October 1, 2007
Dear Parents and Guardians,
“Oh, happy one! Come and rejoice! The kingdom of heaven belongs to you!” These are the words to one of the songs that our choir has been practicing recently. The verses develop the Beatitudes and remind us of just how blessed we are as children of God. Each and every day that we can move and breathe and work reminds us of how greatly blessed we are!
These days of October provide us with some terrific instructional opportunities. The weather is cooler, the classroom routines are established and children and staff are settled in. Hopefully you have been receiving your child’s papers and notes from the teacher on a regular basis. Progress reports (for the older children) have already gone out and you should be very aware of how your child is doing. We will have formal parent/teacher conferences in late October. However, if you wish to meet with your child’s teacher or any of our staff, please simply ask to do so. We take your child’s education very seriously and want to make this year the best that it can be. Communication is critical in all of this so please be sure to let us know if there is anything that we can do to help you in the education of your child.
Each year, students in our Diocesan Catholic Schools, have an opportunity to participate in the “Child Protection Curriculum.” The one or two day class, presented by each classroom teacher, emphasizes each child’s right to be safe and be respected and helps them to understand what to do when a stranger, or someone they may know does something to make them uncomfortable. An information session, for adults, will be held on Wednesday, October 3rd, to provide information about the program. The session will be held at 6:00 p.m. in the school gym.
Some of you may have heard that our Diocesan Education Office has adopted a new computer system for reporting information. The Power School program is being incorporated into all of our schools at this time. The principals and secretaries or other key personnel have received some initial training and we are all now at the “data entry” level. Each of our schools will be working to fully implement the program within this school year. We will keep you informed of our progress as we continue to update the ways in which we gather and report information.
Thank you for all of your help with our recent cakewalk at the Seafood Festival. What an incredible weekend and what an incredible response to our plea for cakes, cakes, cakes! Through our joint efforts, we earned over $1700.00 for our school! When you think of this in terms of $.25 per play, that is an incredible amount. The weather, the crowds and your response made this a very successful event for us!
As our weather cools down, I would like to remind you that we DEPEND ON YOU to assist us with children complying with our dress code. Tennis shoes are to be worn by all children at all times. Girls and boys are to wear white, collared shirts with navy shorts, pants, skirts, skorts, etc. Sweatshirts or sweaters, worn inside the classroom, may ONLY be plain white or navy or have the Nativity logo. Skirt, dress and short lengths need to be appropriate. Again, we are counting on you to help us ensuring that our dress code is followed.
I would like to ask your help in two problem areas. First of all, we are beginning to see a significant increase in children arriving after the 8:00 a.m. bell. School begins promptly at 8:00 a.m. with prayer and announcements. Teachers take attendance and lunch count immediately following this and begin lessons. Children arriving at 8:10 or later have missed joining their fellow classmates in prayer, and are already behind in the days’ work. I realize that traffic problems can cause delays. Cell phone calls make us aware of these trouble spots and we generally make an announcement alerting the teachers that children may be delayed. The second problem area, is the increase of children being checked out early. Again, I realize that occasionally an out of town trip or medical appointment may require an early checkout, however, please remember that our instructional time is precious and we would like your child to be part of the entire instructional day. At the end of the school year, we are required to submit a summary of attendance for the school year. This attendance report directly affects how state and federal funding is allocated to our school. Absences, check outs and tardies all affect this statistical report.
We need you! Our 49th annual Halloween Carnival depends on the donation of time and talent from each and every person involved in our school.
Clean-up will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday. Again, please consider committing yourself to helping in some way to make this the most successful FUN-Raiser and fundraiser ever! This has really been a great school year thus far. The “Bee Buck program” has been very successful. Your children have been a delight to work with and have shown a great deal of growth. We are blessed to have the opportunity to work with them!
May God bless you in the days ahead and may we continue to recognize our blessings!
/s Sister Mary Jo