OUR LADY OF FATIMA SCHOOL
STANLEY T. STEELE
PRINCIPAL NEWSLETTER
                                                  August 11, 2017
 
"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire."
                                                                     St. Catherine of Siena
OUT AND ABOUT:
  • Attention to our 21 new registered families: your Fatima Adventure is about to begin! On August 31st at 1:00 p.m. we will host an Open House/Meet your child's teacher event. All new families are invited. It will begin at 1:00 p.m. and you will get the chance to meet other new families, staff, and tour the school. I will send out a letter next week with more details. Let the adventure begin!
  • Question for parents: When did you last take your child to the library? Summer is the perfect time to find a good book and develop a love of reading. I am a big believer that it does not matter what your child reads, as long as they are reading, and then their reading skills and reading self-confidence will grow. I am my own best example of this. As I was growing-up, I would say I really did not like reading until 4th grade. (And subsequently, I was not very good at it in school.) In 4th-grade, I discovered sports books and history books about different wars. My imagination was hooked, my reading scores shot up, and I became a lifelong reader! What is the genre type that will open your child to the love of reading?
  • One of the great built-in supports of our school is the Something Special store. Your volunteer hours there last year allowed Something Special to contribute $20,000 to our Home School Association and $25,000 in matching funds to Our Fatima Faith Fund. This was of tremendous help to our school. Thanks you, all!
  • New this year, Georgia's Grill is going paperless! This year you will place your monthly lunch orders online. Lunch prices will remain at $4.50 per lunch. Fresh fruits and vegetables will be provided with each lunch and you will be able to order milk separately. You will get a letter shortly from Georgia explaining the new program with more information.
  • Our Pre-K program continues to grow. We will be adding a new Pre-K 3 teacher because we presently have 8 Pre-K 3s and 17 Pre-K4s. We will use the former art room as the new Pre-K3 classroom. Mrs. Fontana and Mrs. Highland will share the second module classroom. Thank you Mrs. Fontana and Mrs. Highland for your flexibility! Pass the word on our growing Pre-K program!
  • Save the date - the second annual Parish/School Cookout will take place on August 25th. Last year's cookout was a blast for both students and parents. It begins at 5:00 p.m. Father Reggie plans to have the event catered this year. If you are planning to attend, and I hope you are, please RSVP at the Parish Office by phone 762-3928 or by email at www.olfwilton.org. It will take place in front of the school.
  • Do you want your child to learn a new instrument? New this year, violin, piano, and guitar instruction is coming to Our Lady of Fatima! Students as young as Pre-K 3 will have the opportunity for violin, piano, or guitar lessons through the Music Kids program. This program is modeled on the Suzuki method. More information will be available on Open School Night.
  • One of the most important building blocks of our school is the community we provide to families. Our motto needs to continue to be the song of the old television show, "Cheers." "Everybody knows your name and everybody's glad you came!" Words we live by at Our Lady of Fatima!
  • Are you planning on coaching this year? Are you planning to help chaperone a field trip this year?  Has Diane been emailing you about your VIRTUS training being out-of-date? As you know, in our school, all adults working with children must be VIRTUS trained. I have an easy solution to this problem: Father Reggie is offering VIRTUS training on Monday August 28th from 7-8:30 pm in the Parish Center. Please call the Parish office at 762-3928 to register. Thank you, Father Reggie!
  • We have updated the Parent/Student Handbook. You can find it on our web page, OLFcatholic.org
  • We do need to rebuild our school website. Most browsers are moving away from supporting Adobe Flash. Subsequently we will need to build a new platform. I see this as an opportunity to greatly enhance our website with the use of video. Thank you for your patience.
  • On September 23, Bishop Caggiano will dedicate the outdoor shrine at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. The purpose of this shrine is both to honor young people and to continue the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Our Lady's appearance to the children of Fatima. Anyone who wishes to travel to and from the event on the same day can meet a bus in Stamford. The cost for this is $60 and registration can be completed at www.thefaceofprayer.com The Mass begins at 2:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on EWTN.
  • Remember how great last year's musical, The Snow Queen, was? This fall Joe and Chrystal Theatre will be back to direct students in grades 1-5 in the show, Hansel and Gretel.   Your child will have a ball in this fall's production of Hansel and Gretel based on the classic Grimm Brother's story with music adapted by Cheryl Kemeny from Humperdink's Opera.  With lots of fun parts for all including sassy witches, Sandmen, Dew Fairies, a hard working father, evil mother, Hansel, Gretel, and more! Will they find their way home? Your child will learn to sing, act, and dance in this adorable production! Practices will take place on Wednesdays with a November performance. More information to follow. This is another amazing opportunity for our students. Thank you Karin Beggan for arranging! The spring 3-8 play has not been decided on yet.
  • Does your child need a new uniform for next year?  Reminder: there is a free uniform exchange at the bottom of the stairs to drop-off or pick-up gently used uniforms. Thanks to everyone for contributing. Please help yourself!
  • Congratulations to our young swimmers! Madison Lowthert, and Luke, Tommy and Megan Lussier all made the Fairfield County Swim League Finals scheduled for this Saturday. Way to go, swimmers!
  • The Terra Nova results from last year are still delayed  (I am sounding like a broken record) due to a "system integration" issue at the CTB level. Now they are predicting the reports will arrive sometime at the start of school. As soon as we receive these reports, we will mail home the parent copy home. Thank you for your continued patience.
  • I am at school every day. Please feel free to drop in to chat and to let me know how your summer is going!
  • Labor Day is on September 4th this year, there is teacher PD from the Diocese on September 5th, so our first day with students will be Wednesday, September 6th. Please make a note.
 "SHOUT OUT 1"
Karline Augustine. Karline and her daughters came in last Friday and spent the day organizing our gently used uniforms outside the library. Thank you, Karline! In addition, on a personal note, Karline was just admitted to Sacred Heart University in   the Master of Science: Computer Science - IT program .  Congratulations, Karline!

COMING EVENTS:
August 5th through August 19th - school being cleaned
August 25th - School/Parish Cookout
August 28th - VIRTUS training from 7-8:30 pm  in the Parish Center
August 30 and 31st - Staff Retreat and PD
August 31st - Meet Your Teacher Event for new students and parents at 1:00 p.m.
September 5th- No School- Bishop Convocation
September 6th - First Day for students - mark your calendar
September 21st - Open School Night, Dinner and Social
September 23rd - Bishop Caggiano dedicates the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC
September 23rd HSA Outdoor Movie Night
October 9th - No School - Columbus Day
October 13 - Saints Walk-a-Thon Fundraiser
October 15th - Open House for interested 2018/19 families
October 27th - Halloween Bingo Party
November 7th - No School - Teacher Professional Development Day
November 10th - Veterans' Day
                 First Quarter ends
November 11th - HSA International Family Night
November 16th - Report Cards emailed home
November 16th - Noon Dismissal - Parent Teacher Conferences
November 17th - Noon Dismissal - Parent Teacher Conferences
November 22nd - Noon Dismissal for Thanksgiving Break
November 23/24th - Thanksgiving - No School
December 8th - Feast of the Immaculate Conception - No School
December 11th - HSA Christmas Party
December 13th - Bishop Caggiano visits OLF for the 10:30 a.m. Mass
December 22nd - Noon Dismissal
December 25-29 - Christmas Vacation
 
And Finally:
 
Brent and Carrie Shaffer told me a wonderful story last week. Their son, John, entering 5th grade was in a summer stock musical over the summer. When Brent and Carrie went to see the performance, they were amazed to find OLF 8th -grade and next year's 9th-grade students and their families in the audience. These OLF students and families were all there to support John. Wow! Where else would this happen?
 
 
 
 

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