Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Principal's Memo



Building Confident Catholic Leaders Through Faith, Community
 and Education
           
Jan. 15, 2013

Progress Reports
Progress reports for the second trimester will go out on Tuesday, Jan. 22 to all students who are earning a C or lower.  This is the time to re-examine your study habits; there is enough time to improve your grades for the end of the second trimester which ends in March.

High School Entrance Examinations
The 8th grade students will take the Catholic High School Entrance Examination on Sat., Jan. 26 at the Catholic High School of their choice.

Good luck to all the 8th grade students who will be testing. Don’t forget to relax the evening before the test and have a good breakfast the morning of the test.

Catholic School Week Activities
During Catholic School Week, all students including the preschoolers, will have the following activities:
Monday to Friday: Book Fair in the library
Monday: DEAR (drop everything and read) the last hour of the day; wear pajamas to school.
Tuesday: Science Activity at 1:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall
Wednesday: Art Activity at 1:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall
Thursday: Field day activities in the parking lot
Friday: In & Out in the lunch area; Student Council assembly at 1:00 p.m.

Mandatory PTO Date Change
The PTO/Preschool meeting scheduled for January 16 has been changed to Wed., Jan.
30. A special speaker, Mike Norman, is scheduled for the January meeting.

Preschool parents will join us for this meeting at 7:00 p.m.  School parents, Saturday Religious




Education parents and confirmation parents will all be at the same meeting.

School Choir
Rehearsals in January begin next week on Tue., Jan. 22 during the morning at 7:30 a.m. only. On Thu., Jan. 24, choir rehearsal will be at 7:30 a.m. and after school at 3:00 p.m.

Academic Decathlon   
These next two weeks are going to be very busy for the decathletes.  The team will be taking their final qualifying tests and demonstrating to the coaches that they are committed and competitive.  The team will be named and posted by next Tuesday.  Students have received a very important letter of which the 2nd page needs to be returned as soon as possible but before Thu, Jan. 17.  Parents will be getting organized to assist the team and coaches with things like fundraising so our school is represented in the Academic Decathlon official program, getting sweatshirts ordered, creating an e-mail list and telephone tree, so the event on March 2 is pleasant.  Parents are also making sure their children are attending the mandatory sessions as well as studying the subjects for Super Quiz and individual subjects.  We need 150% effort to advance forward so we can show our best at the event.  Thank you to the sports coaches, school staff, parent volunteers, and faculty who are cooperating with our schedules.




NO SCHOOL
Monday, January 21
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Birthday Observed




Security
We now have all the gates and hallway doors that are accessible to the street locked at the start of the school day. We have more than one point of entry during the school day.  Daycare parent enter and exit by ringing the bell at the east black gate.  We ask that during the day everyone enter the campus through the main office only. Preschool parents may enter preschool by ringing the bell at the west black gate.  

We have procedures for a lock down situation. Procedures depend on whether the intruder is outside or inside the campus.





We are acquiring and installing a security camera system to monitor the campus. This includes the preschool and daycare. It is important to keep the second gate in the preschool area locked for security.

We have called the LAPD Northeast police station that is assigned to our school to plan and coordinate a visit to our school.

School wide Learning Expectations
These are the Schoolwide Learning Expectations students are expected to review this week.
A student of St. Dominic Parish School will be...

a responsible and respectful person who:
  • 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.
a committed Catholic who:
  • builds a firm foundation in, knowledge of, and love of the Faith.