A letter from Valley Catholic High School Principal Dr. Sara Bruins
Dear VCHS Families,
November marks the upcoming holiday season and Valley Catholic High School is excited to once again support our community, focusing on those in need. Valley Catholic High School participates in a Holiday Drive every year by supplying items to local families challenged by food and housing insecurity. VCHS will continue this work with LifeWorks NW, a nonprofit agency that promotes a healthy community by providing quality and culturally responsive mental health and addiction services.
In addition to sponsoring families through LifeWorks NW, Valley Catholic High School is excited to continue our partnership with Second Home. Second Home is a program through Oregon Ecumenical Ministries that supports unaccompanied high school students who are experiencing homelessness. Valley Catholic High School students will help create a special holiday season for their peers living in Washington County, supported by Second Home.
Students just finished up the first quarter of their 2024-25 school year. Academically, our students are immersed in content and engaging within the VCHS curriculum. Our staff has been busy this fall participating in several days of professional development, focusing on student agency and engagement. Research shows that fully engaged students ask questions to help them learn, express preferences or opinions, let teachers know about their interests as well as share what they want and need as both learners and adolescents. We strive to develop relationships with our students that invest them in the educational process and create an intrinsic curiosity for learning. Our goal is to have students who are entirely and purposefully engaged in their own learning.
With student engagement and learning as a priority, our fall athletes shined both in and out of the classroom. Congratulations to girls’ cross country, girls’ volleyball, and girls’ soccer who are all in the top 10 of 3A Academic All State rankings. Boys’ cross country earned 2nd in the state for academic honors, and football tied for FIRST! WELL DONE VALIANTS!
We were also blessed to be entertained by the students who excelled in presenting “Is There a Doctor in the House?”! What a delightful exhibition of student engagement and dramatic achievement.
Celebrating our students and celebrating the holiday season are a few of the many highlights at Valley Catholic High School. Blessings abound on campus and this season is a perfect time to remind ourselves of how fortunate we are to be part of this community.
Wishing all Valiant students, families, alumni, and friends a very happy, and “thankful!” November.
Valiantly,
Dr. Sara Bruins
