Merry Christmas

Dear Parents,

This is my last letter for 2009! The year has certainly passed by quickly. I’m glad to say that the Christmas spirit of giving is already underway. A parishioner of St. Paul’s has generously donated tissues, handwash and basic medical supplies to our school and the Knights of Columbus has also donated $500 to our school. It looks like the Christmas Season extends throughout the entire year at Holy Family School!

I hope you were able to attend the Christmas Concert/Play/Art Show this past Wednesday. What a great event! It was great to see all of our students participating. I hope you were able to take some great photos. The Art Exhibit, under the direction of Sarah Mahan, was an added bonus. Our children have so many talents. I’d like to thank Cassie Buckley, Ann French, Sarah Mahan, and all our staff for working with our students on this great event. Special thanks go to Helen Cappaccio for working on the children’s outfits.

Our last day of school will be Wednesday, December 23rd with a 10am dismissal. We will be having a visit from Santa Claus on this day. You are invited to bring your cameras for a photo opportunity. The times will be:
EC 8:20am
PreK 8:30am
K 8:40am
1st 8:50am
2nd 9:00am
3rd 9:10am
4th 9:20am
5th-7th 9:30am (for those students wishing to see Santa)
Classroom Christmas parties will be on the following dates:
Grades 1 & 2 Tues, Dec. 22nd in the afternoon
PreK,3,4,5,6&7 Wed. Dec. 23rd in the morning

I wish each of you a joyous, safe Christmas Season!

Gene

December 11, 2009
Dear Parents,

Fourteen days until Christmas and counting! I hope you have all your shopping done. For me, the Christmas Season is my favorite time of year. In my particular case, it may be because our first child was born on Christmas day. I like Christmas because I love seeing the faces of the children when they open that special gift that they think they can’t live without. I’ve always enjoyed trying to find that perfect gift rather than receiving my own gifts. As I grow older, I also realize that it’s our duty to teach our young children and grandchildren what Christmas really means.

On that very first Christmas Day in Bethlehem, God gave us his most precious gift, his son. We need to continue that tradition of giving, not only to our own family members, but also to the less fortunate in our communities. I have a very good friend who started a tradition with her family when her children were young. They would choose a needy family that lived close by, shop together and purchase gifts for all the family members, and then anonymously drop them off on their doorstep on Christmas Eve. At a time when giving should be the focus, they taught their children to care for the less fortunate.

At Holy Family School, the 2nd grade adopts a needy family and makes ornaments to sell to raise funds to purchase gifts and food for the entire family for the Christmas season. This year, each classroom collected food and clothing for those less fortunate. I’ve also heard of several children requesting donations to the local SPCA instead of birthday presents to save the lives of so many needy animals. These are just a few examples of what can be accomplished. I believe if you had a family meeting and asked your children for ideas to help those in need that they may surprise you with their creativity. The bottom line is that I’m asking each of you to consider involving your entire family in a project this Christmas season that will teach our children, by example, what Christmas really means.

The Christmas Concert/Play/Art Exhibit is scheduled for Wednesday, December 16th at 6pm.

UPCOMING EVENT

Christmas Concert/Art Exhibit Wed, Dec. 16th 6pm

Eyes & Ears Checkup-Gr. K,1,2 Thurs, Dec. 17th 8:30am

Christmas Mass- Dress Up Day Fri, Dec. 18th 9am
Gr. 3 & 4

Last Day of School Dress down day Wed, Dec. 23rd 10am dismissal
Visit from Santa in Gym – Parents invited (Time TBD) – Bring cameras


Gene

December 4, 2009
Dear Parents,

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with their families. It’s hard to believe it’s already December. Only 21 days ‘til Christmas! Community service is an important component of our program at Holy Family School. Our clothing drive for Catholic Charities and Social Services has now reached a total of 235 pounds!!! Mrs. Strano’s second graders collected items such as coffee, cookies, candy, razors, toothpaste and other necessities for our troops in Afghanistan. 10 boxes, weighing approximately 12 pounds each, were sent to our soldiers just before Thanksgiving. The project was called GOD – “Giving Others Delight”. The 2nd graders have now adopted a family of four, a mother and three young children, to share the joys of Christmas with. They will be purchasing some articles of clothing and toys for the family. I’m extremely proud of not only our 2nd graders, but all our students for their willingness to help others.

The first Box Tops competition for the year just finished prior to the Thanksgiving break. The proceeds from the Box Tops go towards the transportation costs for our student field trips. Once again, our families have done a fantastic job! Over $669 was raised from the Box Tops. Once again, Mrs. Lawrence’s 4th grade class finished on top. The 2nd graders finished just behind the 4th graders. Each of our 4th graders was given a $10 Scrip card of their choice. All our students should be congratulated for a job well done. The next competition will begin on January 4th. Please start saving those Box Tops over the Christmas break.

Please save the date of Wednesday, December 16th. Our annual Christmas Concert will begin at 6pm sharp. This year, Cassie Buckley has added a play to the festivities. Three Camels is the story of the birth of Christ as seen through the eyes of the camels of the three kings. It should be entertaining as always. Don’t forget to bring your cameras. As an added bonus this year, Sarah Mahan will be displaying some samples of our children’s artwork in the cafeteria. After the concert, we invite everyone to join us in the cafeteria for the art display and refreshments.

Holy Family School has been awarded a technology mini-grant for an online newspaper with podcasted articles. We have received $2,420 to purchase the following:
Toolfactory Podcasting Site License: This allows students to create, record, and upload podcasts with “point-and-click” mouse skills. It also has a music and sound effects library, as well as including a subscription to Clip Art Station, a massive library of pictures and audio. This will enable students to incorporate music and sound effects into their podcasts to keep listeners intrigued.

Two Olympus Digital Voice Recorders which will provide over 1000 hours of recording with 4GB of internal memory and state of the art capabilities such as file move, file copy, sound editing and multi-format recording.

Two Olympus Microphones with Noise Cancellation which plug directly into the computer or digital voice recorder for uni-directional recording in high-noise environments.

Two Olympus FE-46 Digital Cameras with automatic focus and digital zoom.

Olympus Flip Video Ultra HD Series Camcorder with one touch recording and digital zoom. It can capture 120 minutes of HD video on its 8GB of built-in memory. No tapes or additional memory cards are required.

Two instructional books are also included as part of the package.

Kids’ Zone will be open on Wednesday, December 23rd and Monday through Thursday, December 28 – 30.

The Tri-Cities Opera Assembly is being rescheduled for after Christmas. The new date is Tuesday, January 19th at 9am.

Upcoming Events

Monday, Dec. 7 Make Up Photo Day 8:30am
Tuesday, Dec. 8 Mass: Immaculate Conception Holy Day 9am
4th Grade
Wednesday, Dec. 9 Commission Meeting 6pm
Wednesday, Dec. 9 PTO Meeting 7pm
Thursday, Dec. 10 Science Trip to Colgate Planetarium
Grades 3-7 8:15-11:30
Friday, Dec. 11 Grades 5-7
Wednesday, Dec. 16 Christmas Concert/Art Show 6pm
Friday, Dec. 18 Mass: Christmas Celebration 9am
3rd & 4th Grade
Dress Up Day for Students
Wednesday, Dec. 23 Last day of school: 10am dismissal


Gene

Dear Parents,

Being a good listener is a characteristic we should all strive to attain. For an administrator to be effective, I believe this is one of the most important qualities they must possess. Mind you, I am not stating I am always a good listener, but at times I do surprise myself. At our Commission meeting Tuesday night, I shared with the members that I was disappointed I had only received 23 out of 86 responses from parents that they were reading my weekly letter. One member stated that it shouldn’t matter. They felt that even if only one parent responded, I should want to write a weekly letter to that parent. The point was that each of my parents is important. The bottom line is that I will continue to write my letter.

Please note that I will not be in school next week. My wife Patti and I will be taking our annual trip to North Carolina to spend the Thanksgiving week with our daughter Jen, her husband and their two sons, Hunter and Brady. I hope everyone finds time to spend with their families over the Thanksgiving holiday. You should be receiving a letter I’m sending out today concerning next year’s enrollment. If you have any questions concerning the contents of the letter, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Advent begins on Sunday, November 29th. The Catholic Identity Committee has planned some Advent activities to help prepare our children to celebrate the birth of Christ. Kate Conron has volunteered to spearhead the activities. They will include:
· Each classroom will have their own Advent wreath which they will light each morning while they say an Advent prayer
· Two children’s Masses will be held on Friday, Dec. 4 (First Friday Mass) and Friday, Dec. 18 (Christmas Mass). Children are encouraged to dress in their Sunday clothes for the Christmas Mass.
· Prior to each Mass, our children will sing “O Come, O Come Emanuel” as they proceed to church.
· The hats, gloves/mittens, and scarves on our “Giving Tree” will be donated to Catholic Charities.

I’d like to congratulate everyone on a very successful clothing drive. 232 pounds of clothing was donated to Catholic Charities and Social Services. Donations are still coming in. Thanks also go to our 5-7 graders for collecting and weighing the clothes.

The canned food drive has ended. The food that was collected will be donated to a local food bank.

Great News: The Reading Loft in the 1st grade room is almost complete. Next up is the loft for the 3rd grade.

Have a great, relaxing, family-oriented Thanksgiving vacation!

Gene


Here are the events for the upcoming weeks:

Thurs, Nov. 19 Thanksgiving Mass: 10 am
Thanksgiving Dinner:
EC – 2nd Gr. 11am
Gr. 3-7 12:15pm

Friday, Nov. 20 Report Cards sent home
Non-Uniform Day

Tuesday, Nov. 24 Last day of school prior to Thanksgiving Vacation – Normal Dismissal Time

Wednesday, Nov. 25 Kids’ Zone will be open

Thurs & Fri, Nov. 26-27 Thanksgiving Vacation: Kids’ Zone will
be closed

Monday, Nov. 30 Advent activities begin

Firday, Dec. 4 Mass: Grades 5-7 in charge

Monday, Dec. 7 Make-Up Photo Date

November 13, 2009
Dear Parents,

It appears that our school community is getting healthier. Our attendance has improved drastically in the past two days. Please continue to err on the side of caution. If your child has a fever/is ill, please keep them home. If they have a fever of 100 degrees or higher, please keep them home 24-48 hours after the fever returns to normal without the use of medication such as Motrin or Tylenol.

Next week, we celebrate Thanksgiving with our community members. On Thursday, November 19th, we have a Thanksgiving Mass at 10am that the 3rd and 4th graders will be in charge of organizing. We hope everyone will be able to attend. The Mass will be followed by our annual Thanksgiving Dinner for our parents, grandparents, students and staff. Dinner times are:

EC – 2 11:00 am

3 – 7 12:15 pm

If you have children in both levels, you may eat with all your children in the session of your choice. Students will be charged the regular lunch fee of $2.00, while there will be a free will offering for all our guests.

The Scholastic Book Fair is open to all our parents and students in the library through Thursday, November 19th. Stop in and begin your Christmas shopping early!

School physicals will be given to our K, 2nd, 4th and 7th graders, as well as all new students to our school, on November 16-18. A Seasonal Flu Shot Clinic will be held at HFS on Saturday, November 21st from 9am – 11am for anyone 18 years of age or older. Chenango County Public Health will be offering this clinic free of charge.

23 out of 86 families responded that they would like to see this weekly letter continue. This means that approximately 1 out of 4 families read it and/or find it useful. Thanks to all who responded. It is important for me to hear from our families.

Please continue to bring in canned food items for our local food banks. This Friday will be a non-uniform day for our students. My only advice this week is to put up your outdoor Christmas decorations soon before the weather changes. Have a great weekend!

God Bless,

Gene

November 6, 2009
Dear Parents,

Too often we fixate on the things that go wrong in our daily lives, rather than focusing on all the positive things that occur every day. This past week I had the opportunity to spend some time with one of our parents. Here’s what she had to say:

“I just enjoy life…I love to laugh…and I think we just need to be ourselves. Too often in life, we get caught up in things that truly do not matter…what I call “the stuff.” In the mean time, the “stuff” that really matters is ignored…a child’s smile, a friendly wave, a beautiful cloud, or a gentle touch. Things that mattered to us as children get left behind, and we find a new emphasis in life…not always the emphasis we should observe. We need to remember what was important to us when we were children. This is what matters. This is what makes the journey worth the effort…the everyday things all around us, the things that, somewhere along the line, we forgot to appreciate.”

I hope we all reflect on this parent’s thoughts. Maybe then, more of us would be smiling! Here are the upcoming events:

Monday, Nov. 9 - 19 Book Fair – Library After school - During P/T conferences

Tuesday, Nov. 10 H1N1 Clinic 8am
Only those pre-registered
may receive the vaccine

Wednesday, Nov. 11 Veterans’ Day No School

Thur & Fri, Nov.12&13 Parent Conferences Noon - ?
Early Dismissal 11 am


Thurs, Nov. 19 Thanksgiving Mass 9 am

Thurs, Nov. 19 Thanksgiving Dinner
EC – 2nd Grade 11 am
3rd – 7th Grade 12:15 pm

Throughout my years as an educator and an educational administrator, I have found that a foundation in a child’s success in schools is based on parental involvement. A cornerstone of parental involvement is an open line of communication between parents and the school. This communication comes in many forms: emails, phone calls and this weekly letter.

In an effort to assess the effectiveness of the weekly letter that is sent home, I ask that you email me at gchilion@syrdiocese.org if you wish for this form of communication to continue. If you elect to do this, please do not feel the need to write a message. Please just type “please keep the weekly letter” in the subject box.

Thank you for all that you do to further your child’s education here at Holy Family. If you ever have any concerns or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. Together we can address things in need of redressing and create appropriate remedies and solutions.

God Bless,

Gene

October 30, 2009
Dear Parents,

Happy Halloween!!! Better yet, don’t forget to set your clocks back at 2am on Sunday (wow, an extra hour of sleep)!

Many times, my topics for the weekly letters will be random, depending on what occurred during the past week. That is certainly the case this week.

Time and again an administrator has to make decisions that aren’t “black and white”, they’re many shades of gray. We use the information we have and our intuition (gut-feeling) to make a decision that we believe is the best for our children with the information we have on hand. Only time will tell us if we made the best decision. Once in a while, we come across a situation that is clear- the decision is simple to make. That was the case this past Tuesday when I was presented with a letter that was written by our fourth graders.

Before I share the contents of the letter, I’d like to share my thoughts on what some of us may remember from our school days. They used to call it the 3 R’s (reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic). I actually believe we should be teaching the 4 R’s, adding respect to the list. I believe all parents want their children to be respectful and to be treated with respect. This is what we should be modeling as parents and teachers. If we model it, there is a greater likelihood that our children will display this characteristic.

Now, for the letter. I was pleasantly surprised to find a letter on my desk Tuesday afternoon. When I opened it, I saw a typewritten letter on nice stationary that was signed by the entire 4th grade class. As I read the letter, a broad smile spread across my face. The 4th graders have been playing a multiplication math game at their math center called “Timez Attack.” They explained that they are using the free download version, which doesn’t allow them to save their scores or play more challenging math games. The letter was extremely well written. It had an opening paragraph, supporting paragraphs containing valid reasons why we should purchase this educational math game and a closing paragraph. As I read the letter, I thought of the 4 R’s. What a great example of what we want for our children. I immediately went to their science class to congratulate them on the letter, asking them a few questions about the game. When I told them we would get the game, they became very excited. I told them they had to go online and print off the order form and we would fill it in together. For me, it was a perfect ending to a great day. This was an easy decision for me, but most of all I was very proud of our children! click on the link to see a copy of the letter https://www.edline.net/files/257e786ebc0b8e1d3745a49013852ec4/4th_grade_letter.mht. Please take the time to read it.

The final piece of information I’d like to discuss this week pertains to the Holy Family School website (hfsnorwich.com) and Edline. The Diocesan Technology Coordinator and the school consultant we worked with last year both recommended that we use the hfsnorwich.com website for perspective families only. Edline would be used for our current families. As a result of this, the homepage of Edline now contains all the news, the PTO blog, my weekly blog, cafeteria menus, the school calendar, and other information that is pertinent to the daily operation of our school. You can still go to the homepage of hfsnorwich.com and in the top right hand corner click on the “edline link.” This will bring you directly to the edline homepage.

A few reminders:

· Congratulations to all who worked on the float. We finished in first place!
· Set your clocks back one hour at 2am this Sunday
· PTO Pampered Chef party at Missy Hayes’ home on Saturday, November 7th. Contact Missy or any PTO member for info. If you can’t attend, you can order ahead of time using the booklet
· The PTO will be selling the bird feeders again this holiday season. Information will be coming shortly
· 1st Friday Mass is Friday, November 6th at 9am. The 3rd graders will be in charge of this Mass
· The Scholastic Book Fair will begin on Friday, November 6th in the school library
· Don’t forget to check out the PTO blog for upcoming events and information


Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

God Bless, Gene

October 23, 2009
Dear Parents,

Here’s the latest news on upcoming events at Holy Family School:

· Thanks to Kate Conron for chairing the Halloween Float Committee, the Keators for allowing us to work on it at Norwich Beverage, and all the volunteers (old and young alike) who planned and worked on the “Thriller” float. Don’t miss the parade on Saturday, October 24th beginning at 2pm. If you are a float participant or would like to walk next to our float, please meet at Francis Ave. at 1:40pm. Your support will be greatly appreciated!
· Thanks to Melissa Tworkowsky, Sarah Stroh, Stephanie Coggins, Stacey Russell and the entire PTO Committee for planning and organizing this Friday’s Harvest Dinner at St. Bart’s from 5-7pm. This was definitely a team effort with parents baking pies, children and parents bringing in food items for the dinner, and the work force of parents, students and staff.
· Thanks to Eric Diefenbacher, our science teacher and the rest of our staff for organizing last Friday’s trip to Howe Caverns. Our 2nd graders and students in grades 4 through 7 attended the field trip. Many of our parents joined us on this field trip. The feedback was fantastic! The children and parents loved it and the Howe Caverns personnel raved about how polite, respectful and inquisitive our students were. It’s nice to hear compliments like this about our students!
· Our kindergarten through third graders just returned from a fun day at Critz Farms, located outside of Cazenovia. They went on hay rides, picked their own pumpkins and even ventured out into a corn maze! I believe these experiences are so important in the total educational program. While public schools have been cutting or reducing these types of experiences, we’re fortunate at HFS to be able to continue providing these types of experiences. Believe it or not, the Box Tops that you send in help to pay for the cost of bus transportation to these field trips. Last year we raised $991 from Box Tops. We’re off to a good start this year, with the 4th grade slightly ahead of the 2nd grade. It’s good to see our older students in grades 5-7 also pitching in. They’re currently in 4th place.
· Thanks to Dianne Fiorina for organizing the bowling field trip to Plaza Lanes in Norwich. Our 5-7 graders will be bowling during four afternoons as part of their physical education program. Many have shared with me stories of their experiences and good times while bowling. Thanks also go out to Belinda Keator for helping to transport our students and all the parents for changing their schedules to pick up their children at a later time.
· Health items to put on your calendar:
November 5th: All students in grades K-7 will have their eyes
and ears checked
November 16-18th: Students in grades K, 1, 4 and 7 and all new
students who have not had their annual physical will receive them on this date.
· Please note that the Norwich School calendar is incorrect. On Friday, November 5th, we have a full day of school at Holy Family.

Please remember not to leave children unattended in your cars when you
drop off or pick up your children at school.

Hopefully you have noticed that I have begun sending parents individual emails when I need to share information. If you haven’t given us your email address, please do so as soon as possible. If we have a snow day, you will receive an email stating that school is closed.

Please be on the lookout for the consent form and letter concerning the H1N1 Vaccine Clinic. I’m hoping that they will arrive this week. Have a great weekend!

God Bless,

Gene

October 16, 2009
Dear Parents,

An issue has been brought to my attention that I would like to address. I, of course, was oblivious to it. Long ago I chose to look at life in a positive manner. I try to always say hello to people and walk around with a smile on my face. As a result, I wasn’t aware that some of our parents weren’t doing the same. We always seem to be in a rush and have many things weighing on our minds that we sometimes miss the obvious. I hope we realize that as parents, we have the greatest impact on our children. They learn from us, not only from what we tell them, but from our actions as well. Is there any better way to teach common courtesy than by our own actions? Let them see us saying hello and good morning (or afternoon) to people we see when we enter HFS. Putting a smile on our face can also make a world of difference. Yes, we all have personal issues that we face every day, but walking around with a smile helps us to put those issues aside, at least for the time being. I would hope that one of the reasons we send our children to HFS is because of the friendly, welcoming environment. Let’s be great role models for all our children and show them by example how we should treat each other. Perhaps we can borrow from the phrase “This is a smoke-free campus” and make our motto, “This is a friendly campus, saying hello and smiling are required.”

Yesterday I mailed out information concerning the intranasal spray for H1N1. We were originally informed that this was the only vaccine available at this time. Last night I received a phone call from Public Health with exciting news. They will be receiving a shipment of both the intranasal as well as the shot administered vaccine. Parents who choose to have their children receive the vaccine will be able to choose which vaccine they want their children to receive. I’m hoping the clinic will be set up in the near future for our students. I will continue to keep you updated as more information becomes available. Please continue to read the articles we are posting on Edline. I have also decided to take several precautions at our First Friday masses with the flu season upon us. We will not hold hands while we recite the Our Father and we will verbally wish each other “peace” rather than shaking hands.

Due to the change in weather and the flu season upon us, I have decided not to wait until November 1st to allow girls in grades K – 4 to wear navy blue slacks (no cargo slacks), except on Mass days. Girls in grades 5-8 may still wear either khaki or navy blue slacks or skirts (no cargo slacks), except on Mass days.

On Monday, we will be mailing home the reading assessment results for our children. These will be discussed in further detail during parent conferences in November.

Our Harvest Dinner at St. Bart’s Parish Center is Friday, October 23rd from 5-7pm. We need volunteers to help out with this fundraising event. Please consider helping out if you can. Contact Melissa Tworkowsky via email (miggy@roadrunner.com) if you can assist us.

The final request concerns stuffed animals. Valley View Nursing Home residents play bingo each week and the residents love winning gently used stuffed animals. If you have any that need a new home, please have your child bring them to Mrs. Hose. We will make sure the nursing home receives them. On this note of giving, our students will be performing two community service projects for the Thanksgiving Season. We will be conducting a canned food drive and a gently used clothing drive for the Domestic Abuse Center. We will be looking for women’s coats, slacks, blouses and children’s coats, boots, gloves, scarves, jeans and shirts. If you have time this weekend, please begin to collect any items you wish to donate.

My last word of advice is to get the snow tires ready! It’s inevitable!

God Bless,

Gene

October 9, 2009

October 9, 2009
Dear Parents,

I hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather and landscape. This week I will be listing some of the exciting upcoming events at Holy Family School. Please call or stop in if you have any questions.

· Mon, Oct. 12th No School – Columbus Day Kids’ Zone & EC Closed
· Wed, Oct. 14th 6pm Commission Meeting
· Wed, Oct. 14th 7pm PTO Meeting
· Fri, Oct. 16th Howe Caverns Field Trip Grades 2,4,5,6, and 7
· Friday, Oct. 23rd Critz Farm Field Trip Grades K, 1, 2 and 3
· Friday Oct. 23 5-7pm Harvest Dinner St. Bart’s Parish Ctr. PTO Fundraiser
· Friday, Oct. 30th Afternoon Classroom Halloween Parties
· Sun, Nov. 1st 2am Daylight Savings Time
· Mon, Nov. 2nd Individual/Class Portraits
· Fri, Nov. 6th 9am Children’s Mass: 3rd Grade
· Fri, Nov. 6th-19th Scholastic Book Fair: Library
· Tues, Nov. 10th 7pm PTO Meeting
· Wed, Nov. 11th No School – Veterans’ Day Kids’ Zone & EC Closed
· Th & F, Nov. 12 & 13 Early Dismissal 11am. Kids’ Zone & EC open all day
· Th & F, Nov. 12 & 13 Parent Conferences
· Thurs, Nov. 19th 10am Thanksgiving Children’s Mass
· Thurs, Nov. 19th Family Thanksgiving Dinner
Grades EC – 1 11am – Noon
Grades 2 – 7 12:15pm – 1:15pm
· Fri, Nov. 20th Non-Uniform Day
· Nov. 25-29 No School: Thanksgiving Vacation
· Wed, Nov. 25th Kids’ Zone & EC open all day
· Th & F, Nov. 26 & 27 Kids’ Zone & EC closed

Now that school is open, I’d like to remind parents about parking lot safety. Our rule is that when dropping off or picking up your children, please walk them to the door and pick them up at the door. I know this may not be convenient in cold weather, but the safety of our children is our first priority. Also, please shut off your car for safety purposes when leaving it. Thank you in advance for adhering to these safety precautions.

We have been working with Public Health concerning the H1N1 virus. When the vaccine becomes available, we will be conducting a clinic at school for our children. I will let you know as soon as this information is available.

Although it is only the first week of October, we are already planning for our Family Thanksgiving Dinner. Students buying lunch will be charged the normal amount. We are required to do this to meet State and Federal guidelines. A free-will offering will be taken for adult lunches. We are in need of some adult assistance in preparing and serving the food. If you can help out, we would greatly appreciate it. Please let me know if you are able to volunteer.

Please make note: There have been a couple of changes in the October lunch menu. October 14th will be pancakes, scrambled eggs, applesauce, o.j. and milk (instead of french toast).
October 20th will be turkey casserole instead of chicken casserole.

Have a great weekend!

God Bless,

Gene

October 2, 2009
Dear Parents,

I hope everyone had a great week. Things are running smoothly at HFS. We had a great turnout for our Open House this week. 89% of our children’s parents attended. The parents were able to view the great work their children have been doing in school. The rooms came alive with student work. The hallways were also filled with student work, not only from their classroom, but also from their art and Spanish classes. Congratulations go to our great staff for working on their rooms over the summer. The compliments I heard from the parents and grandparents were well worth the time and effort the staff devoted to preparing their rooms for our students.

Last week I focused on the academic changes that were instituted for this school year. This week I’d like to focus on the physical changes that occurred over the summer months at HFS.

· Cleaning of Rooms: Pete Asma has done a wonderful job of thoroughly cleaning all of our classrooms. From cleaning the heaters, the blinds and windows, the walls, washing and waxing the floors, Pete has made the rooms look like new. Many thanks go to Pete for his hard work and dedication to HFS.
· New Classroom Tables: Several of the classrooms have new round and kidney shaped tables to facilitate instruction with their learning centers. The bright colors also lend themselves to a great atmosphere in the classroom
· Several Rooms Painted: Speaking of bright colors, several teachers painted their own classrooms this summer. The classroom landscape now includes multi-colored polka dots, clouds and the primary colors.
· Several Closets Renovated: The kindergarten and 1st grade classroom closets have been totally renovated to provide more storage space, mailboxes or cubbies for the students and bookcases. It gives the rooms a completely new look.
· Gym/Auditorium Entrance: The walls in the entrance hallway have been painted, a new drop ceiling installed and new fluorescent lighting installed. New drop ceilings in the boys’ and girls’ restrooms have also been installed.
· Energy Audit: An energy audit was conducted in June of 2008. We received the report this past May. Pete and myself reviewed the report and developed a plan to institute many of the recommendations in the report. The recommendations in the report that we took included:
- installing eight new fluorescent lighting fixtures to replace less energy efficient lighting
- shutting off and draining an old hot water heater that we weren’t using, but were heating the water in it. It was a remnant from when the locker rooms and showers were in existence at St. Paul’s.
- replacing the stairwell security lights with more efficient lighting
- removing 30 % of the fluorescent light fixtures in the cafeteria
- installing sensors in several areas of the school to shut off lights when the areas are not in use

Annual Asbestos Inspection: was conducted over the summer. Two minor suggestions, not involving asbestos, were made involving insulation that needed to be replaced on pipes in storage areas. This issue was addressed in August. No other issues or concerns were cited in the report.

Please remember the Christmas Concert is on Wednesday, December 16th at 6pm. Enjoy the beautiful fall colors!

God Bless,

Gene

September 25, 2009
Dear Parents,

School is in full swing now! It’s great to see all our children again. I can’t believe how much they grew, both physically and in terms of maturity, over the summer. Like our students, Holy Family School has also undergone many changes over the summer, both academically and physically.

This week I’d like to focus on the academic changes we have incorporated for this school year. In next week’s letter, I will discuss the physical changes.

Before I begin my list, I’d like to explain and reassure everyone that I believe these changes were necessary. In fact, I believe if we hadn’t begun this process last year, enrollment in Holy Family School would be extremely low. For years, the staff was told no to any requests. It’s still difficult to sometimes convince them that we must make these changes to improve the academic program at our school. Much of the credit for these changes needs to go to our dedicated staff. Listed below are these changes, in no particular order. If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact me either in person, email (gchilion@syrdiocese.org) or phone 337-2207 (school) or 965-8930 (home).

· Three new staff members: Suzanne Scafidi, Lisa Halsteter and Sarah Mahan.
Suzanne Scafidi is a former graduate of Holy Family School residing in Norwich. Suzanne will be teaching our Early Childhood Program. Suzanne is a NYS certified teacher for Early Childhood Education with a BA in Childhood Education and an MS in Education – Literacy Specialist from the State University College at Potsdam.
Lisa Halsteter will be our new 1st grade instructor. Lisa spent the past two years teaching 3rd grade at Oxford Central School. Lisa holds a NYS certificate in Childhood Education with a BA and MS in Education, Learning and Technology. She resides in Oxford with her husband and five children.
Sarah Mahan has been hired as our new art teacher for grades Early Childhood through 8th grade. Sarah has a BS in zoology, a BA in Studio Art and an MFA in Illustration. Besides working at HFS, Sarah stays busy by working at The Place in Norwich as the Teen Advantage After School Program Leader. Sarah also works at Laurens Central School as a NY Gear Up Tutor and teaches adult and continuing educations Fine Arts classes at the DCMO BOCES in Norwich. Sarah lives with her husband in Mt. Upton.

· ELA Initiative: I appointed Leslie Linfante ELA Coordinator last spring. Leslie met with the teachers throughout the spring to investigate and choose a comprehensive ELA Program for HFS. They chose the Fountas and Pinnell reading assessment program and the Pearson ELA series. We have already purchased and received the reading assessment program and have ordered the ELA series. The staff dedicated a lot of their time and effort into choosing this program and I am confident it will only enhance our already strong ELA program.
· Student Computer Centers: We have purchased sixteen (16) new computers with 19 inch monitors for student use in the classrooms. Many of the elementary teachers have created computer centers in their classrooms, as well as other learning centers. One main advantage of learning centers is that it enables teachers to easily differentiate instruction for the different learning styles and abilities of their students within the classroom.
· Reading Corners (Lofts): Several classrooms will have new reading lofts in them, while several other staff members have expressed an interest in creating one in their classrooms in the future. The purpose of the reading loft is to create an atmosphere and environment whereby students will want to go and read in a relaxed place. Hopefully this will help to instill a love of reading for our students.
· Early Childhood Program: Beginning this September, we instituted a year-round Early Childhood Program for 3-year olds with options for half-day or full day enrollment. The program is open on all weekdays, except holidays. My hope is that this program will grow and once parents see what we have to offer, they will want their children to remain at HFS. We currently have 11 students attending this program.

Our staff has worked hard to prepare their curriculum for this year. I encourage you to talk with your child’s teacher to see how you can compliment the program we have at HFS and assist your child in having a successful academic year. Our Open House will be on Tuesday, September 29th at 6pm. We will once again be sponsoring OM Teams for students in grades 4-7. At 5:45pm on September 29th, just prior to the Open House, there will be a required meeting for all parents and students who want to join the OM Team in Kate Conron’s room.

Before I close, I’d like to thank several people and organizations for their support of Holy Family during the 2008-09 school year. This list is in no particular order or importance and I apologize now if I inadvertently leave any name(s) off the list. The most important person, God, knows who you are and I’m certain your reward with Him will be great.

· The two anonymous supporters for donating the flooring for our main hallways and classrooms
· Camp Pharsalia inmates for installing the new flooring and painting the gym/auditorium
· Today, Tomorrow and Always donations from countless supporters for underwriting our new Science Initiative, purchasing the paint for the gym/auditorium, purchasing laptops for all our staff and several other projects
· Smith Foundation for underwriting our Tuition Assistance Program, purchasing our new Saxon math and religion books, and several Smartboards
· Dowdall Foundation for purchasing library books, classroom computers, and several Smartboards
· PTO for supporting many initiatives such as assisting in purchasing teacher supplies for the classrooms, student programs and assemblies, the annual Lenten Fish Fries, social events and fundraisers to support our school
· The Knights of Columbus for assisting several families with Tuition Assistance
· All the parents/grandparents who donate classroom items throughout the school year
· To the anonymous donor who paid for the computers in our computer lab
· George Carnrike for donating his services by installing the new elevator

Thank you to all of the above and many others that I haven’t mentioned here. May God bless you!

God Bless,

Gene

Weekly Letter

September 18, 2009
Dear Parents,

We’re off and running after completing our first full week of school. We have finished practicing our eight mandatory fire drills. I would encourage all families to practice these at home, teaching your young children the different escape routes. As they say, it never hurts to be on the safe side.

This past summer we began two initiatives. I’d like to thank Eric Diefenbacher for all the time and effort he devoted to choosing, planning and making the arrangements for our four family science trips this past July. We visited the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, The Museum of the Earth in Ithaca, Rogers Conservation Center in Sherburne and Wolf Mountain in Smyrna. The trips were not only educational, but they provided families an opportunity to spend quality time with their children.

The MARS Program, Math and Reading Superstars, involved all students receiving a cloth MARS bag filled with a book, school pencil and age appropriate math problems. Students were challenged to read consistently over the summer. Those students that met this challenge were promised a surprise when they returned to school in September. On Friday, October 9th, all students that completed the challenge will receive a certificate and celebrate their accomplishment with an ice cream sundae and movie in the afternoon. Please return your reading validation sheet and completed math worksheets to your classroom teacher or Nikki Strano. Thanks go to Nikki for all her work on this project. Congratulations to all our students for participating in this worthwhile venture. Thanks go to all our staff for assisting in preparing the MARS bags and for all our parents for encouraging their children to read over the summer.

I’d like to remind parents to check our website for the updated dress code. I have tried to consolidate the code and make it more user-friendly. Students may wear uniform shorts until November 1st. Beginning November 1st, girls in grades K-6 may wear navy blue uniform slacks. A belt is recommended if the slacks have loops for a belt. Our next Mass is on Friday, October 2nd at 9am. Please review the dress code for Masses.

As you know, at the end of the last school year central New York had numerous cases of H1N1. While it is difficult to predict what will happen this school year, we need to be prepared to deal with the H1N1 and seasonal flu virus. Holy Family School has taken the following initial steps to reduce the risk:
· We encourage all students to bring their own water bottle to school each day.
· Cup dispensers have been ordered and once received, will be installed next to all water fountains.
· Desks, chairs, light switches, keyboards, mice and headphones are sanitized daily.
· All staff has been provided with Purell Sanitizing Hand Cleanser for student use when soap and water are unavailable.
· All staff were provided an opportunity to attend an immunization clinic for the seasonal flu.

I will continue to provide updated information regarding H1N1 and the seasonal flu as it becomes available.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.


God Bless,

Gene

Welcome Back!!

September 11, 2009
Dear Parents,

It was great to see all the children once again! So many of them have grown over the summer. Now it’s our job to help them grow both academically and spiritually during the coming school year. To accomplish this, it must be a team effort involving our staff, the children and yes, their parents. If any of these team members falter, our children will suffer the consequences. As always, communication is a key to achieving the success we desire. On this note, if you try to access our Chalksite, you will notice that it no longer exists. Because of the many issues we and many of the other Diocesan schools encountered with this program last year, the Diocese has decided to stop supporting this program. We only received this news at the end of August. As a result, we are changing to Edline and GradeQuick to communicate with our parents. It will take a month to train our staff and allow them time to prepare their webpages and gradebooks. All parents will receive a brief overview of the new program at our Open House on Tuesday, September 29th, along with their passwords to access their children’s grades and the homework calendar. I apologize for the delay, but I believe it is important to provide our staff with some time to become familiar with this program before allowing parents access to it.

Holy Family School is trying to be proactive with the upcoming flu season and the possible outbreak of the H1N1 virus. I have encouraged all our staff to receive the regular flu vaccine at a staff only clinic we have set up at Holy Family School next week. In addition, a Commission member and I will be attending a conference on the H1N1 virus soon. After this conference, we will be taking steps to prepare ourselves for the upcoming flu season. I will be sharing some of these steps with you next week and in weeks to come. At this point, we will be instituting the following precautions:

· All students may bring their own water bottle to school. Please continuously remind your child not to share their water bottles with other students.
· We will be installing paper cup dispensers at our two water fountains for students to use. Too many germs are spread at water fountains by students putting their mouths on the water spouts.
· We will continue to encourage the use of the water dispenser in the cafeteria.
· Your child’s teachers will regularly review with their classes the proper techniques for washing hands and other healthy habits.
· At least once a week Dianne Fiorina, our PE instructor, will spend a few minutes in PE class reviewing healthy habits and techniques with all our students.

I would encourage parents to look at the following websites for further information:
www.flu.gov

www.ascd.org/research_a_topic/h1n1response.aspx

The playground for our young students is completed. The children love it! Stop by and look at it when you get an opportunity. Please remember the PTO Family Picnic scheduled for Friday, September 18th beginning at 5:30pm. All our families are invited to this fun event. A big thanks goes out to the PTO for the Yahoo and Boo Hoo breakfasts for our students on their first day of school. Enjoy Colorscape and the beginning of the beautiful fall foliage.

Back to School

August 27, 2009
Dear Parents,

Well, I hope you have finished your back-to-school shopping with your children. It’s no different here at Holy Family School. Mr. Asma and the teachers are finishing getting the building and classrooms ready for the start of another exciting year at Holy Family School. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised with the physical changes you will see upon entering the classrooms. More importantly, I believe your children will benefit from the academic changes we have instituted, including our new ELA program.

I would like to make you aware of several important dates. We will have an open house for the parents of our Early Childhood, Pre-K and Kindergarten students on Thursday, September 3 at 6:00pm. The first day of school for students in grades K – 7 will be Wednesday, September 9th. For students in our Pre-K and Early Childhood classes, the first day of classes will be on Thursday, September 10th. Our first Friday Mass will be held on Friday, September 11th at 9:00am at St. Paul’s Church.

I would encourage all parents to visit our website (www.hfsnorwich.com) for information about our school, including the yearly and monthly events calendar, cafeteria menu and parent/student handbook. The cafeteria prices this year will remain the same as last year. Hot lunches will cost $2.00, milk $.40 and ice cream $.75. I would also encourage all parents to visit the teachers’ webpages for important information about their child(ren)’s classes.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or me. I can be reached at 337-2207 (school) or 965-8930 (home). You can also email the staff or me. Our email addresses are the first letter of our first name followed by our last name @syrdiocese.org. For example, my email address is gchilion@syrdiocese.org.

Lastly, I’d like to thank all our parents for having the confidence and faith in Holy Family School. By enrolling your child at our school, you have allowed us to share your most precious gift, your child. Thank you for trusting us to provide your child with a sound academic education in a safe Catholic environment at the Chenango County Catholic School.

Gene

End of School Year Blog

June 25, 2009
Dear Parents,

Well, here goes!! It’s been a whirlwind year, full of changes and pleasant surprises. Unlike David Letterman, my list is not in priority order. I believe it is important to reflect on what has occurred this year at HFS and then begin planning for next year. Again, I want to thank everyone for being so supportive and understanding this year. I am eagerly looking forward to next year already. Please remember the Science Field Trips during July and the MARS challenge program. Have a healthy, safe and family-oriented vacation.

God Bless,

Gene

FACILITY UPGRADES

· Elevator lift installed
· Linoleum flooring and baseboard molding for 1st floor classrooms
· Safety lighting installed in computer room
· Rewired fire alarm system on entire bottom floor of school
· Installed new fire alarm between K and Pre-K rooms
· Removed rust and repainted overhang by gym entrance
· Installed rubberized roof on overhang by gym entrance
· Addressed all Code Enforcement issues from 2007 inspection, including new galvanized piping in art room, new toilets, sinks and faucets in both restrooms by gym entrance, and four new emergency lights
· New drop ceiling by gym entrance and restrooms (to be completed by the end of June)
· Gym and stage walls painted
· New playground for our young students (ground was broken this week)

ACADEMIC UPGRADES

· Extended 5th and 6th grade day by 30 minutes in the morning
· Added Exploratory Spanish in grades K-4 one class a week
· Increased Spanish in grades 5 and 6 from twice a week to three times
· New Science Initiative (2/2/09) - Eric Diefenbacher team teaching science classes in grades K-4, including field trips.
· $13,000 worth of new science equipment, lab tables, and storage unit (Today, Tomorrow, and Always Fund)
· New Saxon math textbooks for grades K-6
· Saxon Smartboard lessons on CD for grades 3-6
· Saxon textbook on CD for student use at home for grades 4-6
· New Amsco Integrated Algebra textbooks for grades 7-8
· New Religion workbooks for grades K-8
· New Glencoe Health textbooks and activity books for grades 5-8
· New teacher resource textbooks for our computer program for grades K-8
· Fourteen new laptops for teachers to use for attendance, grading and
communicating with students/parents
· New PDS system for taking and tracking attendance, grading and preparing reports, and new computerized report cards
· New web-pages for each of our staff members to communicate with their students and parents
· New firewall for our internet system
· Wireless internet
· Smartboards in all our classrooms from K-8 grades
· Six more new Dell computers for our lab (Dowdall Fund & private donation)
· Three new classroom computers (Dowdall Fund)
· Have new Spanish teacher also teach music
· Library upgrade – furniture rearranged, two new computer stations added, reading nook for young readers
· Instituted a new Early Childhood program that will be year-round beginning in September, 2009. Purchased new learning materials and hired a former graduate of HFS for the Early Childhood program
· New ELA program for elementary grades, including new reading, writing and assessment programs to begin September, 2009
· A server was donated to our school. It will be installed this summer
· Extending length of day for all students for the 2009/10 school year:
Elementary: 8:05 am – 2:25 pm
Grades 5-7: 8:00 am – 3:00 pm
· New summer science family field trips planned for four Friday’s in July
· Summer MARS Program to encourage all our students to read and do math over the summer


EXPLORING

· Curtains for the auditorium/gym
· Purchasing more classroom computers for student use
· Upgrading student restrooms on the main floor
· Installing new drop ceiling in the main entrance way
· Instituting energy saving projects this summer, including light sensors in certain areas of the building, upgrade hot water heater system to a more energy efficient system and installing more fluorescent lighting

Weekly Letter June 12, 2009

June 12, 2009
Dear Parents,

Well, testing season is almost over. 8th graders have the Living Environment, Integrated Algebra, and Spanish Proficiency Regents Exams remaining. The results from the State Assessment exams are impressive.
The State’s goal is for all students in the State to receive a score of 3 (Meeting State Standards) or 4 (Meeting State Standards with Distinction). Congratulations to our students and staff for a job well done!

SUBJECT GRADE % ACHIEVING
LEVEL 3 OR 4

ELA Grades 3 – 8 91 %

Math Grades 3 – 8 98 %

Science Grades 4 & 8 100 %

Social Studies Grades 5 & 8 100 %

I have been working on next year’s student class schedule. For the elementary grades, we will continue to offer the Science Initiative and Spanish. The school day for elementary students will start at 8:05 am and end at 2:25 pm. Although this may seem like a trivial change, it enables us to make our special classes 40 minutes instead of 38 minutes, thus adding 6 additional hours of instruction in each class for the year.

In middle school, all 5 -7 students will attend school from 8:05 am until 3:00 pm. Similar to the elementary grades, classes will be 40 minutes in length. The major change is our ability to offer four elective classes to our students during the school day. All 5-7 students will have the opportunity to enroll in Chorus, Newspaper, Yearbook or the Science Club. These classes will meet once a week, with the Science Club and Newspaper meeting once every other week. All 5th, 6th and 7th graders will also be taking a research and data base class once a week.

I will not be writing a weekly letter next week. Instead, I will be working on writing a letter for the week of June 22nd that will focus on the changes/ accomplishments as well as the unresolved issues that we faced this year.

Congratulations to our Nursery, PreK and Kindergarten students on a very successful year. The PreK/Kindergarten Celebration was beautiful. Thanks to Nancy Ritzell, Kelly Law, Mary Hannan, Maureen Wahlberg and Meena Conant for organizing and preparing our students for this event.

June 5, 2009
Dear Parents,

I hope you had an opportunity to attend our first annual Dessert Theatre this past Wednesday. The performances were outstanding. I’m still amazed at how composed our young students are when performing/speaking in front of large audiences. Congratulations go out to Cassie Buckley, Ann French, Kate Conron, and Melissa Lawrence for doing all the planning and preparation for this event, as well as all our young performers! Plans are already underway for a bigger and better show next year!

Congratulations go out to Sarah Mahan, our new art teacher for the 2009-10 school year and Eric Diefenbacher for receiving a Chenango County Council of the Arts Grant for a project entitled “Science, Arts, and Digital Age Collide in Wildlife Photography.” This will be an interdisciplinary project involving digital photography, computers, music, and science. Great things continue to evolve at Holy Family School!

Summer vacation is just around the corner and you’ll probably be hearing “I’m bored” from your children. Well, at Holy Family School we have an alternative to relieve the boredom and provide family entertainment.
As part of our Science Initiative, we will be organizing several family science outings this summer. All students attending our Kids Zone will be attending these field trips, as well as any other students and parents who want to join in the fun and excitement these trips will offer. If your child does not attend Kids Zone, we are requesting parent chaperones for their children. Realizing parent work schedules are complicated, we are allowing one parent to be responsible for two families. You will provide your own transportation. We will leave together from school for each trip. More specific information will be forthcoming concerning these trips. At present, we are trying to schedule trips to Wolf Mountain for our 3-8 graders, Rogers Environmental Center for our PreK – 4th graders, as well as the zoo in Syracuse and the Museum of Earth in Ithaca for all grade levels. Please note that this list is only tentative at this time. We will pay for all student admissions to these field trips. Adults will be responsible for their own admission. I hope many parents will take this opportunity to spend a day with their children in the outdoors, learning about our environment. Tentatively, the trips are planned for each Friday in July, starting with July 10th.

God Bless,

Gene

May 29, 2009
Dear Parents,

I’d like to share an event that just occurred at Holy Family School. It involved Mrs. Law’s kindergarten class. The students gave me a jar full of change that totaled $92.11, which they wanted to donate to Africare. They earned this money by doing extra chores at home during Lent. Africare is an organization that works to improve life for Africans facing numerous obstacles. They teach African farmers about irrigation and farming techniques that will improve their crops. Africare also opens medical clinics, providing Africans with information, counseling, and child health care for malaria, AIDS, TB, and many other diseases. Another initiative of Africare is to provide clean water for Africans by drilling new wells in remote villages. The money our students donated will provide some African children with basic life necessities and perhaps even save a life. What a great lesson for our young students to learn! Congratulations kindergarteners!

The second event I’d like to share with you involves a visit I made approximately one week ago as I visited my grandson in a local public school. It happened to be the day residents were voting on school budgets. I arrived at lunch time for the high school students. I couldn’t believe what I saw! This school has an open lunch policy, meaning students don’t have to be in the cafeteria to eat. They may be in the gym or the hallways of the first floor. Walking into the gym I saw approximately 150 students with one supervisor. As I walked into the hallway, I witnessed students sitting on the hallway floors kissing, and using inappropriate language. I also saw approximately 30 students listening to ipods, even though this school prohibits them in their handbook. An apple had apparently been thrown down the hallway, as there were pieces of it throughout the hallway. Again, I only saw one supervisor for all the hallways. No administrators were anywhere in sight.

You may be wondering why I shared these two events. The reason I bring them up is to remind our parents that one of the reasons they bring their children to Holy Family School is because of the expectations regarding behavior, caring and respect. What our kindergarteners did for Africare is what we want from all our children. What a great example they have set for all of us.

Please don’t miss the Dessert Theatre on Wednesday, June 3rd beginning at 6:30 pm in the gym/auditorium. A free will offering will be taken to provide funds to purchase materials/supplies for our music program. Please come and bring a friend to support our students. Hope to see you there!

Congratulations to Sarah Mahan, our new art teacher and Eric Diefenbacher, our science teacher for being awarded a Chenango County Council of the Arts Grant for the 2009/10 school year. Their grant is entitled “Science, Art and the Digital Age.” It should be an exciting interdisciplinary project that will capture the imagination of our students.

We still have openings in our Early Childhood class (3 year olds) for September. Please spread the good word about Holy Family School.


Gene

Weekly Newsletter May 22

May 22, 2009
Dear Parents,

Although, as I have stated on several other occasions, I am not a proponent of the State Testing Program, it is one of the measures all schools in NYS are held accountable to. Scores may vary from year to year, especially when there is a small student population, so it is important to examine the data over a period of years. Since Holy Family School only began administering the exams last year, we have very little data to review. With that being said, the results for this year are excellent. Student results are grouped into four levels ( 1-4 ). The State’s goal is to have all students achieve levels 3 or 4. The criteria for each level is:

Level 1: Not Meeting Learning Standards
Level 2: Partially Meeting Learning Standards
Level 3: Meeting Learning Standards
Level 4: Meeting Learning Standards with Distinction

Students have taken exams in ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies. Some of the results are official, while others are pending but probably accurate. The results are:

ELA Grades 3 – 8 91 % achieved Level 3 or 4 Official

Math Grades 3 – 8 98 % achieved Level 3 or 4 Unofficial

Science Grades 4 and 8 100 % achieved Level 3 or 4 Official

SS Grade 5 100 % achieved Level 3 or 4 Official

8th Graders will be taking the Social Studies exam on June 2nd and 3rd
Congratulations to all our students and staff on a job well done!!!

Please mark Tuesday, June 16th on your calendars. Students in grades 1-8 will be participating in Olympic Day at the high school. We need volunteers. If you can help out, please contact Dianne Fiorina. The awards ceremony for Olympic Day will be held on Wednesday, June 17th at 8:30 am in our gym. Students will receive ribbons for their efforts. We encourage all parents/grandparents and friends to attend both of these events.

Since Memorial Day is this coming Monday, I thought I’d share a little history about the day. I guess once an educator, always an educator! Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day (I actually remember this) because it was a time set aside to honor the nation’s Civil War dead by decorating their graves. It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868 by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. During this first official celebration, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.

In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon Johnson, declared Waterloo, NY the official birthplace of Memorial Day. By the late 1800’s, man communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day and, after World War I, observances also began to honor those who had died in all of America’s wars. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. Several Southern states continue to set aside a special day for honoring the Confederate dead, which is usually called Confederate Memorial Day.

Here in rural upstate New York, we’re fortunate to have small, hometown parades and speeches, usually organized by our local American Legion Organizations to celebrate Memorial Day. I encourage everyone to attend these local events and share with your children the history behind them. As they say, freedom isn’t free!

God Bless

Gene

Mr. Chilions Weekly Blog 5/15/2009

May 15, 2009
Dear Parents,

Hopefully we’ve encountered our last frost in Upstate New York and we can plant our vegetable and flower gardens. Spring always seems to be the busiest time of year. There’s Little League, softball, AAU basketball, spring soccer, dance recitals, musical concerts, children receiving First Communion and Confirmation, and of course the yard work that must be done this time of year. It seems like we’re always running from one event to the next, trying to squeeze in all these events. But on the other hand, life would be boring without these activities. I believe that if we reflect back on when we were young, these activities were important to us and if we were fortunate, our parents were there with us. Don’t miss the opportunity to be with and support your children as they move to adolescence and adulthood. After all, if we want them to be good parents to our grandchildren, we must be positive role models for them now. So let the grass grow tall and the weeds survive a bit longer. Go to that game or concert or recital with your children and cherish the memories that will live not only a lifetime, but many lifetimes with your children and grandchildren!

Last week our 4th and 8th graders took the State Science Assessment Exam. It consists of two parts; a Performance or laboratory section and a Written portion. I’m pleased to announce that 100 % of our students met or exceeded the State Standards by receiving a 3 or 4 on the exam. Congratulations to all our students and staff for this accomplishment.

I hope you were able to attend and enjoy our Spring Concert last night. Thanks to Cassie Buckley and Ann French for all the planning, time, effort, and practice they devoted to this concert. And, of course, thanks go to all our students who gave 100 % to make this concert special. It was great to see all their smiling faces and hear their beautiful voices! I’m extremely proud of the growth our music program has achieved this year and eagerly look forward to the future. On that note, please remember to mark Wednesday, June 3rd at 6:30 pm on your calendars. Our first Dessert Theatre performance will occur that evening. The gym/auditorium will be set up like a small café with desserts, tea, coffee, and juice served at intermission. Don’t miss this inaugural event. There will be a “free will offering” to assist us in meeting the needs of our music program. Any money donated will be spent on purchasing risers for the concerts, curtains for the gym/auditorium, and music for next year’s concerts. Thank you in advance for your support of our students at Holy Family School.

Our 7th and 8th graders will be working on an interdisciplinary unit on the culture of the 1960’s in their Art, Social Studies and Language Arts classes. Students will be creating posters, interviewing friends and family who experienced the 60’s, and studying the protest songs of this decade. This is part of the “Picturing America” grant that Val Dragoon obtained for our school. The culminating activity for this unit will be a lecture from a visiting college professor on “So You Think You Want a Revolution” on May 28th.

Please note that some of our area public schools will be closed on Friday, May 22nd. Otselic Valley and Unadilla Valley are definitely closed, while Oxford will be open. As a result, any students that normally ride a bus to school will have to provide their own transportation on this day if their local school is closed. Please check with your local school to see if they are open. Please remember to pay any outstanding balances on your children’s cafeteria accounts. Our “lost and found” area is becoming unmanageable. Please check this area to see if any of the items belong to your child. On Friday, May 22nd, we will take all unclaimed items to the Salvation Army. Enjoy the warm weather and the weekend with your family!

God Bless,

Gene

May 8, 2009
Dear Parents,

I can’t thank our parents and students for all the support they are providing our school through the Box Top competitions. The final competition ended last Friday, with the Staff team finishing in first place. The second place team was the 4th grade. Finishing a close third was the 3rd grade class. All three of these teams can now choose a Non-Uniform Day during the month of May. I would to thank everyone for participating this year. We have raised $996.90 for student field trips. We will still accept any Box Tops throughout the remainder of the school year. Please turn them in to Mrs. Hose in the main office.

We just received a thank you letter from Ms. Cindy Falise, Director of Catholic Relief Services for our donation of $159.19 during the Lenten Rice Bowl program. While I’m on the theme of thank you’s, I’d like to thank all our students and staff for preparing for the May Crowning/Living Rosary. Gratitude also goes out to Paula Trevisani and Ellie Olsen of the Catholic Identity Committee for their help in planning this fantastic activity. Lastly, I’d like to thank Chris Henschel for making and donating a Living Rosary to our school for the May Crowning and similar events in the future.

Our elementary staff continues to meet weekly to examine samples of reading and writing programs for next year. Our three-year old Early Childhood Program will be in full swing in September. It will be a year-round program that will be open every day, except holidays and several other days. If you have a young child or know other families that may, I encourage you to stop in and take a look at the program. Our rates are competitive and best yet, our program will foster academic and social growth in a nurturing Christian environment. Please also encourage any families who may be looking at an alternative to public education to contact me for a tour of our facility and a description of our program. Word of mouth is often the best type of advertisement!

Please mark Thursday, May 14th on your calendars. At 6:00 pm Ms. Cassie Buckley will present our Spring Musical Concert. I have been fortunate to listen to some of the rehearsals and I am impressed. The students are working extremely hard with Ms. Buckley for the concert. I’m sure you’ll love the concert. All students from Nursery – 8th grade will participate in the concert. When attending the concert, please enter through the back gym doors.

On May 15th, award-winning local author/illustrator Suzanne Bloom will be giving presentations to the students to celebrate National Children’s Book Week. Ms. Bloom will be signing and selling her award winning picture books at the end of the day. If you are interested in learning more about Suzanne and her books, please visit her website at www.suzannebloom.com. We’d love to have you attend the presentations/book signing:

12:15-1 pm grades 4-8
1:15-1:25 pm grades Pre-K and K
1:15-1:45 pm grades 1-3
2:00-2:30 pm Book Signing

We are requesting your assistance in helping us pay our bills in a timely fashion. We have a number of students who have substantial cafeteria bills and/or have bills for Kids Zone. We are requesting that you please pay these bills at your earliest convenience.

MR. ASMA NEEDS YOUR HELP! The Lost and Found is growing. Please take a moment to view the items to determine if any belong to your family. The Lost and Found is located at the end of the hall near the Nursery room. Any items left at the end of the school year will be donated to Catholic Charities.

Please continue to check the Calendar of events. There are many events during these last two months of the school year and we wouldn’t want you to miss any.

God Bless,
Gene

Holy Family School Weekly Newsletter 5/1/09

Dear Parents,

Our May Crowning of Mary was a wonderful event today. Having the students actively involved made the event more personal to our students. While we’re on the topic of upcoming events, my oldest grand-daughter will be receiving her First Communion this weekend, so my weekly letter will be short due to the fact that my wife and daughter have asked me to complete some projects at home prior to this event.

Please continue to refer to the “Upcoming Events” list in last week’s letter.

Next week, our 4th and 8th graders will be taking the written portion of the State Science Assessment Exam on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

Our monthly Mass will be Thursday, May 7th at 9 am in church, followed by our National Day of Prayer activities.

Soon you will receive information about the student dress code for the annual Spring Concert held on Thursday, May 14th.

Father Joe O’Connor of the Syracuse Diocese will be speaking with all our students on the morning of Monday, May 4th. Please feel free to come in and meet Father O’Connor and welcome him to Holy Family School.

All students and parents should have received the 30 week report card. We encourage all parents to take a few minutes and look over their child’s report card. If you think an error has occurred or need any clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me or Ann French. Our students once again performed admirably. In grades 5-8, 46 % of our students achieved High Honor status (overall average 95 % or higher) and 38 % achieved Honor status (overall average of 89 % to 94.99 %). This represents 83 % of our middle school population. Congratulations!

Finally, I encourage everyone to take time with your families to enjoy the beautiful upstate scenery and weather!

Holy Family School Weekly Letter April 24th, 2009

April 24, 2009
Dear Parents,

For the past 14 years, Father Cunningham has not only been the spiritual leader at Holy Family School, but he has been the driving force behind keeping our doors open and providing many parents with the opportunity of sending their children to a Catholic school in Chenango County. Although I was only able to work ten months with Father, he taught me an important lesson that I will never forget; to always look at the positive in everything. So, in following his advice, I can gladly state that I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Father for the past 10 months.

I don’t need to restate the many issues that were present back on July 1st. Through all of the issues, Father Cunningham was always positive about everything. Over the summer enrollment dropped drastically, parental confidence in our academic program plummeted, and financial issues were ever-present. It was at this point Father Cunningham became my mentor and confidant. He always supported my decisions and always said that God would provide me with the answers. When my mother passed away, it was Father who consoled me with tears in my eyes.

Now life presents us with what appears to be another obstacle or setback. But that’s not how Father would view this. He would smile and say that God will provide us with the answers. If we have learned anything from Father, it is we need to view it in this vein. Perhaps Father’s work at Holy Family is complete and it’s time for him to help another community. Now it’s time to turn to prayer for Father’s health and his successful transition to another community with his boys. God will provide him with the answers.

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· Box Tops: We just received another check in the amount of $290.55 for our Box Tops. The final competition ends on May 1st. The staff is still in the lead, but I have a feeling that several classes are “holding back” until the last day. Time will tell!
· Open House: Thanks to Mrs. Law and her kindergarteners for the lovely opening prayer and song and the PTO for the refreshments. It was a great evening, providing parents with an opportunity to meet their child’s teacher for next year, as well as view samples of their child’s work from this spring.
· New Staff: The following teachers have been hired for the 2009/10 school year:
Sarah Mahan Art
Suzanne Scafidi Early Childhood
Lisa Halsteter 1st Grade
· Playground: We’re almost ready to begin the ground-breaking for the new playground/picnic area for our 3-6 year old students.
· Smartboards: Within the next few weeks, we will be installing new Smartboards in our kindergarten and 2nd grade rooms. A Smartboard in the 1st grade classroom will be installed at the end of the school year. All staff will begin receiving training in the use of Smartboards at the end of June. We will finish this training the first week of September.
· Gym Painting: Thanks to the Camp Pharsalia work crew, our gym and stage have now received a fresh coat of paint. None of this would have been possible without all the planning, time, and organization that Pete Asma put into this project.
· Early Childhood Program: Word of mouth is usually the best type of advertisement. Beginning in September, we will have a year round Early Childhood Program for 3 year old children who are potty trained. Our certified teacher, Suzanne Scafidi, is a graduate of Holy Family School. There will be a Sunrise and Sunset component to this program, staffed by Suzanne and Cassie Buckley. If you or any of your friends are looking for a safe, affordable, educational program for 3 year olds, please stop by and get the information.
· Vocations: Father Joe O’Connor will be speaking to all our students on religious vocations on Monday, May 4th beginning at 8:30 and ending shortly after 11:00am.

April 8 Holy Family School Weekly Letter

April 8, 2009
Dear Parents,

I hope everyone has a relaxing vacation and is able to spend some quality time with their families. Just a few reminders prior to our Easter Vacation:

· Kids Zone will be open this Thursday and every day after Easter. It will be held in St. Paul’s basement.
· The Camp Pharsalia work crew will be painting the gym and stage area over the break.
· The local Knight’s of Columbus #211 organization has generously donated money to Holy Family School for scholarships. If you are a member of the Knights of Columbus, please pick up an application in the main office of the school. Members’ children attending our school will receive a scholarship in the amount of 10 % off their current tuition bill.
· Open House will be held on Thursday, April 23rd from 6-7 pm.
· The school sweatshirts are in. Your children should be bringing them home today.

April 3 Weekly Letter

April 3, 2009
Dear Parents,

It’s been exciting to watch our middle school students in grades 5-8 dissecting worms, locusts, lampreys, frogs, and rats as part of the upgraded science curriculum at Holy Family School. They’ve done a phenomenal job! I would encourage everyone to attend the assembly on Wednesday, April 8th – “Talons, Birds of Prey!” Times for the shows were sent home with your child today. Come and join us. Please remember that Wednesday is also a “non-uniform” dress day. Also, please mark on your calendars Thursday, April 23rd from 6pm till 7pm. This is the date and time for our spring Open House at Holy Family School. Your child will be bringing home more information explaining in detail the exciting events planned for this evening.

I hope everyone has a great Easter Vacation. The Kids Zone will be open on the following days:

Thursday, April 9
Monday, April 13 through Friday, April 17

The gym will be painted over the break, so Kids Zone will be held at St. Paul's in the church basement.

Congratulations to our March raffle basket winner, Herman Von Hassel! All proceeds from these raffles go to support our student field trips.

Well, it’s been exactly six months (October 3rd) since I wrote about “Why Holy Family?” in my weekly parent letter. With enrollment for next year under way, I believe it’s an appropriate time to reflect back on the contents of that letter. As a parent, I know you want what’s best for your children. The elementary and middle school years for children are critical! These are the years when children develop the values that will shape them for the rest of their lives.

WHY HOLY FAMILY REVISITED

1. Respect: If parents were asked for the number one quality they would like to see their children exhibit, I believe the large majority would choose respect. I can remember my parents always talking to me about respect. At Holy Family, I’ve seen respect come to the forefront. Sure, we all take a step backwards at times, but when that has happened, heartfelt apologies soon followed. So if respect is important for your family, please ask yourselves where this quality is most evident

2. Discipline: I believe this goes hand-in-hand with respect. Here’s a great example that occurred recently. A class behaved disrespectfully to a substitute teacher approximately one week ago. The substitute told the teacher who immediately addressed the issue by telling the class that they would all have lunch detention the next day with her. At the end of the day, the teacher discussed the issue with me. The following morning I spoke with the entire class, expressing my disappointment with their behavior and explaining to them that if the substitute were their mother, they would have been very upset with their classmates. I was trying to explain that even if you do not take part in the misbehavior, you have a responsibility to try to stop it. I told the class that I wanted them to write apologies to the substitute during their lunch detention and then hand deliver them and verbally apologize to the substitute. I should have known, but they told me they already wrote the apologies and apologized to the substitute! There was nothing else for me to say except thanks and to continue reinforcing that this is the type of behavior we expect from them.

3. Parental Support: This is the key to success for our children. Without it, the odds are slim that a child can be successful. Parental support means more than making sure your child gets to school on time and completes his/her homework. It means taking an active role in his/her education and school activities. At each of the parent meetings I’ve had, I always give the parents a job to do at home with their children. One parent is working on “Hooked on Phonics”; others read each night with their children, while others practice the spelling words with their children. Volunteering in the classrooms, working at the fish fries, going on field trips, attending assemblies, and bringing in snacks for your child’s class reinforce to your children that you do care and are part of the school community, just like he/she is.

4. Neighborhood School/Safe & Nurturing Environment: As parents, we all want to protect our children and make sure they are safe. What better place than Holy Family! Just the fact that parents/grandparents bring their children to school and are here to greet them at the end of the day makes Holy Family safer. As for nurturing, one only has to look at all the hugs in the hallways. No matter what time of day, one can see parents hugging teachers (great role modeling), parents hugging their children, teachers hugging children, and yes, the principal hugging everyone in sight. While we may not give much thought to this because it’s commonplace at Holy Family, would you see this elsewhere? The great part is that the hugs are genuine and it’s not just at the elementary level. Yes, it’s true we, as parents, can’t protect our children forever, but what’s wrong with trying to protect them for as long as we can, which includes the difficult middle school years?

5. Uniforms/Dress Code: Call me “old-fashioned”, but as I stated back in October, I never realized the difference uniforms and a dress code make in the atmosphere of a school building. At Holy Family School, class time is dedicated to academic pursuits, not dealing with the numerous discipline issues that too often occur in public schools.

6. Prayers and the Pledge: Again I’ll state that starting and ending the day with a prayer, as well as before lunch, is powerful. Likewise, call me old-fashioned once again, but it bothers me when I see people leave their hats on at sporting events when the National Anthem is sung or the Pledge is recited. Likewise, it bothers me when students refuse to stand for the Pledge in classrooms when our tax money is paying for their education. To me, this is a sign of disrespect.

7. The Value of Your Child: So, why Holy Family? I believe parents need to ask themselves, “What is the most important thing in my life?” I certainly hope every parent would, without hesitation, say their family or their children. All parents have the responsibility to make decisions concerning what is best for their children. I would never question their right to do this. I would only ask that when it comes to their children’s education, they look at what Holy Family has to offer and see that it provides the safe, nurturing, and academic environment every parent wants for their children.
God Bless

Gene

March 27 Holy Family School Weekly Letter

March 27, 2009
Dear Parents,

We’re closing in on the end of another marking period. The 30 week marking period ends on April 8th. Report cards will be sent home on the Friday we return to school after our Easter Vacation.

Please remember that if your child is requesting bus transportation to HFS next year, the request to your home district must be submitted by April 1st. Please contact me if you have any questions.

I dislike harping on one topic, but we still need enrollment forms from some families. If you are not planning on attending HFS next year, please let me know via a phone call or a note. The reason this is such an important issue is that student population dictates staffing needs. If you have any questions concerning enrollment, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

The Friday Lenten PTO Fish Fries will continue for a few more weeks. Stop by and eat a great dinner in our cafeteria or call 337-2208 to order take-out dinners from 5pm till 7pm.

Please remember to send in your BoxTops. The Staff is still ahead in our latest competition. The contest ends on May 1st.

The new Science Initiative is going well. The 5th and 6th graders will be observing Mr. Diefenbacher as he dissects different animals: a fish, rat, frog, salamander, bird, lamprey and a shark. The 7th and 8th graders will each dissect a worm, locust (grasshopper), frog, lizard, and a rat.

At this juncture, I need to study the remaining issues that were brought up at the Parent/Teacher/Commission Elementary meeting at the end of January. At this time, I do not know if changes will be made in these areas. I will, as always, keep you informed as time goes by.

· Work on the appearance of the classrooms.
This is an area that I believe class parents can help us.
· Need to conduct exit interviews for families and staff that leave HFS.
· Community service projects for students to give them a sense of social responsibility.
· Look at upgrading Kids Zone.
· Adding a second parent/teacher conference for additional input for parents.
· Providing kindergarten parents with a report card for the first marking period.
· Social issues associated with smaller class sizes

God Bless,

Gene

March 19 Holy Family School Weekly Letter

March 20, 2009
Dear Parents,

Well, we made it! Spring has officially arrived in upstate New York. It’s great to see and hear the children playing outside at recess time. I’ll begin with this week’s announcements.

· Tools for Schools: Congratulations to all our families! Holy Family School finished as one of the top 100 schools in the Northeastern section of our country (CT, MA, NY, VT, PA). The contest ran for 5 months, October through February. Our total balance for the 5 months was 41,984.66, basically meaning we spent about $40,000 at Price Chopper over this period. As a result, our staff is able to purchase items from an educational catalog to support our program at HFS. In addition, as a result of finishing in the top 100, we receive a Califone Wireless Presentation Pro PA System for our school. Thanks go to Stephanie Coggins, our school coordinator and to all the families who participated in this program.

· Barring another snow day, Easter Vacation will begin on Thursday, April 9th. Our last day of school will be Wednesday, April 8th. Since we’ll be on vacation, we will not celebrate a Friday Mass in April. Each grade will be (or has been) praying the Stations of the Cross for Lent.
· Friday, March 27th is the last Friday of the month. It will be a “non-uniform” day.
· Beginning Wednesday, April 1st, students may wear school shorts to school.
· Fish Fry – Friday, March 27th: 5pm-7pm
· Enrollment forms for 2009-10 school year should be returned by March 31st. We will be offering an Early Childhood Program for 3 year olds beginning in September. Please spread the word. Our goal is to have between 12-14 children in this program.

· A wish list of supplies needed for painting the gym will be sent home soon with your children and posted on the website. Any assistance you can provide will be greatly appreciated. The gym will be painted by the Camp Pharsalia workers over the Easter Vacation.

This week I will discuss the suggestions/recommendations that were offered at the Parent/Teacher/Commission meeting concerning our elementary school program.

· Ensure that our curriculum is at least equal, if not superior to the public school curriculum. To this end, we have already added Spanish and additional Science instruction in our elementary grades. As I have promised, we have just begun the process of upgrading our ELA program, which will include assessments for students in grades K-2 at the minimum. We will be exploring the possibility of extending this through 4th grade. At present, the state administers exams beginning in grade 3.
· We need to challenge all our students using differentiated instruction techniques. Two additional staff members just returned from a conference on this topic. They were excited and have already begun using some of the techniques in their classes. I have asked them to share their new knowledge with our entire staff at a future staff meeting. We will continue to strengthen this area and explore additional ways to address this concern.
· There were some concerns relating to the staff turnover rate. This past year we hired four new staff members. For the 2009-10 school year we will be hiring a new 1st grade teacher, an art teacher, and a new staff member for our restructured Early Childhood Program. At this time, these are the only changes in staffing for next year. While I agree consistently high turnover rates can adversely affect the educational program, I believe the new staff hired for this year have improved our educational program. We have received a large number of applications for our openings for next year and will be conducting interviews prior to our Easter Vacation. I am very impressed with the quality and number of applicants we have for these positions. I will certainly keep everyone informed when a final decision is made.
· A suggestion was made that parents in each class should receive a class roster containing student names, parent names, address, phone numbers, and email address. This will be in place for September, pending individual parent approval.
· Another suggestion was to have more involvement by parents, especially parents of young children. I agree that this is one benefit of attending HFS. Parental involvement is greater than in most public schools and is certainly welcomed by our school. However, we can always improve in this area. I will ask the PTO for their assistance in this area.
· School Handbook: Whether we have Diocesan approval or not, we will have the School Handbook on our website for the 2009-10 school year. Putting it on the website will save money and trees. We will provide hard copies for those parents without internet access.

There were several other suggestions made that I will address next week. Enjoy the lovely upstate spring weather with your family.

God Bless,

Gene