First athletic competition held at school
The St. Peter the Apostle Catholic School is not only celebrating its new home but also sponsoring several clubs and activities attracting more student participation, educators said.
One highlight: The Lions volleyball team took to the home court Sept. 17 in the first athletic event in the school’s history.
“The gym was just packed. The energy was just electric there,” said Melanie Brintnall, principal at the school, which opened its doors Aug. 17 for the new academic year after relocating from its previous site.
“There were kids in kindergarten and first graders — their parents were saying, ‘Our first grader has been coming home every day, saying that they want to come to the volleyball game, they are so excited,” Brintnall said.
The school — prekindergarten through seventh grade — offers athletics and organized clubs for the students, now numbering 204, up from its 117 enrollment last year. The new facility at 202 W. Kronkosky St. was unveiled at an Aug. 14 grand opening, three days prior to the start of the new year.
St. Peter students can choose from five clubs and activities: art club, chess club, music ministry club, theater club and strength and conditioning.
“As we are a classical Catholic school, we offer clubs that are really in line with that mission,” Brintnall said.
She added, “Clubs are led by teachers who have a talent or skill in that area. We have a parent who has a background in theater and dance, so she’s leading the theater club and then dance-and-cheer strength and conditioning club.”
The chess club was requested by students and is the school’s largest club.
“There was a student, one of our sixth graders, who just really has a passion for chess, and was just really asking for it, and our Latin teacher was up for leading the club,” the principal said. “We now have over 35 kids; we’ve had to open two sections of it because it’s been so popular.”
Members of the school’s music ministry club are not only learning to play but learning to perform as well.
“The music ministry club members get to play at Mass on Wednesdays,” Brintnall said. “So they are both growing in their knowledge of the musical instrument (and) have an opportunity to practice in front of an audience on a regular basis.”
The art club meets in a studio equipped with a kiln.
“Pottery is going to play a role in art club programming this year,” the principal added.
The strength and conditioning club for dance and cheer, “is giving girls the opportunity to practice the strength and the flexibility” necessary to participate in current and future sports programs, Brintnall said.
The administrator said the nascent school athletics program includes cross-country and volleyball teams — fifththrough- seventh grade boys and girls in cross country “and we’ve got nearly 20 girls on the volleyball team, fifth through seventh grades. They’ve had a fabulous season,” she said.
With most clubs geared for the school’s older students, educators continually look for methods to involve the younger students in activities.
“We’re building a culture of service, so with our younger students, if we don’t have a student service club ... we have a parent service organization and a service chair who is helping to coordinate a variety of service opportunities for families to serve the community,” Brintnall said.
A group of students volunteered to help at Hill Country Daily Bread Ministries, and advance plans are already being made for Christmas caroling in December at various nursing homes around Boerne.
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