The Sports Deck adjacent to the Gymnasium & Performance Center is nearing completion. Weather permitting, the 5,450-square-foot facility will be finished in the next two to three weeks. Recent developments include the final concrete pour to complete the exterior staircase; the painting and striping of the surface for basketball and four-square and the addition of the Wolfhound logo; and the installation of the padding on the western face of the gymnasium, along the sideline of the Sports Deck. The most significant remaining item is installation of the final section of the perimeter fence and the mesh for the green screen facing Whitehaven Parkway.

We remain well within the five-month timetable for completion of the Sports Deck, the final facilities project funded by the $4-million Campaign for St. Patrick's at Sixty. With completion scheduled for August, we look forward to our students bringing the new facility fully to life in their recess, physical education, and athletic activities as we begin the 2019-2020 school year.
 

The Horizons program at St. Patrick’s ended its eleventh summer as part of Horizons Greater Washington (HGW) with three exciting events. Rising Grades 5 and 6 students competed against students from the Maret and Norwood Horizons sites in our annual robotics competition, held here at St. Patrick’s. Over the course of the summer, these students built and programmed Lego NXT robots in our Design & Collaboration Lab so that the robots could successfully complete an obstacle course. 

Later in the week, rising Grades 7, 8, and 9 students met their peers from the other HGW sites at the University of the District of Columbia pool for our annual Swim Olympics. Our students proudly represented our site and performed well in various relay races and water-treading competitions. In addition, our ten graduating Grade 9 students shared personal speeches and reflections following student music and dance performances at Family Night, our annual celebration and culminating event. What a wonderful way to end the summer!

We are going to miss you this summer! Please be sure to follow us on social media to stay connected. We invite you to submit photos of your summer adventures in St. Patrick's gear for a feature. Please send photo submissions to turinif@stpatsdc.org and remember to follow along on Instagram @stpatswolfhounds and Facebook @StPatsDC. Have fun in the sun and see you all in September!

In honor of two longtime leaders of the St. Patrick's Nursery School program, Pat Spector and Nancy White, we welcomed their family and friends in early June to the dedication of the expansive redeveloped play space as the Patricia R. Spector and Nancy C. White Primary Grades Playground. St. Patrick's students spend a significant portion of their program day outdoors. The goal is to help them develop a love of and respect for the outdoors, physical movement, and fitness. This space is designed to provide for the educational, creative, social-emotional, and physical development of our children. Nancy and Pat were thrilled by this great honor and the beautiful play space for Nursery School and Lower School children. We also welcome our neighbors and friends to use this wonderful playground when school is not in session.