April 26, 2020 * Comet Newsletter
From Our Principal
During this time at home, we want to encourage families to try to be intentional about spending time together. That’s the purpose for our Family Fridays . During the month of May, no school work will be assigned on Fridays. This can be used as time to make up missed school work, read a good book, or play outside. We hope, though, that it will also be used to bring our families closer together. Remember that learning doesn’t stop when kids put down their schoolwork, and learning can be fun! Here are some ideas for activities you can do together as a family.

We love our ((soon-to-be)) graduates!
We feel it is important to honor our 8th Grade Class of 2020, and we have been following the progress of the shutdown to determine how we can best achieve this. We have decided not to cancel our graduation ceremony or to do it virtually. The 8th Grade Graduation will be held when the current assembly limitations are lifted. Please reserve Tuesday, June 16 and Thursday, July 16 as possible days for our Graduation Mass and Ceremony.

The show must go on!
Due to COVID-19, we were saddened to have to cancel our school play this spring. However, Mrs. Hunt has agreed to assist us in the fall, and we will again be putting on a performance of The Wizard of Oz. We are grateful to Mrs. Hunt and all of our young performers for their hard work.

Beaufont Smiles!
Thank you to everyone who made cards for the full-time residents at Beaufont! What a beautiful witness of EASTER JOY!! The staff saw our social media posts of the cards we were sending and were totally overwhelmed by your kindness and prayers!! God bless you for your caring hearts for these residents! We hope to show you pictures of residents receiving your cards in the coming weeks! (If you haven't seen all of the beautiful cards that were posted, check out our streaming Facebook posts on our website here !)

Service Project of the Week
For this week's service activity, we want to participate in the "Uplift Your Priest" campaign that I mentioned on Wednesday. A few ideas for your priest include: send a spiritual bouquet, send an Amazon or restaurant gift card, write a letter thanking him for his service, or make a family video to share with him. For more ideas visit the Uplift Your Priest campaign  website .
Comet Classwork for Week 6
Just click on your child's grade below to get your teacher's lesson plan for the week. All referenced attachments/worksheets will still be found in Parent's Web and/or Google Classroom (if the teacher is using Google Classroom) . We also have this posted on our website . Parents - please reach out to your teachers for support. They are here for YOU!






Marylou Carter ( mcarter@saintbenedictschool.org )


Barbara Young ( byoung@saintbenedictschool.org )








MIDDLE SCHOOL:



Michelle Cisik ( mcisik@saintbenedictschool.org ) - English
Michele Barlow ( mbarlow@saintbenedictschool.org ) - Math
Rick Clary ( rclary@saintbenedictschool.org ) - Science
Teresa Lehmann ( tlehmann@saintbenedictschool.org ) - History
Jeff Cronheim ( jcronheim@saintbenedictschool.org ) - Latin/Religion


GENERAL ASSISTANCE

Principal - Sean Cruess (scruess@saintbenedictschool.org)
Administrative - Pam Autry (pautry@saintbenedictschool.org)
Financial/Technical - Elizabeth Hanson (ehanson@saintbenedictschool.org)
Technical Support - Ash Tabrizi (atabrizi@saintbenedictschool.org)
Communications & Social Media/Admissions/Development - Gretchen Ridgely (gridgely@saintbenedictschool.org)
Lunchtime on Zoom at The Comet Cafe!
The following will be the Zoom schedule for the month of May (with the exception of Memorial Day) , beginning this week! We will not have The Comet Cafe open on Fridays to reserve that day for your family. So grab a sandwich and your device and connect with your classmates for a 30 minute virtual lunchroom on Zoom! We'll have special guests, play games and catch up! Encourage your child to participate in their upcoming lunchroom below!



MIDDLE SCHOOL (and Rising Middle) (Grades 5-6-7-8) - MONDAY at 12pm
(We're playing HEAD'S UP, so get a smartphone ready for fun- with parent's permission!)**
3rd - 4th - TUESDAY at 12pm
(We're having a draw-along with Ms. Bykowski - so have paper and pen or pencil ready!!)
1st & 2nd - WEDNESDAY at 12pm
(We're having a draw-along with Ms. Bykowski - so have paper and pen or pencil ready!!)
JK & K - THURSDAY at 12pm
(It's Show and Tell with your PET or favorite stuffed animal!)

CLICK HERE to access your grade's Comet Cafe:

Meeting ID: 782 2575 9576
Password: 7K9wJA

** Head's up is a free app the can be downloaded from the App Store. It's a fun family game and works well on Zoom. If you permit your student to use the app, please assist them in downloading it to your smartphone and try it out a couple of times so they can get the hang of it. It is so much fun - your whole family will enjoy it!
From Our Finance Office
FACTS Payments: Please be advised that FACTS is experiencing a heavier than normal call volume. If you need to adjust a payment date you have the following options:
1. Log into FACTS and
-- for payments on the tuition plan, move the payment up to 10 days yourself
-- for payments on the incidental plan, you can turn off automatic payments
2. Email  ehanson@saintbenedictschool.org . You will normally get a response within 3 hours, but you should allow 24 hours. Be as specific as you can with your request.
(Please be advised, that if you call FACTS, the first thing they will ask is if you have reached out to the school.)

Service Hours Waived - Spring PTO Service Hours requirement has been waived. Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers!!

Enrollment Update: Given the uncertainty that everyone is experiencing we are extending the contract cancellation deadline for 2020-21 from April 20, 2020 to June 3, 2020.
As a reminder, tuition assistance offers are made based on the retrospective financial information provided in FACTS.  Families with a recent change in circumstances can work with Elizabeth Hanson at ehanson@saintbenedictschool.org for temporary assistance, which will be reviewed quarterly. We love our Comet Family and are here for you!
Important School-Away-from-School Notes:
Helpful reminders to keep our communications lines OPEN while we are distance learning!

  • Please respond to our emails/surveys in a timely manner. If we are reaching out to you, to support your family and your student, please be sure to get back to us promptly.

  • Read the newsletter EVERY WEEK when it comes out. Links to everything you need to know is right here!

  • If you are experiencing any technology issues email Ash Tabrizi at atabrizi@saintbenedictschool.org or Dr. Hanson immediately at ehanson@saintbenedictschool.org. We are happy to help troubleshoot any issues and make sure your student stays connected.

  • Keep doing your best! We do expect our students to be doing their assigned work in a reasonable timeframe. We are grading work. All teachers are available by email and phone to assist your child throughout the week. Some teachers will also be offering virtual study halls through Zoom. If your child is unable to complete their work within the week, we need you or your student to let your teacher know as soon as possible. You don't want your student to fall behind - and neither do we - so please keep communication lines open with your teachers regularly.

  • #COMETSTOGETHER Get on Facebook (at least for right now), help your child connect on Zoom Conference calls (like the Zoom Cafe!) and STAY CONNECTED. As the days and weeks of being home settle in for our children, staying connected to their classmates will become more and more important. Please help your child stay connected with them and us online, and join us as we stay #cometstogether!! You can also see what we are posting on Facebook on our website at http://www.saintbenedictschool.org/about/facebook.cfm
Support Our School.... with words!
Can you help us with a testimonial or recommendation that we can post online about St. Benedict? With school being closed, we can no longer give tours or host Open Houses, which means we have to take our admissions online. Your recommendations for our school means so much! So, if you have a chance and can write a few sentences down about what you value about our school and can email it to admissions@saintbenedictschool.org or post it directly on Facebook (being sure to use the word "recommendation" in your post) we would be VERY grateful. Thanks for building up our Comet community and supporting our school!