The Hornet's Buzz

August 30, 2024

Dear Holy Cross Community,

Happy Friday! As another great week of teaching and learning at Holy Cross comes to a close, I am very grateful for all your support and participation at our Back-to-School Night. We hope that you were inspired as you visited your student's classrooms and hearing from our wonderful teachers about the great educational experiences that this year will bring. Likewise, I hope that learning about the strategic areas of focus of the school: Excellence, Enrollment, Engagement and Endurance (the 4 "E"s), rooted in our Catholic faith, provided insights as to how the School is committed to furthering academic excellence, and growth for sustainability.

Our assessment data is a true testament to the expertise and dedication of our talented faculty and staff as well as the hard work and effort of our wonderful students. There is much to celebrate as we also look excitedly forward to continuous improvement. Holy Cross welcomed 28 new students this year and saw a growth in enrollment of almost 5% since last year. Our school provides an outstanding Catholic education that successfully prepares students for achievement in high school and beyond. We encourage you to share Holy Cross' trajectory of academic excellence as we look forward to continue growing our student body.

At the heart of a successful school is an engaged and strong community that comes together to best serve our students. We wholeheartedly invite you to share your God given gifts of Time, Treasure, and Talent in service of our school and Parish this school year. We have many opportunities for involvement which include our PTO (please click here to sign up for available roles), Celebration, and many classroom opportunities. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

As we also shared on Tuesday evening, safety of our students and staff is of utmost importance. A couple of reminders to ensure a safe drop off and pick up experience:

• Early care is available beginning 7:30 am. No student should be dropped off at the school before then.
• Drop off takes place in the Tree and Baptist Church lots between 7:50 - 8:00 am (classes start promptly at 8:00 am).
• Students who arrive late between 8:00 - 8:10 should be dropped off in the Tree Lot.
• Students who arrive after 8:10 am should be dropped off at the Front Office.
• Parking is not permitted in these lots at any time for safety purposes.

Thank you very much for your support and commitment to ensuring safety for all.

As we mark Labor Day each year, we are invited in a special way to reflect on how we have experienced work as a form of participation in God’s creative action and to be grateful for the gift to share our talents. We wish you a restorative, joyful, and safe holiday weekend.

Many blessings,

Paola V. Clark, Ed.D.

A copy of the Student-Parent Handbook for 2024-25 can be accessed here. Please note that as part of our continuous improvement efforts, this is a living document that will be revised as needed in order to nimbly respond to any needs that may arise. Any edits will appear in a different font color.

Thank you for your support following our arrival and dismissal procedures to ensure the safety of our students and staff. The graphs below show the traffic flows for both drop off and pick up. Please note a minor graph adjustment in the tree lot parking flow to reflect the double traffic lines that separate PK/preschool and K-5 cars.

Please note that parking is not permitting in the Tree lot. If you need to park and come in to the school, please use the front parking by the main office.

School begins promptly at 8:00 am every day and it is very important that students arrive on time.

Students who arrive after 8:10 am will be marked late and should be dropped off at the main office.

• If your student has a sibling in preschool/PK, they should be dropped off and picked up at the preschool/PK location.
  
• If your student has an older sibling, they should be dropped off with them at their pick up and drop off location.

• If your student has a sibling in preschool/PK, they should be dropped off and picked up at the preschool/PK location.
  
• If your student has an older sibling, they should be dropped off with them at their pick up and drop off location.

September 2-- No School

September 9 - 19 -- Fastbridge Testing

September 13 -- Lemon Out Day

September 14 - Feast of the Holy Cross / Parish Festival

Education in Virtue, is the Archdiocesan Catholic Social Emotional Learning program which is a key component of our Virtuous Formation Program. It provides a curriculum and resources developed by the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, and based on St. Thomas Aquinas’ teachings on the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit. These resources provide a framework that helps all ages understand how to live a more virtuous life.

At Holy Cross, we highlight a virtue each month that is weaved organically into lessons and our daily school life. They are used in our announcements to guide our morning prayer, selection of the Saint of the Month, activities for our Faith Families, as well as classroom lessons. The virtue for the month of September is Honesty.

Please find some information below regarding safe car seats for your child in English and Spanish.

Welcome back Holy Cross families! The nurses will be starting a "nurse nook" that will be in every newsletter moving forward. The Nurses' Nook will contain any pertinent health updates and information in the section of the newsletter labeled "Nurses' Nook". Feel free to contact Polly Mandl, or me Nina Haverkamp. with any questions or concerns (contact information below)

'TIS THE SEASON: With back to school comes back to germs!!!!

-Hand hygiene or good handwashing with soap and water is very important to help the spread of germs.

-Everyone should wash their hands when they get home, after using the bathroom, and before eating.

-Below is a great reminder for children (and even adults) on proper handwashing.

Help stop the spread of germs!!!!

A friendly reminder that if your child will not be in school for any reason i.e. appointment, illness, or is out of town please email nurses.

Wishing all our families a happy and healthy school year!

Warm wishes,

Polly and Nina

Beginning Monday, August 16, we will go back to our regular office hours as follows:

Monday - Friday: 7:30 am - 4:00 pm

Noon dismissal: 7:30 am - 12:00 pm

The best point of contact for any student matters, is your student's classroom teachers. Our team will do their best to get back to you as soon as possible. Please note that this may take up to 2 business days to respond as our faculty and staff are tending to students and duties throughout the day. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

In case of an emergency, please call or email the Front Office at gradeschool@holycrosscatholicschool.com and we will provide assistance.

Hornet spirit wear with this year's theme is now available and on sale (30% site wide) for purchase at 1st Place Spiritwear. Explore all available options and share your Hornet pride with the community as we celebrate our amazing students and school. This is also a great opportunity to support Holy Cross as we receive 10% back on all purchases.

As we reflect on God's given gift of sharing our talents this Labor Day, I am sharing a prayer for work from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Prayer for Work

Creator God,
thank you for providing us
with the gift to share our talents.

Provide our community, our nation, our world
the fortitude to provide work for all
which is decent and fair.

Make us faithful stewards
of your creation
to enhance the human dignity
of our global family.

We ask this in the name of Jesus,
who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit
now and forever.

Amen

(From Being Neighbor: The Catechism and Social Justice, USCCB, April 1998)