May 10, 2021

Dear Families,

We have such wonderful teachers and I know they surely felt appreciated last week during National Teacher Appreciation Week. Thank you so much to our PTO and all of our wonderful parents who helped make it a memorable week!

Sincerely,

Our Bible verse focus for the month of May is Proverbs 3:6

Our prayer focus is the Hail Mary:

Mrs. Mansfield is excited to be hosting a spring Book Fair this week. It will only be open during school hours and students will be able to shop during their designated library time. Unfortunately, parents will not be able to come to the book fair because of the continued COVID guidelines that are in place. Online shopping started yesterday and will continue throughout the week. Below is the link to the book fair website.

We use the Accelerated Reader program to encourage reading, and all yearlong students in 3rd - 8th grade have been working to earn AR points. As a reward for their dedication, students who have earned 100 points or more will get out of uniform days in the coming weeks. There are already nearly 60 students who have earned the reward! Students can continue to take AR tests and earn points until this Friday, May 14th.

Also, all library books are due by May 17th. If your student has any library books at home, please return them by the end of next week.

Our summer packet that includes book and supply lists and uniform information will be shared with parents soon. Our books can be purchased from two vendors, M & M Books and More or The Campus Bookstore. (Contact information for both vendors will be provided in the summer packet.) However, the language arts books must be ordered through the school, and an order form will be provided to families. Lastly, as the majority of our textbooks are consumable, the only books that may be resold or passed along to others are the 3-8 grade Social Studies books as well as the 8th-grade Algebra textbook. Again, all of this will be shared in our summer packet.

Our PTO is planning an online auction and raffle to take place May 20-22. All money raised will directly benefit our teachers. Don’t miss out on this wonderful chance to support our school!

The following students were recognized as Cougars of the Month for the month of March:

In addition, the following were recognized as overall Cougars of the Month and received a gift certificate and recognition from our Partners in Education:

Mrs. Angela Pitts was recognized as our Teacher of the Month, sponsored by The Knights of Columbus.

As a result of our recent elections, we have two new School Advisory Council Members, John Naughton and Abby Woodard.

We are grateful for our outgoing members, Dr. Brian Heller and Melissa Overstreet, and appreciative of their service for the past three years.

A complete list of SAC members for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year is as follows:

Alice Grantham

Judy Laurence

John Naughton

Katherine Spadafora

Sharon Schwarz

Laura Rahmel

Leslie Youkey

Renee Wittendorfer

Abby Woodard

Congratulations to our 7th-grade students who were inducted into the National Junior Honor Society last week.

Front row: Everett Lilley, Joey Reid, Ethan Nguyen, Peyton Partick, Cooper Netto, Lucia McDonald, Cate Veasey, and Olivia Johnson.

Back row: Zoe Zavros, Cade Wimmer, Owen Gillespie, James Edwards, Sam DeVilbiss, Alyssa Coleman, Maggie Byrne, and Jack Baldridge. (not pictured: Lydia Claire Stokes)

Our annual May Crowning was this past Friday. It is a tradition that the 8th-grade students present their flowers in a ceremony following Mass, and it concludes with the Crowning of Mary. In addition, this year each class had the opportunity to bring their flowers to the statue of Mary in the grotto. Classes honored Mary in different ways - praying the rosary together, reciting other prayers to honor Mary, or singing a song.  

All graduating high school seniors from the Class of 2021 who are alumni of CCS are invited to our annual “Cougar Walk” taking place on Monday, May 24.  There will be a socially distanced reception in their honor, and then they will walk alongside our sidewalks while the students distantly cheer for them.

Our 8th-grade Class of 2021 will be honored with a graduation luncheon on May 26, at 11:00 in the Banquet Hall. A graduation completion Mass will be held at 6:30 that evening. We wish our graduates the best of luck in all that they do!

We will be using a different lunch provider next school year, and more information will be shared with parents before the new school year begins. Upon the end of this current school year, if you have a credit with Lexington, a refund will be distributed to you over the summer. Please keep this in mind when adding any money to your student’s lunch account over the next few weeks.

Our school office tends to be very busy, especially this time of the year. As we near the end of the school year, we understand that parents may make arrangements to exchange books and uniforms. However, please do not leave items in the office to be picked up by others, or ask our office staff to distribute these items for you. Thank you for understanding that we are not able to be responsible for the exchange of personal items and belongings.

We have had more students earn Cougar Character awards. Students can build Cougar Character by being: 

Compassionate

Honest

Attentive

Respectful

Agreeable

Considerate

Trustworthy

Enthusiastic

Reliable

Students earn “paw points” when these character traits are displayed. Once a set number of paw points are earned, students receive a certificate along with a few other incentives. Congratulations to the following students who recently earned a Cougar Character award: 

Bo Ladner

Lindsey Nguyen

Heaven-Leigh Davis 

Kellyn Hyke

As shared in January, we will be utilizing a new tuition management program for the 21-22 school year, FACTS. This program is used by many local Catholic and private schools and over 7,000 schools nationwide. The program will add more flexibility for our families to pay for tuition and incidentals while providing security in payments. You can read more about the FACTS program in the attached documents.

This is a reminder that all families have been asked to create an account with FACTS by May 15. To create an account, you will need to access the following site: https://online.factsmgt.com/signin/3VJLH

Please note, if you have used the FACTS program previously to apply for financial assistance, you may use the same login information. Please contact the school office if you have any questions.

We have established an account with AmazonSmile! AmazonSmile is a simple way for you to support our school every time you shop, at no cost to you. AmazonSmile is available on your web browser and can be activated in the Amazon Shopping app for iOS and Android phones. When you shop at AmazonSmile, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection, and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added benefit that AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. Below is the link to our charity page where you can begin your shopping!

The complete May calendar can be found HERE.

May 8 - 14

Book Fair

May 21

McGill Graduation (7:00)

May 24

Cougar Walk (2:00)

May 25

A is for Africa

May 26

8th Grade Luncheon (11:00)

8th Grade Completion Mass (6:30)

May 27

Out of Uniform for all students

May 28

Last Day of School

Out of Uniform for all

Noon Dismissal

Saturday Vigil Mass : 5:30 p.m.

Sunday Morning Masses: 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m.

Sunday Mass is also available on the parish website and YouTube channel. Each Sunday, Mass is posted at 6 a.m. and is available for viewing anytime, any day, along with all previous online Masses.

Weekday Mass:

6:30 a.m. Monday - Friday (please sit on the left side of the church)

8:15 a.m. Monday - Saturday (please sit on the right side of the church)

Join us to celebrate Deacon Arthur Robbins's retirement! Sunday, May 23, after the 11 a.m. Mass. Deacon Arthur’s retirement will be on the following Wednesday, May 26, his 75th birthday.

Registration for Vacation Bible School will begin in May. More details to follow.

Gather each Thursday at 3:00 p.m. Via ZOOM to reflect on the Sunday Gospel and pray together.

All are welcome.

Contact Sister Deborah Kennedy, R.S.M. 251-753-4872

Thursday morning women's bible study is held 9:15 - 10:45 in the conference room, on the 2nd floor of the community center. All will safely distance and wear a mask. Nursery will NOT be provided. All women are invited to share this journey of faith and fellowship. Please contact Patti Hughes at 251-401-9623 or pm.hughes@comcast.net for more information.

Join the meeting in person or by phone.

Dial in: 251-665-2515. Conference ID: 102102#

Contact Jay Cox at 401-6070 or Auburn50@hotmail.com for more information.

6:30 p.m., Tuesdays in the Parish House. Contact Dave Burchette, 367-6660 or davebur1955@gmail.com for more information.

Join us in service, grow in spirituality, and open your heart in friendship to neighbors in need. The St. Vincent de Paul Society responds to local individuals and families with food, clothing and emergency financial assistance. Your help will feed children, prevent evictions and so much more. Financial donations can be placed in the brass poor box in the church vestibule, and clothing and food donations can be left at the St. Vincent de Paul Society table. If you are in need of assistance, call 251-366-6443. To find out how to join us, contact Ann Mackie at annmackie10.am@gmail.com. For more info go to www.svdpccc.org or follow St. Vincent de Paul Corpus Christi Conference on Facebook.