Spring has Sprung

 The grass is riz. I wonder where the warm weather is.  Yes, I changed the words a bit, AND it does look like the warm weather is finally here to stay.  I hope you all had a fabulous week and did something amazing, even if it was waking up late and reading a book in the peace and quiet of the morning.  I'm sure there will be many sleepy children tomorrow, but they won't take long to get back into their routines.  

Tuesday will be a bit chaotic with Spring Pictures, but otherwise, it's a quiet week.  I hope many of you will join us Thursday after school in the FLC for the Dads vs. Students basketball game.  It will start at approximately 3:15. This will be a classroom pick-up day, allowing parents to collect their children and head over to the game.  

Friday is Marvelous Mustang.  Please be sure you have added yours to the spreadsheet and informed the parents to join us.  

Have a wonderful week, and stay strong; Easter is only a few weeks away :) 

Almost there

 to our Lenten Pause, aka - Spring Break!  I'm unsure who ultimately decided we needed this break rather than wait until Easter, but they are brilliant.  I imagine you all agree.  Take this time to relax and recharge so you are ready to breeze through the few months of school.  

Here are the things to know for this week:

• Laura is back!  Yay!!
• The Holy Card given out this weekend was St. Patrick.  Be sure that is the card students show you.
• 8th grade has Reconciliation on Wednesday
• Friday is Green shirt and jeans/PE shorts day.  Please remind students of the dress code for jean day.
• 8th graders will receive Confirmation on Saturday. 

Have a great week!

May the ashes on your forehead...

 be a reminder of God's love and forgiveness.  Welcome (almost) to the start of Lent.  Please be sure you are talking to your students in religion class about ashes and the purpose of Lent.  Melissa and I have sent you lots of resources. Most importantly, be sure the rice bowls go home on Wednesday.  We will begin our Lent reconciliation schedule a little early to allow 8th graders to receive the sacrament right before Confirmation.  Here is the schedule: (classes will stay after Mass for confession)

• March 12 - 8th grade
• March 26 - 2nd and 3rd grades
• April 2 - 4th and 5th grades
• April 9 - 6th and 7th grades

Melissa will provide more details and reminders. 

Friday will be our first Lent lunch.  Gail will provide the lists of the students receiving lunch on Thursday.  It will be the same students for all 5 weeks.  I will be out on Friday at the Bethany Center but hope to make it back for the first Fish Fry and I hope to see many of you there.  

Have a great week!

Lent is Coming

 Two trimesters are done and now we enter our last trimester.  This is a good time to reflect on where you are in terms of the benchmarks you need to cover and have a plan for ensuring all remaining benchmarks are addressed.  Parents will have access to report cards by Friday.  Be sure you are scheduling appointments with parents of students you are concerned about retention, remediation, and general academic/behavior concerns.  

We will also soon be entering the season of Lent. Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. Start talking to your students about what they will do that is special for Lent.  It doesn't always need to be something like I'm giving up chocolate.  Tell them to think about what they can give up that takes them away from Jesus and what they can replace it with to grow closer to him.  The easiest thing for students to relate to is technology.  Ex. give up 30 min. of video games to read the bible.  Give up social media to watch movies about the life of Christ.  Give up group chats and instead spend time with a sibling playing a board game.  The list goes on.  Playing a board game may not seem like it can bring someone closer to Christ, but it can.  Spending time with family and focusing on important things in our lives brings us closer to how Jesus wants us to live.

While we do not have a retreat scheduled until Holy Thursday, religion teachers should incorporate Lent into their lessons over the next few weeks. Some of you may have received an email with a resource that includes just about everything you could need, including links to CRS, which sponsors the rice bowls. If you missed it, you will find it below and you will need to copy/paste it.  https://ncea.org/NCEA/How_We_Serve/Resources/Lenten_Resources/NCEA/How_We_Serve/Resources/Lenten_Resources/Lenten_Resources.aspx?hkey=e6cd993e-a8e0-4419-8eb3-8dc44ae49ca9  

Speaking of rice bowls,  I believe we have them, or they should be here soon. These should go home on Ash Wednesday. Religion teachers should plan a lesson from CRS to be presented on Ash Wednesday or the day before so that students understand the significance of the rice bowl. Melissa will let you know when they are due back to school.  There are also some great resources regarding kindness and how Lent is the perfect time to practice this.  Everyone should also use the Studio 3:16 lesson as they are very engaging, and this one is free.  

The three pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  This is a perfect time to incorporate the Works of Mercy into religion.  I have sent a resource to all teachers.  There is a reflection sheet that students should be completing (or something like it) when they complete a service project.  This also is a good resource to focus on Feed the Hungry and connect to the rice bowls.  Remember to send these lesson plans to me, as they make great evidence for our action plans.  

This week we will work on Terra Nova make-ups and 6th grade will finish their testing on Monday.  Please remain quiet in the halls this week as we finish testing.  Friday is Marvelous Mustang and the kick-off for the Spirit Raffle.  Please be in the gym by 2:30pm that day.  Students should pack up before you head over.  Middle school students can bring their backpacks if they go to the church parking lot for dismissal.  

I wanted to include a funny meme like this...

But then I found this...

And that spoke volumes.  Might be a great conversation to have at the end of Lent.  Should we continue our Lenten promises after Lent is over? (Melissa, that should be the final reflection of our retreat this year.) 

And for everyone who promised to give up food and go to the gym more after Christmas, there's this...

Have a great week!  

Happy Valentine's/Singles Awareness Day!

 Thank you to everyone who educated the rest of us about what is truly happening on Feb. 14.  I had no idea this existed, and now I'm questioning our choice of dress down for Friday.  Should it be red, pink, or black with chains? Maybe not. For now, just red, pink, and hearts.  Students may also be in free dress on Monday.  The Holy Card they should have for this month is St. Anne.  

What is most important this week is doing the Terra Nova practice tests and becoming familiar with the test if this is your first time proctoring the Terra Nova.  

Last week, I completed the ARCA for this year. I also attended a webinar that discussed the changes being made to the accreditation benchmarks. Most of the changes focus on making the wording more specific, breaking down one benchmark into two, and removing the referral to 21st-century skills.  I also spent a good deal of time reviewing our Action Plans.  It is important that we are doing the things we wrote about.  I will meet with Committee Chairs this week to discuss what is needed before the summer to update the Action Plans for this year and collect evidence.  The goal is to finish everything before the last day of school, so we are not doing this on that last Friday. 

Have a wonderful week!  

Smencil Sales are Here!

 When you realize that things may not be back to normal for a few weeks.  

Thank you all once again for a great Catholic Schools Week. The committee outdid themselves on Vocations Day, and those were amazing speakers.  

And now for this week's fun....

Smencil sales begin on Monday.  I'm not sure this was advertised in Tidbits but sales will continue into next week.  Student Council representatives will come to your homeroom each day to sell them.  

Also on Monday, Mary and I will join Fr. Primus and Deacon Mike to go around the school to bless throats.  Please refer to the schedule below.  It will start at approx. 10 am (give or take)

At our Faculty Meeting Monday, Mary will be talking about the Terra Nova, and on Tuesday, Lisa and Heather will be at an Instructional Coach's meeting. 

Thursday will be scoliosis screening for 6th graders.  Gail will let you know the time.  This is also the 7th grade Science Fair day, and the 6th grade will have theirs on Friday, I will be out on Friday at a principal's meeting that day.

I owe two classes their rewards:

6th grade gets extra recess with me (Connor, can we stay out on Wednesday for an extra 10-15 min?  Andrea, please take 8th grade in from recess.)  This was based on attendance at the PTCO meeting.

2nd grade gets an ice cream sundae party from the Student Council for being the Matching Monday winners.  (Connor/Andrea, please talk with Galy, pick a day, and let me know.  I will buy the ice cream, etc.)

And that is the week in a nutshell.  Have a great week!

Blessing of the Throats Schedule:

Fr. Primus with Mary:

2nd

3rd

4th (they may be in technology)

6th

7A and 7B

Deacon with Linda:

8th

PK3

PK4

K

1st (back from art at 10:20)

5th (back from PE at 10:20)

Celebrate Catholic Schools!

 Happy Catholic Schools Week! Thank you to our CSW Committee, NJRS, Student Council, and the PTCO for making this a great week of celebrating Catholic education.  Be sure to check the schedule each day and remind students what to wear the next day.  Remember, all roads lead to Friday when the real fun begins.  There's still time to sign up for Dodge Ball Madness, so don't be shy.  

After CSW, we have  Smencil Sales (Connor and Andrea will share information on how that will go), and not far behind that is the Terra Nova. We will talk more about that at our next faculty meeting. Teachers, please check your grade books to ensure you have sufficient summatives. We have only four weeks left in this trimester.  

Thank you, everyone, for supporting our mission, and have a spectacular week.