Principal's Weekly Update

Dear Families,

This week marked the end of our first month of our new Virtues in Practice curriculum. Students learned about the virtue of gratitude in their classes. Not only were there many audible extra "thank yous" this month, but our students participated in activities such as writing gratitude journals and creating thank you cards. Our bulletin boards were also filled with artwork that showed the many things students were grateful for in their lives. After Mass on Thursday, Fr. Williams and I recognized students who exemplified the gratitude with a special virtue award. We will update Facebook with those photos soon. I hope that this carried over to home as well. Next month, our community will study the virtue of honesty and learn about saints who lived this virtue in an exemplary way. Students will be introduced to this virtue on Thursday after Mass.

I am excited to share that we will be continuing our partnership with the S.E.A.L. Foundation next year. We are grateful to the S.E.A.L. Foundation for helping us to secure funding that will provide three more years of licenses to Lexia for our students in kindergarten through grade 5. In addition, we will receive increased support from Mrs. Ford as we continue to develop our Student Support Program. So far, we have begun to implement a more structured approach to identifying students' academic needs, implementing interventions, helping support the evaluation and IEP/504 process, and providing instructional support. We will continue to develop our program so that we help all students in our community access the curriculum.

We are also excited to share that the Catholic Schools Office has helped us secure funding to provide us with additional social-emotional support for our students. A counselor from St. Vincent's will be coming in for a few hours a week to meet with students. We are grateful for Mrs. Roche's continued support on Friday morning, and are happy that we will have additional support. Students will need parental consent before meeting with the counselor. If you think this might be helpful for your child, please reach out to me directly.

We certainly cannot forget that Sunday marks the start of Catholic Schools Week. We have some fun activities planned for students. Below you will see a list of events and activities for the week. I would like to draw special attention to this coming Sunday. We are encouraging our students to wear their Holy Name uniforms to Mass this weekend. If they wear their uniform and take a photo with the pastor, students will be given a free dress down pass. Photos can be emailed directly to me at mdossantos@hnsfr.org.

Sincerely,

Megan dos Santos

Principal

Sunday: Celebrating your Parish

• Students who wear their uniforms to Mass and take a picture with their pastor will be given a dress down day pass. Email pictures to Mrs. dos Santos at mdossantos@hnsfr.org.

Monday: Celebrating your Community

• Students are asked to bring in a cereal box or other boxed non-perishable food to donate to our local food pantry and Veterans' Association. We will collect food throughout the week. Help us line the hallway with food boxes to set up a line for dominos! The class that brings in the most perishable items by the end of the week will win a pizza party.

• Students will make luminaria bags and fill them with their prayer intentions.

Tuesday: Celebrating your Students

• Get ready for school-wide bingo! Students will spend the afternoon playing bingo for fun prizes.

Wednesday: Celebrating the Nation

• Students are encouraged to dress down in their red, white, and blue. Middle school students should wear clothes appropriate for gym class. Dress down day rules apply for all other students.

Thursday: Celebrating Vocations

• We will begin the day with school-wide Mass and pray for Catholic schools and vocations. Students will be introduced to our new virtue for the month of February, honesty.

• Our friends from the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light community will visit our students in class.

• Grade 7 and 8 will attend the Middle School Challenge at Bishop Stang. Students should wear their favorite Husky gear to show their school pride. Don't forget to bring in your permission slips.

Friday: Celebrating Faculty and Staff

• Teachers and staff will enjoy lunch while volunteers cover their lunch and recess duties.

• Students are encouraged to bring in a note to say thank you!

• Students may dress down in their favorite Husky gear.

• Grades 6, 7, and 8 will end the week with a middle school dance.

1/29 - Dress down day for students with coupon book

2/1 - Open house for prospective families

2/2 - Middle School Dance

2/5 - Dress down day for students with coupon book

2/8 - School Life Committee Meeting

2/9 - No School (SAL Day) for faculty professional development

2/12 - Dress down day for students with coupon book

2/14 - Ash Wednesday

2/19-23 - February Break

2/26 - Dress down day for students with coupon book

The 8th grade students are sponsoring a calendar raffle to raise funds for their class trip and end-of-year events. Calendars are being sold for $10 and there are 29 chances to win a gift certificate. Please contact the main office if you would like to purchase a calendar.

The next SLC and Walk-a-thon planning meeting will take place on Thursday, 2/8 at 6 pm. Please consider attending.