January 28, 2026

By Samamtha Campanaro
Principal, St. James School

St. James plans on celebrating Catholic School’s Week for a week in March, where each day is full of fun, prayer and love. When students at St. James speak about their school, the most common statement is that “everyone is so nice here.” And while we try to embody this statement every day, we make additional effort during Catholic Schools Week to show others what we are all about.

Students are excited that they get to participate in “RACKing,” which stands for “Random Acts of Kindness,” where they choose a local business to do something nice for the people there. These have ranged from going to Dunkin Donuts and writing kind messages on the cups that would be used for customers, to stopping into a local bank to surprise the employees with baked goods.

This is something that students look forward to each year because at our school, loving others is just as important as the fun things. We plan on continuing this tradition during this year’s Catholic School’s Week.
Another favorite during this week, is our Talent Show. Students sing, dance, tell jokes and even give step by step instructions for how to set up a tip up for ice fishing!

While students are able to show off their creative side, their peers are right there to watch them and joyfully cheer them on. Students here are excited for their friends and love to support them!

Even the staff participate as well! And according to the kids, it isn’t just during Catholic School’s Week that teachers like to be fun and silly.

Violet, a student in third grade said, “I love that every teacher tries to make the school day fun!”

Another thing that is incorporated into our Catholic Schools Week, is a beautiful Mass to start the week off. This Mass is highly attended, and students are able to say the prayer intentions and altar serve. In fact, when asked what makes St. James so great, two students answered, “It’s great because we get to altar serve!”

Here at St. James, students attend Mass weekly, and students are always altar serving. Each day during Catholic School’s Week has a theme. The themes are things such as, “bring anything but a backpack day,” “wacky Wednesday,” and “class virtues day” in which each class wears the same color to represent different virtues. This year, we also plan on incorporating a “Career Day,” so students can speak with professionals about jobs they may be interested in! Our school is always a celebration. It’s a celebration of ourselves, of each other and most importantly, God. Students are able to say why our school is different and special. And we love celebrating Catholic Schools Week so we can make some dedicated time to appreciating the opportunities of growth and love that our school provides.