadette Elementary School.  Here we hope you are able to navigate the pages to discover more about our school, how we function and who we are to our community.

St. Bernadette is first and foremost a school centered in Christ. We strive to teach to the whole child through a variety of differentiated learning.  In doing so, we believe that we are strengthening the intellectual, physical, emotional, social and spiritual elements of every student.  We believe in a school where there is equity and access to powerful teaching and learning for all students, where we as a school community continuously build a culture of collaboration, and we will always uphold the Catholic identity of the school while engaging in a spirit of evangelization.

As principal of the school, I will always strive to have the best interest of the students as a primary concern, uphold the Catholicity of the school, and foster healthy and trustworthy relationships.  Education is a mutual endeavor and as such we value the engagement of our parents and community members.  Catholic schools are not a place for drop-offs and pick-ups; nor it is not a destination.  Instead, it is a journey, a meeting place where friends, parents, teachers, pastors, and the entire school community come together out of the best interest of the students. “Today we need this encounter to meet each other, know each other, to love, to walk together” (Pope Francis). Education is a mutual process that cannot succeed without the personal and hands-on involvement of the family.  It is a wonderful bond that we immensely cherish.

Yours in Christ

Michael van der Pauw

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Principal