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Holy Cross Catholic School
From the Desk of Dr. Wagner
December 15, 2023
We had another successful week celebrating the Advent season together. Our fourth grade class did an amazing job on Our Lady of Guadalupe Service this week. Fr. Marcos came and helped explain the beautiful story to our students and always does a nice job retelling at their level. Fr. Abner and Fr. Marcos both were able to lead our third through eighth graders in reconciliation this week helping our students seek forgiveness and help build their personal relationship with God as we prepare for the Celebration of the birth of Jesus. We are so blessed that our students spiritual and academic development is fostered at school.
Ms. Scott, our outstanding music teacher, Mr. Komlofske, our audio light coordinator, Mrs. Greer, creative art teacher, and all our hard-working staff all played important roles in helping make our Christmas programs a success. We all felt the Christmas spirit on Thursday night. Thank you to the staff and students for helping us kick off the Christmas season with joy in our hearts!
We have a couple of really exciting announcements! Mrs. Parker and I attended a grant writing workshop last year and have been working really hard on landing some additional funding for resources for our students. Mrs. Parker is obviously really passionate about reading as our literacy coach and she was able to secure a $25,000 grant from the Westerman Foundation. We are so proud of her efforts as we will now have a new research-based digital program called Lexia that helps differentiate reading levels including adapts to different languages. It is also connected to our Fastbridge assessment so the program knows exactly where each child is academically and the support they need. Additionally, we will be able to purchase six interactive boards like the one we have in the STREAM lab. What a gift! Thank you, Mrs. Parker, for all your hard work and dedication to our students.
Additionally, the installation of our new security system, Centegix, was completed this week. You may notice new white devices around the building. This is part of the system. We will have our official training next week and we will have a soft launch in January. We are grateful of all the hard work including Mrs. Loeffert for helping organize the installation and details to make this happen so quickly. It is a program that provides a dynamic digital mapping, real-time locating capabilities, an easy-to-use wearable panic button for school staff, a school visitor management system, and safe reunification capabilities that enable educators to plan for and respond faster to emergencies. I have attached a video below to help better explain. Thanks to all who donated to Fund-A-Need last year to help make this happen.
As we approach our last few days together next week, please consider coming to our annual La Posada on Wednesday, December 20th at 9am in the school gym. Mrs. Eva Gavin feels so passionately about this tradition, she comes back every year to help keep the tradition alive. Mr. Wright and Mrs. Gavin have been working hard with our students. If you have not ever attended, I encourage you to do so. Every year the presence of the Holy Spirit fills our building and our hearts! It is truly magical and worth taking off work to see.
We are so grateful to you all and everyone supports our school and staff. An extra special thank you to all who donate to our Teacher and Staff Christmas Fund. We all know that our teachers deserve a million dollars, so these donations mean so much. If you still want to donate, it is not too late. Please come by the office next week.
Have a blessed weekend with your family! Wishing you all hope, peace, joy and love this season!
Cash Raffle ~ Golden Ticket After Mass Sales
Is your student aiming to snag one of those $100 gift cards for top sellers in the Cash Raffle? Trying to figure out who to sell raffle tickets to? Wanting to give back to Holy Cross School because you believe that we are the best kept secret in town and want to help Holy Cross? Volunteer to sell raffle tickets after Masses on Saturday or Sunday. Here's the link to sign up!
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