"Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?"
Matthew 26:53
Dear St. Rose School Families,
I feel the power of your prayers from many miles away. Thank you. This is not an easy time for my family but we are grateful for our faith which assures us that my Mother is at home with the Lord, surrounded by His angels. The St. Rose School family is always a gift to me, especially during this time. May God bless you all.
I realize it was a short week with two holidays to start followed by snow disruptions. I am pleased to know that you were able to attend mass virtually for Ash Wednesday and receive ashes from Monsignor Bob and Fr. Tom. Lent is a very special time during which we will walk with Jesus through prayer and acts of service. Please consider supporting the Lenten Mission Drive by participating in the weekly raffle. Thank you.
It's hard to believe that we have hit the 100 days of school mark! This is really something to celebrate in a year like no other. It is worth repeating that through a major team effort St. Rose School has been able to spend the majority of school days on site, safely. Catholic Schools are being recognized in major media across the board for our dedicated, successful response to moving forward during Covid. When Christ is at the center of our days, good things happen!
Today I'd like to draw attention to our School Advisory Board. This is a group of volunteers, many of them alumni parents, who help us keep St. Rose School vibrant. We meet every other month to discuss a myriad of issues ranging from Marketing/Fundraising to Finance, Technology and Facilities Management. The various subcommittees meet monthly to strategize and ultimately help implement events and activities that are needed to maintain and enhance St. Rose School. Current Board members include Monsignor Bob, Nancy Sedensky, Dawn Handwerker, John Cavallero, Helen Previdi, Lori Luciano, Kate O'Connor, Francisco Middleton, Stephen Piccolo, Jeff McKenzie, Al Vitiello, Kevin DeBartolomeo, Stephen Pagliaro and myself. A Who's Who of Bios will be posted on our website and included in this newsletter next week. My sincere thanks to this incredible team for their dedication to our school.
My plan is to return home this weekend. Mrs. B has kept me abreast of all school happenings. My thanks to her and all the faculty/staff for holding down the fort while I have been away. It will be good to be back in our halls where the joy of learning and practicing our faith is always
alive.
I hope you will consider supporting our Knights of Columbus who are holding Take Out Fish Frys every Friday of Lent. You can find details in the flyer below. We are very thankful to the Knights for their ongoing support of our school!
Stay safe and have a relaxing weekend.
God Bless,
Mr. Gjoka
IMPORTANT DISTANCE LEARNING FYI
Distance Learning was an option given to families who wanted to keep their children home instead of sending them for in person learning. We realized that these concerns have fluctuated in the first half of the year and will continue to change in the upcoming months. Parents can make the request for Distance Learning if they have concerns regarding covid and in person learning. The request has to be for a designated amount of time (minimum of 1 week) and to allow for teacher planning, we need at least 24 hours notice; if requests come in on a school day morning, your child will not be able to join remotely until the next day, if the request is approved.
Distance Learning is not for absences due to illnesses (unless related to covid, quarantine, and covid testing). These are regular absences; will count as an absence; and students will have access to Google Classroom for assignments and will have the usual makeup days=to days absence for catching up on work and assessments.
For parents planning family trips in the upcoming months. Please note that Distance Learning cannot be used while on the trip or during required quarantine upon return from your trip (Nurse Bonnie keeps us updated in the weekly newsletter on quarantine and testing requirements).
NURSE NEWS
A Webinar Series for Parents and Families on Supporting Children’s Well-Being and Learning during COVID-19
The CSDE is hosting a series of virtual conversations for parents and caregivers who are managing children’s learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. This series is a follow-up to a December statewide town hall with families where over 400 attendees asked questions and offered comments and suggestions that were used to inform these new sessions. This conversation series is tailored for families; educators and community members are also welcome to attend. Interested individuals may register for any or all of the sessions. All sessions take place on Tuesdays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. See attached flyer for more information and registration links
The mission of the Bishop’s Scholarship Fund (BSF) is to help families in need afford a Catholic education. In the 2020-2021 academic year, BSF awarded nearly $2,700,000 in aid to families at Diocesan elementary schools in Fairfield County.
Applications opened this week -- the deadline for returning families is March 15, 2021 and April 15, 2021 for new families.
We are excited to offer weekly, live virtual tours with Mrs. Coppola for Kindergarten through 8th grade prospective families. These will take place at 11:00-12:00 noon Tuesdays. Registration required using this link. If you are interested in touring the Preschool or have other questions email admissions@srles.com. Please share the word!
Hip! Hip! Hooray! for the 100th Day of School! Kindergarten students celebrated by dressing up as 100 year-olds!
STUDENT LIFE
Hope everyone enjoyed the snow day and has a safe, fun weekend. Stay tuned for an Update next week!
We hope you enjoyed the break and are doing well after this wintry week of snow!
As discussed at our HSA meeting last week, we are looking for parent volunteers to help with a few things: the SCRIP gift card program; continuing teacher appreciation efforts; and working together to reinvent international week for the current situation. We have some terrific ideas to bring international week to life in our school this year. But we need a few people to help us figure it out given the realities of the continuing pandemic.
Once again, we are so very grateful to our teachers and staff for helping us stay in person for learning this year!
A friendly reminder to also consider signing up for the SCRIP grocery enrollment program - email the team at scrip@srles.com if you would like more information. We'd love to have 10 or more families join the program.
As always we welcome your ideas, questions, concerns and support. Please be in touch with us at hsa@srles.com.
Your HSA Board
We love our teachers and are thankful for ALL they are doing to keep lessons engaging and students on track during these uncertain times.
Mrs. Heyder's 2nd grade class recognized the 100th day of school by doing a STEM activity using 100 items to create a design. Innovation!
PLEASE SUPPORT THE MISSION DRIVE
Our Mission Drive is underway! Raffle tickets are available every week for $1 each. The weekly drawing for winners will be announced at dismissal each Friday. Winners in grades PK through 3 will win a stuffed animal; students in grades 4-8 will win a $5 Dunkin Donuts gift card. At the end of the Lenten Season, the class with the most donations for each mission drive will win a special treat. All monies raised will go to help children in Ghana as well as community members in need.
The Acts of Kindness calendar is attached below. Let us all work together this Lent to bring the peace and serving heart of Jesus to others.
