I’m So Blessed!
I work with an amazing staff with members who are always going above and beyond! This week’s shout-out goes to our kitchen staff. Meredith Ash is now doing all of the National School Lunch Program work for All Saints as well as her work at JFK and her help with the SCCS business office in its transition to a new online lunch program. Nathalie Flores, Bety Herrera, and Miranda Labora have also all stepped up to handle an increased work load at JFK.
Keep the Drop-Off Line Moving in the Morning
The drop-off lane along the barriers in the morning is for those who are just pulling up and letting their kids out. If you need to park and/or get out of the vehicle yourself, please park in the lot and not in the drop off lane.
Please also move slowly through the parking lot and be watchful at all times. Saving a few seconds by going too fast or trying to multi-task will pale in comparison to hitting a child with one’s car.
Middle School Youth Night
Adult volunteers are needed to help with middle school ministry this year. Contact Abbey Heinrichs at davolvym@diodav.org, if you are interested. She can also guide you toward the required Protecting God’s Children background checks and requirements for volunteers. They are looking to have a middle school youth night on September 25th, from 6:00-7:30 in the JFK gym.
Middle School Mock Trial
Last I heard, there were fewer than ten students interested in middle school mock trial this year. Students interested should contact our staff liaison, Angie Logan, at angie.logan@olvjfkmail.com.
Purified Featuring Jason Evert
Get answers to life’s tough questions about love, dating, and relationships from internationally acclaimed speaker Jason Evert and leave with a healthy sense of self-worth and the ability, if needed, to start again. OLV is hosting an evening session for parents and teens on Monday, September 11th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tickets are available HERE.
Students in grades 7-12 in SCCS will hear Jason Evert speak at Assumption on September 12th.
Why should I go in the evening, if my teen will go during the day? The two presentations are different. After hearing Mr. Evert speak, teens will want to talk, and the opening is there for them to talk with you as parents about a sensitive topic. Don’t let the opportunity escape!
When my kids were in middle school, they also heard Mr. Evert both during the school day and in the evening. It was a great family experience.
Parent University to Feature Internet and Social Media Safety
SCCS counselors are preparing for a Parent University session on internet and social media safety to be held in early October.
Nearly every issue at schools seems to be tied into cell phones and social media. Schools can only do so much, and we often can only deal with the fall out. Come to the parent university session and find out what parents can do.
Tears at Drop Off
It seems that there are a number of students having a tough time at drop-off in the morning. Nine times out of ten, the kids are fine once they get into their classrooms, but it’s tough when they are upset at the door! Below are some hints from Mrs. Wolf that might help:
Make Sure They Know What to Expect – Prepare your child for what will happen so that there are no surprises. Read books about school. Visit the playground. Talk to them about what it will be like. Let them know that you won’t be staying with them and how the drop off process goes. Practice the routines.
Tell your child “I wouldn’t ask you to do anything that you can’t do and I wouldn’t put you in an unsafe place. School is safe and you will be well cared for. You can do hard things, and you will be ok” Giving into your child and letting them stay home reinforces their thought process that school is not safe and that they cannot “handle” being away from mom or dad, and it makes getting to school the next day even harder.
Read Children’s Books – The Kissing Hand is a classic book and can be wonderful for young kids going to school for the first time. The Invisible String is also wonderful. It’s a great way to teach the concept of being connected even when we are physically separated.
Sing a Goodbye Song or Have a Good Bye Saying – Another way to deal with separation anxiety is to have a special goodbye song or saying, after which the child knows they have to go. I like, “Goodbye for Now, Hello Again Later!” Or, try “The Kissing Hand” yourself – kiss the palm of your child’s hand, and they will know your love is close by! They can kiss yours too in case you start to miss them!
Plan “3 Special Steps” – On the show “Special Agent Oso,” James Bond-type friendly bear uses ‘three special steps’ to solve problems and do basic tasks, such as getting dressed or making a salad. The 3 special steps are something you can use and adapt it for just about any situation that causes anxiety. Talk about the situation before it happens, and then give small tasks to focus on while it is happening. Step one: Get in the car and drive to school. Step two: Walk in to class. Step three: Say ‘hello’ to teacher and start your day!
Let Them Walk In – Act confident and be joyful for your child! If you are hesitant of letting go kids WILL pick up on that. Make sure they walk into school; when they are carried in, it might send the message that you are hesitant.
Don’t Go In the Classroom – It helps if parents don’t walk into the classroom during the first few weeks of school. It helps delineate home from school. It also really helps with separation for both parents and children and makes the transition so much easier for the children. Yes, there are tears sometimes, but not nearly as often when parents walk into the classroom the first week or so of school. Likewise, it may be easier to have the child get on the bus.
Don’t Linger – Before departing from the door, give a quick kiss or hug, maybe a silly song or funny handshake to say goodbye, but don’t linger. And if your child is crying, know that 99% of the time kids are feeling better and actively engaged in the classroom within moments.
Give Praise – Rewards! Try a “No Cry Goodbye” Punch Card or Sticker Chart for your child and reward them! Not only do things like ice cream or a special toy work for making it to the car or classroom without tears, but verbal rewards work too. Silly celebrations and top of your lungs ‘YOU DID IT’s’ can be effective.
Social Stories- Social Stories are a social learning tool that supports safe and meaningful exchange of information. These present appropriate behaviors in the form of concrete, visual cues that help students digest information and make connections. Students can help with the making of the social story by taking pictures to be used to go with the story. The story can be read at home, in the car, and/or at school.
Send a picture/item- For transitions, have a photo or small item that is special available. It can be with the child and can go between home and school. Pictures could be laminated (multiple copies are helpful in case anything happens to the picture).
PS Through Age 12 Aftercare and Wraparound Care:
After school care and wrap around care are licensed by the Department of Human Services and provide supervised activities for students who have not yet turned thirteen. The preschool wrap around rate is included in your tuition bill for either full-time (20 hours or more) or part-time care (less than 20 hours). The rate for K through age 12 is $5 per hour per child, which is a decrease at JFK. The registration fee is $25 per student. A childcare registration form is required for each student. The blank aftercare registration form is available at the school or on our website Students cannot attend aftercare or wrap around care without the DHS program paper/pencil forms complete.
New Technology Systems for 2023-24 and “Bulk” Communications
Scott County Catholic Schools are still in the midst of transitions to new technology systems, including the following:
- PowerSchool, our main student information system
- Kinvo, the communications system connected to PowerSchool
- Blackbaud, the online tuition, bill paying, and accounting system
- EduTrak, the lunch program
Throw in the online pre-registration system and Odyssey, for processing ESAs, and it’s quite the handful. Getting all the systems to “talk” to one another and play nicely together is keeping many people quite busy. Some of the new systems were because of the merger to SCCS, but others were from the state departments of education and revenue and the Diocese of Davenport. Enduring so many changes this year, hopefully things will be a breeze by next year.
Please note that our communications systems are still not fully functional and “bulk” or mass messaging is challenging.
PS-8 Payment System for 2023-24
Parents need to complete several steps in the Blackbaud tuition management system, arrange for payments to be made, and, by now, begin making payments. Remember that tuition is billed at the gross amount, and then deductions like parishioner discounts, multi-child discounts, “private pay” discounts, etc. are shown. It is believed that the invoices are correct, and all of the discounts have been posted. If you have questions, please contact Rose Strickland at the SCCS business office at AHS: rose.strickland@sccsiowa.org or 563-326-5313. No one at JFK has access to your account information in Blackbaud.
Finalizing Payments for 2022-23
Anyone still making payments on 2022-23 school bills, including delinquent tuition, fees, aftercare balances, lunch balances, fines, ECLC payments, etc., should send the payments to OLV/JFK. You don’t want to mix your payments to OLV/JFK with SCCS. Payments for 2023-24 will go through SCCS.
Calendars
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.
Calendar Highlights
Here are just a few items highlighted from the detailed online school calendar:
- Sept 4: Labor Day. No classes. ECLC closed
- Sept 7: JFK Skate Night. 8th Gr. Confirmation prep
- Sept 11: In-service, no classes. ECLC is open. Jason Evert event.
- Sept 14: 7th Gr. Confirmation prep
- Sept 20/21: Picture day
- Sept 22: 2 hr early dismissal. No afternoon PS classes
Altar Server Training
Altar Server Training will be Sept. 23 at 9:30 am -11 am in the church. Children, 4th grade and up, who are interested in altar serving at Mass are invited to attend this training.
Open Positions at JFK for 2023-24
JFK still has open positions for 2023-24:
Instructional aide/support position: We are looking for a “jack of all trades” person to help in preschool, supervise recesses, provide instructional support, and care for students in aftercare and/or wrap-around care. On some days, one might start as early as 7:10, and, on other days, one might work until 5:30. The total is about 39 hours per week, and the rate is $12 per hour. Summers are off, and most other breaks also follow the same schedule as your children! If interested, please send me a cover letter, resume, and references, and/or stop by the school office for an application.
Instructional aide positions: Help teachers and provide instructional support for students in K-8. Multiple positions are available. If interested, please send me a cover letter, resume, and references, and/or stop by the school office for an application.
Substitutes: Substitutes are always needed 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. 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: Kayla Mason, Jen Kira, Amy Jackson, and Dianne Longenecker.
Handbook Sign-Off
Please read the parent and student handbook, available HERE, and on our website: https://www.olvjfk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/JFK-K-8-Parent-Handbook-2023-24.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.
ALICE Training for Kids
As part of our regular safety procedures, most teachers have already briefly talked to students about ALICE, which is an acronym used to help people remember what to do in the event of a violent situation in a school. (We also use the Run-Hide-Fight phrasing.) The materials we’ve used/developed over the years and the approaches we take are targeted for specific grade strands as what one says and does with three year olds in preschool is entirely different than with 13 year olds. Our work with ALICE complements our other conversations and drills, such as those for fire or tornado/inclement weather.
JFK’s Facebook Pages
JFK has three Facebook pages: the main one for the school, one just for pre-school, and 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. Please remember, however, that not all parents are comfortable with photos of their children being on social media. Make sure you “like” us on both Facebook pages!
Chad
