January 15, 2010

Dear  SJV Families,

  We all smiled pretty for our picture this morning.  Trying to get all of us to stand still at the same time is always a challenge but it will be a great picture.

  We have had enough snow so lets just melt what we have and be finished with it.   At this point, we will not be adding a day because of snow days.  We should be good with staying in school the days that the public schools have early outs.  

 FYI!!  We collect both Kemps milk caps and Land O’Lakes milk caps as well as Kwik Trip.  We received a check from Kwik trip for $145.70.  We also recycle the larger ink cartridges for printers, so if your work place uses these, please bring the recycle the used ones to SJV School .  We are not able to accept Epson cartridges. Thank you for your support.

 I want to thank all of you for purchasing scrip.  It is such an easy way to give money to the school and it does not cost anything.  Scrip sales have increased this year so please keep buying.  It helps to keep tuition affordable.  Know that we will get your scrip for you if you send in your order and your money.

 Congratulations to Tony Joseph on winning the Spelling Bee.  Bailey Dulas placed second.  Congratulations to both!!  It was an exciting contest and all the contestants did a good job.  Tony goes on to the regional bee in March to represent SJV School .  The Geography Bee was held today but not in time to post the winner.

 Today is the end of the first semester.  Our school year is half over.  How do the days go so fast?   Report cards will go home Wednesday, January 20th.

 Catholic Schools’ Week will be here before we know it.  If you have not completed your family “Dividend” project, please do so as we would like to have 100% participation from our families.  If you have misplaced it, let us know and we will send home another one.  They will go on the office bulletin board.   The Variety Show is Friday, February 5th.  We only have 5 acts so far.  We need more so get your forms sent in ASAP!!!

 If you are short of points and are unable to make it to the parent work nights, please speak with your student’s teacher or call the office and we can find work you can do at home.  Many times the staff has things that can be cut out or traced and then returned to school with your child.

 Items for the various baskets for the SJV Dinner/Dance are coming in.  If you plan to donate something, would you please have it to school by January 26th.  The teachers need to organize all the goodies in a basket so they need a few days to do this.  Thank you for all your support.  I know it can get spendy if you have several students here, so just do what you can.  If you have not purchased your tickets to the Dinner/Dance, please do so at Mass this weekend.  We need to give the caterer 10 days notice.  If you have a group of eight that would like to eat together, you may reserve a table.  Call or stop in the office and let us know.  It will be a great evening!!!

 The magazine drive is coming soon.  The kick-off will be March 5th at 2:00 PM.  Remember, you will be able to order your magazines on-line again this year.  Many of us have been getting renewal forms, I thought I would let you know that you can go on-line and order at any time.  Go to www.qsp.com and enter SJV number of 425007733.  The program will ask if you want to credit a specific student for the order/reorder and you will need to type in the student’s name.  The student will then get credit for the orders when we do our drive in March.  Thank you so much!!!!

We are planning to take the NWEAs again this month and we start this Monday.  The students take them three times a year so faculty can make sure all students are progressing.  We are able to take them at our lab for the first time and will probably start them next week.  The cost to take this is about the same as the Minnesota state tests.  Fairmont public schools, also take the NWEA and recommend this if we can only afford one test.  The faculty has chosen to take the NWEA because these test the students three times a year and we can follow the students progress and enhance the subjects that students need.  This year we will not be taking the MCA II.  Please make sure your child gets plenty of sleep and eats a good breakfast as both of these things affect their test scores. 

Thank you to Julie Leichtnam for agreeing to be the box top chair person this year.  I appreciate her commitment.

Completed Magnet booklets for the magazine fundraiser are due back by Tuesday, January 19^th.

Have a wonderful weekend.  Remember the Wedding Dance in the gym on Saturday from 7:00-8:30 PM.  It will be great fun to do the Chicken dance, the Hokey Pokey, etc.  Come join us.

God’s Blessings,

Joan Schaffer

Principal