February 19, 2010

Dear SJV Families,

      CONGRATULATIONS TO TONY JOSEPH AND HIS FAMILY!!!  Tony won the regional Spelling Bee in Mankato last evening and now will advance to the National in Washington , DC in June.  We are so proud of you Tony!!!

     So much for adding a make-up day to our calendar,  we just had another snow day.  We will be having school on Easter Monday.  I know that several families have planned vacation during this time.  Do not worry about missing that one day.  Your child will be able to get their homework if you will be out of town.  We thought it better to add that day rather than to the end of the year.  From an educational stand point, the students do not gain much when a day is added at the end.  By that time of year, they are ready to be done and the additional days are not as productive.

     St. John Vianney School is doing a special Lenten project for the people of Haiti after the destructive earth quake.  The parish Lenten project is also for Haiti .  Every donation will go directly to them so be as generous as you can.  I thought this would be a good time to remind families of websites they can go to and have food donated to hungry people in the world.  The first site is www.thehungersite.com   It can be visited and clicked daily to donate 1.1 cups of food.  The food is provided by the sponsors on the site.  The other website is www.freerice.com     This website donates 10 grains of rice for each question that is answered correctly.  Subjects can be changed from English Vocabulary to Math to Chemistry to Geography.  Have your child pick their favorite subject and help feed the hungry.  Or better yet, do it together and see how much you can give.  The UN World Food program distributes the rice.  Have fun!!!

     Basketball and cheerleading pictures are scheduled for after school Tuesday, February 23^rd.  Please have students ready in their uniform at their picture time.  There is a separate flyer in your Friday folder concerning this.

     PLEASE, PLEASE, mark next Thursday, February 25^th on your calendar .  SJV School ’s state of the school meeting is at 6:30 PM.  This is a yearly meeting to update families on our financial status.  We expect one parent from each family to attend. 

     The magazine kick-off is Friday, March 5th.  We will have three turn in days.  More information will be coming soon.  Save your magazine orders for SJV School .      

     I am doing a gentle reminder of our dress code before spring officially arrives.  In the handbook, the dress code states:  “Students are encouraged to dress comfortably with clothing that is practical, simple and modest.  Tennis shoes are the best footwear because they are versatile.  Clothing with inappropriate pictures or sayings will not be allowed.  Most cosmetics are inappropriate for students in grades 5 & 6 and should be saved for the junior/senior high school.  Hats are not permitted to be worn inside the school building during regular school hours or scheduled activities.  Hats are allowed on designated days only.  Students whose appearance is deemed inappropriate by the teacher/principal will be asked to contact their parent/guardian that same day to have the clothing corrected.  During warm weather the students may wear shorts.  The length of the shorts needs to be at the student’s fingertips when they stand with their arms at the side and shoulders relaxed.  Straps on tank tops must be modest.  The school wants to be sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to the dress code.  We hope that we can continue to allow tank tops or sleeveless shirts but no halter tops, no bare back tops or bare stomachs, and no tops with spaghetti straps are allowed.  We are a Catholic School and we do expect modest and appropriate dress.  Students should not be coming to school with holes in their jeans and if shorts are worn they need to be of proper length.  Some schools are not allowing jeans at all.  If you question if something is appropriate, save it for a non- school day. 

     Conferences will be held on March 11th and 15th.  The teachers will be in their classrooms for these conferences.  The part-time teachers will be here on Thursday, March 11^th as will Heidi Schlomann, our Title 1 Reading Specialist.  If your student’s teacher has requested a conference with you, there will be a partially completed form in your Friday folder next week.  If you would like a conference and one was not requested by the teacher, there will be a blank form in the folder.  The results from the NWEA tests will be given to parents at conferences.

     Basketball will soon be over and we would like to thank Nate Brown,  Hank Brown, Ben Brown, Scott Poppe, Tanya Hargan, John Reischl, and Steve Jette and John Gibeau for coaching.  Thanks to Tamarae Schmidt for leading our cheerleaders.  It was fun to have them this year. Thank you to Steve and Donna McMurtry and Darla and Paul Philipp for being in charge of the concessions.  Concessions during the Ray Rosol Tournaments raised several hundreds of dollars.  Thanks to all the parents who helped in any way.  Without your help, the basketball program would not exist.   The Knights of Columbus gave the school all the proceeds from the tournament excluding the concessions.  I will keep you posted on that amount when we receive it.   Thanks to all the Knights who work hard to support our school.  The basketball banquet will be in March and we will let you know as soon as it is scheduled.   The 4th and 5^th grade girls will have basketball practice this Monday, and Tuesday,  February 22^nd, 23^rd, and will have a basketball game with St. Paul’s in Fairmont on Thursday, 25th.

     Kindergarten Round-Up is Monday, March 8, 2010 from 6:00-7:00 PM in the kindergarten room.  Parents will move to the library for part of this time.  If you know anyone who might be interested, let them know of this date.  Registration for 1st - 6th grade will be March 11th from 4:30 - 8:00 PM in the gym.  Your registration materials will come home in March 5th’s Friday Folder.  Preschool registration and open house is also scheduled for March 11th from 5:00-7:00 PM.  

     Congratulations to Trevor and Kristine Eisenmenger on the birth of Josephine Jennifer.  She was born on Friday, February 19^th and 7:45 AM.  She weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz., and is 21¼  inches long.  Today was Kristine’s due date.

     Kindergarten is hosting coffee and donuts this weekend after both 8 and 10 AM Masses.

     Have a great weekend!!!  Tamarae Schmidt informed me this week that we just filled our 50^th box of caps we have collected so they can be recycled.  That is about 75,000 caps.

God’s Blessings,

Joan Schaffer

Principal

911 S. Prairie Ave.

Fairmont , MN 56031

507-235-5304

jschaffer@sjvschool.net