August 12, 2004
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to our new school year! We, as a school staff, are certainly blessed to have the opportunity to have an active role in the formation and education of young people. This is certainly a challenge, but with God’s help, we all can do great things. Keeping this in mind, the school theme that we have chosen for this year is: OPEN MY EYES, OPEN MY MIND, OPEN MY HEART, O LORD. Isn’t that a wonderful prayer and challenge for each one of us?
We would like to welcome two new staff members, Mrs. Lorena Fulton and Ms Jenny Geiser Ms. Lorena will be a pre school aide in Ms. Marie’s room and Ms. Jenny will assist Ms. Jackie in her pre school classroom. Many of you know Ms. Lorena both as a parent and as an after school Spanish instructor. We welcome her! Several years ago, Ms. Jenny was a Nativity student herself and is now in her final coursework for a teaching degree. We welcome both of them and know that they will have an enjoyable time working with the “littlest Saints!”
A special welcome to all of our new families! We hope that you quickly feel part of our Nativity School family. Please let us know if we can help you in any way. Our School Advisory Council members and Nativity Parent Association (NPA) officers are sponsoring a special “welcome dinner” just for new families on Tuesday, August 17th at 6:00 p.m. in our school cafeteria. We encourage all families who are new to Nativity School to attend this event which is especially for them.
Welcome back to our returning families! We are so glad that you have continued to choose our school. We look forward to the many ways in which we will continue to work together.
Happy birthday to our Pre School Program! This year marks the tenth year that we have provided educational opportunities for three and four year olds. It is quite exciting to have them housed right here in the main building with us. Be sure to stop in the cafeteria and see the tiny tables and chairs that we have set for them! Our lunch schedule has been adjusted because of their physical presence in the building. Pre School and Kindergarten students will eat at 11:00 am.; Gr. 1 and Gr. 2 will eat at 11:30; Gr. 3 and Gr. 4 will eat at 12:00 and Gr. 5 and Gr. 6 will eat at 12:30.
Over the summer months many of our teachers have attended workshops and seminars in an effort to remain updated and to learn about new trends in education. As a staff, we are committed to providing the best possible education for each child. In an effort to continually update, we have adopted a new religion book entitled: “We Believe.” It is a revision of the series (Sadlier) that we have used for many years in grades one through six. It includes many wonderful features that I know the children will enjoy. Family worksheets and activities are provided occasionally as well as website information for further activities.
We are pleased to announce that we will be offering after school Spanish classes, beginning in September. The lessons will be taught by Mrs. Lorena Fulton, who is a native of Mexico. She will work with children in K-2 on Tuesdays after school and children in grades 3-6 on Thursdays after school. A fee of $20.00 will be charged per month and class size will be limited. Additionally, we would like to announce that we will be offering after school Art Classes taught by Mrs. Susan Megargle. Mrs. Megargie, a new parent in our school, is a certified art teacher. Her classes will meet on Monday (Gr. 1-3) and Tuesdays (Gr. 4-6). A fee of $20.00 will be charged per month and class size will be limited. Registration forms for both of these classes will be distributed soon. Advance registrations will not be accepted.
We will once again be offering Band lessons, Violin lessons, Sewing Club and Choir. Information about all of these programs/activities will be published soon. Sewing Club, Choir, Spanish and Art will all begin after Labor Day. Band and Violin lessons will begin a little earlier.
The annual School Information Night will be held on Tuesday, August 24th. Mrs. Louise West, our assistant superintendent of Catholic Schools will speak about our Catholic identity at 6:45 p.m. After her presentation, our teachers will present classroom information in the specific classrooms. As in the past, the teachers will repeat this presentation at approximately 7:25 for those families who have more than one child enrolled in our school. Staff members who are not classroom teachers as well as our NPA officers will be in the cafeteria with information about our school and its various programs. It is important that parents/guardians of all students attend this very important meeting.
Our opening of school Mass will be held on Wednesday, August 18th at 9:00 a.m. in our school gym. Please plan to join us in prayer and celebration! You will notice that each month we will have a Mass and special prayer service here in school. Also, each Thursday morning, our regular morning prayer will be in common in our gym at 8:05 am.
Mark your calendars now! On Friday, September 3rd, you are invited to bring a picnic lunch and eat with your child beginning at Noon. School lunches will not be served that day, however, our cafeteria will have treats for sale. This is something that we have done during Catholic Schools Week and feel that it would be a great opportunity for you to meet some of the students and families in your child’s class. At 1:00 we will have the kick-off event for our Reading Renaissance (Accelerated Reading) Program. We hope that you will be able to join us!
As you have prepared for the opening of the school, I know that you have purchased many things. Please be aware that you can order school sweatshirts or imprinted polo shirts through the school office at any time. We will not be placing the orders daily but will try to do so in a timely manner. Mats for pre kindergarten and Kindergarten students are also on sale through the school office. Finally, as a combined effort of School Board/NPA, a mini school calendar has been published. The calendar, which is checkbook size, contains the monthly school events as they were listed at the end of July. These may be purchased for $5.00 from the school office.
While I am writing this letter, I am also keeping an eye on the Weather Channel, as many of you probably do during this time of the year. Please know that decisions about school closings that are weather- related are made by our Bishop in consultation with our Diocesan School Superintendent and Civil Defense authorities. In case of storms, information about our school will be broadcast on the TV and radio stations. I know that we will all continue to pray for protection from storms and hurricanes.
Although I am sure that there are many, many other details that I could share with you at this time, I would like to simply close by thanking you for choosing Nativity BVM School for your child. We hope that this will be a wonderfhl experience for you and for your child. My prayer is that each of us will “open our eyes, open our minds and open our hearts” to the wonders around us.
May God bless you!
/s Sister Mary Jo