February 2006

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Happy Catholic Schools Week!  What a blessing to be able to celebrate this special week especially this year. We are so mindful of the blessings and challenges that we have been faced with during this year as we have journeyed together.

I hope that you will be able to join us in prayer and celebration on Wednesday, February 1st. Bishop Rodi and many of the priests of our area will be joining us in prayer at 11am at the Cathedral. We are so fortunate to have a Bishop and priests who are so supportive of Catholic education and of our own Nativity BVM School. Your presence at the liturgy will help them to know how very much that support means to all of us.  Following Mass, we will enjoy lunch here at school. Lunch is "bring your own" since our cafeteria will not be serving lunches that day!

In the last months we have all experienced opportunities to receive assistance from state and federal agencies. At times, directions have been clear and at other times, information has had to be clarified. In the last week, we have received information that greatly affects our lunch program. Anyone who has a current Food Stamp number is eligible for free lunch. Simply complete the family information on the form and put in the food stamp number. No other financial information is necessary. According to the most recent information -- all children/families who have been displaced (that is, have had to move our of their pre-Katrina home due to hurricane damage), qualify for free lunch for the entire school year. Additionally, any household that has had additional people living in it due to Hurricane Katrina, is eligible for free lunch. Not only does that help your family but it also helps our school since federal funds are allocated on the basis of the number of verified free and reduced lunches. ALL students in our school had free lunch from September 19, 2005 our return date following Hurricane Katrina until December 16th, our last school day prior to Christmas. However, since our return to school in January, many of you have been paying for lunches. At this time:

If you have paid for school lunches since January 3rd and now qualify for free lunch, your lunch account will either be credited or you will receive a refund. Please let our cafeteria manager know which you would prefer. Finally, your child may or may not have told you that we have discontinued recess milk/juice since returning from the Hurricane. At this time, we have no plans to resume this.

In the next few days you will be contacted to set up a time to meet with your school's teacher for a conference. Conferences would typically have been held in early October. However, at that time, travel and "life" was so challenging that we decided to postpone the conferences until now. I hope that you will make it a priority to meet with your child's teacher at your appointed time on February 16th or 17th.

Nativity BVM School has two calendar changes during this last part of the school year. School will be in session on Wednesday, March 1st. The last day of the school year will be on Friday, May 26th. Dismissal will be at noon on that final day of school. Both of these changes are due to missed school days following Hurricane Karina.

Despite the many challenges that our city has faced in these last five months, our leaders and members of the police department have continued to place a priority on the education of young people. We are delighted that the DARE program has begun in our school for children in Kindergarten through Grade 5. Our DARE office will be here with the children on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the weeks ahead.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Our annual Nativity BVM OPEN HOUSE will be held on Sunday, March 5th from 11am until 2pm. Come and visit our school, meet old and new friends and enjoy our very, very special Book Fair (which has been made possible through the generosity of so many people throughout the country!) Please consider bringing a neighbor, friend or co-worker who may be interested in our school!

HELP! HELP! HELP! The good news is that the restoration of our school gym is progressing! The "challenge" is that work will begin on the floor very soon...and the contents of the gym needs to be moved! Your help is needed from 4-6pm on Friday, February 10th and/or Saturday, February 11th (9am-Noon). PLEASE...we really need your help with this project!

Finally Nativity BVM School WILL celebrate Mardi Gras in fine style! Please plan to join us for our school parade on Friday, February 24th beginning at 10:30am right on our school grounds. Our school band will lead the parade of preschool and Kindergarten students. On Saturday, February 25th, our Nativity Band will participate in the 10:00 parade that our city sponsors especially for children! You ware welcome to join our band in marching through the city of Biloxi!

You can be so proud of your children and how they have worked together to make this a successful school year. You can be so proud of our staff members who have given their best during these trying times. And, you can be so proud of yourselves for doing all that you can to provide for the needs of your family. Know that each and every day you are remembered in prayer during our morning prayer. May God continue to help each of us to recognize our blessings and cope with our challenges!

/s Sister Mary Jo