The Calm AFTER the Storm

That's how this weekend felt.  The storm has passed and we made it!  First, I want to thank everyone who played a part in making Friday such an enormous success.  The show was fantastic!!  I received so many compliments from Grandpeople saying how much they enjoyed it.  The credit goes to everyone who made it happen, including all the students who gave it their all.  The bad news.... it was an enormous success.  Thankfully, we have a year to decide what to do next.  

Enjoy the calm this week as not much is happening.  Teachers will meet Tuesday afternoon to continue the CIPA discussion.  

Have a wonderful, calm week!  

Brighten Our World...

 ... with Books! That's the theme of this year's book fair. Books brighten my world, and often, I wish I had more time to read the many books sitting on my shelf. I guess that's what retirement is for, so they will sit there a bit longer.  

Every week, I ponder what topic I will address in my blog. Today, I received an email, and then I knew what to talk about.  Last week, two teachers shared what they were doing before pushing the send button.  One was an email, and the other was a demerit.  The one about the demerit led to a great conversation and a review of what was in the MS Handbook vs. the Parent/Student Handbook.  These conversations are important, so I am not blindsided if a parent has a concern, and I can support the teacher if I am part of the process.  Another good practice is to cc me on a response to a parent concern so they know that I am part of the process.  Many of you do this already, but I wanted to take a moment to say thank you for keeping me in the loop and why it is so important.  

As far as this week goes, hold onto your hats, it's book fair week!  Please refer to Tidbits to see the schedule for when your class will go to the book fair.  There is no preview day for students. They will go once to shop with their class.  They will have other opportunities to go with parents or grandparents.  I'm not sure if the expectation is that the whole class attends during their scheduled time, since there is no preview, or if it's only students with money.  Please watch for an email from Yesenia for more details.  You can also find the plan for Grandparents Day in tidbits.  I will send more details about that during the week in terms of encore classes, etc.  

Friday afternoon, all teachers will meet at 1 pm for professional development.  I have invited a speaker from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office to give a presentation on active shooters using a new program called Alert, using a practice called ADD.  No longer is it run, hide, fight.  It is now: Avoid, Deny, Defend.  After listening to the trainer discuss this new system, I can see how the practice of avoiding makes much more sense for our campus than running.  Please think about the questions you have, as there will be a Q&A session after the presentation which is about one hour.  This training is for teachers, but if anyone else would like to join us you are welcome, just let me know so I have an idea of how many are attending.  After this presentation, Mary will begin the discussion of what we need to do this year for CIPA.  This discussion may continue to next Tuesday's faculty meeting, depending on how far we get on Friday.  

That's the week in a nutshell.  Have a great rest of your Sunday and a fabulous week!

Finding Joy in Your Cross

 Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and in his homily, Fr. Primus talked about how each of us carries a cross.  It may be our children, our husband (yes), a sickness, our job, etc.  Then he said we should also find joy in the cross that we bear.  I sometimes feels like my job is a very big cross to carry, and then I look at pictures like the ones in this Sunday's bulletin.  If you didn't see it, go look.  There is my joy. Laughing with middle schoolers and hugging kindergarteners.  The children bring so much joy, and I hope that all of you feel the same.  I have to imagine this is why we keep showing up for work each day, the joy they bring us.  

And speaking of Mass... Today's holy card is the Guardian Angel card.  If a student is in free dress, they must show you a Guardian Angel holy card.  Do not take it from them, but remind them to save them all for a special gift at the end of the school year.  If it is not a Guardian Angel card, ask them what happened.  At 7:30 Fr. Primus ran out, and he may have given out a few different cards.  If they look like "oops, I've been caught," ask the student (age appropriate) what Mass they went to and who the priest was.  You can always check that on the church calendar.  

Teachers, please read Tidbits to see what I wrote about Grandparents Day.  If you are planning to have food for the visitors, remember that you are responsible for reaching out to your HR parent to get what you need.  PTCO is not organizing it as many classes did not want food.  Also, parents are not permitted to attend in place of a grandparent/friend.  If a parent says anything to you, please direct them to me.  

Two items were discussed at our administrators' meeting Friday.  The first was that we will no longer be using the Bully Report form when someone complains about being bullied.  They are finalizing a Google Form that will be called a Concern Form so that anyone can bring a concern without it having to be labeled as bullying.  I will share the form with you once it is completed.  

The second item was supervision/recess and law enforcement.  Chris talked about a specific incident that took place at recess.  One student said the name of a type of weapon, like uzi machine gun.  The sentence could have been I saw a picture in a magazine of an uzi machine gun.  But, of course, only bits and pieces were heard, and you know how the game telephone goes.  Next thing you know, the police are on campus.  Here's the issue.  Every student on that playground heard at least one version of the gun story, from it was nothing to he's bringing a gun to school, and five students heard at least three different versions.  Guess who heard nothing?  None of the adults on the playground knew anything. The outcome of the story?  No one got arrested.  It was a harmless conversation.  

This is just a reminder of why it is so important to always be vigilant and why it's not enough to see the students; we must put ourselves among them and be aware.  Some of you do a great job of this during homeroom. I see you walking around the room and engaging with the children.  You don't even have to talk.  Just listen.  It's amazing the things you will hear.  

Don't forget Friday is Marvelous Mustang and have a fantastic week!

God's Influencer

 In a time when it is cool to be an "influencer" on social media, it is so much cooler to be known as God's Influencer.  I'm not sure if it's still cool to use the word cool, but I think it's SUPER cool.  Today, we celebrate Carlo, the first millennial saint and God's Influencer.   

Over the years, I have been handed petitions signed by students, and most found their way into the trash.  But our 4th graders created a beautiful and amazing petition.  A BIG hats off to our 4th graders who signed this petition!

He had a purpose here on Earth, and his purpose will continue now that he is in heaven.  

I will keep this brief, as I know last week was a lot.  Just some reminders for this week:

• Next weekend is Holy Card weekend. Please remind the students to go to Mass in their uniforms
• I will be at the Bethany Center on Friday
• Submit field trip requests soon as buses are being booked up quickly
• Mary will send details about this week's PLC tomorrow

Lastly, afternoon carline has been going long, which is why Mary has been making some adjustments.  On Thursday and Friday, I was in the hallway during dismissal, and there were three things I noticed that were delaying students from getting outside.  The first was the Wifi going down.  I am going to log into PikMyKid this week and see if I can narrow down the exact times that happens to give John the details so we can hopefully fix that.  Second thing is that teachers were not necessarily seeing what the person outside can see on their phones.  This may be related to the Wifi going down, as inside we rely on that, and outside they have cell service.  Third is students leaving the room, but either not knowing where to go or going the wrong way.  The students who did best were in rooms where the teacher was at or near the door so they could see PikMyKid (on the cleartouch or another device) and watch how the students exited.  Other successes in moving the students quickly are having students gather their things and line up at the door when they are announced, so they are ready to go when it's time.  Let's work together to shorten our carline time and implement these best practices.  

I'm not sure that was brief, but have an awesome week!

You never know what might climb in....

  Last year, for Teacher Appreciation Day or someday like that, I bought everyone at school a book.  The title is The Carpenter's Son.  If you haven't read it yet, you should.  I started it in the spring but decided not to take it on my vacation, because the book requires you to read it with a box of tissues handy.  It should come with a warning.  Three boxes of tissues later, I finished the book.  It's a very easy read and it says all the things we know in our heart but find difficult to understand.  We know God has a purpose for all that happens, but at times it is hard to understand the why.  Why is there poverty, sickness, war, tragedy, etc.  This book attempts to provide answers through a work of fiction that is very engaging.  There were two things that struck me beyond the main message.  The first is in the excerpt below, "you never know what you may let in."  Sums up exactly how I have begun to feel about the internet.  The other is something I plan to use the next time a child is sent to the office, and I want them to tell me the truth.  In the book, the main character says, "They are called the Ten COMMANDMENTS, not the Ten SUGGESTIONS."  I love that, and I am all for using Catholic guilt. 

As you can imagine, last week was difficult and it raised everyone’s awareness of places/times when our students are most vulnerable.  After meeting with parish leadership and sharing our updates with parents in Tidbits, I believe we have addressed concerns and parents trust our ability to keep their children safe.  One of the things we talked about at our leadership meeting was that the students’ safety is everyone’s responsibility.  Please always be vigilant and if you see anything suspicious, the first thing you should do is call Officer Bryan and then me.  If you do not have his contact details, his phone number is 646-204-7985.  Save it in your contacts.  There are a few things that church personnel have asked I talk about.  These are things they see as they move around the campus and from their windows in the church.  Please be sure you are doing the following:

• Teachers MUST spread out on the playground during recess.  At no time should a teacher be standing still talking with a colleague.  Please move around the playground, listen to their conversations, intervene when there is conflict, and most important, do not let ANY student open the back gate to get a ball unless you are right there. 

• When students are moving around the campus, the teacher should always be at the back of the line.  Wait at your classroom door making sure all have exited and have them line up at a designated point until everyone is out.  Have them proceed to the next point (maybe the door, the gate, the basketball court, etc.) until you get there, always staying at the back so you can see everyone.  If you are lucky to have another teacher/assistant with you, then one can be in the front and one in the back. 

• When returning from Mass, the FLC, or the playground, students should not enter the main building or Angel’s Wing until their teacher is present and lets them in.  I have stood with classes in the breezeway trying to get into the building, but I make them wait for their teacher.  Remember, students must be supervised at all times. 

• When moving on the sidewalk from the main building to the FLC, students should be aware of others who are also trying to use the sidewalk.  Elementary is great at this because they always walk in a line.  While middle schoolers walk more in a cluster to lunch, they should still stay to one side of the sidewalk and be respectful of others.  It is the same at dismissal time. 

• Finally, the gate coming into the breezeway from the FLC is often found to be open.  Because it will lock, no one has come up with a solution.  The issue is the gate is very light and if it is swung open all the way it bounces on the return, and then the magnet does not catch.  All you need to do is close it behind you and hold it in place for a second.  The magnet will then catch it.  If you are alone or at the back of the line with the students, it should be easy to do.  Also talk to the students about this too, that they should close the gate all the way until it catches, not just let it go. 

Thank you for your help with all of this.  I know that we all want what is best for our students.  I will have my copy of The Carpenter’s Son at school tomorrow if anyone who did not get a copy wants to borrow it.

This week the students will be doing the i-Ready Diagnostic and other than that, it's a pretty normal week.  Please continue to pray for the families in Minneapolis.  Growing up the nuns would tell me to "offer it up," meaning stop complaining and offer up your pains and sorrows to God so that he can use my pain to help others.  If you've ever read 33 Days to Morning Glory and consecrated yourself to Mary, you know that if we give everything to Mary, she will use our graces as she sees fit.  This week, let's offer up everything to Mary.  Don't ask that she use our pains and our graces for anything in particular.  She will know where they are needed most.  Have a blessed week.