BK Alive
News and Information for BK Families
|
|
Aerosol artist and BK graduate Colin Pfeifer, '04 stands next to his newest mural on the BK Campus. Check it out next time you visit Nick Ysursa Stadium! |
|
THIS NEWSLETTER CONTAINS A LOT OF INFORMATION, AND THE LENGTH OF THE NEWSLETTER CAUSES IT TO BE TRUNCATED.
LOOK FOR THE BLUE LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE EMAIL THAT SAYS "VIEW ENTIRE MESSAGE" TO EXPAND THE EMAIL, OR CLICK HERE TO SEE ARCHIVED COMMUNICATIONS FROM BK.
|
|
Next Week
Monday 10/11 - Periods 1-4
8:30 AM Start, 3:00 PM Release
Tuesday 10/12 - Periods 5-7
9:00 AM Start, 2:45 - 3:15 PM Office Hours
Wednesday 10/6
PSAT for Sophomores and Juniors - Arrive by 8:15 (See below for details)
College Application Blitz for Seniors - 9:00 - 11:00 AM in the Cafeteria
No School for Freshmen
Thursday 10/14 - Periods 1-3
9:00 AM Start, 2:45 - 3:15 PM Office Hours
Friday 10/15 - Periods 4-7
8:30 AM Start, 3:00 PM Release
Important Upcoming Dates
Wednesday, October 13th - PSAT for all Sophomores and Juniors, College Application Blitz for Seniors, Senior Tux and Drape Photos at BK, No School for Freshmen
Wednesday, October 13th - Senior Parent Night at 6:30 PM in the Reg
Monday, October 18th - BK Music Concert @ 7:00 PM
Thursday, October 21 - All School Mass
October 28 & 29 - Parent/Teacher Student Progress Conferences
October 28th - 31st - Bishop Kelly Fall Play, Dracula
|
|
A Note from Rich and Mike |
|
Dear BK Families,
Allow me (Rich) to start with a heartfelt thank you for all the wonderful notes I have received in response to my October 4th announcement of this being my last year as President of Bishop Kelly. As I mentioned in my letter to our BK community, it has been an honor, privilege and blessing to be part of this incredible community of students, teachers, staff, parents, and alumni.
As we finish the first quarter of the school year this coming week, we have discussed several times in BK Alive and in our Virtual Town Hall our four objectives for the school year:
- Strengthen a sense of belonging for each student
- Each student achieves personal academic excellence
- Strengthen a sense of community, pride and school spirit
- Strengthening the BK Way.
In this BK Alive letter, in addition to providing a COVID-19 update, I would like to share a story of Dr. Paz’s classes putting their faith into action in support of our healthcare workers, and we will discuss our efforts around our first objective - Strengthen a sense of belonging for each student. First, let’s discuss COVID-19 at BK.
COVID-19 at BK
We are continuing to track and publish our school data on BK.org daily. As of today, 10/8/21, we have had 43 positive student and 9 staff cases since the start of school seven weeks ago, with 1 student and 0 staff member cases added this week. We currently have one student and 0 staff members out in quarantine.
In our COVID assessment meeting this week, we reviewed our three key internal metrics - number of cases and spread within our school, attendance rates, and percentage of staff out - plus the community metrics on cases and hospital capacity. Here is the update on each metric:
-
1) Number of cases and spread within our school - our positive student cases have dropped every week for the past five weeks, from 12 to 7 to 5 to 2 to just 1 this past week. That is encouraging news and speaks to three things in our minds - masks work, our high vaccination rates (90+% faculty/staff and 70+% students) are helping, and the fact that you and your children are doing a good job outside of school. We are still not aware of any spread that has occurred within the school.
-
2) Attendance rates - our weekly attendance has continued to improve from a low of 92.7% four weeks ago to 96.7% this past week. Again, this is very encouraging news and we are getting close to the 98.5% we experienced the first week of school.
-
3) Faculty/Staff absenteeism - this has also improved, from a high of 10 staff out two weeks ago to 4 out today, with none for COVID and 0 in quarantine.
-
4) Community factors - Incidence rates for Ada County have risen each week the past five weeks from 295.90 cases/100,000 the week of September 3 to 662.19 cases/100,000 this past week. This is in the Red/High transmission category. We also know that the combination of increasing COVID-19 positive cases, limited staffing, and resource constraints have created a significant backlog in COVID-19 case investigations. There is some encouraging news in that COVID hospitalizations are coming down some, but that is offset by the fact that ICU’s are still at (or over) capacity and the number of COVID-related deaths remain very high. The state is still operating with “crisis standards of care” in place and staffing shortages and very tired and stressed healthcare workers exist at all hospitals and clinics in our valley. Finally, positivity rates continue to be in the 16%+ range in Ada County clinics and hospitals.
We believe mandatory masking here at BK while indoors, combined with your efforts at home and high vaccination rates, have helped our attendance rates improve and contributed to the drop in positive cases. We did discuss in our weekly COVID assessment meeting whether this is the time to modify our mitigation measures, including our mask policy, but decided at this time to keep them as they have been the past four weeks for the upcoming two weeks. The reasons are:
- We would like to keep this positive momentum and see if we can continue over the coming weeks with zero to minimal cases, high attendance rates for students, and low faculty/staff absenteeism.
- We have not yet seen what impact Homecoming events might have on case counts and absenteeism here at BK.
- We want to do all that we can to ensure a successful completion of the fall sports season and the run of our fall play, “Dracula”, on October 28-31.
- Our region remains in “crisis standards of care” with ICUs full, deaths at record levels, and our health care workers needing our support and solidarity.
We thus have made the decision that we will continue with mandatory masking while indoors in BK buildings for the next two weeks and will explore potential modifications to our mitigation measures and mask policy over the coming weeks should we retain/improve our internal metrics and things improve in our community.
We will do our part in enforcing this and other protocols here at BK but we continue to need your partnership. Please maintain your efforts on proper indoor mask wearing outside of school, staying home when sick, considering being vaccinated if you/your child are not already, discouraging sleepovers, movie nights, car pools, and being kind, civil, understanding and respectful to our BK team and to each other. We all want the same thing - our kids in school for face-to-face learning. Every day. Safely. And the better we can do all these things working together, we stand the best chance of making this happen, potentially without masks at all times indoors.
|
|
Dr. Anthony Paz’s Class
In his theology classes this past week, Dr. Anthony Paz asked his students to put their faith into action. He had his students make cards and write letters to be delivered to St. Luke’s nurses and doctors expressing their appreciation for the difficult work they are doing on the front lines helping people battling COVID-19 in St. Luke’s hospitals around our area.
I (Rich) delivered the letters and cards to St. Luke’s CEO, Chris Roth. He wrote me back when he arrived in his office and said: “I was overwhelmed by the incredible outpouring of thank yous that welcomed me when I entered my office. I was being interviewed by a New York Times reporter later that day and showed them to her. She was so impressed she took pictures of some of them. I only had a chance to read a few of them but WOW! We will make sure we get them to our teams for full visibility. So grateful!!!’
|
|
Strengthen a Sense of Belonging for Each Student
We have five key strategies to meet this objective. They are:
- Community Time implementation
- Meet students where they are with our Faith formation efforts
- Specific efforts to be a more welcoming, diverse and inclusive community
- Encourage scholarly discussion and dialog in all classrooms
- Student leadership training on inclusion
Today, we want to update you on one of those strategies - Community Time. We are completing the first quarter of Community Time this coming week and currently making assignments based on student preferences for the second quarter, while reflecting and adjusting to the things we have learned in the first quarter. As a reminder, Community time is a new initiative for the 2021-2022 school year with a focus on Belonging, while developing and strengthening our BK community and culture. Community time takes place twice per week on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 40 minutes each day. All students, teachers, counselors and admin participate in community time and each belong to various communities based on common interests.
In August, we conducted an initial “Belonging” survey to gather baseline data in conjunction with Springtide Research and will do another round later this month. Key findings of this initial survey were:
- 96% of students agree or strongly agree that Adults acknowledge their presence at BK.
- 97% of students agree or strongly agree that at least one person says hello to them everyday at BK.
- 93% of students agree or strongly agree that they trust that they are cared about at BK.
- 90% of students agree or strongly agree that they don’t feel anonymous or invisible at BK.
- 95% of students agree or strongly agree that they feel safe in my relationships with adults at BK.
- 90% of students agree or strongly agree that they feel adults at BK make genuine effort to know who they are.
While these responses are good, we believe that our efforts with community time will further strengthen the student/adult relationships and also significantly strengthen peer to peer relationships.
In a recent pulse check to assess quarter 1 community time, our students rated their overall experience in Community Time a 4.1 out of 5 and our faculty rated their overall experience a 3.9 out of 5. Going into the second quarter, all students will be remixed with new communities, which will include new groups of students, different adult leaders and a new area of interest to explore. Some of the new communities for second quarter include interests such as Baking, Country Swing Dance, Sewing, Aviation, Calligraphy, Prayer and Worship, Dutch Oven Cooking, E-Sports, Backpacking, Chess and Sports Trivia just to name a few.
After just seven weeks, we believe we are making progress toward strengthening the sense of belonging for each student as new friendships are formed around common interests, new trusted adults are entering students' lives, and a stronger sense of community is happening.
In conclusion, let’s work together to strengthen a sense of belonging for each student which is especially important as we safely navigate our way through this period of very high transmission in our region. As promised, we will continue to review our metrics and our mask policy every two weeks and determine if we should make any changes to our mitigation policies for the coming two weeks to keep kids in school for face-to-face learning and playing sports. Safely.
Thank you for your support, understanding, feedback, and trust.
God bless,
|
|
|
|
Mike Caldwell
Principal
|
|
|
Each week Bishop Kelly faculty and staff nominate students, and students nominate faculty and staff, who have demonstrated the BK Way attributes of Faith, Safe and Caring Place, Academic Excellence, Activities, Honor, Generosity, Community, and Partnership.
Congratulations to this week's Knights of the Week!
|
|
Kalyca Erwin
Academic Excellence
Kalyca works extremely diligently in Sports Med and is always willing to extend help to classmates that might be struggling or need clarification. She is a gentle, quiet leader that obtains BIG characteristics that make her stand out. Not only is she “acing” the class, she is “acing” her role as a Senior in a primarily sophomore class. Love her leadership!
|
|
Trinity Smith
Academic Excellence
Trinity is an exemplary student. She is mindful, thoughtful and diligent about mastering concepts. She does this all with a smile and humbleness.
|
|
Owen Kane, Jaxon Handley, Parker Allumbaugh, Temo Silva, Luca Quilici
Community
These Freshmen football coaches rocked their role! They encouraged, worked to get all girls in the Homecoming Powder-Puff game, and helped the girls do what was right. They demonstrated care for their players and built community and team spirit even to the point of leading them in cheers! Great work fellas!
|
|
Faculty/Staff Knight of the Week
Mr. Bob Goycoolea
Generosity, Community, Safe and Caring Place
- Mr. G is always so supportive and encouraging and always makes me feel welcome in debate. You can clearly tell he cares about his students and will do anything to put a smile on our faces.
- Mr. G is always trying to make sure that all of the new Speech and Debate members feel welcomed and included. He always tries his best to combine upperclassmen with the lowerclassmen to create a sense of community and help everyone feel welcomed.
- Since joining Mr. G’s Speech and Debate class, he has made sure everyone feels like they are welcome. We have around 40 people, and yet he still manages to make it seem like a family.
- Mr G always makes me feel safe and welcome from the moment I step into his class. He is funny, outgoing, and you can talk to him about virtually anything. He always looks out for us and you can tell that he loves each and every single one of his students.
|
|
PSAT for all Sophomores and Juniors
Wednesday, October 13th
|
|
On Wednesday, October 13th, all Sophomores and Juniors will be taking the PSAT here at Bishop Kelly.
Students should plan to arrive by 8:15 that morning. Testing will begin at 8:30 and late arrivals will not be allowed to test. Students need to bring two #2 pencils (mechanical pencils do not work!), a calculator, and a snack and water bottle. Cell phones and smartwatches are not allowed in testing rooms, so they should be left at home or in the car - students will not have access to their lockers on test day! Bishop Kelly's regular dress code is in effect during the test. Testing should be complete @ 12:00 for standard test takers.
The PSAT is also the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test for Juniors.
There are study guides for the test available in the counseling center - room 412.
|
|
Blanket Drive for Refugee Families
The Human Rights Club is sponsoring a blanket drive with CSI Refugee Center for the South Sudan refugees. This will be their first winter ever, so let’s help them stay warm. Please bring in NEW blankets to Mr. Harris’ room (313) by October 29th. Our goal is to get 75 blankets by the end of this month.
|
|
Volunteer Opportunities for BK Parent Ambassadors |
|
Kitchen/Cafeteria Help
The BK Kitchen is in need of volunteer support to help with daily lunch prep, serving, and clean up. We are hoping to identify volunteers in shifts: Monday-Friday from 10:00-11:30 AM (Shift 1) and 11:30 - 1:00 PM (Shift 2). You are able to volunteer your time and talents for one shift, or multiple shifts/days, please email Tommy Steiner at tsteiner@bk.org or call at 208.947.1325.
Thank you for your support of BK and our students!
YOU would be a Great Pasta Festa Chairperson!
BK is in need of a volunteer to lead our annual Pasta Festa! The event is scheduled for Sunday, January 23. This is a great community building event and an opportunity to "break bread" and share a traditional Italian dinner with our Bishop Kelly family and friends.
The Chairperson would form a volunteer committee of parents and/or student volunteer groups to coordinate this event.
To volunteer and/or ask further questions, please contact: Tommy Steiner, VP of Philanthropy and Community Engagement at: 208.947.1325 or email: tsteiner@bk.org
|
|
2021 Winner's Choice Dinner & Auction
Golden Tickets & Auction Item Donations
|
|
Thank you to the following corporate sponsors who have partnered with us to help make our auction a success and further our mission at the Bishop Kelly Foundation to provide funding, support and scholarships to Bishop Kelly High School!
|
|
BK Spirit Co-Sponsor - Allied Business Solutions |
|
BK Spirit Co-Sponsor - Caprock Group |
|
Jr. Knights Co-Sponsor - Pioneer Title |
|
Jr. Knights Co-Sponsor - Simplot |
|
Advertising Sponsor - University of Portland |
|
Golden Tickets have SOLD OUT!! If you previously reserved a Golden Ticket and have not paid, please contact the Foundation asap!
Please consider supporting our event with a donation to the silent auction. Check out our Amazon Wish List and let us do the shopping for you!
|
|
Student Photos and Senior Yearbook Ads |
|
New to BK or Need a School Photo?
Parker Portraits will be on campus to take student pictures on Thursday, October 14th at 8:00 a.m. in the cafeteria. This is a 9:00 start day, so students will need to arrive early to have their photo taken before school starts. If your student needs to have a picture taken, or if you'd like a re-take from the previous photo, please sign up on THIS FORM.
Also, if your student didn't take a photo at the beginning of the year, or wasn't at BK yet, please use the information below to order. Orders must be placed by October 14th:
Leave STUDENT KEY blank
Select "Bishop Kelly Fall 21 plus retake day" from the Job/Event menu & click open
Enter Student Details (Name, Grade & Teacher)
Enter Contact Details & Click Submit
Choose your package
Add to cart then checkout
If you are signing up for retakes, you do not need to order again. Just bring the original picture packet to the portrait session, and those will be replaced with the new photo.
Tux and Drape Photos
Seniors, Check this list for your sitting time for Tux and Drape photos on Wednesday, October 13th .
Seniors who are signed up need to bring $15 for the sitting fee. Cash, or check made to Parker Portraits will work. Please remind your student to be on time! We have A LOT of kids to get through, so it's important to stay on schedule. Also, remember that they do provide the tux and drape. Guys might want to wear a white t-shirt under the tux shirt, but it's completely optional. Ladies will need to wear a tank top or cami under the drape so that the straps can be pulled down, but their stomach is still covered.
Senior Ads In the Yearbook
The early bird pricing deadline for a senior ad in the yearbook is quickly approaching. October 19th is the deadline for a discounted price, and the regular deadline is November 18th. Don't miss this opportunity to send off your senior with a few special words and photos. The ads are built primarily online, and it's a simple process. For more information, see THIS FLYER and/or visit The Yearbook Company website. |
|
Dear parents,
I have received a portion of my requested allotment of seasonal flu vaccine. I have both the Flumist nasal spray (live) and the injectable (non-live) variety of vaccines. If you would like your student to receive the seasonal flu vaccine at school, please check BK Alive or the school website for the consent form. There will also be copies available in the front office. You can return THIS SIGNED FORM to the main office. Information sheets on each vaccine are available in the Forms Manager section of BK.org, and in the front office. There is no cost to the student. Please contact me at school if you have questions.
Thank you,
Mrs. Cunningham, School Nurse
|
|
College Application Blitz
Wednesday, October 13 in the Cafeteria 9-11am
On Wednesday, October 13, the BK Counselors, English teachers as well as Admission Counselors from Idaho colleges and universities will be available in the Cafeteria from 9 - 11 A.M. to help seniors with their college applications, essays, and admissions-related questions. This is a great opportunity for students to work on their applications!
Senior Parent Financial Aid and College Information Night
Wednesday, October 13th @ 6:30 in the Reg
It is our pleasure to welcome Peter Lien, Director of Recruitment from the University of Idaho as our guest to share with you information on financial aid and the FAFSA. In addition, the BK counseling department will share information focused on college admissions and applications. This in-person event for senior parents will be held in the “Reg” gymnasium at 6:30 pm. Masks are required. A copy of the presentation slides will be available on BK’s website for those unable to attend.
6:30-7:15 Admissions and Application Updates
7:30-8:15 Financial Aid with Peter Lien
Bosie PNACAC College Fair
Date: Saturday, October 9th, 2021
Location: Boise State University,
Student Union Building, 2nd Floor, Simplot Ballroom,
1700 W University Dr, Boise, ID 83725
Time: 1:00 pm -3:00 pm
Students: Register in advance by clicking here. After you register, StriveScan will send a barcode via text message and email. At the college fair, present your barcode to college representatives to receive more information about that college. The next day, receive an email with a report of all of the colleges and representatives you met, along with contact information and social media profiles.
10/19 @ 11:10-11:45 Rice University (Virtual Visit)
10/19 @ 2:45-3:15 University of Southern California
10/27 @ 12:00-12:45 Georgetown University
10/28 @11:10-11:45 Hillsdale College
10/29 @ 11:25-12:00 University of Redlands
To attend, sign up using SCOIR or come to the Counseling Center
College & Career Fairs
Registration for the NACAC Virtual College Fairs are now open!
Virtual College Tours
Student-driven virtual college tours
|
|
Upcoming Catholic Community Events |
|
Salt & Light Catholic Radio's Fall Pledge Drive is October 13-15 daily from 7am-6pm. BK will be highlighted on Friday, October 15 at 2pm. The theme is "Behold Him" and will focus on stories about the Blessed Sacrament plus there is a drawing for a pilgrimage to the Blessed Sacrament Shrine in Alabama. Tune in to the radio 102.3FM/1140AM, TuneIn Radio App, or listen online and find the complete parish schedule at saltandlightradio.com.
|
|
Putting a Choose Life Idaho license plate on your vehicle sends a message of hope to mothers and fathers in Idaho. 100% of the funds received from these plate purchases is donated, and each plate provides $22 to an Idaho Pro-Life Pregnancy Center. So far, 677 Choose Life Idaho plates have been purchased. We need another 322 plates to be purchased by the end of 2021 in order for the Idaho DMV to continue offering this program. Click Here to learn more and order your Choose Life Idaho plates. |
|
Our website at www.bk.org is a wealth of information for parents and students alike!
Check out some of the cool tools that are just a few clicks away:
|
|
- Front Office: 375-6010
- Fax: 375-3626
- Business Office Manager: 947-1209
- BK Development Office: 947-1325
- BK Foundation Office: 323-4789
To add, remove, or change your email address, or to remove your name from our regular mailing lists, please contact Chrissy at cbeckner@bk.org.
|
|
Bishop Kelly High School | (208) 375-6010 | www.bk.org |
|
|
|
|
|
|
