"New Family" Mentoring Program
The New Family Mentoring Program, under the direction of the Home & School Association, is an effective tool in helping new families become part of the Blessed Sacrament School community. Each year, parents volunteer to be mentors. Prior to the beginning of each school year, the Mentoring Committee receives the names and other personal information of the new families entering the school. It is their responsibility to match up mentor families with new families. Before school begins, H.S.A. hosts a Welcome Barbecue. Mentors have personally invited new families to attend. This is an informal social where new families meet each other and a bond begins to form with the community. H.S.A. displays different events that it will host throughout the year. This begins the education process of what our school is all about. Throughout the year, if a new family has a question or concern, they are encouraged to reach out to their mentor family. The school asks the mentor family to be proactive and call the new families on a regular basis to make sure they are comfortable with their new surroundings and to inform them of upcoming events. The number of people involved with the mentoring program depends on the number of new families entering the school.  The school tries to give each mentor family no more than two to three new families. The rationale behind the mentoring program is to plant the seed of community. Blessed Sacrament prides itself on being a small, family oriented community and the mentoring program is a link on this chain. The children of the mentor family see first hand that their parents are involved in the school and this assists them in realizing the importance of their education.  Fostering a partnership between the school and families shows a commitment to the importance of community. The school holds that education is most successful when a healthy partnership between the family and school is formed.