Mrs. Smith's Weekly Newsletter

Our students enjoyed a dress down day today and your contributions are greatly appreciated. Thanks for your generosity to the Diocese of Venice, Florida for their schools. They suffered severe loss as a result of the recent hurricanes. We want to continue to teach our students to help those in need when they can. We will let you know how much we were able to send them when we add up all contributions.

Yesterday's Fun Walk was a huge success! Many thanks to Mrs. McKenna and Mrs. Kappeler for organizing this event, and thank you to the many parent volunteers who helped throughout the day. These donations will go to technology upgrades and beautification throughout the school. All the children enjoyed their time at Memorial Field and appreciate the support of the spectators who came to watch.

If your child needs before or after school care, please be sure to sign them up for all the days you need each week. This should be done before the start of the week. We realize last minute changes may be necessary at times, but there have been a large number of daily changes recently. Our teachers need to know ahead of time if your child(ren) will attend Aftercare or be dismissed as a walker, and it makes your child(ren) more comfortable knowing their daily plan.

Our Renaissance STAR Assessments for grades 2-8 had to be postponed due to difficulty with our Chromebooks. This has been resolved and our students will take these tests next week. As I previously stated, there is no special preparation needed for this assessment. This round of testing sets a benchmark for your child. This assessment is self-adjusting, meaning it follows your child's individual results. I have explained to the students that it is possible that those around them are answering different questions because each test is unique to them. It helps our teachers plan instruction to meet the individual needs of their students.

God Bless,

Mrs. Cindy Smith

Our students in grades 2-8 will take the Renaissance STAR Assessment on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday of next week.

Thank you for your patience as we had some technical difficulties posting the menu to the website. You can expect to also find it here in my weekly newsletters moving forward.

• The Halloween parade will be at 1:30 PM on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31.
• Class parties will be in the afternoon at 2:00 PM. Half-day preschool children may stay for the afternoon.

• Students may wear their Halloween costumes to school. See costume guidelines below.

To enjoy and celebrate Halloween appropriately, respectfully, and in accordance with school rules, we ask that you use the following guidelines when selecting a costume:

1. NO masks or FULL face paint. Make-up is allowed. Staff members must be able to identify students.

2. Costumes that are inappropriate for school are not permitted, and props should be left home.

3. Costumes that depict violence, alcohol, or drugs are not permitted. Fake weapons or fake blood are not allowed.

4. Costumes that could be offensive or perpetuate a stereotype of culture, gender, heritage, or religion are not permitted.

5. Costumes should not hinder your ability to participate in classes, including P.E. Costumes may not disrupt or impede traffic, or present issues of safety in the hallway. Inflatable costumes are not permitted.

6. Students of all ages should be independent in the bathroom while wearing costumes.

7. Saints, Angels, and Super Heroes are always encouraged.

Thursday, October 31

• 1:30 -- Halloween Parade
• 2:00 -- Halloween Parties

FRIDAY, November 1

• No School for Students - All Saints Day
• Faculty and Staff Spirituality Day

FRIDAY, November 8

• BLINGO - Support the 8th Grade

MONDAY + TUESDAY, November 25 + 26

• Noon Dismissal
• Parent-Teacher Conferences

WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY, November 27-29

• School is Closed - Thanksgiving Break