January, 2004
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Hand in hand with God! As we begin this new year of 2004, may we continue to live out this goal that we have selected for our 2003 - 2004 school year.
Our celebrations before Christmas were truly wonderful events. We were so proud of our Band Students. Stringed Instrument Students. Choir members and their leaders for their excellent concert performances. Our school Christmas program was so well done thanks to the children and adults who made it all possible. Finally, our ‘wormy” celebration upon reaching our reading goal was fin, exciting and a real recognition of the hard work of the children and teachers! Great job everyone! Thank you for supporting and attending these special events.
Report cards for the second marking period (K-6) and for the first half of the school year (pre school) will be sent home with the children on Tuesday, January 13th. Although conferences will not be scheduled with each parent at this time, please know that you are more than welcome to contact the teacher to set up a time to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns that you might have.
We are so proud of the way in which our students are participating in the Reading Renaissance program this school year. Three classrooms - Ms. Hambsch, gr. 4; Mrs Lyons, gr. 3 and Mrs. Gentile, gr. 2—have all achieved the status of Model Classroom A celebration marking this achievement will be held January 20th. All students who have reached their personal reading goal (for the second marking period) through the Reading Renaissance program will celebrate with a ‘trip to Asia” as we Reach for the World - READ! We appreciate the work of Mrs. Susan Delgado, Mrs. Barbara Ziz, Mrs. Tracy Butirich (library aide) and the individual classroom teachers for their work with this program We have certainly seen our children enjoy reading. We have also seen many children improve in comprehension and other reading skills already this school year.
Catholic Schools Week will be celebrated around our country during the last week of January. As part of our local celebration, we have invited Bishop Thomas Rodi to celebrate Mass here at school on Wednesday, January 28th at 11:00 a.m. We will follow this with a “bring your own” family picnic Our cafeteria staff will sell desserts, treats and beverages. Please mark your calendars and plan to pray with us and celebrate with us. We hope to fill our school gym with parents, friends of the school as well as the students! Other events will be planned throughout the week to celebrate the gill of Catholic education in our lives but especially here at Nativity BVM School!
If you are the parent/guardian of a fourth, fifth or sixth grader you should have received the initial information packet for he annual Science Fair. Students in preschool through grade three are more than welcome to participate in the fair, but are not required to do so. Our school fair is set for mid-February. We still have not received word if a regional science fair will be held. We have, however, chosen to go ahead with our fair since we feel it is a valuable experience for our students.
On February 0th and 11th we will have the opportunity to host a State Accreditation visit. This will be conducted by personnel of the Mississippi Department of Education as well as peers from around the state. We look forward to the opportunity to share the many things that make our school special. In anticipation of this special visit, we will move up our annual Spring Bring Your Tool Kit Day (BYT day) to Saturday, January 24th from 9:00- Noon. Various tasks for that day will include: minor repairs, touch-up painting and items that generally appear on a home “honey-do” list. If you cannot make it that day but would like to help, simply contact me and I can arrange a time more convenient for you
In closing, let us continue to hold one another in prayer. Slav we continue to recognize the presence of God among us and walk hand in hand with Him. May God bless you!
/s Sister Mary Jo