February 27 Holy Family School Weekly Letter

February 27, 2009

Dear Parents,
I hope everyone had a great week off. I think we all needed the R&R. As I promised, I’d like to devote the next few weekly letters sharing the comments we gathered at the Parent/Teacher/Commission meetings held on January 27th and February 2nd. Although attendance at the meetings was low, the tenor of the meetings was extremely positive, professional, and upbeat. I can look at the low attendance from three different points of view. The pessimist would view it as a no-vote of confidence, the optimist would look at it as a vote of confidence with minimal issues, and the realist would view it as life is so complicated and busy, parents can’t find the time to attend a meeting at night. Time will tell which is the case! Please remember that our Enrollment Process has begun. We are asking that parents return the forms by March 31st. If you are applying for Diocesan Tuition Assistance through FACTS, you need to fill out the form and mail it in yourselves. If you are also applying for local assistance, please check the appropriate box on the back of the Enrollment Form and return the form to school. You may also call or stop in to discuss your assistance needs.
Feedback from parents is useful only if it is evaluated to see if it fits the vision of the school. Below is a summary of comments from the parents of our Nursery through 3rd grade.

Things they like and want to keep:
• Want school to stay open
• Like that new programs and ideas are being tried
• Like that issues are addressed when they arise
• Like the fact that the students are taught respect, religious morals and values, in addition to academics
• Like the fact that the staff members know all the students’ names
• Like small class size
• Students are really inspired and interested in specials this year – a 180 degree turn around from last year
• Love the school atmosphere and environment – very positive and caring
• Love that Spanish is being offered to all our elementary students

Areas of Concern/Suggestions:
• We need to ensure that our curriculum is at least equal, if not superior to the public school curriculum
• We need to challenge all our students (Differentiated Instruction)
• Work on appearance of classrooms – cutting clutter and making them more professional looking
• Need to conduct exit interviews for families and staff that leave Holy Family School
• Social issues associated with smaller class size
• Community service projects for students to give them a sense of social responsibility
• Improve Kids Zone
• Concerns with staff turnover – will there be much turnover after this school year
• Kindergarteners receive their first report card at the beginning of February. This is very late. Is there a possibility of revamping this and adding more report card marking periods for kindergarteners.
• Adding a second parent/teacher conference for additional input
• What is the status of the school handbook
• A little concerned with the aggressiveness of a few students in our early elementary grades
• We need more involvement of parents, especially parents of young children, in our school through PTO involvement, and serving as class parents. We may want to consider having current parents "adopt" parents of new students to make the transition to HFS smoother
• Parents in each grade should receive a class roster containing student names/parents’ names/address/phone number/email address
• Increase communication with parents of children, especially in the early childhood education program

Next week I will list the comments/suggestions from the grades 4-7 meeting on February 2nd. In the coming weeks I will begin addressing some of these suggestions as we prepare for next year. I cannot promise I will address all of them, but I will try to comment and make changes on those suggestions I believe will enhance our program at Holy Family School. If you were unable to attend the meetings and have some suggestions, please contact me via email or phone to share them with me.

Congratulations go out to our Odyssey of the Mind Team! The team had a strong showing, finishing in third place in the Shock Wave category.

Finally, the Box Top competition has begun. At this point, the faculty team is in the lead. Please send in your Box Tops to support our student field trips.

God Bless,
Gene

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
State Math Exams
Grade – 3 March 2 and 4
Grade – 4 March 2, 3, and 5
Grade – 5 March 3 and 4
HFS Commission Meeting – 6pm Tuesday, March 3
PTO Lenten Fish Fry – 5pm-7pm Friday, March 6
State Math Exams – Grades 6 – 8 March 9 - 13
PTO Meeting – 7pm Wednesday, March 11