August 20, 2008
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to our 2008 – 2009 school year! Haven’t we had a wonderful start to our new school year? Everything went so smoothly and the children were simply delightful. The weather was beautiful and we ended our (short) week with a wonderful time of prayer and celebration at our liturgy on Friday.
You have probably heard from your child that our school theme this year is “In God we trust.” That seemed a fitting theme for this, an election year. It also seemed to convey a good message for adults and children alike. We will be working with the children in developing this theme throughout this year.
If you haven’t been inside the school yet, you need to stop in soon! The transformation of our school is mind-boggling and our “school is certainly cool.” We are so grateful to Fr. Tony and Nativity Parish for giving us ½ of the cost of the project (which allowed us to secure the loan) and to Starks Contracting and their sub contractors for their work on the project. Mrs. Barbara Ziz, Mr. Robbie Schmidt, Mr. and Mrs. Ezra Khan and our Diocesan Technology Staff have been working to get our new computers and server up and working properly. The changes and improvements in our school are proof that when we trust in God, miracles do happen.
By now you have had a chance to review your handbook for the school year. We have some “additions” for p. 9 and p. 10. We would like to welcome the following women to our staff: Mrs. Shelby Fournier – PreK 3 aide; Mrs. Lauren Ellis – Kindergarten Aide and Mrs. Angie McBride – Cafeteria staff. Mrs. Faye Byrd will continue working in our afterschool program, but will not continue working in the cafeteria due to family needs. Our School Advisory Council includes Mrs. Ashlei Hawkins (NPA Representative) and Mr. Mike Bruffey and Mrs. Margaret Wilcox will be serving on our NPA Board as coordinator of public relations.
Mr. Robbie Schmidt, who maintains our school website, has been working to use technology to improve communication between home and school. We are implementing a new email notification/information system. You are invited to go to http://nativitybvm.org/userprofiles, login and fill out your profile. Your user-id is your email address and your password is *****. If you experience any difficulty, please email tech@nativitybvm.org. Additionally, know that our new computers are up and running and our school staff has begun the implementation of Power School. As many of your know, our diocese began the implementation of this program last year as a way of collecting data, recording and reporting information and communicating with our parents and our diocesan office. We have begun our training in the program and will continue to familiarize ourselves with all of its capabilities. When fully implemented, you will be able to check your child’s grades online as well as class assignments and communicate with the teachers. We will keep you posted on our progress toward full implementation.
Next week will be a busy one with several special events planned:
*The Sally Foster Product fund raiser will begin on Monday, August 25th. We hope that you and your family will be able to help to support this school fund raiser. *On Tuesday, August 26th, all of our families who are new to Nativity School are invited to attend our annual New Family Spaghetti Dinner at 6:00 p.m. It will be a great time to meet other families as well as some of our staff members, our School Advisory Council members and NPA Board Members. The meal will be prepared by our School Cafeteria workers.
*ALL parents/guardians are encouraged to attend the School Information Night on Thursday, August 28th at 6:30 p.m. We will begin in the gym for a short time of prayer and information and then parents/guardians will go to their child’s room for a short presentation. The classroom portion will last approximately twenty minutes and a second session will be given for those families with more than one child enrolled in the school. Our NPA board members will be on hand with information about the various logo items for sale. Because of the nature of the evening and because of space problems, we ask that just adults attend.
*We will have a special prayer service for our benefactors on Friday, August 29th at 11:30 a.m. in the gym. For many years we have ended our school morning prayer with a remembrance of “those who are so good to us and so good to our school.” This prayer has taken on special meaning over these last three years. *A family picnic will follow our prayer service. You are invited to bring your own picnic lunch for you and your family and enjoy some time with other families of our school.
*The Catholic Parishes of East Biloxi will sponsor the third annual Katrina Memorial Walk. The walk will begin at Our Mother of Sorrows Parish at 6:00 p.m.and will end at St. Michael’s Parish. All are invited to attend.
I know that we all spend a considerable amount of time and money on groceries and other products purchased at our local stores. If you are a Winn Dixie shopper, we ask you to help our school through the Community Pals program. Mr. Darren Thornton, a parent of students in our school and manager of the Pass Road/Biloxi store, delivered a check last week for $186.83 from this program. Please encourage your friends, relatives and neighbors to participate in the program if they shop at the area Winn Dixie stores.
Thank you again for all of your help, support and encouragement as we begin this school year. We are blessed with a dedicated and committed staff who are sincere in their desire to help your child reach full potential. We are here to work with you in educating your child. We consider it a privilege to be involved in the ministry of education. May God bless us as we work together throughout this new school year.
/s Sister Mary Jo