Mr. Fulford,
My wife and I wanted to thank you and all your staff for a terrific year. We are so grateful that STM remained open and that our kids continued receiving an outstanding education. We were very pleased with how you handled everything this year and the clear communication you provided to the students and parents.
We are proud to be part of the STM family. It is sad to think that our oldest son, will be graduating next year. He has been there since the pre-K 3-year-olds program. Students in his class will be the first to have been there for that long. Our other son is not too far behind him.
Thank you again for a great year. We look forward to the upcoming school year.
All the best,
6/16/2022
Good Morning Mr. Fulford,
It is with great joy that I share a message with you this morning. Having just participated in a Zoom with my grandson’s class, I wanted to reach our to you and share that I am so very happy that he’s in such a creative, loving and faith-filled classroom. Mrs. Shaw is an excellent teacher who manages the classroom with love, grace and pride! Being able to join the classroom today was exciting and joyful to all the grandparents. I hope you continue the tradition as it’s very nice to participate even when living far away.
As a retired school principal and current school advisory member for our local Catholic School, and having raised 3 children with the help of our Catholic School, it is so wonderful to see my grandchildren growing in faith within their schools. We are discovering how special St. Thomas More is and know that leadership is essential to create a positive school community. Thank you for your service and dedication.
May God continue to bless you, your family and your faculty and staff and may the final months of this unusual school year be joy-filled and healthy.
Blessings
2/10/2021
Hi Mr. Fulford,
I was just on social media reading about the challenges some of my childhood friends are having with their children and their local school systems. I thought I should drop you a note to say thank you from Jake and me for all of your leadership over the past ten months since the pandemic kicked off. I cannot imagine the range of emotions that must come at you each day from parents, staff, and other stakeholders at STMCS. We realize and value the great sacrifice you and the staff make for our children each and every day by being physically present.
If there is anything we can do for you and your team, please let us know. I truly hope you are able to take some well-deserved time with your family over the holiday season and relax and enjoy the time with them.
All the best
12/18/2020
I just wanted to thank you once more for accommodating our girls and for providing for such a smooth transition. Our daughter had a great first day. STM is doing a great job all around. We remain grateful for the opportunity to be at STM.
12/2/2020
To me, two of the most important places that provide hope are churches and schools. Kudos to STM for doing a fantastic job at keeping both open, and remaining healthy during a pandemic. No small fete, and I really value your willingness to do so! Hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season!
12/1/2020
Just want to say how delighted we are with this school and plan to attend for years to come and send our smaller children when they are old enough. Thank you for your kindness and support. Happy Holidays!!
12/1/2020
Principal Fulford, Our daughter started in KB this year, and I cannot begin to express my gratitude to your team for the thoughtful, committed way you’ve approached school. She is an only child, and we were extremely concerned for her mental well-being during the isolation of the lockdowns this spring. She is a new kid since the start of the year. STM is a shining light in the Chapel Hill community right now. Proof that a commitment to in-person gathering can be safe. Our parent friends who are slogging through virtual school have expressed tremendous hope as they’ve heard our stories about how STM has tried so hard and succeeded with in-person school. I am sure this year will continue to present many challenges. I am sure no one will breathe a sigh of relief until we are further into our new normal, but you and your team should be extremely proud. 10/12/2020
My husband and I just wanted to send a quick note of appreciation. We have been extremely impressed and grateful for all that you and the teachers have been doing to make distance learning a positive experience. I am often working in the same rooms as both of our children and could not be more proud of the teachers and our kids! The creative ways that each instructor has been able to include each child from home has been very inspiring. Our kids both feel like they are every bit as included in the class as the in person kids. We are very aware of the extra planning and effort that goes into making lesson plans in this environment but between sending home materials for experiments and augmenting lessons as needed; the teachers have really excelled. We feel the need to specifically mention Mrs. Kennedy. Her dedication to the students is very evident every day. She has made herself available via text if there is any issue as well as provided an extra zoom meeting when the need arose. We feel extremely blessed to have this extra time with our children and witness the high quality of education they are receiving. The school has greatly exceeded our expectations during this trying time.
Thank you for everything!
9/29/2020
Principal Fulford,
As we move closer to the start of school, I want again to voice my thanks for all of the hard work and effort that is being put forth. All of the thought, planning, effort and attention to details is truly appreciated.
Regards,
8/13/2020
Hi Mr. Fulford,
I have been meaning to write for WEEKS now, so I thought I would send a note this evening. First off, I want to thank you for the last two years at STM. We loved the school, community, other children and families so much and made it “home” just in time to get the news we were moving again. It is so hard to leave STM behind. The kids already miss it tremendously. There were lots of tears from each of them many nights about our move. Broke this mama’s heart. I know the pandemic was not the way we foresaw finishing up our time at STM and I am sure that didn’t help with their transition.
I just want to commend you for your leadership managing through the pandemic and distance learning and all that took to pull off. We were so fortunate to have help with the homeschooling and I don’t feel my kids skipped a beat. They stayed on course with the subjects everyday and the organized curriculum provided. So many kudos to having to manage through all this.
Take Care and Lots of Love-
6/30/20
Dear Mr Fulford,
I hope that this email finds you and your family safe and healthy. As we come closer to the end of this very strange school year, I wanted to share with you our experience with tele-schooling these past months.
1) The smooth transition and response by the school has been exceptional and we would really like to thank you, the teachers and staff for all your effort and creativity.
2) Our daughter, has of course missed all her friends, but she is in touch with several of them on Zoom. This, of course, is not something the school could change. We do try to compensate for the absence of friends by playing outdoors with her daily.
3) She gets up every morning at 6:15 and starts working on her school work, when she has a problem she will either ask me for help or message her teachers who are so highly responsive. She gets up early so she can get started on her school work, and is very aware of managing her time. Most days by 12 to 12:30 she is done with her work.
4) This has worked out so amazingly well for us as a family – having a lung problem has made this a really stressful time for us, but with the STM team it’s been a breeze.
5) The fact that she is thriving academically is a definitely a testament to the excellent way that Mrs. Heeden and Mrs. Sullivan has structured and presented their courses.
6) Another note of extreme gratitude must go to Mrs. Colleen O’Brien who when hearing that our daughter burnt her hand with a hot glue gun immediately got her husband to help us deal with the wound. Her hand is all better now with no scarring.
So we would like to thank you all for the incredible work you have done during the pandemic (which of course continues). This brings me to the second part of my e-mail. Both my husband and I would not be averse in any way for tele-schooling continuing in the new school year. In fact we would love it! It’s obvious to us that St Thomas More teaches excellence, even online. By the way you could start your high school now – -- online!
Regards and a million thanks!
5/27/20
Dear Mrs. Shaw,
What a year! I want you to know what a blessing you have been to my granddaughter and all the children in your class, as well as all the parents and grandparents. The mornings I was able to spend in your classroom have carried me through these months of not being able to come and see how they have grown. I know they have missed you so much, as well as the parents!
I can only imagine how difficult this has been for all the faculty and staff. I believe y’all have done an incredible job, without notice, in revamping curriculum and seeing that learning continues. My heart is incredibly full knowing how hard all of you have worked in this unprecedented situation.
As this year comes to a close, I’m sending a heartfelt thank you for all you do. May your summer be restful and fun. Stay safe and healthy; you are awesome!
5/25/2020
Mr. Fulford,
During this Teacher Appreciation Week, I am writing to tell you what an amazing job our teachers are doing with distance learning. Thank you and them for all of the hard work and the seamless transition during this unprecedented time.
I specifically wanted to email about 2A and Mrs. Wagner. She puts her heart and soul into her students and their education, both traditional and spiritual, and she has done such an amazing job teaching them during this time (and, of course, before distance learning started). We cannot emphasize enough how impressed we have been with her during distance learning. She put together thorough and detailed packets of learning for each child, and she transitioned quickly to zoom, google classroom and flipgrid to provide digital hands on instruction for the kids, mastering all of this in her last couple of months before she retires. She has worked hard to figure out how to get and distribute the butterflies, lady bugs and grow the chicks for her students from a distance so that the kids do not miss out on this wonderful learning experience.
Thank you for your hard work and for all that you are doing to keep our spirits up and to keep us connected to our school and faith. We are so thankful for you as well! Many blessings!
5/5/2020
Mr. Fulford,
Thank you for all the great work! I’m so impressed with how all my son’s teachers are handling all of this!!! From what I can tell in talking to friends with kids at other schools, STM is at the leading edge of distance learning. I wanted to express how much we appreciate all the great and fruitful efforts!
4/23/2020
Mr. Fulford,
I just wanted to say how great a job you guys have done with distance learning. Your teachers picked it up and ran with it. I've talked to a lot of parents at other schools and they aren't doing Zoom classes and interactive calls. You are ahead of the curve! We've been so happy to be doing work during this challenging time. Just wanted to give you a virtual pat on the back! Hang in there!
4/20/20
Mr. Fulford,
Just wanted to drop a short note and let you know how impressed we have been with the STM teachers and their content and planning to our kids during this challenging time. The content has been engaging, the plans are timely and explained well, and the kids are getting a good amount of time each day that they are engaged in active learning. The 4th grade teachers have also been especially great at having a few fun things for the kids to do as well - Birthday videos and "Would You Rather" for St. Paddy's day, as an example.
I know this has to be very stressful for everyone as we all balance work, parenting, and staying healthy. Thank you so much for having such a great team to support our families and keep them busy learning.
3/20/20
Principal Fulford,
Just a note to say I am really impressed with STM’s response to digital learning. The tone from our teachers has been amazing, positive, engaging and open, with just the right expectations for the situation. The speed with which the faculty pivoted and adjusted their practice while remaining true and caring professionals is so heartwarming. I am sure this collaboration and effort was informed by a top-down example, and so wanted to thank you for your leadership.
My children are all happy, healthy, engaged, and enjoying their time together. The two in public schools benefited from their STM foundation of rigor and work habits- so school work at home has been a breeze for us all to manage.
Thank you again for making difficult and mindful decisions, and many well wishes and blessings for your family and the STM community.
3/17/2020