Gattitown with all our friends!

What a great week we have had at Ursuline Academy! The fun began on Monday evening when we all met at Gattitown for an evening of fun and friendship - And by "All" we mean our friends from Chile, Peru AND Uganda plus all of us from UA. It was great to bring all of these cultures together for pizza, games and LOTS of laughs. Only later did I think about how Monday was also Martin Luther King day and how appropriate it was that we all joyfully came together in friendship from so many different backgrounds and experiences. As you can see from the photos, we had a blast!!!!

Peruvians are here!!

 And now we are all here together - UA Dallas, Colegio Santa Ursula Vitacura and Colegio Santa Ursula Lima - YAY! Today our Ursuline sisters from Lima arrived and were received by much fanfare and joy at DFW. Some of the host students already know their new sisters from previous travel to Lima and from their pen pal projects in Spanish classes. And many have become fast friends on Skype and Facebook these last few weeks. Of course, there's nothing like actually being together and that is what we are all celebrating today - The next few weeks are going to be thrilling!!

Welcome Chilean Sisters!

Today we welcomed 8 students and one teacher from our sister school in Santiago, Chile. We were thrilled to see them after their long flight (via Canada - oh my!). Our host students have been waiting for this day for a long time and were super excited to greet their Chilean sisters with a reception (and a really big cake) at St. Ursula's. These first moments together were very special and filled with lots of hugs and chatter about the weeks ahead.    

Today begins a series of very special events which will occur this month. Next we will welcome our Peruvian sisters and then we will enjoy Global Celebration Day with all of our sisters AND our Ugandan friends. This January is a busy, multicultural and very joyful time at Ursuline!!

Volleyball & Festivity with Spirit of Uganda

Our first official activity with Spirit of Uganda was January 2nd when we all got togther at Net Results Sports Center for a fun-filled evening of volleyball and laughter.  We'd like to thank the super-awesome Ryder family for hosting this special event which gave us time with some of our favorite people in the world. It was a great evening!!

Welcome Spirit of Uganda!

Yesterday, the Spirit of Uganda arrived in Dallas! This amazing group of young performers is part of Empower African Children and, every two years, they go on tour in the USA in order to raise funds and awareness about children in Uganda. These young artists are actually our dear friends who we just visited in Uganda last Fall. Our Africa Delegation, minus a couple of students who are out of town for the holidays, joined the large and happy group eagerly awaiting the arrival of Spirit of Uganda at DFW airport. It was such a joyful occasion! After the welcome, we joined our friends for their first USA meal at Chipotle, a favorite restaurant of the Ugandan students who have been here before.  We are so happy to see our friends and look forward to the weeks ahead when we will share many good times  together!

People of Color Conference 2011


This week, Ms. Estes, Chair of College Counseling, and I (Ms. Nipp, aka the DODGE), are attending the annual People of Color Conference sponsored by NAIS (the National Association of Independent Schools) in Philadelphia. The theme this year is "We the People - Painting our New Mural of Community."

This conference is always uplifting, informative and full of energy! One highlight this year was speaker Patti Solis Doyle (you recall that she was the first Latina to run a US presidential campaign - for Hillary Clinton). We also previewed a documentary film called "Why us? Left behind and Dying", a film made by teenagers about the high risk of HIV AIDS in African and African-American communities. And today, Ms. Estes and I attended a session about how college counseling and diversity can work together - which was perfect for us since those are our respective departments.  It has been a great conference so far and we look forward to one more day of networking and learning tomorrow!

Downtown Philadelphia



Welcome from Pat Bassett, NAIS President

Speaker Patti Solis Doyle

Student Performances are a highlight of POCC every year