We hope you enjoy the Irish Insider. For consideration in future editions, please email info@stcathschool.com by 12pm Monday for the Wednesday edition.

Thoughts with Mr. Watts

The gospel reading today reminds us that we are called to do God's will, regardless of what burden's we may have. We all carry mental, emotional, physical, and financial burdens as a result of this pandemic. Through it all, we are called to love each other regardless of those burdens and not judge others on how they carry them.

We are also called to rise above the negativity in our secular world. We are ultimately responsible for guiding our children to who God wants them to be and not what the world thinks they should be. And, although we can't often see what God's plan is for us or our children, as Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, the path we take will ultimately lead us to Him.

Everyone can react much differently to similar situations. The one thing we always can control is our attitude. A positive attitude combined with a solid prayer life can make all the difference, especially in the challenges we all face.

Thank you to everyone who has continued to have faith in our school, trust our system, and has brought a positive attitude to our situation. God Bless you all.

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church....a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes.” - Charles Swindoll

If anyone in your household would have a Positive COVID-19 test result, you must notify Mr. Watts by calling (614) 949-7713 as soon as possible, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

We are required to post positive cases of students and staff on our website weekly. This data, along with other COVID-19 updates can be found at http://stcatharineschool.com/parents/covid-19/. Currently, we have 0 active cases and 2 cumulative case with students and staff. (As of 11.2)

When to Keep Your Child Home (Updated 10.9)- This is a great reference for you to print and keep handy. You can also find a copy in Backpack Express

Report Cards will be published on Digital Academy this Friday, October 6th. Since this is the first time we have published report cards on our new student information system, thank you in advance for your patience.

The Report Card itself will look very similar to report cards published on School Speak in years past. Standards that were assessed during the first quarter will have a letter code and comments will appear on the following page.

What could be more 2020 than having our Parent-Teacher Conferences on Zoom? Communication between student, teacher, and parent is essential for any school community. This year will require us all to be more flexible with how that communication takes place. 

Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Tuesday, November 10th and Thursday, November 12th from 4:00 PM until 7:00 PM. A Sign-up Genius will be sent for each student. You will receive an email with a link to sign-up for a Zoom conference. If you have multiple children at the school, you will receive a separate Sign-up Genius for each student.

Early next week, you will receive a link to the Zoom conference for your student. Again, if you have multiple children at the school, you will receive a separate link for each student. 

Thursday, November 5th - Link(s) to Sign-Up Genius via Email

Monday, November 9th - Zoom Link(s) sent via Email

Please contact me directly if you have questions or concerns. 

Please be careful when walking to and from school and when entering or exiting the front of the building as construction will continue on Fair Ave. Columbus City is replacing a water main starting from Gould and working they are working their way East. Thank you for your patience and flexibility.

rhazel@cdeducation.org

614-725-1977 school cafeteria phone line

614-477-3000 cell  

*this government program could end sooner

Candidates must have current BCI and FBI background checks (less than one year old), which are sent electronically to the Diocese or on file at the Ohio Department of Education, attend a VIRTUS Protecting God’s Children training (they are available online), and complete the online substitute teaching application for the Diocese of Columbus.

Please contact me directly at mwatts1@columbuscatholic.org with questions or to express interest.

A physical gift card order will be placed THIS Friday, November 6. You will only have one more opportunity (Friday, December 4) before Christmas to order physical gift cards. E-gift cards and Reloads can be done at anytime through the website or app (RaiseRight).

Do you have questions about saving money on your 2021-22 tuition? Reach out to Alli Brinkmeyer at stcatharinetrip@yahoo.com or 614.214.5428 with all your SCRIP questions and to get started or check out our TRIP/SCRIP page on our website

Join us on Thursday, November 5th (11am to 8pm) to show Johnson’s Real Ice Cream in Bexley the love that they have always shown us!! Please dine in or place a curb side order to say “Thank you for always supporting us!”

Parents and Coaches,

We are expecting to have a decision by the Diocese on how the upcoming basketball season will operate by the end of this month. Your patience during this time is very much appreciated as details, guidelines and protocols are finalized. The State of Ohio, OHSAA, and NFHS have not provided any guidelines at this time. Once these guidelines are finalized and published, the Diocese is hopeful in sending out a uniform set of guidelines to all parishes and then we will be able to finalize our program for a fun and safe basketball season. Registration is currently open. We will be suspending the participation fee until the guidelines noted above are finalized.

The Lindy Infante Scholarship Foundation helps families who need assistance paying for Diocesan athletic fees. Please fill out the application and send to:

Marty Raines

Diocesan Recreation Association

197 E. Gay St.

Columbus, Ohio 43215

Bishop Hartley Youth Wrestling Club (Grades 1-6) is now taking registration

There will be a mandatory parent meeting on a “Zoom Call” from 6:30 – 7:30pm on Monday, December 7, 2020. The Zoom link is: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/73959700324?pwd=NEYxSzRSS1Qxd3dLYk1MZVNod0dyQT09

Bishop Hartley Jr. High Wrestling Club (Grades 7 & 8) is also now taking registration

There will be a mandatory parent meeting on a “Zoom Call” from 6:30 – 7:30pm on Monday, November 2, 2020. The Zoom link is: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/73959700324?pwd=NEYxSzRSS1Qxd3dLYk1MZVNod0dyQT09

Commissioners needed

Please contact PJ Keiffer with any questions at 614-668-0134 or email, pkeiffer@gmail.com

Registration for Catholic Youth Summer Camp is now open!

Also, St Catharine Parish is offering a $100 scholarship to our campers. Use the code STCATS2021-100 at checkout. This scholarship in made possible through the Christina Ann Allwein Catholic Retreat Fund.