At the heart of Catholic education is the belief that Jesus Christ represents the epitome of human potential. Catholic schools are dedicated to fostering a deep connection with Christ and instilling the gospel values of love, service, and compassion.

5/17/24 Order Hardware, Software, and Library Materials from District to Use Up Funds

5/17/24 Erie 1 BOCES Title IIa Consortium Leadership Meeting from 1-2:30pm

5/20/24 Last Day to Register for Free UB Summer Graduate Classes

6/1/24 Last day for Parents to Request Special Education Services from Districts

6/27/24 NYSED Nonpublic Safety Equipment (NPSE) Claims Due

TBD NYSED Elementary School AIS Claims Due

8/1/24 NYSED MST/STEM Grant Submission Deadline

Principal Meeting Agenda for May 22nd: Our last Elementary Principal meeting of the year will take place on 5/22/24 at UB’s Newman Center - click here for the agenda. We will be wrapping up the 2023-24 school year and planning for the future. At the request of Bishop Fisher, the Diocese of Buffalo began a Catholic Education Strategic Planning process a month or two ago and has invited our Department, Catholic Schools Advisory Council, Catholic School Principals and Presidents, Pastors, and Chaplains to participate in this process. Our afternoon will be spent on this Strategic Planning along with our Catholic School Pastors and Chaplains so please plan to stay for the entire day.

Special Education Students (IESP) Must Request Services by June 1: Remember that the parents of all Special Education students must request in writing by June 1st the continuation of services from the Public School District in which your school is located. NYS law requires this even though not all districts follow through and deny services for those who fail to do so. My thought is, better safe than sorry. Please encourage parents of any student with an IESP to submit a signed letter requesting Special Education services from the Public School District by June 1st. Please remember that these letters must come from the parents. Once they write their letters, I would recommend that you ask for parents to share a copy with you so you know they sent it before the deadline. I found a sample parent letter here. If you can make up a draft letter that includes the correct District contact information so that parents can just edit the student name I am sure they would appreciate the assistance. FYI - Here is a link with the regulations on this (look under “Provision of Special Education Services”). All that being said, NYS and Federal law allows the public school districts to deny services when a parent request for Special Ed services is not received by June 1st in almost every scenario you can imagine; if you are considering accepting a student with an IEP after June 1st, that child will not be eligible to receive Special Education services until the 2025-26 school year (if they still qualify) so make your admission determination based on the fact that the student will not be receiving Special Education services from the public school district in 2024-2025.

Summer PD Opportunity 8/29/24, Brian Mendler: Nicole Richard has arranged for Brian Mendler to offer a PD session to kick-off the 2024-2025 school year on 8/29/24 from 12:30-2:00 pm and wanted to know if any other schools wanted their teachers to participate. Brian is a well-known national author and speaker with a big presence on social media. He has great energy; check him out here: https://www.brianmendler.com/about. He visited St. Amelia's in 2022 for a similar PD session and was well received. If you are interested in participating, please email Nicole (nrichard@nativityofmaryschool.org) so she can work on how to split the cost. The total cost will be $8,000 to $10,000 but will be less per school as more schools agree to participate; six schools are currently participating, making the cost at this time roughly $1,335 to $1,667 per school. Some schools are planning to use Title IIa funding to pay for this so the company will bill each school separately; if you plan to do the same, make sure to include this expense when you have your Title consultation this summer.

Advocacy: I continue to serve on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Federal Assistance Advisory Commission (FAAC). This Commission, made up of Catholic education practitioners, serves as an advisory group to the USCCB Secretariat of Catholic Education in its efforts to: maximize participation by Catholic school students and teachers in federally-funded educational programs; advocate on behalf of Catholic school students, teachers and administrators during reauthorization and/or revision of existing federal education programs; evaluate and support proposed federal legislation that could result in positive benefits for Catholic school students and staff and to oppose any such proposals that could result in negative outcomes; and monitor the implementation of federal statutes, as well as the development of regulations and guidelines that affect Catholic schools, including their students and staff. Our final FAAC meeting of 2023-2024 occurred last week in Washington, D.C. and involved planning for our 2024-2025 advocacy efforts.

The Character Virtue for May is Optimism. Please submit your names here by June 7th.

Our calendar for the 2024-2025 year is ready, but is subject to change as the year progresses.

The May 22nd Principal Meeting will be held at the UB Newman Center. Here is the RSVP link as well as the agenda. Pastors were invited through a separate letter and need to RSVP by May 12.

Our annual Character Award and Gold Apple Award Ceremony will be held on Tuesday, May 28th at St. Amelia Church. Please RSVP before May 15th for this evening so we can plan accordingly. We will begin with Mass at 6pm followed by light refreshments. Each school should RSVP with the total number of people attending from their school - how many students and their families along with any school representatives.