SS. Mary and Joseph School
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SS. Mary and Joseph School |
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Jesus, I Still
Trust You! Sometimes
God’s wisdom is amazing. This
year, after some prayer and reflection, I felt God led me to base our theme
this school year on the Divine Mercy Theme.
This devotion comes from the diary of a Polish nun, Sr. Faustina Kowalska, whose message
of mercy reminds us that God loves us completely. We should call upon Him with trust, receive
his mercy and let it flow through us to others.
As we come to the conclusion of the school year, I’ve begun to realize
how important that theme is for me personally and for our school. The ABC’s of Divine Mercy first
calls us to (A) ASK for mercy;
(B) BE
merciful
and ( C) Completely trust in
Jesus.. Throughout this school year as
we have faced some great challenges I was continually reminded to totally put
my trust in Christ. It sounds like an
easy thing to do; but in reality it is quite complicated this idea of
COMPLETELY trusting in our God and surrendering our own will. It means literally placing yourself
“face down” and putting everything into His hands. It is in our human nature to want to
know and understand the plan that God has for our lives. We don’t like to be blindsided or thrown off
the course we’ve set for our life’s journey.
We want to know how the story ends or at least have some idea as to how
the story goes. But to completely trust in God’s will for our lives is to say
to God, “ I am yours and I will do all that you
ask.” It becomes scary, when the answer
to that takes you where you never dreamed you would be asked to go. Personally, after the loss of my
Dad, I never thought that
in the aftermath of his passing it would take my mom further away
from my life. I never thought I would so
soon have to say goodbye to my childhood home and roots. I never thought that sacred times for family
gatherings would be forever gone or at least changed. But they are altered and even though it’s
painful, I have found a peace and deepening of my faith in walking through that
hurt. This year at school, we have faced
times of great economic challenges.
Time and time again, we’ve met the challenge, and through sometimes
extraordinary efforts we have survived and even at times surpassed our own
predictions and expectations. God has
been very merciful to our school in many ways.
When I think of the generosity of families, friends and alumni that have
supported our school family, I am humbled and awed by those gifts. As we approach the time of parting
for our 8th grade students and also for the summer, I truly hope and pray that
our graduating students have rooted in their lives a solid relationship with
Christ and that they will trust in Him to carry them through every challenge
they will face– and they will face them.
Furthermore, I pray that all of
us called to the family of God here at SS. Mary and Joseph School will be
people of mercy and trust so that others will see the face of Christ in
the love, mercy and forgiveness we show to one another. And as our hearts become more and
more filled with his tender mercy, we ourselves will become closer to Him and
draw others towards him because of our tenderness and compassion. This, I believe is how God wants us to walk
through these times of challenge and adversity.
When we look at the cross, what we are asked to carry in comparison is
slight indeed. April Highlights ECC Open House
was held early in March. Since that time we’ve been accepting registrations for
our ECC Preschool and Kindergarten readiness programs. Please encourage anyone you know that is
interested in our programs for 3 & 4 year olds to register as soon as
possible. We also offer a Kindergarten
Preparation Program for younger 5 year old children and older 4 year old
children. It is designed for those
children that are not quite ready for Kindergarten but too advanced for Preschool. We do have registrations come in all through
the summer and during August; however, early registrations would help us to
schedule the necessary sessions for our Early Childhood Programs that would
accommodate our families’ schedules and meet their needs. Eighth Grade Chicago Trip was April 23rd-25th. We went with some students from St. Patrick School
in Hubbard. I want to thank Father
Matthew and Father Dave for accompanying the students this year. The students were looking forward to having
their pastors join them for this exciting field trip and truly enjoyed being
with them. Each day was packed with many
exciting experiences and we were even able to do some extra things on this
trip. Our students were extremely
well-behaved and were a joy throughout the entire trip. We had beautiful weather and a terrific tour
guide. It’s hard to say what the best
part of the trip was-I think it was just having the time to spend with these
wonderful 8th graders. They
are just a lot of fun. It’s difficult to
think of them graduating and moving on.
I cherish each moment we have left together. English Festival at YSU was held on April 16th. Several of our 7th & 8th
graders attended the day with Miss Spalvieri and Mrs.
Kline. They enjoyed the many educational
activities and experiences the YSU English Festival offers Kindergarten
Earth Day Mass was held on Earth Day, April 22nd. Again, it was a beautiful service. Our little ones did a great job with their
first mass. They did motions to a song
about “sowing seeds of love” and reminded all of us that we need to be sowing
those seeds all the time-just like our grandparents did and just as we are
doing for those who come after us. OCSAA Visit was held right after break on April 1st
& 2nd. We had a team of
educators here to review our plan for the next several years. The team consisted of 5 educators, principals
and teachers from our Diocese and a chair person from the Cleveland
Diocese. We were fortunate to have Dr.
Pat Nugent here to lead the team and review our evidence of meeting state
standards. The team made a few
suggestions for improving the wording of our plan. It was revised and then sent to Columbus for
review by the State Accreditation Team.
They were very impressed with our school. For a small school, we’ve done a great deal
to continue to improve our technology, our communication and our instruction. They felt we have some very innovative
programs and structures in place that make SS. Mary and Joseph a unique and
progressive school. PAC Meeting was held on April 15th. We had a guest speaker from the Diocesan
Credit Union. He spoke about a program
that is available through the DOY Credit Union, which is beneficial to both
families and the school. It’s a loan
program with a very small interest rate that allows the school to receive the
money on a regularly scheduled basis or even at the beginning of the year. It helps any cash flow problems when tuition
does not come in consistently. This is
an option that we would like our families to consider. Another option would be to pay tuition on a
twelve month basis so that the school would receive a consistent monthly
income. During the summer, it is
difficult to continue to meet payroll, which is paid on a yearly basis when
there is very little income coming into the school. Both of these options would help the
financial situation at school to be more stable. Parent Conferences were held at the beginning of April. Remember that you can contact teachers any
time to discuss your child. They are
always available. Please also remember
that each staff person also has an email account which they check every day. Jump Rope for Heart was held throughout the month of March. This is a program that Mrs. Kolovich conducts during her physical education class. All donations need to be turned in during the
week of April 28th. Please have all the
money in by Friday, May 2nd. Retreat for Grade 7 was finally held the first week of
April. We had wonderful weather. It was absolutely beautiful at camp. Our 7th graders spent time
building community, learning team work, identifying things that tear down
family, reconciling differences and praying for class unity. There are many different games that require
strategies and team work to solve. There
are times for fun, serious contemplation, and deep prayer. The students were extremely well behaved and
cooperative. I was so pleased with the
retreat experience and very touched by the students’ openness, honesty and
sincerity. They were amazing. I want to thank Miss Spalvieri,
Miss Dean, Mr. Harnichar for
helping me with the retreat. I also want
to thank Shirley Svette for doing night supervision,
which allowed us to get some sleep. Second Grade Prayer Service was held on April 8th. The students did a beautiful job leading us
in prayer and reflection. The movement
and interpretation touched all our hearts.
Thank you to Miss Ogan for planning the prayer
service. It was beautifully done. Testing was completed in April for the 8th grade
Off- Grade Proficiency Tests, . the
Kindergarten Iowa Test Of Basic Skills and the 3rd & 5th
Grade Writing Competency Tests. We
should have those test results in before the end of the school year. Yearbook orders and Ads were
taken during the month of April. You may
still send in your order for the yearbook this week. The orders will be processed on a first come
first serve basis and we will NOT order any extra copies but will only order
enough for the orders placed.. Thank you to Miss Spalvieri,
Mrs. McMillen & Mrs. Ruby for helping the 8th
grade students with the yearbook project.
It is a great deal of work, but it certainly is worth it to have a
keepsake of this year for all our students.
It’s not too late so order NOW! Milk for the month of May is
free to those who order on a regular basis. May/June Activities Academics
Enrichment Classes will not be offered during the month of May. Unfortunately, I could not find enough time
to work on the Enrichment classes for the Spring. I will be working on Fall Enrichment
Classes. I will have time in August to
put all those together. I know how the
students love those experiences, so we should be able to offer those at the
beginning of next year. Kindergarten Screening will be held on Friday, May 9th. Registered students have been given a
specific time for screening. If you or
someone you know is interested in our all day Kindergarten program, it is
important that their child be screened.
Contact the school office as soon as possible so that a screening time
can be scheduled. There will be NO SCHOOL on Friday, May 9th
for Preschool or Kindergarten students. We
need the building and the ECC staff to help do the screening. Our screening is held late in the year
because students at this very young age can undergo a great deal of growth even
in a few months. We do our screening in
May so as to be able to assess readiness as late in the year as possible. In the Fall, the
Kindergarten staff will again check for summer growth to best be able to
structure lessons and teaching to meet the needs of each student. Progress Reports will be sent
home on at the end of this week. (May 1st
or 2nd) Please sign and return them as soon as
possible. If you have any questions
about the Progress reports, please take the opportunity to call the individual
teacher or set up a conference. The
students have a month to address any deficiencies. Homework continues to be the number one issue
for students who have lower grades. Continue
to insist that students keep up with the homework assignments. I know that students are reminded (more than
they should be) about missing work, absent work or incomplete work. Teachers make EVERY effort to make sure that
all work is turned in and/or tracked down.
Please remember that it is the responsibility of the student to do
this. It is important that they develop
these habits now. Report Cards for the 4th quarter will be mailed during
the second full week of June, sometime during the week of June 9th.
Please make sure that all tuition, missing materials and/or fees are addressed
before that time. We do not like to hold
report cards, but have to do so until accounts are rectified. Included in the report cards will be the
supply lists for next year. They will
also be posted on the classroom websites over the summer. Administration
Calendar for the 2008-2009 school year will be coming
home so that you have important dates for the next academic year. Please refer to this calendar when planning
your vacations or special trips. Discipline and Dress Code: As we enter these warmer months, our students need to
be reminded that skirts and shorts for girls need to be of an appropriate
length. I know some of the styles are
shorter, but girls should not be wearing them to school even on out of uniform
days. The length should be longer than
the fingertips when the student is standing up straight and the fingers are
extended. I guess that’s a pretty good
guideline. I believe that as a parent,
you should be able to judge if something is too short or not. If it’s questionable-don’t wear it to
school. Boys also need to be reminded
about hair length. It should not be over
the ears or over the collar. It should
also be above the eyebrows. Please make
sure that you are enforcing the code.
One person violating the requirements encourages others to follow suit. We are also working on kind words to one another on
the playground. This has been addressed
throughout the school year in many different ways. I have made it clear to many of the older
classes that there will be no tolerance for name calling. Any student caught calling others names will
receive immediate consequences. It is
important as a parent to support this at home and remind your children that
words are also bullying. My experience
with name-calling is that most often it goes both ways. Someone does have to start it, but usually it
goes back & forth. Kids need to
understand that any one can take the step to stop it by NOT participating in
any way in initiating it or perpetuating it and if it is happening-it needs to
be reported. This can and should be done
in a private and confidential manner. If
it IS happening it needs to STOP. I have
no tolerance for that. Parish
Verification Forms have been mailed
to parishioners from St. Mary & St. Joseph Church as well as St. Catherine
and St. James. The form included a letter from Father Matthew. Parishioners are asked to make an appointment
with their respective pastors to have the form signed and also meet with the
pastors privately. Please do this by the
deadline indicated on the letter, which is May 25th. This form must be signed for families to
receive the parish tuition rate. Athletics
Basketball Camps are recommended for any student that is considering
playing next year. There are many fine
camps offered throughout the summer. We
will be sending home information as to what we are putting together here at SSMJ. That information will be given to the
students. We are also planning on offering
some summer basketball camp opportunities for our students. That information will be coming soon. Trophies and Recognition for our athletics will be given out at our Awards
Recognition Ceremony on the last day of school. The assembly will be held at 8:30. Grades 5-8, will be receiving their
recognition for basketball and cheerleading at this time. We will also be giving STUCO awards and AR awards
and other end of the year recognition certificates. Physical Forms from the Ohio High School Athletic Association are
available in the school office. We will
be sending them home with students before the end of the year. Anyone involved in athletics must have a
yearly physical. We make these required
forms available before the summer break so that you have them for your yearly
visits. 7th & 8th grade girls Basketball will
have a party in the school lunchroom on Wednesday, May 7th from
6:00-8:00. Mr. Harnichar
is planning this special night for the girls.
He sent the information home in April with the girls. He asked that the forms be returned by
Monday, April 28th. Bingo
We will be sending home the Bingo sign-up forms in
August. The summer months are scheduled through August. Bingo has been struggling all year. At this point, we are going to “start over”
and restructure everything. If we cannot
turn Bingo around, we will be forced to close it and initiate other regularly
scheduled fund raising events to replace Bingo.
Bingo has given the school very little money this past year. If we can turn it around, we could once again
achieve stability in our funding. I have
a “Bingo expert” working on anew beginning for our Bingo, which would include a
new format, a new Kitchen menu, new games, etc.
She believes that we can turn this around. I have great faith in her abilities as she
ran our Bingo successfully for many years.
I truly believe that our current Bingo coordinators have been open to
trying anything and they have welcomed this opportunity to start over. They have been very committed to making
things work and have shown their support for the school and worked tirelessly
for several years. I commend them for
their hard work, loyalty and commitment to the school and I thank them for
being open to new beginnings. During the summer months, Grade
7 takes over the Bingo kitchen so that parents can help earn money for their
children’s accounts. The money is trip
and retreat money. If you have not
fulfilled your Bingo obligation to the school, you cannot work in the kitchen
to assist your son/daughter. Also,
working in the kitchen to assist your son/daughter does not meet your school
Bingo obligation. We are looking for one
parent to be in charge of the kitchen and coordinate the Bingo kitchen. That does not mean that they need to be there
for every week. They act as a
coordinator to schedule parents and arrange for a variety of food. Tuition Raffle will be held again this
year.
PAC came up with the idea last year to raffle off a tuition credit. Tickets can be purchased for $35. The winner of the raffle will receive one
child’s tuition free. The tickets can be
purchased for other people. Grandparents
can buy them for their grandchildren.
Anyone could buy them and donate the tuition to a needy family or
designate the family they want to receive the tuition credit. There are a limited number of tickets to be
sold. The drawing will be held during
Open House for the 2008-2009 school year. Please give us your support and purchase a
ticket. If you don’t have need of the
assistance, there are many others that you could give it to that would
appreciate the assistance. Building
Building/Summer Projects will be planned for this summer. Flyers will be sent home to ask for your
help. We appreciate any assistance you
can give. We can use all kinds of people
with all different types of talents and abilities. Every year, we are able to accomplish so many
things by working together. We are
also planning some volunteer work days to help complete some projects around
the school. We have jobs for the whole
family. These flyers will be sent home
later in the month, once we outline the dates on the June calendar. Grass Cutting Volunteers are needed! Father Matthew is looking for some volunteers
to help with the grass cutting around the school. The church is trying to save
money by having people volunteer to do a week or two of grass cutting. They
have two “round about” mowers that will be provided but they need drivers. Father is asking that the volunteers be at
least 18 years of age. I would like to
encourage our school parents to do their part in helping out. There is a form contained in this newsletter if
you can sign up to help or you could call the Parish Office at 330-872-7676. Calendar Spring Pictures were taken on Monday, April 28th. The company will send home
all the pictures for you to purchase.
These are not done like the beginning of the year where you place an
order. You have the option of buying any
or all pictures sent home or returning the entire package to school. Please make sure that you return the picture
packages to school before the end of the year.
We’ve had to hold report cards for pictures that are not returned. These are included in the items that must be
returned before the end of the year. CART Presentations
are scheduled for Thursday, May 22nd. This is a trained group of professionals that
respond if a child is missing. They will
be talking to our children at his or her level about keeping safe. This will be part of our preparation for our
involvement in National Missing Children’s Day, which is the next day on
Friday, May 23rd. National
Missing Children’s Day with Balloon Launch:
Recently, one of our parents
attended a training session for a specialized team that responds when a child
is reported missing. Because of Mr. Luouansuu’s involvement in this specialized training, he
was on the ground floor when they were looking for schools to be involved in
promoting awareness in the schools and community of this very important safety
issue. Jim didn’t realize that this is
an issue that is personally very close to my heart. A family that I grew up with in Pennsylvania
suffered the loss of child. In 1985,
Cherry got off the bus with 7 other children and never made it into her
house. No one knows what happened to
her. The community where she lived was
very rural and safe. My cousins lived on
her road and as a child; I often walked that road and played in those
woods. It is a community not so
different from here. Recently, I visited
Cherry’s grandmother in a nursing home where she now resides. I took her some flowers from my dad’s
funeral. The pain of her loss has never
faded- to never know what happened to her granddaughter is a grief that none of
us can truly understand. We will gather
to remember and pray for all those children who are missing and their
families. My special prayers that day
will be for Cherry Mahan, her mother Janice and all the Mahan family who have
suffered Cherry’s loss since 1985. If
she is alive, she would now be 30 years old. OOU Donations will be collected for a gift from the school students
and teachers to celebrate the ordination to the priesthood of Deacon
Christopher. He will be ordained at the
end of this month. You may have met him
at St. Joseph and St. Mary Parish. He is
a friend of Father Matthew’s and also from Poland. We will be honoring him with a gift on behalf
of the school community. There is an out
of uniform day on Friday, May 9th for the purpose of collecting some
funds for him. We will present the gift
to him and also keep him in our prayers as he begins his ministry and life in
the priesthood. Preschool
Program will be held at the Community
Center on Friday, April 23rd.
This will be the final day for Preschool. The instructional sessions will end on
Wednesday or Thursday of that same week.
It will begin at 11:00. PAC (Parent Advisory Council) May Meeting will
be held on Tuesday, May 20th at 7:00. End of the Year
Books
will be checked at the end of the year.
Students will be charged a fee for damage to books that is above the
normal wear and tear expected. Books
that must be replaced because of excessive damage will be charged the
replacement cost. This can be quite
expensive. That’s why we insist that books be covered and cared for by our
students. One book can cost as much as $75.00. Materials & Library Books will also be inventoried before the end of the year
so we can make sure we have everything returned. Those families that have an extra set of
textbooks should return them by May 23rd. The month of May is a good opportunity to
have your child/children clean out their room and search for classroom AR
books, library books, etc. that belong in school. Try and do this before school is over so we
have everything accounted for by the last day of school. NO Bookbags
of any kind are permitted on the last day of school. Students are expected to take home all their
personal items by Thursday, May 29th.
The only thing that students are to bring on the last day is themselves! Fees need to be caught up before the end of the year. Many 8th graders still owe for
their Mime shirts, which were $16.00. Retreat Fees for 7th & 8th
grade should also be paid if not done so already. The camp has already been paid. All Basketball or Cheerleading uniforms
should be turned in since the athletic pictures have been taken. Any missing
Uniforms-($75.00) should all be taken care of before the end of school. Tuition must be up to date for report cards or records to be
transferred. Now is the time to address
back tuition. Please contact our
bookkeeper to make arrangements if needed.
Students in 8th grade must have all fees up to date before
graduation. Tuition Angels-During the last month of school, we’ve had some
tuition angels come forward and give money anonymously to help some of our
struggling families. I have been very
moved by the generosity of many people from the parish or community who became
aware of our financial situation and struggling families and decided to
help. Even I have no idea who they are
and to whom we should be grateful. This
support truly touches my heart. Tutoring/Summer
Help. There will be
tutoring information going home later this month. Several of our teachers are interested in
doing summer tutoring and or Skill Sharpener group lessons. There are some students that may receive a
recommendation from teachers for tutoring over the summer to build or maintain
skills. There are also some materials
available for summer tutoring at home. We sent home information to order the
“Summer Solutions” program earlier last month. We will receive them at school
and distribute them before summer vacation.
Another web site for summer materials is www.summerskills.com. These are
workbooks that are very reasonable and have the answers for parents in the back
of the book. They have many different
subject areas available for students. Field Day
will be held on Thursday, May 29tth. We will need many parent volunteers to make
the day a success. A form is included
for parents to sign and return. We have
many different stations and we need parents to “man” each one. This is a great day for our students. It’s also a chance for students to exhibit
many different skills and talents. The
Field Day ribbons are awarded at the final Honor’s Assembly on the last day of
school. There will NOT be a rain
date. We are asking families to consider
sending in a case of water for the children to have on field day. If it’s hot, they will drink a lot of
water. We will be asking PAC to once
again provide lunch for our students. This is a brown bag lunch day
anyway. If your child does not like hot
dogs, you may want to send something else. Field Trips
Ohio Trip for 5th & 6th
graders will be on April 30th –May 1st. This is a great trip for our students. A meeting was held last week. If you were unable to attend, please make
sure that you get the information from Mrs. Murphy. There are permission slips as well as
important suggestions for the students to prepare for the trip. Chaperones for the trip include: Mrs. Murphy, Miss Dean, Mr. Bill Dean and myself. Our tour
guide for the trip is also a male so we have a nice balance of chaperones. ECC Field Trips are scheduled for our little ones throughout the
month of May. The teachers will send
home the information. Wednesday, May 28th is the scheduled field trip day for
all classrooms. Traditionally, this is when all teachers schedule their final
field trip for the year. You will be
receiving information from the classroom teachers as to destinations and
arrangements. Fund Raising
Golf
Outing for the Fall is scheduled for
Sunday, September 21st at
Lakeside Golf Course in Lake Milton. The
cost is $65.00 per golfer. It is a
4-person Scramble that begins at 8:30 with a Shotgun Start. There will be a meeting in May for anyone
that wants to help out. We need Event
Sponsors, Hole Sponsors, Donations and Prizes.
Anyone who would like to be a volunteer should please call Judi Blazek
at 330-770-5332 and leave your name and phone number. Ladies Day: I hope to have a letter to include in this
newsletter concerning Avalon Inn’s apology for the poor meal that was served
during Ladies Day. If it comes before we
send this home, it will be included.
Please relay to anyone you know that attended that they are making it
right by making a donation to the school of $1,000. I appreciate that they are willing to work
with us to make amends for a meal that was not up to their standards or ours. SCRIPS: Our
program is on the verge of completion for the 2000-2009 school year. The proceeds
given back as tuition credit from September 2007-May 2008 are a significant
savings for families. The final date for
ordering is May 12, 2008. Graduation
Graduation is Friday, May 30th at 6:00 at St. Mary & St. Joseph
Church. This will be a time for us to
honor our graduating 8th graders.
Families of the students, staff and school parents are invited to share
in this night of celebration. It is a
time to remember the past and look forward to the future with joy, love and
gratitude. It is a night filled with
laughter and tears. Please note the
earlier time this year. We will be
taking pictures at 5:30 and the
ceremony will begin at 6:00. There will
be a reception following the service. I
will need our 7th grade parents to come forward and plan the
reception. We have an anonymous donor
who donated money for the graduation reception.
I need one parent to step forward
and head the committee. There were
several families that signed up to help with the reception so I am sure there
will be plenty of help. I know I don’t have all the names that signed up at
Open House, but I do have the following names that came in later on the sign up
forms that went home. Here is a list of
the names that I have: Watson, Frost, Rothacker, Blazek, & Schnellbach. Graduation Fee is $25.00; this is to cover the cost of the diploma
and the graduation picture. All other
expenses for graduation are covered by the school or donations. Please pay the graduation fee before May 28th.
Fees & Tuition must be paid
before graduation. Appropriate Dress is required for graduation. Students are to be dressed up. Girls should wear a dress of appropriate
length. It should be a modest dress that
is suitable for an 8th grader with a higher neckline. Boys can
wear a suit and tie if they already own one.
If not, a dress shirt, tie and dress pants would be acceptable. Please make sure that we have nice hair cuts
for the graduation picture.
Last Days
The
Schedule for the last day is as follows:
8:30- Award Assembly This is a time to honor each and every SSMJ student
for their accomplishments and gifts. Parents and special guests are welcome. 11:00 - A Closing Mass will be led by our 7th graders. This is a
time to honor our 8th graders and wish them well. It is also a time to celebrate the year. It will be held outside-weather permitting. 12:45 This
is the Dismissal of Car Riders for
students who will be picked by their parents on the last day. This is an early dismissal. 1:00 This
is the Dismissal of Bus Students for
students that need to ride the bus home. Bus students will be dismissed after
the car riders. I am asking the busses
NOT to come early. Newton
Falls students will need to fill out a transportation form for the last
day since Newton Falls is not in session. If a form is not filled out by the
parents, students cannot ride the bus to and from school on the last day. Liturgy
The month of May will be full of many First Communion
celebrations in the individual parishes.
It is a special time for many of our second graders. Sacraments are celebrated in the individual
parishes. Once the students have
received the sacrament in their individual churches, we have a special mass at
school to celebrate. All students in
Second grade are a part of that celebration.
First communion focuses on our oneness with God. In the second grade classroom, we can
celebrate the second grade community and that sense of oneness for all
students–Catholic and Non Catholic. We can
all be in Communion, united with Christ in our common belief in Jesus. First Communion Mass Celebration
will be held on Friday, May 16th at 9:00. This is a mass for our school as well as First
Communion Families. A reception will
follow the church celebration. Our first
grade parents are in charge of the Reception.
The mass will be at
St. Mary & St. Joseph Church and the Reception will follow. The reception should conclude between 11:30
and 12:00. Second grade students are
permitted to go home after the reception.
There will be a group picture taken of the second grade class following
the mass. An order form to purchase the
group picture will be sent home prior to the First Communion mass. Siblings of the second graders and all those
recognized at the mass are welcome to attend the reception downstairs at the
Social Hall. They must be in attendance
with a parent and they have to return to school by lunchtime. All second graders, Catholic and
Non Catholic students are included in the mass, the reception and all aspects
of the celebration. Students who have
made their First Communion will wear what they wore to church and all other 2nd
grade students are to dress up. Reception Help needed for our First Communion celebration. People who signed up to help were: Frances Bell, Julia King, Mary Ann Madison,
Debbie Peronek, Lori Agati,
and Angel Suarez. May Crowning, Rosary, Adoration
& Benediction will be held during
the month of May at St. Mary & St. Joseph Church at 6:00 on each Wednesday
of the Month. I would encourage our
students and families to attend. May Prayer Service will be led by our First Graders on May 1st. We will be having the service at the end of
the day at 1:45. This will be a special
time for us to focus on Mary and honoring her as the mother of Jesus and our
mother. Missing
Child Prayer Service will be a part
of our participation in National Missing Children’s Day on May 23rd. We are planning a service to pray and to
remember all missing children. It will
conclude with a balloon launch.
Volunteers will be needed to help that day with balloons and other
duties. Please call and let us know if
you can help out. Treads
for Ed Awards were given out. The awards were who brought in the most
pledge money in K-3 and 4-8.. . Both
students received a check for $50.00.
All other prizes will be distributed the first full week of May. Students pulled their passes last week. They will be using the passes: homework, out
of uniform, extra recess, free pizza, snacks and pop during this week. The OOU is a specific day; it is on Tuesday,
May 6th. Lunch
There will be NO hot lunch for
the final week of school. Students must
brown bag their lunches. We ask all
students to brown bag it because of the many activities and field trips taking
place during the final week of school.
The last day for hot lunch is May 23rd. Milk for May is free for those who regularly order milk with a milk
ticket or those that purchase everyday. Report Cards
Report
Cards will be mailed for the end of
the year during the week of June 9th Scholarship Forms
This year we hope to once again able to offer
applications for the Covelli scholarship program. We
do not have the forms available as of yet, but we will notify you when they are
available in the office. This
scholarship was initiated a few years ago and is only offered to Trumbull
County Catholic School Parents. The
family has committed to giving away funds every year to qualifying
families. This should offer significant help
to our families since the scholarship is limited to JFK and a few elementary
buildings. SSMJ Scholarship
information is included in the brown envelope.
There is information for applying on line. We use FACTS Grant and Aid
Assessment. The website for applying on
line is www.factstuitionaid.com.
If you need the actual forms, we have them available in the office. We are reluctant to send them home to
everyone because everyone does not need them.
Also, with the option of applying on line, many of our needy families
also do not need the packets. Remember
that this is an application you must fill out for assistance here at the local
level. Do not ask for help if you do not
really need it. This next year, we may have even less money available to help
our needy families. As you know, our
Bingo has been really struggling over the past months. We’ve been struggling to meet expense without
being able to put money back for salaries over the summer. We are hopeful of addressing the Bingo
struggles, but we do not have extra funds for assistance. Also, please remember that if you are on
scholarship, you are asked to provide more service to the school by working and
doing extra volunteering for Bingo, Fish Fry or other service to the
school. We inform our scholarship awards
during the month of July. Monsignor Sylvester Hladky
Memorial Foundation is offering
Scholarships for students of all grade levels who wish to attend a Catholic
Preschool or Elementary School.
Beginning in May, applications will be available for students for the
2008-2009 school year.
You may write to the address below for the application or telephone
330-240-2530. The address is: Monsignor Sylvester Hladky
Memorial Foundation, PO Box 303, Warren, OH 44482. Student Council Beautification/Kindness Day will
be held on Tuesday May 20th.
Students may dress out of uniform if they bring something to plant. It can be anything. We love perennials because they keep coming
back and blessing us every year. This year, as we did last year, each classroom
will be given an area to weed and plant.
Students will be planting whatever they bring. We could certainly use parent help that
day. How nice it was for me to watch
things grow over the summer! It is
equally beautiful in the Fall, when students return to
see the fruit of their labors. I see
many of the perennials we planted last year coming alive now. Student of the Month
Luncheon
honoring the 4th quarter students will be held Tuesday, May 27th. Summer Hours for SSMJ Office
Office Hours for the school will be as follows. June 2nd though June 20th from 9:00-12:00 and afternoons will be
scheduled by appointment only. June 23rd-30th
will be by appointment only. During
the month of June, we will be at school during the entire month, but during the
afternoon we often use that time to clean or work in areas away from the office
area. There are many things that need to
be done outside of the business offices.
We work on reorganizing storage areas, weeding outside and even do some
cleaning. We try to keep the office time
open in the morning so we are available for you to call or stop in. During the month of July the
administrative offices are closed. The bookkeeper will be working several days
a week and the principal will be in and out to check messages and do light
office work. If you need something, feel
free to call the school and leave a message.
We still receive our mail daily and the custodial staff is working on a
daily basis throughout the month of July. Tuesday August 4th the office will open. Beginning August 11th
through the beginning of school, regular office hours will be observed. (9:00-12:00) & (1:00-3:00) We are still working on the budget for next
year. We are, as always trying to
maintain financial stability, give the teachers a much-needed increase and keep
the tuition rate increase to a minimum.
It’s always a challenge. That
information will be sent home later in May when our budget is finished. Summer
Issues One of the challenges of the summer months is the
decrease in funding because of not having income from tuition payments. We usually have tried in the past to put
money back for a Summer Time Salary Account to help us meet our salary
commitments to staff. We are trying to
fit in a few more fund raising events to help with this area. As of this month, we are all caught up in our
debt to the Diocese. Because of the
extra fund raising efforts we’ve been able to become current in that area. I appreciate so much that PAC voted to give
the entire Ladies Day Profits to the school and that helped us to get caught up
with the Diocese. We will be receiving
assessment money in the summer and are expecting to get some funds from Vision
& Values Endowment Account and a few other sources. I’m hoping that the church assessments will
be caught up through the summer and that will also help us to meet our payroll
expenses. As a school family we need to
look at the school financially from July to July. As I mentioned earlier, it would help our cash flow
difficulties if our families would use a 12-month payment plan or choose to use
the DOY tuition loan program that would give the school funding up front. I’m asking that you consider this option and
also support as much as you can the funding efforts we have coming up. Uniforms
Nick’s Uniform Company in Struthers is going out of
business after many years. What they
have left will be sold at a discount. You can call his store in Struthers or
stop in if you’d like to see what’s left.
He is located at 122 South Bridge Street in Struthers. Uniforms will
still be available through School Belles of Cleveland and at French Toast (an on line company).
Nick has long served Catholic Schools and been very good to all the
schools in this area. We pray for his
health and retirement. Uniform Exchange will continue for the 2008-2009 school year. Please send you uniforms into school that are
too small. If you take them into the
uniform room, leave them in a bag to be sorted.
We must leave that room well tended. We need to keep it orderly. I have a mom that is working on putting the
room back in order, so please make sure that anytime you use that room that it
is found and left in order. Vision &
Development Committee I am in the process of putting together a Vision & Development Committee for the school as Father Matthew requested. The people select |
