OLQA Family,

Great first week back at OLQA! Students were hard working and did a great job in our classes and activities, like our first full week of Dancing Classroom and our CYO Basketball games. This time of year is also a crucial time for academics with the start of Winter NWEA MAP testing, a first for us at OLQA, as well as the last few weeks of Quarter 2.

Thanks to all the parents who showed up to Progress Report conferences today! We deeply appreciate your partnership in supporting our kids academically. We have 2 weeks left in Quarter 2, so it is important that students do their best to have the strongest report card possible. Additionally, remember that attendance impacts conduct grades, so kids need to be at school everyday and provide a note if they are absent.

Additionally, I wanted to emphasize the importance of Reading and Math MAP testing the next 2 weeks. Make sure your child gets a good night's sleep and does their best in order to get the best score possible. This shows their achievement and growth based on national standards, as well as the fact it is part of the transcript we send to high schools. There will also be incentives like dress down passes and pizza parties for the students and classes that show the most growth on the exam.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mr. Sayer

Principal

Our Lady Queen of Angels School

Friendly reminder that Friday 1/10 will be a 12 PM dismissal day. All students should wear their regular uniform to school.

Friendly reminder about the importance of attendance, as we noticed a drop in December and this first week of break. Attendance is crucial and students must be in class to learn. To help build this lifelong habit, attendance is tied to student conduct grades.

• Students will earn no higher than a B in conduct if they have 5 or more unexcused absences OR latenesses

Please make sure that your child is at school every day and that, in the event they are absent, you send a note explaining why upon their return.

This week, students will be taking the Reading MAP test. The exam is a way to measure their overall achievement and growth over the years. Days for testing are being confirmed based on the installation of chromebooks. The schedule for testing at the moment is:

• Kindergarten = Wednesday 1/15
  
• Grades 1-8 = Thursday 1/16

Students receive an individualized goal based on their Fall exam. This goal will be tied to some incentives:

• Students who meet 1 MAP test goal will get a sneaker pass
• Students who meet 2 MAP test goals will get a dress down pass
• Additionally, the classes the have the highest overall achievement and the highest overall growth will receive a pizza party.

MAP is a standardized test, so there is no real studying. Instead students should prepare by:

• Getting a good night's sleep the day before the exam (8 hours)
• Having a healthy breakfast the morning of the exam
• Getting to school on time or early the day of the test
• Coming prepared with pencils and scrap paper

Friendly reminder that the last day of Quarter 2 is Friday January 24th. This will be the final day to turn in any assignments for the term. Thank you to all the parents who attended Progress Report conferences to review your child's grades and to plan for how to maintain or improve them. We appreciate your partnership!

Please remember to bring in your Medical Forms. The flue shot is PAST DUE for students in prek3 and 4! Students will be restricted from school if they do not bring proof of flu shot IMMEDIATELY. New York State requires all immunizations to be up to date and your child can be excluded from school if they are not completed.

Please ensure to bring the documentation to the main office this week if you need to bring proof of immunization.

We're thrilled to continue our series of free (virtual) parent workshops in January led in partnership with Marble Health (mental health support for students/parents).

Are you interested in attending a workshop? If so, please sign up here!

January Parent [Virtual] Workshops – All on zoom at 7pm!

• Wed, Jan 8: Manage Screen Time
• Mon, Jan 13: Support Students with Academic & Test Anxiety
• Tues, Jan 14: Help Kids Succeed: Executive Function Strategies
• Wed, Jan 15: Improve Resilience & Foster Growth Mindsets
• Wed, Jan 22: Help Kids Succeed: Executive Function Strategies
• Thurs, Jan 23: Improve Resilience & Foster Growth Mindsets

Resources

• Want to learn more about affordable mental health resources? Read here
• Interested in getting mental health support for you or your child? Reach out to Marble here

Basketball continues weekly with games and practices. If interested, come and join the teams (JV Boys, Varsity Boys, Girls) as they are a ton of fun and build character. Games will continue this week and can be found on the SE Tourney App and the link below.

Additionally the game schedule will be beginning. Below is the link to access the team schedules:

As a head's up, we will be having a general school fundraiser starting in mid January. We will be selling World's Finest Chocolate bars, with prizes going to the families that sell the most chocolate.

We had our first week of some new expectations to raise the bar for our middle schoolers. They are:

• Extracurricular Eligibility - For students to remain eligible for extracurricular activities (Basketball, Latin, Dance), they must maintain a B in conduct. Therefore if students receive 3 pink slips, in a quarter, an automatic C in conduct, they will lose eligibility to participate in extracurriculars.
• Class Point Update - As we raise expectations for our middle schoolers in class, the bar to earn recess each day will be moved up to 22 class points a day. This will help push each class as a community to be more focused, and therefore learn more, in their classes.

Reminder that the winter uniform has started. This means that students:

• Must wear a white dress shirt / blouse. They cannot wear the polo shirt.
• Boys will need to start wearing the tie with their white dress shirts.
• Students must wear the sweat pants with the gym uniform, no shorts.
• Students cannot wear winter boots, they must change into proper shoes at school

Make sure boys wear a tie with their regular uniform. Not doing this will lead to a uniform slip.

Please be aware that High Schools are scheduled to release admissions decisions on Wednesday January 22nd. Be aware that they will usually send the decision via email, but sometimes regular mail, to the family. Be on the lookout for these decisions the week after next.

Make sure to save any communication about high school decisions to share with the school. Please:

• Forward any emails to james.sayer@olqaeastharlem.org
• Bring in any letters to the school so we can keep a copy

All 8th grade families should apply to Inner City Scholarship Funds high school aid program. It does not cover all tuition, but is a major help in making HS affordable. We will be sending home INDIVIDUALIZED scholarship applications with an INDIVIDUALIZED code for each student to apply.

Be aware, this is DIFFERENT than the individual HS financial aid application. You will need to complete Inner City Scholarship Fund financial aid application AND the school financial aid application to maximize your financial aid to HS.

PK Parents, please be aware that we will be making an adjustment to our PK tardy procedure. TAs have been missing almost all of breakfast, a key time where they are needed to assist with safety, clean up, and bathrooms. Moving forward, students need to be on time to attend breakfast. If students are late, we will hold them by the main office and bring them up with the TA at 8:25. This will help ensure that TAs are able to be fully present at breakfast to start the day.

Metro cards were given to students. If you have not received a metro card please reach out to Ms. Jenniffer. jengarcia@olqaeastharlem.org. There will only be one replacement if the child loses it.

Verification letters for students will be done on Wednesdays ONLY. Please note that creating verification letters takes time. Kindly allow sufficient processing time for your requests. Thank you for your understanding and patience!

We are no longer accepting cash deposits. Please bring in a check or a money order. If you bring cash you will be turned away. Thank you families for understanding.

We suggest you pay online using FACTS. FACTS can also take payments in debit or credit card for your convenience.