Dear Parents and Guardians,

Even though this year has been a challenging one, over the past few weeks, I have felt more gratitude than any other emotion. Everyone who is a part of the Ursuline community knows that our biggest and most loved events are Intramurals, Snowball, and Graduation. When we all realized how big an impact that COVID-19 would have, we all worried about these events moving forward.  In my work, these events are my Super Bowl and I am lucky enough to have a team that felt the same way. We were determined to make them happen, even if that meant the events would look a bit different.

On February 26, we were able to celebrate our seniors and hold their Snowball Dance. Matt Lepley and Danny Poellot worked tirelessly to pull off this event and while it did have new protocols this year, the one thing that remained the same was the look of joy on the seniors’ faces throughout the night. We held our breath until the last minute, hoping and praying that we would be able to have this event and not only did we have it, it was a beautiful night!

The very next day was Intramural Decoration Day and at the risk of sounding repetitive, this day also looked very different with new protocols and restrictions put in place. However, the amazing, remarkable, and outstanding work done by our students blew me away. Even though students were working through a pandemic, the hallways and murals are absolutely amazing! In my opinion, this is some of the most amazing work that I have seen our students pull off and it could not have been done without the help and guidance of Rachel Clark, Jessica Bailey, Mandy Briones, Matt Lepley, and Danny Poellot. This team plus numerous other adults stayed late and came in on weekends to ensure the Intramurals work could be completed in the safest way possible. I am sure there will be lots of pictures taken so I hope you will be able to see everything they created, if you haven’t already!

Lastly, while we have not finalized details for Graduation just yet, we learned so much from the Class of 2020’s Graduation. We know what we have to do to make this event happen and there is not a doubt in my mind that it will be yet another amazing event! Ursuline’s graduation has always been my favorite tradition. It was an honor to be able to be a part of a completely different type of graduation last June and it will be an honor to plan for the Class of 2021. While I would prefer they stay at Ursuline a little longer because I am not quite ready to let them go, it will be a bittersweet moment when I call out that last name at Graduation and present the Class of 2021. I cannot wait to see our seniors in their white dresses, making their final curtsy to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

I will forever be grateful for the people I work with, the students I get to know, and for the Ursuline community as a whole. I appreciate that I work at a school that knows just how important these events are. Being an Ursuline student is not only about academics. It is about learning how to best serve others instead of ourselves, and the selflessness I have noticed over the past few weeks is unlike anything I have seen before. Yet again, I am humbled and honored to be a part of this Ursuline community and I hope you can all feel the love and devotion we have for your daughters and doing what is best for them.

Sincerely,

​Kayla Brown
Dean of Students
469-232-1805