“Samuel answered, ‘Speak Lord, your servant is listening’.”
Each year, the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) encourages the Catholic schools in the United States to set aside a week to celebrate. Catholic Schools Week helps us focus on the value Catholic education provides to our students and their families and well as the contributions to our church, our community and our nation. This year’s theme is “Catholic Schools: Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed.” Activities for students, families, parish communities and teachers are being planned for January 28 – February 4, 2018 and a list of events will be sent home in next week’s Thursday envelope. We look forward to celebrating with you!
Save the Date for Family Game Night, Friday, January 26th from 5:30 – 7:30. This event will be a good excuse to get out of the house and will also help us kick off our annual Catholic Schools Week celebration. Bring a Board Game for your family or join with another family and enjoy pizza together. Please return the sign-up sheet if you have not already done so.
Family Pizza Lunch
As part of our Catholic Schools’ Week celebration, Wednesday, January 31st, parents, guardians or another special family member are invited to eat lunch with their children. All students will eat lunch during 11:00-12:00 that day. The gym will be set up to accommodate students and family members.
Any family member attending will have the option of bringing a packed lunch OR ordering pizza through the February order form. PLEASE NOTE: As a sign of our appreciation of for our families, each adult will receive one piece of pizza compliments of St. Benedict School. Additional pieces may be purchased as well. If you wish to order pizza for lunch, please use the attached order form. We must have the pre-order for free and purchased pizza to ensure we have enough for both students and parents. Drinks for our extra guests will also be provided that day!
Cold Days
With the exception of extreme cold and wind chill, medical research tells us it is healthy and good for children to be outside even in cold weather. We will continue to have outdoor recess as much as possible throughout the winter, as long as temperatures are not dangerous. This will include snowy days as long as children are dressed appropriately. Coats, hats, gloves and sometimes boots (with shoes to change into) are a must. Please help children remember to be prepared for the winter days ahead.
Dress Code
Despite the cold weather, the St. Benedict School dress code is the guide for indoor dress. We ask for your help in ensuring our students are following the uniform dress code. A reminder that only red, white or black cardigan or pullover sweaters are allowed and ONLY the sweatshirts/fleece with the embroidered logo are permitted. Sweatshirts/hoodies with the screen print are considered Spirit Wear and may only be worn in school on Spirit Days. If students wear these to school or at recess, they must be removed while inside during the school day. The complete dress code is located in the Family Handbook.
Science Fair/History Fair
All our middle school students, under the guidance of Mrs. Hinkle and Mr. Orlet have been busy preparing for Science Fair and/or History Fair. The research, testing, reporting and creating a display have come to an end and they are ready to share their discoveries with their classmates and judges. This year for the first time, the Science and History Fairs will be held tonight Thursday, January 19, 2018 in the St. Benedict School gym and O’Grady Room.
Parents and students will have the opportunity to view the projects after 1:30 pm. Visitors should enter through the tower (front) doors of the school. Official judging will begin at 6:55, at which time the Science Fair and History Fair will be closed to visitors. Best wishes to all our young scientists and historians for a successful presentation!
Spring Event
The committee for the Spring Event, “The Price is Right” has been hard at work planning for a fun filled evening. This includes silent auction items such as themed baskets. Each year, we ask parents to donate items to a class basket for our spring event. Parents may also make a small monetary donation for the teacher to purchase items. Teachers will be sending more details home but we ask that each family try to contribute even in a small way. These baskets are always popular at our event!
Here are the themes for this year’s classroom baskets:
Preschool Take It Outside
Kindergarten Pizza Night
Grade 1 Crayola/Crafts
Grade 2 Tailgating/Camping
Grade 3 Baking
Grade 4 Lottery Tickets
Grade 5 Superheroes
Grade 6 Cleaning
Grade 7 Kitchen Gadgets
Grade 8 Board Games
Additionally, if you or someone you know has any items such as gift certificates, new appliances or electronics, unused time share points, or other items that could be used in other themed baskets to donate, these would be gratefully accepted. If you have any questions, please contact Erica Miley ericamiley@stbenedicttoledo.org. The next Spring Event Meeting is Monday, January 29 at 5:30 pm in the 2nd grade classroom. All are welcome to attend and help.
Raffle Tickets
The sale of raffle tickets is another way we ask our families to support the Spring Event. Each family is asked to sell one complete book of tickets. Students are bringing this information home today in the Thursday envelopes. Ticket stubs along with payment can be returned to the school office. Please remember that all proceeds from the Spring Event come directly back to the students of St. Benedict School. Thank you for your support.
MAP
Collection of data for the purpose of making instructional decisions to meet individual student needs has always been and continues to be best educational practice. As you know, St. Benedict Catholic School utilizes NWEA Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) to provide this data to teachers and parents, and most importantly to help measure student progress and growth over course of the year.
Winter assessments continue through next week. Students in grades K-8 will participate in Math and Reading MAP assessments to provide us with a “mid-year snapshot” of progress made and goals moving forward. It will not be a disruption to the normal schedule, but instead a needed piece of useful data for moving forward.
Upcoming dates:
Thurs. Jan 18 SCIENCE FAIR and HISTORY FAIR
Tues. Jan 23 Mass @ 8:15 followed by Honors Assembly in church
Fri. Jan 26 Catholic Schools Week Kick-off
St. Benedict Family Game Night 5:30-7:30 pm
Jan 28 – Feb 2 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK
“Catholic Schools: Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed.”
FINAL THOUGHT: Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in St. Benedict Catholic School.
ST. BENEDICT SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT
United in Community, in partnership with families, guided by the message of St. Benedict, God calls us to LIVE, LEARN, and LOVE.