Our First Mass of the School Year
Wednesday was our first school Mass of the school year. As I participated in this Mass, I couldn’t help but have an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction and pride, “This is why we do Catholic schools! We come to the table of the Lord together.” This week, students will start having the Mass parts.
Fr. Rauenbuehler would also like to invite students who attend Algebra I at Assumption to the 7:10 chapel Mass at Assumption on Tuesday mornings.
Weekend Masses
With the excitement of a new school year and new schedules, it may also be time to renew and/or adjust your weekend Mass attendance schedule. OLV has four weekend Masses: 4:30 on Saturdays and 7:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., and 11:00 a.m. on Sundays. Each Mass has a slightly different “feel” as well, if that aspect is more important than time of day. All of them have the Eucharist. Come to the Table!
Ignite Sundays
Need a way to ignite your Sundays? IGNITE Sundays return on September 11th! These events, which occur about once per month, include a special 4:30 Sunday evening Mass, meal in the parish center, and then group gatherings for all ages until 7:15 p.m. You can come to one or more of the Ignite Sundays. There is no cost or registration required. September 11ths discussion focuses on dealing with discouragement.
Communications
Principal’s Posts are written each weekend and posted on our website, available off the front page. I also send a link via email and post it to the school’s Facebook account. I use the Principal’s Post to reach the whole school community and sometimes highlight happenings in particular grades. You will also receive numerous email communications from teachers. Email is probably the number one form of communication in schools.
We also utilize a JFK Facebook page, and there is a closed Facebook group, JFK Moms & Dads, where people can post to others in the group. JFK’s Facebook page can be accessed from the front page of our website. If you’d like to be a member of the JFK Moms & Dads group, please let Angie Hillebrand, in the school office know via a Facebook request or even via email. Social media is not the best venue for voicing a concern, and posts that appear to do so will be removed while we try to reach out to address the concern through a better means. Social media, including our Facebook pages, are great ways to share your photos and connect with other JFK families. Photos from an event are often posted to these pages by families before we can even get photos taken by staff posted. Make sure you “like” us on both Facebook pages!
Occasionally, we will also “blast” a text message to families. A good example of a mass text message would be a last minute school closing due to weather. If you are not registered to receive text messages from JFK (primarily families new to JFK and/or preschool), type “Y” or “Yes” to 67587. You will not receive text messages from JFK if you do not take action yourself. There is no action required to receive email or phone messages.
Headphones for 5th-8th Graders
The supply list for 5th-8th grade students includes a (cheap!) pair of headphones or a set of earbuds to keep at school. These will be used with testing programs and with educational programs as well. Students without these materials will have difficulty participating. It is particularly important that students have their headphones/earbuds at school starting Tuesday, September 6th.
Parking Lot Drop-Off/Pick-Up
Please observe the parking lot traffic patterns for our parking lot. They work rather smoothly. However, a few reminders are below:
- Proceed SLOWLY and cautiously through every location. Little kids are hard to see by cars. What one makes up in time by speeding through the lot will matter little if someone is hit by a car!
- Be attentive to your driving. Talking on a cell phone, even handsfree, can be a distraction when one’s attention is needed most to watch for kids and pedestrians.
- Only use handicapped parking spots if qualified. Handicapped parking spots are reserved for those who need them throughout the entire day, including morning drop off, mid-day pre-school pick up and drop off, and pick up at the end of the day.
- Accompany younger students to/from the barriers, if you park in the lot and are not using the drive-through lanes. Parents who are standing and waiting for their little ones should stand on the school side of the barriers. All children should be supervised.
A photo of the parking lot patterns can be found using the following link: Parking lot traffic patterns
- Red arrows are the drop off/pick up zones. Note that the main one is at the north, but there is also one that can be used at the south.
- Blue arrows are the one-way pick-up lanes.
- Orange arrows are one-way lanes.
- Green arrows indicate where traffic goes in both directions.
- Note that in some areas there are two lanes going in the same direction: one lane is just driving through (orange arrows) and the other lane is the pick up lane leading to the drop off/pick up zone (blue and red arrows).
Lots of Buses
It seems like it always takes a little time for the bus company to smooth things out at the beginning of the school year. Please be patient with the bus company as well. Employees of JFK can work as liaisons, but we have no control over busing. This year, there are nine buses picking up students in the morning, and ten buses dropping off kids at home. Routes this year are shared with Assumption, All Saints, and Trinity Lutheran students.
Parent Meetings
Homeroom teachers will continue to conduct informational parent meetings this week so you can find out more information about your child’s grade. These meetings are different than the “meet and greet” nature of the Unpack Your Backpack/Meet Your Teacher event. The parent meetings are in-person. Meetings for grades K-5 will be held in one of the two teachers’ classrooms. Meetings for grades 6-8 will be in the cafeteria.
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- Mon Aug 29: 6:00 2nd; 6:45 3rd
- Tues, Aug 30: 6:00 4th; 6:45 5th
- Thurs, Sept 1: 6:00 6th
Instrumental Music Staff and Substitutes
We are finalizing our instrumental music program staffing:
- Vanessa Leavitt will be joining our instrumental music program and providing lessons on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Mrs. Leavitt has previous band teaching experience in local private schools. Mrs. Freemyer will be doing lessons on Mondays, and Mr. Connors will do large group band instruction. Fifth grade instrument testing should begin this week!
Substitutes Needed: JFK is in need of substitutes for both long-term assignments (like maternity leaves) and short-term assignments (like when a teacher needs to stay home with his/her own sick child). You do not need a teaching degree to work as a substitute. A minimum of an associate’s degree may be enough to qualify. The process to become a substitute teacher includes completion of a 15-20 hour workshop, multiple background checks, and applications with the Iowa Board of Education Examiners and JFK. Workshops are being held almost every week throughout the state, and many of them are virtual so geography does not need to be a limiting factor. Recognizing the need for substitute teachers, JFK’s board has authorized a $450 bonus at the pay period following the fifth day of substituting at JFK to the first five people to take advantage of this offer. The bonus will essentially cover the workshop fee, license application fee, background check fee, and pay an amount for the workshop time. If you are interested in being a substitute, please contact me and/or the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency at 563-359-1371.We would also like to thank our current substitutes: Amy Farrey, Kayla Mason, Jen Kira, and Mary Sunderbruch.
Safety
Just as staff members go over many other procedures with students at the beginning of the school year, they will have discussions and review practices for fires, tornados/inclement weather, and dangerous individuals, including active attackers/shooters. Whether we discuss Run-Hide-Fight or ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate), how the topics and practices related to dangerous individuals are approached can vary greatly throughout the building as we have three year olds through 14 year olds at JFK.
COVID Guidance for 2022-23
COVID is still around. Reported infection rates this summer have been anywhere from 1.2 to more than ten times worse than last summer. Rates right now are about the same as they were at the beginning of last school year.
COVID mitigation strategies at JFK this fall emphasize the following:
- Vaccination: All people ages 6 months and older are eligible for COVID vaccination. Like the flu shot, COVID vaccination won’t necessarily prevent one from catching COVID, but it will greatly lessen the likelihood of serious complications.
- Please check with your child’s pediatrician about other vaccinations required for school or childcare attendance. State law requires school officials to exclude students who do not have the proper immunizations. Because the Catholic Church is not opposed to vaccinations, there should be no religious exemptions for Catholics.
- Flu shots will again be offered free to K-8 students later this fall thanks to the Genesis Flu Free Quad Cities program.
- Ventilation: We have both building-wide ventilation systems and portable systems operating at JFK.
- Handwashing (and hand sanitizer) and respiratory etiquette. We purchase hand sanitizer by the case!
- Staying home when sick:
- Temperature 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher
- Students must be fever free for 24 hrs without the use of fever reducing medication before returning to school
- Sore throat
- New uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing and/or prohibits the student from doing his/her work (for students with chronic allergic/asthmatic cough, a change in their cough from baseline)
- Diarrhea, vomiting, or abdominal pain
- Students must go 12 hrs without vomiting or diarrhea
- A common definition of diarrhea is 3 or more loose/watery stools in a day
- New onset of severe headache, especially with a fever
- Any other symptom(s) which interferes with your student’s ability to learn, including a non-allergy causing runny nose
- Those who test positive for COVID are excluded from school for 5 days from the date the positive specimen was taken or 5 days from the day symptoms began. The day of the test or the day symptoms began is day 0. After the five days, one may return to school if wearing a mask for another five days. Those who will not be wearing a mask need to stay away from school for a total of 10 days. If one tests positive but has no symptoms and later develops symptoms within the 10 days, the timeline starts over with the day symptoms began as day 0.
- Those who are exposed to someone who has COVID do not need to quarantine. It is recommended that one wears a face mask for 10 days (with day 0 being the last exposure to someone with COVID). Note: Schools in Iowa cannot require face coverings. One should also take extra precautions around others and watch for symptoms.
- It is also recommended that one test at least 5 full days after one’s last exposure. If the test is negative, one should continue with the exposure precautions through day 10. If the test is positive, one should follow the procedures for testing positive.
- Temperature 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher
- Cleaning and disinfection: It seems odd to say that we are continuing with extra cleaning and disinfection; entering our third school year with COVID, it seems more the norm now than extra.
Physical distancing and/or plastic barriers between students will not be in place this year. Face masks, however, are still an option for everyone. Contact tracing and/or letters sent home will not take place, except where required in DHS childcare programs just as notifications might be for other diseases.
Transition to a New Student Information System
The Diocese of Davenport has licensed a student information system (SIS), PowerSchool, for all schools in the diocese. It is taking the diocese much longer to transition all of the schools to the new system, and one cannot imagine all of the things that are now tied into an SIS. Most of our discussions last week were tied to grading, progress reports, report cards, and student/parent viewable on-demand access to grades. There are no easy solutions!
Handbook Sign-Off
Please read the parent and student handbook, available HERE, and on our website: https://www.olvjfk.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Parent-Handbook-2022-23-pdf-version.pdf Then, print off the last page, sign it, and return it to the school office — one per family. Thank you for helping us to reduce our printing costs.
Thanks for the Financial Support
We would like to thank you for your financial support of JFK, especially with the change with tuition payments beginning in July rather than August. As we now move into September, if you have not made a July or August payment yet, you are 30-60 days behind already. If you are in this situation, please contact us regarding a payment plan that may be different than the one for which a contractual agreement was made.
Labor Day — No School & ECLC Closed
There is no school on Labor Day, September 5th. ECLC is also closed for the holiday.
60th Anniversary Celebration – Parish Picnic
The OLV Parish Picnic is Sunday, September 18th following a special 1:00 pm Mass to celebrate our 60th Anniversary. We will be serving pulled pork sandwiches and sides catered by Smokin’ Butt BBQ. As in the past, there will be a hot dog option for the meal, lemonade and waters available as well as beer (both craft and domestic) and wine for adults. Live music will be provided by Identity Crisis. Bounce houses, a petting zoo and other kids activities will be available. The celebration will conclude with a fireworks show at dusk, which is anticipated to be around 7:30 p.m. All outdoor activities will be held on the grounds east of the school. There is no charge for the picnic. Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and an appetite!
NET Retreats for 7th/8th Graders & Housing Needed
A National Evangelization Team (NET) from MN will again conduct retreats for 7th and 8th graders. The 8th grade retreat is Tuesday, October 18 from 4:30 – 8:30 PM. On Wednesday, October 19, from 3:00 – 7:00 PM, we will have the 7th grade retreat. These retreats will be held at Our Lady of Victory, and YOUR HOSPITALITY IS NEEDED. Host families are needed for NET team members on the evening of October 19th. Hosts are requested to house a
minimum of two team members of the same gender. These college-aged young people will have sleeping bags,
mats, pillows, towels and toiletries and are fine with sleeping on the floor, couches or air mattresses. They do
request shower access. Host families often gain much from the presence of these energetic, faith-filled young people! You do not need a 7th or 8th grader to host NET team members. If you are interested, please contact Kaye Meyers at davolvcre@diodav.org or 563-391-8384.
Free/Reduced Price Lunch Applications
ALL student school lunches at JFK are partially subsidized by the federal government due to JFK’s participation in the National School Lunch Program. Some families may also qualify for free or reduced price lunches, provided they complete an application or are “direct certified” through participation in another government assistance program. Hard copy applications were sent to all families. If you do not think you will qualify, you do not need to complete an application. Applications can also be found in the lunch program section of our website or by following the link: Free/reduced lunch application.
The newsletter for JFK’s lunch program can be found at the following link: Lunch Program Newsletter, September 2022
When promoting the NSLP, JFK is also required to share the following non-discrimination statements:
USDA Nondiscrimination Statement
In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html , and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call 866-632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:
- mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; - fax: 202-690-7442; or
- email: program.intake@usda.gov
Iowa Nondiscrimination Statement
It is the policy of this CNP provider not to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or religion in its programs, activities, or employment practices as required by the Iowa Code section 216.6, 216.7, and 216.9. If you have questions or grievances related to compliance with this policy by this CNP Provider, please contact the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, Grimes State Office Building, 400 E 14th St, Des Moines, IA 50319-1004; phone number 515-281-4121 or 800-457-4416; website: https://icrc.iowa.gov/.
Chad
