Holy Family School Newsletter

“He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.” – Matthew 28:6

Dear Parents,

It’s hard to believe we are getting closer to our final full month of school! This year has flown by, and April is packed with exciting activities and special moments as we prepare our hearts for Easter and the end of the school year.

Holy Week & the Easter Season

As we journey through Holy Week, we reflect on Jesus Christ's ultimate sacrifice and resurrection. This sacred time reminds us of God’s incredible love and our hope in Him. May we take time as families to pray, reflect, and celebrate the true meaning of Easter—Jesus’ victory over sin and death!

Special Movie Event – King of Kings

We are thrilled to share that a generous community member has gifted all students K-6 the opportunity to attend a special showing of “King of Kings” at the Main Street Theater on April 16. Students will be walking. This animated, powerful film brings the story of Jesus’ life, ministry, and resurrection to the big screen, offering a faith-filled experience for our students. What a beautiful way to deepen our understanding of Christ’s love during this Easter season!

Fifth & Sixth Grade Spelling Bee – April 14

We are excited to host our annual Spelling Bee on Monday, April 14, at 9:00 a.m for our fifth & sixth grade students. Our students have been working hard, and we look forward to seeing them showcase their spelling skills. Fifth and Sixth-grade families are welcome to attend and cheer on our participants!

Looking Ahead

April is filled with activities, learning, and faith-filled moments. As we move toward the end of the school year, we are grateful for the continued partnership of our school families.

May you and your family have a blessed and joyful Easter! Let us celebrate the resurrection of our Lord with hearts full of gratitude and hope.

Blessings,

Ms. Otte

We are happy to announce that all four open teaching positions for the next school year have been filled with highly qualified and passionate educators! These new team members are eager to join our school community, and I will share more details about them as we get closer to the end of the school year. For now you can read a brief description about each of the new teachers.

Faith Borgerding - entering 2nd grade (taking over for Marlys Marthaler).

Faith is a new educator, completing the teacher preparation program from Southwest Minnesota State University and graduates on April 4th, 2025. She has numerous years of experience working with young students in both the Albany and Avon before and after school programs. She has been the site leader for their summer care programs for the last 2 summers. Faith is a former student at Holy Family School in Albany, MN. Licensure is B-3rd grade.

Abbie Tadych will be entering 3rd grade (replacing Nicole Kortan).

Abbie comes with eight years of professional experience working in a school setting, including her current role as a Synchronized Swimming Coach in Melrose. She graduated in 2016 from Valley City State University, Valley City, ND and has a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education (K-6 licensure) and Human Development and Family Sciences. Abbie was a classroom teacher for 3 years at STRIDE Academy in St. Cloud, MN, before her commitment to be a stay-at-home mom to care for her own three children. As her children have grown, Abbie is now ready to re-enter the workforce in education.

Abby Christen - entering 4th grade (taking over for Cathy Moritz).

In May, Abby will graduate from Minnesota State University Moorhead with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and Special Education. During her student teaching experience at Westside Elementary in West Fargo, she had the privilege of working with students in Kindergarten and third grade. She also has practicum experience at Moorhead in first and fourth grade along with middle school and high school experience working with students who have special needs. She is especially drawn to Holy Family School because of our commitment to a faith-based education and faith-centered environment. Licensure will be K-6 Elementary Education and a minor in Special Education.

Maggie Robole will go into 5th grade (replacing Ms. Hellermann, who is moving to Kindergarten to take over Mrs. VanBeck's classroom).

Maggie attended Cathedral High School in St. Cloud and will graduate in May from the College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, MN. She will Major in Elementary Education (K-6 Elementary License) and Comm/Arts Additional Licensure (5-8). Maggie's goal has been to be a teacher in a Catholic school. She stated that teaching is her passion because it is so important to give the future generation the tools to not only succeed but become meaningful changemakers and true disciples of Christ. Maggie's practicum experience includes public and private schools in St. Cloud and Annandale. She taught in Kindergarten, second, fifth and sixth grade. Her favorite experience was in a fifth-grade classroom last spring at a small Catholic school.

Children need to keep themselves clean. This cleanliness becomes important when it comes to being and remaining healthy, and feeling good about themselves. Hygiene is not only important for health reasons. Good personal hygiene for kids will also increase your child’s self-esteem and confidence.

Personal hygiene is the way we care for our bodies. It includes many activities, such as washing hands, brushing teeth, and bathing. For kids, good personal hygiene will help them stay healthy. Well-kept hygiene will prevent illnesses and help build your child’s self-awareness. We come in contact with millions of germs every day and have to keep ourselves clean to not get sick.

Adopting good hygiene habits is more than just washing hands. In addition, teaching the kids the importance of having a healthy hygiene routine early on enables them to stick to this routine throughout their lives into adulthood.

For children, there are some basics for good personal hygiene practices and the following are some of them.

• Washing hands: Washing hands is an important practice to ward off germs, which has been under the spotlight as one of the best methods today to prevent the spread of germs and viruses, especially during the pandemic. Hand hygiene for kids is crucial as most germs are contracted and spread through hand contact.
• Bathing and showering: People need regular baths or showers. Children should be encouraged to adopt this practice early on. This can be introduced to their end-of-day routine or bedtime routine. In the beginning, you will be giving baths to your child until they can handle this task on their own. While bathing your child, you can teach them which body parts to wash when they are taking a bath, such as neck, armpits, groin, belly, back, feet, and knees. This would be a great time to also teach them how to wash their hair without getting soap or shampoo in their eyes. In the event that they do, explain to them how to handle this situation.
• Nail Hygiene: Nails are just as important because dirt can collect under them. The parents and caregivers cut the nails of their child before the age they can care for their own nails.
• Brushing and flossing teeth: Dental hygiene and care for kids are important. The moment they start teething, the care should begin. The teeth and gums should be kept clean to prevent any infection and cavities.

We still have jelly beans for sale! If you or someone you know would like some, please stop in the Main Office. They are $5 per 1 lb bag.

As we enter our second phase of winter, please be sure that your children have jackets, boots and snowpants for recess. Boots will be required as long as the ground is wet/muddy. Students will be informed when they can bring boots and snowpants home for good.

Holy Family School will be closed for the Easter holiday the following dates:

• Thursday, April 17
• Friday, April 18
• Monday, April 21

Note: The public school WILL be in session on Thursday, April 17 with an early release.

On March 26th, we held our monthly all-school assembly to recognize those students who were chosen for being "Cooperatve" throughout the month of March. The winners were:

Back Row from Left: Spencer D (4), Avery P (5), Lauren G (5), Graham D (6), Blaire B (6)

Middle Row from Left: Lucy G (4), Hudson N (3), Paislee R (3), Cassie M (2), Eli B (2)

Front Row from Left: Nova D (K), Oliver J (K), Maverick H (1), Oaklynn B (1)

The character trait for April is Cooperation. The family is an ideal place to model and teach the value of cooperation. There are numerous times and occasions in our home settings when each of us has to show our skills at getting along and working together for the good of the whole group. This characteristic is crucial at school and in the workplace. Our children need our help recognizing the value of cooperation and learning how to cooperate. Especially in this day and age of individualism.

Have fun thinking of traditions and times in your family's life when cooperating is important, and how it would be different if no one got along during these times. For example, what about family vacations? We cooperate on where we will go, and even though it is usually an adult decision, it is a place the children will enjoy as well. The trip there, either in the car or by plane, is a setting in which we will have no fun if we do not cooperate with each other in using the radio, headphones, car games, bathroom stops, nap times, etc. What about a simple trip to the grocery store and how everyone needs to cooperate to accomplish the goal, or when children are on a team playing a sport? These are great discussions that can be had about the importance of cooperation.

Cooperation is an important character trait because by working with others, we learn different perspectives and strategies, and can express our own thoughts to teach others. It can also help us reach a goal much faster with someone than if we were working alone!

We want to say Thank You to all the parents who have been bringing in treats for the staff at HFS. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

Please watch page 3 of the Sauk Centre Herald for weekly happenings at Holy Family School. Thank you to Felling Trailers, Polipnick Insurance, Daniel B. Borgmann Ltd, Dan Welle Chrysler GM, Truckers Inn and Klaphake Farms for sponsoring this weekly section in the newspaper.

We hope you are able to utilize JMC efficiently. Please note that while they DO have a family app, there will be different information available when logging in on a desktop computer (or desktop version on a mobile device).

Below is a video that we invite you to watch to inform you of everything that is available for you on the JMC Family App - there is also a link to a document that outlines the app. (If you need the HFS JMC pin, please use 0739.

https://youtu.be/9cTB1YXquqI?si=a-iGmr2v_d52SM4v

Discovering jmc Family

After watching the video, login to JMC Family (here is a link to a video that will help you if you have problems):

Logging into the jmc Family portal

Just a reminder, your login username is (in most cases) your last name. If you do not remember your password, click "Forgot Password" and you will be redirected to set up a new password.

Once you log in, we highly recommend that you turn on customized alerts so that you can receive notifications for different messages or grade changes. Below is a link to set up these customized alerts:

Set family alert configurations in jmc Family

Please watch future newsletters for more helpful tips on using JMC and the JMC Family app!