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
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
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
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
Friday, November 6, 2009
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
