January 5, 2009 Dear Parents and Guardians, “In God we trust” – our theme for this year – seems to be a very appropriate prayer as we begin this new year. Knowing that God IS with us, will help us to face the changes and challenges and the joys and sorrows of the months ahead. Wasn’t our Christmas program a wonderful gift? The children worked so hard to Thank you for your wonderful support of our Christmas outreach projects. Your generosity brought so much happiness to so many people. The Foster Children’s Christmas party, held on December 20th, was filled with laughter and smiles and a great deal of happiness. One young boy, opening his gift, looked at me and said “This is JUST what I wanted!” That sentiment was repeated over and over that afternoon. On Monday, December 22nd, I was able to travel with members of the Nativity Parish Disaster Relief Team as well as parishioners St. Michael’s Parish, a representative of the Biloxi City Schools and one of our students to Montegut, Louisiana. Pointe aux Chenes School, a small public school in Terrebonne Parish, has been severely damaged by hurricane flooding three times in seven years. Many of the families continue to struggle to reclaim their lives and homes. After meeting the principal and several staff members, groups of us took the “shoebox gifts” to the classrooms and were able to see the expressions on the faces of the children as they saw the “goodies” that had been carefully packed by our students. They were absolutely delighted! It was a great feeling to know that we had helped others, just as others had helped us. Again, thank you for your tremendous support of this project. Each year, the principal of each Diocesan School is asked to write a report, summarizing what has been accomplished throughout the past year. This State of the School report is then formally presented to the faculty/staff and to the School Advisory Council. Each year the report has also been presented, in some way, to the parents of our students. I would like to invite you to attend a family potluck dinner on Thursday, January 15th to review the report and to help in planning goals for the coming year. As part of the evening, our NPA officers will also hold a brief business meeting updating you on past and upcoming projects. Please bring a dish to share and come with plenty of ideas to make our school an even better place of learning and loving! Mark your calendars! The annual celebration of Catholic Schools will take place during the last week of January. You are invited to attend two special times of prayer during this week. On Sunday, January 25th, we are inviting all of our families to attend the 9:00 a.m. Mass at Nativity Cathedral. Coffee and doughnuts will be served following the Mass. Secondly, Archbishop Rodi will be celebrating Mass here at Nativity School on Wednesday, January 28th at 11:00 a.m. We are delighted that he will be joining us, once again, for prayer and celebration. As you know, Archbishop Rodi was named as leader of the Mobile Archdiocese this summer and continues to serve as the Apostolic Administrator of our Biloxi Diocese. We hope that each of you will be able to attend this very special liturgy as well as the family picnic which will follow. A complete listing of special Catholic Schools Week events will be sent home later in the month. It is hard to believe that half the school year has already been completed. Please know that we will continue to work hard with your child and that we will continue to challenge and encourage and support your child every step of the way. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions or concerns. May God continue to bless us and guide us. May we continue to trust in God and know that He cares for each one of us. /s Sister Mary Jo |