March 17, 2010

JUST CHECKING IN ~ MARCH 17, 2010

“Christ be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me….Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me…” Prayer of St. Patrick

2ND TRIMESTER REPORT CARDS will be sent home tomorrow at the close of the school day. Know that we remind your children that they should first open their envelopes with you and not with their friends. Know also that it is important to recognize the strong points of the report with your children and also address how to work on the challenges you may see. Holding a good conversation works and helps your children take ownership of their learning. Students know themselves. As always, if you need to connect with a teacher, mark the box on the back of the card when you sign it and check to see if the teacher may have made the same request of you.

FINANCIAL AID FOR SCS FAMILIES There is limited assistance available for families with serious financial difficulty. These families may apply for financial consideration. All applications should be in writing to our tuition review committee no later than May 1. Parents seeking assistance will be sent an application form which must be completed before a meeting is scheduled for them with the committee. Please be assured that these families will be treated with dignity, respect and confidentiality. Please keep in mind that this applies only to families in grades k-8. Full tuition must be paid for Pre-kindergarten. Families receiving assistance are expected to use Gift Card ( Scrip) Program to reduce their tuition. Assistance is limited to families who qualify for Special Stewardship Rate.

CHILD SAFETY OPPORTUNITY FOR K AND 1ST GRADERS Thanks to a grant the Police Department has received we are able to offer parents of K and 1st Graders the opportunity to have their children’s necessary and vital information put on a CD which parents would then have in case of an emergency with their child. We will be setting up the date for the police to come to school to complete the CD’s and so those interested parents need to send in their paperwork by this Friday if they have not yet done so.

OUR VERY OWN NEUMANN SCHOLAR Congratulations to 8th Grader Fred Licsauer who has won a complete four year scholarship to an Archdiocesan high school. First having qualified and then sitting for the competitive academic test, Fred placed among the top 4% of 8th Graders across the Archdiocese in this competition sponsored by the Connelly Foundation. We all found out at the same time Monday morning when Kim Flavell from the Foundation came to school to make the announcement in front of our 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade classes. What a great way to start the week. We are very proud of Fred and know that he will do special things at Roman Catholic which is where he has chosen to go. The Connelly Foundation are very generous to our schools from technology to assemblies and trips to scholarships and grants, they recognize how prepared our students must be for the future of our region and nation and are doing their part.

WILL THERE BE A MARKET DAY NEXT YEAR? We’ve got the dates for next year but no chairpeople to replace Cheryl Sylvester and Linda Gumpper at this point in time. If two of you would like to chair this for the next two years, these ladies will be happy to train you and remain as mentors.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS We congratulate these students who placed in the IHM Math Contest at the school level: 7th Grade: 1st Place—Marikate O’Toole, 2nd Place—Nina Juntereal, 3rd Place—Marissa Picozzi. 8th Grade: 1st Place—Charlie Hoyt, 2nd Place—Anthony D’Alfonso, 3rd Place—Three-Way Tie-Shannon Harrington, Frank Duffner, and Fred Licsauer.
Once again our JV Cheerleaders did great and came in 1st Place in competition this past weekend. All the practice our girls put into preparing for these events is well worth it.

CRITICAL THINKING 101 Shannon Hughes (Pre-K) had her correct entry drawn for this week’s $10 Gift Card of Choice certificate. We needed to lose the last letter to answer the clues. We went from 1. charm to char, 2. warm to war, 3. realm to real, and 4. pine to pin. For next week, we need to do the total opposite. We need to add a letter at the start of the second clue. Here we go: 1. opposite of find / shut 2. we breathe this / grows on your head 3. finished or done / conceal 4. hope for / move back and forth especially in water 5. animal skin / scold.