Dear Parents and Guardians.

Welcome back for the second semester of our school year’

The activities and events leading up to Christmas were quite exciting here at Nativity School, The staff certainly prepared the children wonderfully for our prayer service, liturgy and for the Band and Choir Concerts and the Christmas program itself How blessed we are to have such talented people who so willingly give of their time and talents! To conclude the holiday season, our violin students will hold their concert on Wednesday, January 5th at 6:30 p.m. in the gym. All are welcome to attend!

Stay tuned for new developments here at Nativity BVM School! Yes, thanks to grant received earlier this year, the “art room” has been transformed into a learning lab for students of all ages. Over the Christmas holidays, several staff members worked to provide for the following areas cooking, math, science, social studies, art, music and religion. The large tables, already in the room for the art classes, provide a wonderful work space for hands-on experiences. The lab will he open for student use with their teachers for the remainder of the year. Secondly, thanks to the hard work of staff members as well as “friends of the school" Nativity will soon have its own Imagination Station. As many of you know, our local public elementary schools here had these stations which provide a connection between local businesses and the individual school. Hands-on materials that are part of the daily work of the local business are brought into the school so that children can experience first-hand what it would be like to work or be part of that particular business. Nativity’s Imagination Station will be located in the current Spanish room.

During the last week of January. we will be celebrating Catholic Schools Week Along with the thousands of Catholic schools around the country, we will focus on and celebrate the gift of faith and the opportunity that we have to share that faith daily in our school. We thank you for the many ways in which you support our school through your time, efforts and prayer. A special note will go home by the middle of the month to let you know of our special activities during that week.

As you plan your schedule for this month. I would encourage you to highlight Wednesday. January 26th on your calendar At 11:00 a.m that morning. Bishop Rodi will be here at our school to pray with us and to celebrate Mass with us in our gym. Although this will be the third time that Bishop Rodi has visited our school. I cannot begin to tell you how special this is. Never, in any of the other schools or dioceses that I have worked in, did our Bishop come to our school. We are so honored that he makes visiting the schools a priority n his ministry; here in the Diocese I would ask as many of you as possible to come pray with us... and to invite other family members and friends to come as well. We will follow this with our traditional "Nativity Family Picnic”. School lunches will not be served that day. Children will need to bring their own lunches and families are encouraged to “bring their own picnic” and join us in celebrating Catholic Schools Week. The picnic will take place immediately after the 11:00 Mass.
Early next week you will receive your child’s report card for the second quarter That is always a difficult marking period because of the holiday activities Although we will not have scheduled conferences at this time, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher if you would like to meet with her regarding your child’s progress.

These next weeks will be filled with many activities as we anticipate Catholic Schools Week, Science Fair, Mardi Gras and the many other special events that will fill our days. My prayer for each of us, as we move through this second half of the school year, is that we will “open our eyes. minds and hearts” to God each day. Doing that and living that will make such a difference in our daily work and daily interaction with one another. God bless you!

/s Sister Mary Jo