Saint James School is excited to announce that one of our 3rd grade students, Rhea Bhagat, has been designated a Regional Winner in this year’s Zaner-Bloser Handwriting Contest.  Rhea’s beautiful cursive writing was selected from thousands of submissions from public and private school students across the entire Northeast Region of the United States!

As one of the most recognized handwriting contests in the U.S., the Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest receives about 80,000 entries each year.  From that initial pool, only 28 Regional Winners are eventually selected – one from each eligible grade (K-6) in each of the four U.S. regions. What an incredible achievement!

At Saint James School, we recognize handwriting as an important foundational skill for literacy and cognitive development.  Studies have shown strong written communication skills are associated with enhanced reading and math achievement and, as such, developing those skills is an important component of our students’ elementary education.  A huge congratulations to Rhea and her family on this wonderful achievement, as well as to Rhea’s K-3rd grade teachers — Mrs. Vassallo, Mrs. Alexander, Mrs. Nunes, and Mrs. Moran — for laying the foundation for her exceptional penmanship.