Month: November 2025

Principal’s Post for November 2, 2025

Posted on by csteimle

New/Updated Information

Parent/Teacher Conferences This Week

PS-8th grade conferences are this week. PS-5th grade conferences are scheduled. If you can’t remember what you signed up for, please contact your child’s teacher. Sixth-8th grade conferences are on a drop-in basis in the cafeteria. Conference times are 5:00-7:30 p.m. on November 4th and 8:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and 4:00-8:00 p.m. on November 6th. There are no classes on November 6th and 7th for JFK. ECLC is open. Students taking Algebra at Assumption should check the high school’s schedule.

OLV Strategic Planning

Earlier I shared OLV’s strengths. There are also areas for growth and improvement. Below are the major areas for growth and improvement, and here is the link for the details and draft recommendations. Input is being collected regarding these areas and recommendations, and we’ll have an online method to submit your feedback soon.

Major Areas for Growth:

  1. Communication & Connection
  2. Welcoming & Hospitality
  3. Volunteerism, Leadership & Accountability
  4. Youth & Family Engagement
  5. Parish-School Relationship
  6. Faith Formation & Evangelization
  7. Outreach & Service to the Community
  8. Campus, Facilities, and Safety
  9. Pastoral, Staff & Operations Support

Safety

  • The ad hoc safety committee will meet November 13th. We will be analyzing a number of brainstormed recommendations next week that have been determined through the analysis of the parents, staff, and students survey, previous committee discussions, and a committee walk-through of the campus. Some recommendations might be easy to implement, some are long-term issues (like having a separate parish hall), some conflict with one another (if we do X, then Y doesn’t need to be done), and some might even just be brainstormed items that really won’t be implemented. There are 15 major prioritized areas ranging from Church and Mass safety to perimeter security and pedestrian control between our property and Kwik Star. Committee members include the following, and they all have current or past vested interests in JFK:
    1. Board members: Stacy Banfield, Dan Haverkamp, Joe Masterson
    2. Staff members: Caitlin Putnam, Chad Steimle (with input also received from JFK’s Building Leadership Team and other groups of staff)
    3. Active officers/law enforcement: Ben Betsworth, Jarrett Harvey, Stephen Kira, Jenn Laud, Erin Pape, DeMarco Tapia, Jordan Youngerman
    4. Private security practice: Jake Pries, Rick Thomas
  • Girl scouts also donated a sign the city is allowing us to put up near the school crossing on Sturdevant Street.
  • On Friday morning, several staff members from JFK and the other private schools met with the Davenport Police Department to discuss greater collaboration in general and community issues like people or vehicles near school property that might be unusual. We also discussed several intruder and threatening statement types of scenarios.
  • JFK is partnering with the state of Iowa for the Safe+Sound reporting system: Safe & Sound Safety Reporting, pdf.  This information can also be found on our website under the For Students and For Parents tabs.

ESA and School Choice

It is likely that ESAs will be a “hot topic” during the next election cycle in Iowa. The Iowa Alliance for Choice in Education has prepared the following article that you may find helpful: 10 Objections to Education Savings Accounts (and How You Can Respond). Here’s the 6th and 7th objections and responses. Number 7 is one that is usually missed by those in politics opposed to ESAs

6. “Public funds shouldn’t go to private or religious schools.”

Response: ESA funds are for the student, not the system. Parents decide where that funding is used. Courts have consistently ruled that when parents make the decision, ESAs are constitutional—even if they choose a faith-based school.

7. “ESAs will drain the state budget.”

Response: ESAs are usually less costly per pupil than public school funding. That means the state spends less when a student uses an ESA. Meanwhile, local districts keep some funding for students they no longer educate.

Still Relevant

Veterans Day Program
All veterans are invited to attend our Veterans Day Program on Tuesday, November 11th at 1:30 p.m. in the gym/cafeteria. It is a red/white/blue out of uniform day for JFK. There is no bus service (except from AHS to JFK for algebra students) as the DCSD does not have classes.
Music Department Poinsettia Fundraiser
JFK’s music and band programs are sponsoring a poinsettia fundraiser. Students will receive an order form to take home on Monday. Completed forms, along with cash or check, should be returned to Cris in the office by Thursday, November 14th.

Poinsettias will be delivered from Wallace’s Garden Center on the day of each Christmas program. Parents will select their preferred program for pickup directly on the order form—don’t skip that detail!

Checking Students’ Grades and Missing Work

Below is a link to the instructions for parents to check students’ “in progress” standards grades. It also includes directions for checking missing assignments and Algebra grades for students taking the class at Assumption. The directions cover how to use both the PowerSchool portal on a computer and the PowerSchool app.

Important notes:

  • There are some things that just cannot be done on the app. You will have to use a computer for them.
  • There is a message that says “Grades disabled by school.” IGNORE this message. It references a certain type of grade and not the standards-referenced grades we are using.

Instructions 

Lunch Program Position

We now have an opening in our lunch program for a 4-5 hour per day position during the school year. The hours are approximately 9:00/10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.  Please contact Meredith Ash or me at JFK or Logan Ahnquist in the SCCS main offices for more information.

Afternoon/evening Custodian Position Still Open

We still have our afternoon/evening custodian position open. This full-time, year round position is responsible for cleaning the upper level of the building during the school year. The hours are approximately 12:00 p.m. -8:30 p.m. See the following link for more information: job description.

POP-UP Conversations for Parents

Need some help talking to your children about any of the following real-life topics?

  • My Kid is Struggling with Anxiety
  • My Kid Is Always on Their Phone
  • My Kid is Unmotivated & Unfocused
  • My Kid is Struggling with Friendships
  • My Kid is Confused and Anxious about Our Polarized  Culture
  • My Kid Feels Pressure to Be Perfect
  • My Kid Doesn’t Want to Go to Church Anymore

Try utilizing POP-UP Conversations for Parents (Downloadable Videos & Leader Guides). Each topic includes a 10–13 minute video “onramp” from a trusted voice to spark discussion, and an easy-to-use Leader’s Guide. These one – hour sessions are designed to help parents/caregivers recognize God’s presence and calling as they care for their kids, and can be used in a variety of in person or online formats.

Highlighted Events

Multiple calendars are available on our website, www.olvjfk.com.  On the school side of the website, a one-page summary calendar is on the front page.  Detailed calendars can also be reached by clicking on the calendars heading toward the upper right corner of the website. Anything underlined on the calendar can be clicked on, and more details will open for you. Below are a few highlighted events:

  • Nov 3: OLV Mass of Remembrance
  • Nov 4: Parent/Teacher Conferences
  • Nov 6: Parent/Teacher Conferences
  • Nov 6/7: No classes (8th graders in Algebra should check with AHS). ECLC open.
  • Nov 7: Middle School Youth Night.
  • Nov 11: No bus transportation. Red/White/Blue out of Uniform Day. Veterans’ Day Event.
  • Nov 12: 8th to AHS field trip.
  • Nov 14: Middle School Youth Night. Home & School Wicked Musical Bingo.
  • Nov 18: Crumb & Coffee Truck at JFK
  • Nov 20: Mock Trial at SAU. Skate Night
  • Nov 21: Fundraiser Out of Uniform.
  • Nov 24: H & S Nothing Bundt Cake Sale. Music Boosters
  • Nov 25: Mad Science Show
  • Nov 26: ECLC Open
  • Nov 26-28: No Classes-Thanksgiving Break

Personal Sharing

Baby in the Office: Late last week, one of our staff members on maternity leave stopped by with her new baby. Everything stops when there’s a baby in the room – a natural circle of smiles, quiet voices, and joy just seems to form.

As I returned to work, I kept thinking about how much a baby reminds us of new beginnings. Schools are full of firsts: first friendships, first books read alone, first civic oration speeches, first successes after struggles. A baby, though, is the first of all firsts — the start of every possibility and every story still to come. The baby in the office was a wonderful reminder that beginnings are always miraculous, and that they point us toward the promises of the future.

Chad