Holy Family School Newsletter

With Grateful Hearts – Thank You for an Amazing Springfest!

We are truly humbled and filled with gratitude for the incredible support of our parents, teachers, and community in making this year’s Springfest a resounding success! Thanks to your generosity, dedication, and faith, we have raised a preliminary total of $120,000—a tremendous blessing that will directly impact our students by providing high-quality education, enriching programs, excellent facilities, and the dedicated staff that make our school a special place.

This event would not have been possible without the many hands and hearts that came together—our donors, volunteers, attendees, and especially the event planning committees and individuals who worked tirelessly behind the scenes. Your belief in our mission and your steadfast faith help us continue striving for academic excellence and Christ-centered learning for all our students.

There are too many people to name, but please know that every contribution, big and small, made a difference. We truly cannot thank you enough for your generosity, support, and commitment to our school.

May God bless you abundantly for your kindness, and may He continue to guide and strengthen our school community in faith, love, and learning.

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As we begin planning for the upcoming school year, I want to share some staffing updates with you. First, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the following teachers who will be retiring at the end of this year:

Marlys Marthaler, second-grade teacher, will be retiring at the end of this school year. Mrs. Marthaler has been at HFS for 40 years. I’m not sure why she is leaving so soon. 😊 She is a dedicated and valuable member of our faculty, and her impact on our students and school community has been immeasurable. Her positive energy and openness to change in a constantly evolving profession are commendable. While we will undoubtedly miss her, we wish her all the best in this next exciting chapter of her life. We will see Mrs. Marthaler as a substitute teacher when needed.

Cathy Moritz, a fourth-grade teacher, will be retiring from education at the end of this school year. After 37 years of service in education, we celebrate and thank Mrs. Moritz for her dedication to our school community. Throughout the years, Mrs. Moritz has built strong connections with students, offering support, encouragement, and a welcoming presence in the classroom. She has influenced countless young lives and will always be appreciated. We will miss her in the fourth-grade wing and wish her all the best in her retirement and next exciting endeavors.

We wish both of them joy, fulfillment, and many wonderful adventures ahead. Congratulations on your retirement!

Additionally, Mrs. VanBeck, a Kindergarten teacher, will become a stay-at-home mom and add another bundle of joy to their family soon! We thank Mrs. VanBeck for her positive energy, dedication, support, and many warm and nurturing connections she has built with students and colleagues alike. She aspires to be back at HFS in the future. We will be looking forward to her return!

Ms. Kortan, a third-grade teacher, will not be returning next year. She is pursuing an opportunity to fulfill her passion for teaching and coaching as a full-time head volleyball coach at another school. We are grateful for the energy, dedication, and care she has brought to our students this year, and while we will miss her, we fully support her as she takes this exciting next step in her career.

I understand that transitions can raise questions, and we are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for our students. Staff have also been offered an opportunity to make internal changes. I will provide updates as we proceed with hiring and preparations for the next school year as hiring decisions are made and positions are filled.

Thank you for your continued support of our teachers and school community. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

May God bless you and strengthen you during this lenten season,

Ms. Otte

*Keep healthy snacks available at home to make good choices easier. Have children help with menu planning and snack choices. Teach them about food labels and portion sizes.

*Wear your seatbelt, bike helmet and life jacket. If these safety rules are important to you they will also be important to your children.

*Plan time for everyone to be active. Family bike rides, walks or trips to the park are easy ways to be active. Team or individual sports teach many important life skills. Encourage your child to try something new. Turn on some music and have a dance party.

*Have time each day to be “unplugged”. Do jigsaw puzzles, board games, read a book/magazine/newspaper. Spend time working your mind without tablets, computers or video games. The National Sleep Foundation recommends turning off electronic devices at least one hour before going to bed. This gives your body time to transition from being alert to being ready for sleep.

*Help your child to get 9-12 hours of sleep each night. When you sleep, the brain reorganizes and recharges itself, and removes toxic waste byproducts which have accumulated throughout the day. Sleeping also helps the body heal from the days activities.

*Don’t smoke and refrain from secondhand smoke exposure. Being around smoke raises your child’s chance of getting asthma, allergies, ear infections, bronchitis and pneumonia.

*Talk with your child about their day. Find out what is going on with their friends, school, sports or whatever is happening in their lives. If they are comfortable talking with you about the little things when they are having a problem they will be more comfortable sharing that with you as well.

In March, we will focus on self-discipline as our character trait of the month. We are breaking this idea down into the following areas: discipline (doing what you should be doing even when it is not what you want to do), Self-Control (impulse control), Self-Reliance, and Good Judgment.

Our younger students will have some difficulty with self-control, of course, because one of the typical behaviors of K-2 children is to be impulsive and act before thinking. This is no reason for us not to gently expect more from them; however, children's behavior will often be as good as our expectations. A fun and valuable way to teach self-control in children is to make a game out of it and talk to them about it while playing. Jenga is a great game for kids who need to work on self-control and can be played at home.

We will discuss times with all our students when it is hard to show self-control or discipline when asked to do something we don't want to do. Again, experiencing the consequences of completing the task and doing the right thing can be quite rewarding for children. They begin to see that the impossible is possible, and they gain great satisfaction from that. When you see your child follow a direction, wait his or her turn, do an unpopular chore, etc., comment to him or her, “You are really showing self-discipline today, and it must make you feel very proud of yourself.”

As our children demonstrate good discipline in their decisions, we can also relate this to being able to count on ourselves to do the right thing and not always look to others to tell us what to do. This is where self-reliance and good judgment come in. Developing good judgment takes some experience and age, but we all must start somewhere. Give them the opportunity to make some of their own decisions about what they wear, where they go, or how they spend some of their birthday money. When they make mistakes, use these opportunities to teach them good judgment. We have no way to learn it if we never have had the chance to try our wings and learn from our mistakes.

Thank you for your help and support in teaching this important character trait.