Principal's Memo

Building Confident Catholic Leaders Through Faith,

Community and Education

October 29, 2013

Parish Fiesta

Thank you to all parents who signed up to work during the fiesta this weekend. The school is responsible for providing baked goods for the dessert booth during the fiesta. Pre-school, TK, Kindergarten, and 1st grade parents are required to donate the baked goods on Friday, Nov. 1. On Saturday, Nov. 2, the 3rd-5th grade parents donate the baked goods. Grades 6th – 8th parents will donate baked goods on Sunday, Nov. 3. Thank you for your donations to create a successful dessert booth. Please remember to turn-in all receipts for service hour credit.

Red Ribbon Contest

Thank you for the Red Ribbon photo contest entries. The following students and their families decorated their doors at home. Nicholas Benitez, Andy Benitez, Kaden Cortes, Frances Cala, Colleen Quizon, Nicolas Segura, and Isabella Santoro.

Photos for Yearbook

Please email any photographs that you have taken for the following activities: Boys Football, Girls A Volleyball, Girls B Volleyball, and Walk-a-Thon: heintz@stdominicla.us, craughwell@stdominicla.us, aguinaldo@stdominicla.us

School Choirs

All school choirs will sing at the Sat. Nov. 9, 1st & 2^nd grade Family Mass at 5:00 pm. Students are requested to wear their complete school uniform. Mr. Acosta will provide more information during music class.

Choicelunch

It is time for 5th grade parents to volunteer for Choicelunch credit. Parents interested in earning lunch credit, please contact the school office ASAP. Parents need to be fingerprinted and have attended a Virtus training session to volunteer to work with students.

Safety Valet

We are on the second round for 7th grade parents to volunteer for safety valet and earn service hours. Parents who can give 20 minutes during the morning, from 7:40-8:00 a.m., are welcome.

Virtus Training

Parents of new students, preschoolers, TK, and kinder students need to attend a Virtus Safety session to volunteer to work with students. Parents wishing to attend fieldtrips and/or work at events with children need to have Virtus training. St. Dominic Church is having a Virtus Training on Saturday, Nov. 9. If you wish to participate in our school events, please call the parish at 323-254-2519 to make an appointment to attend the 3 hour session or register on online to attend the Virtus session at St. Dominic Church.

Mandatory PTO Meeting

Parents are requested to attend the 2nd of 5 mandatory parents meeting on Wed. Nov. 13 at 7:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall. The first PTO meeting was during Back to School Night. Parents are charged $20.00 if they are not in attendance. The meeting will start promptly at 7:00 pm.

Parent Conferences

The first academic trimester ends on Friday, Nov. 15. Students will receive their first trimester report card during the parent/teacher conferences on Mon. Nov. 25 or Tue. Nov. 26. Conference sign-up schedules will be sent home the week of Nov. 12. Parents are asked to list their 1st, 2nd, & 3^rd choice of time preference. Teachers will make every attempt to schedule parents with more than one child on the same day and at back-to-back times.

Schoolwide Learning Expectation

These are the Schoolwide Learning Expectations that students are reviewing this week.

A student of St. Dominic Parish School will be...

A responsible and respectful person who:

• is self-confident and self-motivated and has the inner strength to make moral, compassionate, and healthy choices.
• is prepared to make a positive difference in the world through his/her words and
• actions.
• appreciates and values the diversity of all God’s people.

An active and involved student who:

• is a self-motivated learner who demonstrates the skills and technological knowledge to succeed.
• builds a solid foundation in the academic subjects and an appreciation of the arts.

Principal's Memo

Building Confident Catholic Leaders Through Faith,

Community and Education

October 22, 2013

Cookie Dough Delivery

The cookie dough orders have arrived. Parents with big orders may pick up their cookie dough orders this afternoon from 2:30-6:00 p.m. We want to thank all the parents who participated in the cookie dough fundraiser.

Red Ribbon Week

Student Council kicked off Red Ribbon Week this past Fri., Oct. 18, with a pep rally celebrataing this year’s theme, “A Healthy Me is Drug Free.” On Mon. Oct. 21, students decorated their classroom doors; today, the students will decorated our fence with red ribbons, and Student Council held a red-foods snack sale at morning recess; on Wed. Oct. 23, students may wear RED shirts, hats, ribbons, shoes, etc., with jeans; on Thu. Oct. 24, students may bring a stuffed animal from home to celebrate “Hugs, not Drugs.”

Halloween Carnival

The annual Halloween Carnival at St. Dominic School is this Friday, Oct. 25. Join us for this fun event from 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Students are to come to school dressed in their costumes. Students are NOT allowed to bring any type of weapon as part of their costumes. Costumes are to be in good taste and not offensive in any form. Students may NOT wear strapless dresses as a costume. All game booths are free and all students will receive a small prize after playing each game. You may want to send some money with your child if they want to purchase baked goodies.

The lower grades, TK-4th, will come out at 10 a.m. to play games and will eat lunch at 11 a.m.; the 5th-8^th grade students will come out to play games at 11 a.m. and will eat lunch at 12 p.m. The costume parade for all grades will be at 12:30 p.m., followed by the raffle at 12:45 p.m. The carnival ends at 1:00 p.m., at which time the students will return to their classrooms. School will dismiss at 1:30 p.m.

A reminder that there will be no Choice Lunch on Fri. Oct. 25. Students can pre-order a hot dog combo lunch for $3, chili hot dog for $3.50, nachos for $2, chili cheese nachos for $2.50, and tamales for $3.00. Give money to the classroom teacher or pay in the school office.

Picture Day Tue. Oct. 29

The upper grade girls (6th-8th grades) and boys in all grades need to wear the green polo shirt with the new logo for picture day. The lower grade girls (preschool-5th grade) will wear their jumpers for picture day and should wear the white blouse or white polo shirt under the jumper.

Students do not wear P.E. clothes for picture day. P.E. will be on Wednesday, October 30, instead of Tuesday, October 29.

Parents are able to order online packages before Picture Day at mylifetouch.com. Please enter Picture Day ID: TP523085Y0. Print the receipt to give to the photographer on Picture Day. Parents are also able to use an order form and enclose payment in the envelope and return it to the photographer on Picture Day.

School Choirs

All school choirs will sing at the Sat. Nov. 9, 1st & 2nd grade Family Mass at 5:00 pm. Students are requested to wear their complete school uniform. Mr. Acosta will provide more information during music class.

Choicelunch

It is time for 5th grade parents to volunteer for Choicelunch credit. Parents interested in earning lunch credit, please contact the school office ASAP. Parents need to be fingerprinted and have attended a Virtus training session to volunteer to work with students.

Safety Valet

We are on the second round for 8th grade parents to volunteer for safety valet and earn service hours. Parents who can give 20 minutes during the morning, 7:40-8:00 a.m., are welcome.

Academic Decathlon

We had a great turnout of 35 students at our first meeting on Wednesday October 16th. We had almost 100% return team members and 13 new members from 6th through 8th grades. Students received letters for their parents with a signup form. Our next meeting is Monday October 21 at noon in the science room. The $20.00 registration fee is due on Wednesday October 23. This fee should be sent to the school office marked “Academic Decathlon” or given to Coach Hunt or Coach Snyder at the lunch time meetings. Our current meeting schedule is: October 21 and 23 (no meeting on Oct. 25th due to Halloween festivities); October 28 and 30; November 4, 6, 8 (our first Friday p.m. meeting); no meeting Monday November 11th due to Veterans' Day; November 13, 15, 18, 20, and 22. The week of Thanksgiving we will meet November 25 and 27. Note to parents: If you are Virtus trained and want to help us with your expertise please send a note to the school office to the attention of Mrs. Annette Hunt and Mr. John Snyder.

Parish Fiesta

Thank you to all parents who signed up to work during the fiesta weekend. The school is responsible for providing baked goods for the dessert booth during the fiesta. Pre-school, TK, K, and 1st grade parents are required to donate the baked goods on Friday, Nov. 1. On Saturday, Nov. 2, the 3rd-5th grade parents donate the bake goods. Grades 6th – 8^th parents will donate baked goods on Sunday, Nov. 3. Thank you for your donations to create a successful dessert booth. Please remember to turn-in all receipts for service hour credit.

Schoolwide Learning Expectation

These are the Schoolwide Learning Expectations that students are reviewing this week.

A student of St. Dominic Parish School will be...

A committed Catholic who:

• builds a firm foundation in, knowledge of, and love of the Faith.
• actively participates in the Mass, sacraments and traditions of the Church.
• shows respect, tells the truth, and tries to be like Jesus.
• willingly shares his/her gifts to serve others in the Church and global community.

A responsible and respectful person who:

• understands his/her innate value and the value of others as beloved children of God.

Principal's Memo

Building Confident Catholic Leaders Through Faith,

Community and Education

October 15, 2013

Halloween Day

October 31, 2013

No Costumes at school

Parish Hall Parking

The lower parking lot in front of the Parish Hall will be closed tomorrow, Wednesday, Oct. 16, so that the lot can be resurfaced and repainted. Parents will not be able to enter the parking lot from Maywood or exit onto Chickasaw during the morning drop off or afternoon pick-up.

The morning valet drop will be open as usual. If you choose to park in the big parking lot in the morning, you will need to enter Merton via Caspar, and make a right into the lot. You may exit the lot after morning valet closes by making a right onto Merton and then a right or left onto Maywood.

Picture Day

Mrs. Casupanan and Mrs. Castillo will assist Live Touch photography with school pictures on Oct. 29 from 8:00 a.m.-12:00 noon.

The upper grade girls (6th-8th grades) and boys in all grades need to wear the green polo shirt with the new logo for picture day. We were told that students do not photograph well with the white polo shirts. The lower grade girls (preschool-5th grade) will wear their jumpers for picture day and should wear the white blouse or white polo shirt under the jumper.

Students do not wear P.E. clothes for picture day. P.E. will be on Wednesday, October 30, instead of Tuesday, October 29.

Halloween Carnival

The annual Halloween Carnival is quickly approaching on Friday, Oct. 25. Join us for this fun event from 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Student are to come to school dressed in their costumes. Students are NOT allowed to bring any type of weapon as part of their costumes. Costumes are to be in good taste and not offensive in any form. Students may NOT wear strapless dresses as a costume. All games booths are free and all students will receive a small prize after playing each game. You may want to send some money with your child if they want to purchase baked goodies.

There will be no Choice Lunch on Fri. Oct. 25. Students can pre-order a hot dog combo for $3, chili hot dog for $3.50, nachos for $2, chili cheese nachos for $2.50, and tamales for $3.00.

 

Red Ribbon Week

Student Council will kick off Red Ribbon Week this Fri., Oct. 18, at 1 p.m. with a pep rally that celebrates this year’s theme, “A Healthy Me is Drug Free.” On Mon. Oct. 21, students will decorate their classroom doors; on Tue. Oct. 22 the students will decorate our fence with red ribbons, Student Council will sell red baked goods and snack items at morning recess; on Wed. Oct. 23, students may wear RED shirts, hats, ribbons, shoes, etc., with jeans; on Thu. Oct. 24, students may bring a stuffed animal from home to celebrate “Hugs, not Drugs.”

Your family is invited to participate in a national door decorating contest for Red Ribbon Week. Please see the flyer that went home today for more details.

Uniform and Dress Code

Parents, I invite you to please re-read and review the dress code section of the parent/student handbook. Please return the acceptance of handbook if you have not yet signed and returned the form to the classroom teacher or the school office. The handbook was sent home the first week of school in the Family Envelope. Please review pages 8 and 9 of the handbook with your child. Please review the color of shoes, color of shoelaces, length and color of socks and undershirts. St. Dominic uniforms are available at Dennis Uniform and with PTO apparel. Please also review the section on non-uniform days on page 9.

Benchmark Assessments

This year, students will be assessed three times on the English Language Arts and Math Common Core State Standards. The first round of benchmark assessment is next Monday, Oct. 21. The second assessment will be taken on Monday, February 3, followed by the third round of assessments on Monday, May 5.

Parish Fiesta

Have you signed up for fiesta service hours? The Hispanic booth needs parents for Saturday, Nov. 2 from 5:00-10:30 p.m. Both the Filipino and Hispanic booths also need help on Sunday, Nov. 3 from 4:15-8:30 pm. Finally, parents are neede for security on Sunday Nov. 3, from 4:00-8:30 p.m.

Schoolwide Learning Expectation

These are the Schoolwide Learning Expectations that students are reviewing this week.

A student of St. Dominic Parish School will be...

A responsible and respectful person who:

• is prepared to make a positive difference in the world through his/her words and actions
• appreciates and values the diversity of all God’s people.

An active and involved student who:

• is a self-motivated learner who demonstrates the skills and technological knowledge to succeed.
• builds a solid foundation in the academic subjects and an appreciation of the arts.
• Communicates effectively, thinks critically, and is a creative problem solver.