New/Updated Information
JFK GROWS Students of the Month for January
Each morning, students and teachers at JFK recite the JFK Difference: JFK GROWS. We put God first, use Respectful behaviors, find Opportunities to serve, are Welcoming to all, and make Safe choices. Each month, except December, this year, we are recognizing one student from each homeroom whose teachers have observed them exhibiting these traits particularly well at school during the past month:
KE – Jette P: Jette consistently shows respect, kindness, and responsibility, making the classroom a welcoming place for everyone.
KI – Logan B: Logan consistently works hard and puts forth his best effort. He follows directions the first time they are given and strives to lead by example.
KN – Xavier J: Xavier is a quiet learner who gives the answer when needed. He listens well and is good at following directions. He is kind to others and is willing to play with someone who needs a friend.
1B – Owen B: Owen is always willing to help a friend in need, works hard, and strives to do better every day. He’s a great example of showing God’s love to others and finding opportunities to serve.
1Y – Zhy-Mara L: Zhy-Mara is a wonderful role model to her classmates and younger students. She follows school rules, sets a good example for her peers, and takes responsibility for her actions. ZhyMara takes pride in following directions and always doing her best on her school work.
2M – Jayci T: Jacy is a wonderful part of the 2M community. She shows perseverance daily, making sure to keep trying until she masters each task. Jayci looks out for others and always has a smile when you need it. She is kind, humble and friendly to all.
2P – Clayton C: Clay has been working hard is thriving as a student. His effort and persistence have been such a joy to witness as he strives to reach his goals.
3E – Landon B: Landon is a joy to have in class. He consistently demonstrates a willingness to help others, and his eagerness to learn inspires those around him.
3V – Deklin N: Deklin consistently shows responsibility by being prepared and ready to learn each day. Deklin follows directions and completes quality assignments. When he is finished with an assignment, he transitions into reading , enrichment activities, or helping others.
4F – Ellery W: Ellery shows up every day with a smile on her face. She is kind and caring and always wants to do what is right. She is a hard worker and is the first to help others. Her positive attitude is infectious!!
4L – Charlie F: Charlie shares his vast knowledge with us in a kind and respectful way. He is always willing to help a neighbor in need, including his teacher who lacks his computer knowledge! Charlie is a joy to have in class!
5C – Nolan I: Nolan is a wonderful example for the rest of the class. He works hard everyday, completes his work, and is always willing to step in and help.
5E – Gabriel S: Gabriel is truly one of the most well-mannered people I know. He spreads tons of positivity throughout every room he enters. He is someone who always does the right, moral thing, even when no one is watching. He is understanding, patient, inclusive, and determined. His sweet greetings and genuine well wishes every day truly make the day.
6N – Malcolm N: Malcolm has worked very hard this year to meet his goals at school. He is always prepared, puts forth great effort, and keeps track of his progress to make sure he is meeting the goals that he sets for himself.
6T – Vanessa S: Vanessa is a hard-working, kind, and responsible student who always gives her best effort. She is always willing to help her classmates and teachers.
7P – Payton S: Peyton tries hard in everything she does and consistently puts forth her best effort. She asks thoughtful questions to better understand what she’s learning and always brings a smile and a great attitude to class. Her positive energy makes the classroom a happier place!
7R – Ashley A: Ashley is a wonderful student who brings a positive attitude and strong work ethic to class every day. She always tries her best, participates with confidence, and is kind and helpful to those around her. She truly helps create a welcoming, supportive classroom environment.
8C – Natalie R: Natalie puts great effort into all assignments, asks engaging questions, follows up on assignments and grades, and works well with peers.
8L – Paloma S: Paloma puts great effort into all her assignments. She consistently follow up on her work and grades and works well with her peers.
Registration for 2026-27
Online registration/application for the 2026-27 school year opened on Wednesday afternoon. Updated directions are posted on the front page of our website, www.olvjfk.com. There are different directions for those who are “re-enrolling” and those who are entirely new to SCCS.
Below are some important dates:
Jan 28: Re-enrollment and application
- Current K-11th grade students may re-enroll for 26-27. Those who have funds in their ESA accounts may use it for registration fees this year.
- Students who will be kindergartners and pre-schoolers in 2026-27 and students new to SCCS schools may apply. Determination of acceptance occurs later
Feb 9: Preschool Open House
- 5:30-7:00 p.m.
- Families are encouraged to complete the online application BEFORE this date.
Feb 12: JFK’s Kindergarten Round-up
- 6:00-7:30 p.m.
- Future kindergartners should attend
- Families are encouraged to complete the online application BEFORE this date.
Feb 13: Deadline for Preferred Re-Enrollment of K-7 Students Going into Grades 1-8
- After this date, current SCCS families are not guaranteed a spot for next school year
Feb 20: Review of Applications for Preschoolers, Kindergartners, and Students New to Grades 1-8
Week of Feb 23: Verification Letters Distributed for Re-enrollment, Preschoolers, Kindergartners, and New 1-8 Students
Another Three Sections of Kindergarten for Next Year?
I do not see JFK having another three sections of kindergarten for 26-27. At the present time, with the numbers of kindergarten eligible students at OLV, seen in the table below, I don’t anticipate the need. I’m also not sure where we’d put them!
|
For 26-27 |
For 25-26 |
Difference |
| Kindergarten eligible in OLV |
28 |
59 |
-31 |
| 4 YO PS eligible in OLV |
44 |
29 |
+15 |
| 3 YO PS eligible in OLV |
23 |
39 |
-16 |
OLV Strategic Plan
OLV’s Parish Council passed a Strategic Plan on Tuesday. They have moved into the prioritization and implementation phase.
Parking Lot Traffic Patterns
We appreciate the feedback we have received regarding the parking lot and campus traffic patterns. There are a lot of moving pieces throughout the day:
- 7:00 a.m. Mass has parishioners parking near the church
- Staff arrive around 7:00-7;10 and end up parking closer to the school
- Drop off of about 500 students occurs between 7:10-7:25, before Mass is over. Preschoolers have to be walked to the doors.
- Preschool pick up occurs at 9:55 and 10:25. Afternoon PS drop off is at 11:40
- Gates are closed and opened before and during the school day, depending upon location
- Funerals change parking patterns
- Between 2:35-2:55, we move more than 450 students and many of their parents about campus: preschoolers who have to be signed out by parents, K/1 car rider students released to their parents, 2nd-8th grade car riders, walkers going two directions, bus riders on eleven buses, aftercare students, and students going to after school activities. Typically, the last car leaves the lot around 2:47-2:50, which is about 4-7 minutes after the last car riders are dismissed, and we are only left with a few bus riders still waiting.
One of the guiding principles of moving large numbers of people in/out of large companies, hospitals, airports, schools, etc. is not “How do we get people to behave better?” or “How do we supervise people better?” It is “What system makes correct behavior unavoidable?” We will have new patterns after the weather is warmer, and we can put new paint on the parking lot.
2026-27 K-8 Tuition Rates
Parish supported: $6,930
Non-parish supported: $8,930
2025-26 ESA: $7,988
Estimated 26-27 ESA: $,8,148 The state has not approved any increase in funding for any schools yet.
Andy Craig Leaving SCCS at End of School Year
Andy Craig, president of Scott County Catholic Schools, informed the board and staff of SCCS of his intent to step down at the end of the 2025-26 school year. Mr. Craig has served at Assumption and SCCS for 20 years, and I remember teaching him when he was a student at AHS, and I was a religion teacher. We are grateful for his dedication and work on behalf of our Catholic schools.
Career Fair Presenters Needed – Numbers Low
Presenters are needed for the annual SCCS 8th grade career fair at St. Ambrose. At this time in previous years, we had nearly 32 spots filled. This year we’re only at about 19 presenters and may have to start thinking about the viability of the career fair this year. This year’s fair is scheduled for Friday, March 6th. We are looking for people in all types of professions: sales, plumbing, nursing and healthcare, engineering, manufacturing, firefighting, law enforcement, child care services, education, military, entrepreneurs, hair care, office management, insurance, accounting, etc.
Presenters are asked for a time commitment of 8:15am-1:30pm. We ask you to prepare a booth with information about your career (job duties, professional expectations, hours, required education/training, technology, general salary range, likes and dislikes, etc). We are requiring that you bring a hands-on activity/demonstration for students. The students will rotate in groups and complete a career questionnaire about each booth they visit. A thank you lunch for all presenters will be provided. Additionally, all presenters are invited to join us for the celebration of Mass at 1:30 in the Christ the King Chapel on campus.
If you are interested in being a presenter or know of someone that we should contact, please reach out to Emma Wolf at JFK: emma.wolf@olvjfkmail.com.
Still Relevant
I-Ready Math Requirements
I-Ready Math is an online program we use to better understand each student’s math strengths and learning needs. It begins with a short diagnostic/screener that helps identify what skills a student has mastered and where additional support or challenge is needed. Based on those results, i-Ready provides personalized math lessons that adjust to each child’s level, allowing students to work at an appropriate pace while building confidence and understanding. At school, students currently use i-Ready Math for at least 30 minutes per week as part of their regularly scheduled instructional time. That should be enough time to at least do one i-Ready lesson per week. Students not finishing the lesson at school will have it assigned as homework. In addition, students who scored below benchmark in math at both the fall and winter screenings will be required to work with i-Ready outside of school hours, reinforcing the school/home partnership. Students may always voluntarily do i-Ready lessons at home as well. More information will be mailed the week of January 26th.
Make Sure ESAs Stay – Take Action Now
The opposition to ESAs may be fierce this legislative session. Campaigns by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and like political action groups with messages like “Our Kids Deserve More than Voucher Schemes” and “Now, out-of-state billionaires and local politicians…sold us out. But together, we can take back what’s ours” are being used. Public school boards like Cedar Rapids, Keokuk, and Bennett are endorsing Public School Strong to promote the phasing out of ESAs.
Please consider taking action to support ESAs. You can see several options through connections with Parents for Educational Choice by Iowa ACE.
JA Finance Park Volunteers Needed
We are in need of at least ONE more volunteer for 7th grade’s capstone activity at Junior Achievement’s Finance Park facility. Finance Park is the capstone program for personal finance and career exploration held at JA’s new facility across the river. Volunteers are needed from about 8:30-1:30, with the first part of the time being an overview and training for the adults. Although we do Finance Park with 7th graders, the volunteers are not limited to 7th grade parents. Finance Park is Tuesday, March 3rd. If you can help, please contact Emily Thomas (emily.thomas@olvjfkmail.com).
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
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:
- Feb 2: In-service. No Classes. ECLC Closed
- Feb 5: Youth & Family Engagement mtg
- Feb 7: Music Boosters Trivia Night
- Feb 8: Confirmation Sponsor/Dinner Programming
- Feb 9: PS Open House
- Feb 12: Kindergarten Round-Up
- Feb 13: Red, White, Pink Dress Day. 2 Hr Early Dismissal. No 4/5 YO am/pm PS Classes
- Feb 16: President’s Day. No Classes. ECLC Open. Applebees Dine & Donate.
- Feb 18: Ash Wednesday
Personal Sharing
We have been through another Catholic Schools Week. “No Fear” was evident throughout the week. Students started with Mass parts at the 4:30 Mass, a Mass that always makes kids more nervous than a regular weekday school Mass. There was “No Fear” by those playing Dodgeball for Diapers on Monday. There was “No Fear” by students and staff who performed in Tuesday’s Talent Show and played in the 8th grade vs staff volleyball game on Friday.
Below is the text of my CSW address to the parish, emphasizing this “No Fear” theme:
Over my 25 years as principal, I’ve been blessed to witness many of life’s milestones — First Communions, Confirmations, graduations, weddings. Each of them brings joy, and each of them carries its own hopes and worries for the future. A week ago, I entered a new phase of life myself: becoming a grandparent. While I thought only of joy, I’ve quickly realized that it comes with new worries, new hopes, and new fears, all wrapped together in a deep love for the next generations.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks directly into that reality. He calls ordinary people – fishermen with dirty hands and smelly clothes. He calls those who are right in the middle of their work, their worries, and their exhaustion. He calls them as they are: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” It is this call to a relationship with Christ that is at the heart of Catholic education.
Each year, JFK grounds its work in a theme. This year’s theme is: “No Fear: The mighty power of Jesus is fighting for me here.”
When students have a relationship with Christ and know they are loved by Him, they take risks, they persist, they bounce back. They even seek out the Sacrament of Reconciliation because they know that their worth does not depend on a score, a win, or some other outward sign of success. Their worth comes from being a beloved child of God.
And that is the difference in a Catholic school education.
When that difference is lived consistently, it shows itself not just in classrooms, but in stability and growth. That’s what I want to briefly share with you today.
At JFK, we are strong, stable, and moving forward with purpose.
This year, we serve a record number of kindergarten through 8th grade students. We have more than 450 students, including three sections of kindergartners, and over 60 preschoolers. We are the largest K-8 building in our diocese. With every family now eligible for an ESA – the last major financial barrier to Catholic school education has been removed. Now, as conversations continue at the state level, I encourage all of you who value Catholic education to remain informed and engaged so this level of access remains available to families.
With the funding from increased enrollment and support of OLV and Scott County Catholic Schools, we have been able to update technology, strengthen security, improve the physical environment, increase salaries, and make music, fine arts, and athletic programs more accessible for students.
Those investments matter — but they only serve their purpose when they strengthen teaching, learning, and formation. Leading the way in Catholic school education we have “No Fear” in going all in with research- based methods for teaching reading and supporting students who struggle with reading or math. We have “No Fear” in examining our own practices – reviewing schedules, systems, and priorities – to make sure what we value is reflected in what we do each day. We have “No Fear” in reflecting on who we are as a Catholic school, reviewing our own Catholic identity to ensure it remains strong, authentic, and true.
This type of work was recognized nationally when JFK earned Level 2 certification as a High Reliability School, placing us among only 26 other schools in Iowa and 402 in the entire nation, as a school with systems in place that create and maintain an effective teaching and learning environment where high-quality instruction is consistent across all classrooms. This recognition builds on our Level 1 certification as a high reliability school, which reflects a safe, supportive, and collaborative culture. This recognition matters not as an award, but because it confirms that our mission is being lived consistently — and that consistency allows us to plan forward without fear.
And JFK has “No Fear” in looking to the future. We have a capital improvement project list focused on safety, infrastructure, and educational priorities. This year alone, for example, that included grant and parish support for a wearable communication system for staff to be implemented this spring and continued work by our Safety and Security Committee to strengthen an already solid foundation. It also includes the full commitment to OLV’s new strategic plan set to be adopted by parish council this week and communicated broadly thereafter. JFK and OLV are united in one mission: to make disciples of all nations.
Now JFK students live in the same city as every other child. They feel the same pressures and fears — fear of not fitting in, fear of trying something and failing, and fear of buckling under the pressures of the world around them.
But, at JFK, there is a difference in education. When they walk into JFK, they are loved for who they are and rooted deeply in a faith that tells them they never walk alone. They are given hope instead of worry and courage rooted in Christ instead of fear shaped by the world.
At JFK, students are surrounded by faith that tells them—and us—that Jesus is fighting for them here. They encounter Jesus through the steady love of a staff member who hugs a preschooler regardless of behavior. They encounter Jesus in the courage it takes to stand before peers during their civic oration speeches. They encounter Jesus in the reassurance of a non-Catholic student, for example, who approaches a priest to simply ask for a blessing. In moments of fear, exhaustion, laughter, and even an ordinary hug in the hallway, students discover that Jesus is not abstract – He is present here.
Your prayers, your generosity, your belief in Catholic school education make this mission possible. In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Come after me.” As we turn now toward the Eucharist, we do so as a community that continues to answer that call — choosing not fear, but faith — trusting that in our classrooms, in our children, and in our shared work as a school and parish, the mighty power of Jesus is fighting for us here.
Thank you for your support of Catholic school education and John F. Kennedy Catholic School. May God bless you and your family.
Chad
