e-Newsletter: The Green and Gold

Head of School Message

Dear Holy Spirit Prep Families,

The semester’s end is upon us. We saw many great things at Holy Spirit Prep these past 5 months, highlighted by our first ever all-school “Christmas Spectacular” last Friday night. During this time, we have also been faced with challenges to our trust and faith, especially with COVID. Thank you for your support and prayers as we continue to strive to improve for the good of our children for God’s glory.

We are all a part of God’s plan to make this Holy Spirit Prep school family a beacon of hope for all those who value authentic Catholic education focused on preparing students for college and life - but most importantly, for eternity. With all the pressures and negative influences from society, degrading human dignity, natural law, and basic tenets of our faith, we are in for a fight. However, one of the best weapons we are able to utilize in the battle is perseverance.

The book of Job is a story that provides perspective, demonstrating one man’s perseverance in faith under incredibly trying circumstances. A brief summary follows:

“Job was a faithful man, blameless and upright. He served God and was a diligent follower. Satan wanted to prove a point to God, that he could break man’s will. So he asked if he could torture Job and God allowed it. The only restriction God placed on Satan was he could not take Job’s life.

In the course of one day, Job was told by different servants that all his belongings and possessions, livestock and ten children had been killed or destroyed by natural disasters or thieves. Despite all this, Job still praised God, even in his sorrow.

Next, Job was afflicted with terrible skin sores and yet, he persevered and praised God.

In his grieving and illness, Job’s friends came and sat with him. Despite the terrible advice they offered him, Job still praised God.

But his praises turned to questions, bitterness and anger. Job questioned how a just God could allow such terrible things to happen, even to a faithful servant. God intervened and implored Job to be brave.

Realizing the power of God and overcome by it, Job recognized God’s true character and accepted his own faults and constraints as a human. God had mercy on Job and restored his health and possessions, granting him twice as much as he had previously, more children and a long prosperous life.”

Even in the darkest times, through death and turmoil, questions of faith and God, Job was faithful and trusted God’s plan. God rewarded him for that faith and trust. We need the perseverance to do the same.

Update of Administration Announcement:

Holy Spirit Prep remains committed to improving the standard of education and service provided to our students. While progress continues, new challenges have also arisen. After evaluating our situation over the course of the semester, we are making adjustments immediately to provide more support and attention to our teachers, and loving service to your children.

Holy Spirit Prep welcomes Joel V. Peddle as Director of Curriculum Development for Kindergarten to 12th grade. Mr. Peddle will work along-side HSP faculty and administration as we continue implementing and executing a curriculum focused on development of critical thinking skills. Mr Peddle will also assist administration with teacher training and support. Below is Mr. Peddle’s bio.

Mr. Peddle is an arts and humanities enthusiast. An educator of twenty-five years, he designed and taught classes on logic, philosophy, ethics, epistemology, business ethics, American government, and global policy studies. He also advised students in character education, pre-law, graduate and law school test preparation, and career development.

Mr. Peddle designed curricula and taught continuing education for the State Bar of Georgia and The Institute for Continuing Judicial Education of Georgia. His courses stressed the importance of Humanities-based literature to understand jurisprudence, with particular emphasis on Thomas Aquinas' philosophy of natural law and classical sources including Solon, Cleisthenes, Plato, Aristotle, Cato, Cicero, Boethius, Augustine, Justinian, Church Fathers, Aquinas, Thomas More, Shakespeare, the Magna Carta, Montesquieu, Locke, and Bellarmine.

Mr. Peddle also brings considerable experience in the area of theatrical performance, bringing alive the Greek symposium (banquet), the Greek Hoplite experience, and the Athenian Panatheneia. He also wrote, directed, and produced historically-based plays and re-enactments.

As a practicing Catholic, Mr. Peddle has served his parish at St. Thomas More teaching various faith formation classes including: "The Trials of Socrates and Jesus," "A Comparison of Tolkein's Lord of the Rings and Plato's Ring of Gyges (from The Republic)," "The History, Art, and Meaning of the Rosary," "G.K. Chesterton and Catholic Economics," "The Four Crowns of Thomas More: Statesman, Father, Philosopher, Saint."

Mr. Peddle enjoys spending time with family and friends, good conversation, golfing, and stamp-collecting.

Mrs. Irizarry will continue to serve as Principal of the Lower and Middle Schools (no longer as “Interim”). Mrs. Irizarry’s background includes 12 years of experience as a teacher and administrator in Catholic schools, along with a MS in Educational Leadership from the University of Dayton.

Mr. Angelle will assume the role of full-time Assistant Principal for the Lower and Middle Schools. Mr. Angelle has 14 years of experience in education as a teacher and administrator in public, charter, and Catholic schools, having earned a MA in Education from Georgia Southern University.

I am excited about the attention and synergy Mrs. Irizarry and Mr. Angelle will bring to the Lower and Middle Schools with both now dedicated full-time to their respective roles. Each brings complimentary experiences, background, and education that, coupled with the additional time, will have an immediate positive impact. In addition to assistance from Mr. Peddle, Mrs. Bertany, our High School Principal, will also support the Lower School administrative team. In addition, we anticipate the announcement of another significant administrative adjustment that will greatly enhance support for our teachers and your children across all grades (PK-12) in the first months of the new calendar year.

To fill the large shoes left by Mr. Angelle’s move to full-time administrator, we are excited to welcome Mr. Don Hoyer to HSP to teach Middle School History.

Mr. Don Hoyer graduated with a degree in History from West Virginia State University. He has worked in education for 22 years, specializing in developing programs to train students in the areas of reading comprehension, writing, and study skills.

Mr. Hoyer believes History provides students an excellent vehicle to develop their reading comprehension, writing, and study skills. History also introduces students to a broad range of disciplines which inspire interest in future fields of study. Additionally, through the study of History, students learn to face the future with confidence knowing that they are recipients of a rich tradition that will guide them forward as they work to understand and fulfill their role in God's plan.

Mr. Hoyer is a member of the Knights of Columbus and long-time volunteer with St Vincent de Paul. His wife Stephanie is a Pre-K teacher and their daughter, Josie, is completing her master's degree in Speech Pathology. Mr Hoyer enjoys backpacking, mountain biking, listening to baseball and watching basketball.

We will continue to adapt and adjust in our continuing pursuit of God’s will for this amazing school. I ask for your trust as we continue in this challenging process. Improvement and change is difficult, especially when it involves teachers, administrators, parents, and students who have been a part of our HSP family.

When you see changes involving employees (such as this communication), other parents, or students, please remember several things.

While our decisions are not always perfect, they always are informed to the best of our ability,
Purity of intent is always emphasized and prayerfully pursued,
There is always more than one side to any story.

Thank you for your patience, prayers, and trust as we continue working together to take Holy Spirit Prep to new heights serving our students for God’s glory.

In Christ,

Ed

The Green and Gold

21-22 Athletic Booster Club

Membership Levels

Varsity and Middle School Registration

Lower School Basketball Registration