Dear Ursuline Families,

There is something uniquely joyful about the beginning of a new school year. The halls are filled with energy, laughter, and anticipation. Classrooms are ready, friendships are renewed, and our students arrive with a sense of excitement about all that lies ahead. A new school year feels like a fresh beginning and a reminder that there is always more to learn and more to become.

This year at Ursuline, we are embracing JOY as our theme, rooted in the words of Psalm 16:11: “In your presence there is fullness of joy.” These words remind us of something essential: true and lasting joy can only be found in Jesus.

Our world often tells us that joy comes from achievement, success, possessions, or having everything go exactly as we plan. But these things can bring happiness for a moment without providing the lasting joy that our hearts desire. The joy that Jesus offers is different. It is not dependent upon circumstances. It is rooted in knowing that we are deeply loved by God and that our lives have a purpose that extends beyond this moment.

This year, my School Administration Team is reading The Road to Joy by Scott Drew as we reflect together on what it means to cultivate a life marked by genuine joy. As educators and leaders, we want to be intentional about creating a community where joy is not simply something we talk about, but something we experience and model.

There will be so many moments of joy for your daughters this year. There will be meaningful conversations, victories, beautiful performances, service experiences, traditions, classroom discoveries, retreats, Masses, dances, laughter, and countless ordinary moments that become extraordinary because they are shared with others. I hope your daughters will pause often enough to recognize these moments and recognize them as gifts.

As educators and leaders, we want to be intentional about creating a community where joy is not simply something we talk about, but something we experience and model.

But there will also be moments that are difficult. There will be disappointments, frustrations, challenges, friendship struggles, moments of uncertainty, and days when things simply do not go as planned. That, too, is part of growing up.

My hope is that when those moments come, our girls will increasingly learn where to turn. I hope they learn to lean on Jesus, the true source of joy. Not because faith makes life easy, but because faith reminds us that we are never alone. Jesus meets us in our joy and in our sorrow, in our accomplishments and our disappointments, in our certainty and our questions.

St. Angela Merici reminds us that our earthly lives are part of something much greater. We are not simply educating your daughters for college, careers, or the next accomplishment. We are helping them become the women God created them to be.

As we begin this new school year, my prayer is that our community will be a place where your daughters encounter that joy. I pray they encounter it in their classrooms, their friendships, their service, our traditions, and most importantly, in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

May this be a year in which we laugh often, celebrate generously, serve wholeheartedly, persevere through challenges, and continually turn our hearts toward Christ. And may we never forget where true joy is found.

With gratitude and joy,

Kayla Brown

Principal