Parent Memo: January 22, 2021
PRINCIPAL’S CORNER:
Dear Parents,
We have started receiving inquiries about enrollment for the 2021-2022 school year. We will be sending out the re-enrollment forms late January-early February for current school parents to indicate whether they plan to stay for the next school year. This year, in particular, it is imperative that current parents inform us promptly if your children are returning. We do not know what the 2021-2022 school year will look like. We plan to remain open, as we have successfully done so far this year, but we are at maximum capacity now because our class sizes are restricted due to Covid. If Covid restrictions remain in place for schools for next year, any open spaces will be snapped up quickly. We have waiting lists in every grade except for one for this school year, and we are already receiving pre-registrations for next year and holding those families on a waiting list as well. Of course, current families have priority over new, in-coming registrations, but please pay attention to the deadlines for re-enrollment. We will send out communications once the re-enrollment period opens. We just want to inform you to keep an eye out for it and return the forms as quickly as possible this year to secure your child’s spot.
In Service,
Ms. Laura
PROGRESS REPORT
Progress reports for mid-term, Trimester 2, went live on Gradelink as of yesterday afternoon. Please check your child’s progress report. No paper copies will be distributed. Gradelink is there for you to be able to manage your child’s information and stay informed of his/her grades. If you have trouble logging on to Gradelink, please contact the school, and we’ll be happy to help you access the information. If you have a question or concern about a grade, please contact your child’s teacher. We can set up a virtual parent/teacher conference at your convenience.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK
Catholic Schools Week will be celebrated February 1-5th this year. Because of Covid restrictions, our activities will be more “low key” this year, but we will still do our best to make it fun for the kids. Below is an at-a-glance schedule of events so that you can prepare in advance for the funny dress days and food drive.
Monday, Feb. 1st (Celebrating the Community) – Jersey Day – Bring in a canned good and wear your favorite Sports jersey/shirt with jeans. Canned goods will go to the needy. Get Up and Dance Day.
Tuesday, Feb. 2nd (Celebrating Our Students) Decades Day – Dress in the fashion of your favorite decade (1920’s, 1960’s, 1980’s etc.) & Talent Show @ 1:30 (recorded)- a link will be sent to homerooms on Teams and to parents.
Wednesday, Feb. 3rd (Celebrating the Nation) Patriotic Day – Wear red, white & blue with jeans, Spelling Bees (Live with WebCam):
- Grades 6-8 – 8:30am – 9:30am
- Grades 3-5 – 9:45am – 10:45am
- Grades 1 & 2 – 11:00am – 12:00pm
Thursday, Feb. 4th (Celebrating the Vocations) – notes, cards and appreciation packs made for the Priests and Deacons. Crazy Hair & Hat Day with jeans.
Friday, Feb. 5th (Celebrating our Families & the Faculty) Rosary, Wacky Tacky Dress Day, Treats sent home, & Early Dismissal (12:15) – No Extended Care today.
TALENT SHOW – CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK
If students have a talent and would like to participate, they need to fill out a permission slip from Mrs. Ottilige and send their video via Teams to Mrs. Szopinski by Friday, January 22nd. We will have the virtual talent show available for the school and parents to watch on Tuesday of Catholic Schools Week, February 2nd at 1:30pm. Mrs. Szopinski is happy to help any students and parents with any video editing/video submission concerns. We can’t wait to see what talents our students have!
The SHAMROCK!
Below, you will see the reservation form to send your child a special message on a special day by painting the SHAM-ROCK. The kids always get the biggest kick out of it. Instructions below.
SUPPORTING THE SCHOOL
Please remember that we have a variety of programs where you can help the school without costing you anything above and beyond your normal budgeted purchases. These avenues often have to be renewed annually, however, so even if you already registered with them, please check the next time you are shopping and make sure your contributions are still registered to go to St. Pat’s.
- AMAZON SMILE – This is exactly the same as the regular Amazon site. I didn’t have to change anything and I kept all my Prime benefits. Just log into smile.amazon.com instead of the regular amazon.com, enter your user name and password that you always use and direct the site to donate to St Patrick Catholic Church (the school is listed under the church’s name). Then every time you shop on Amazon, you go to smile.amazon.com and do your regular shopping. Amazon donates a percentage of that back to the school. I use the “smile side” of Amazon for all of my purchases and literally, the only thing it costs me is to type in one more word by typing smile.amazon.com instead of just amazon.com. I think I can expend that much effort for the school to get donations. Anybody can do this. They don’t have to be part of the school. They just need to log on and connect their regular Amazon account to a Smile account, so spread the word far and wide to friends and relative. Just realize that the school only receives the donations when people shop on the Smile side and not on the regular side. It doesn’t make any difference to the consumer, however.
- PUBLIX and HARRIS TEETER supermarkets – Both have school give back programs where a percentage of your shopping total will get donated to the school. Costs you nothing. The supermarkets do the donating. These need to be renewed annually, I believe, so even if you registered in the past, please drop by their customer service window the next time you shop and check that your payments are still connected to our school.
Thank you for doing every little thing you can to help support our school.
BOXTOPS
Grocery shopping online for delivery or curbside pickup? Watch this short video to find out how you can forward your receipt from your digital grocery shopping to the Box Tops for Education program and earn cash for our school!
DATES TO REMEMBER
January 18 NO SCHOOL – Martin Luther King Jr Day
January 29 Spirit Day
January 31 – Feb 5 Catholic Schools Week (details to come soon)
Feb 5 12:15 Dismissal – NO EXTENDED CARE TODAY