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, we recognize one student at each grade level, alternating each month between the two homerooms, whose teachers have observed exhibiting these traits particularly well at school during the past month:
- Kindergarten: Briggs B.
- Briggs works hard to follow the rules and expectations in the classroom. He listens and pays attention during instruction and tries his best on classroom work. He is helpful and kind to his classmates.
- 1st Grade: Griffin W.
- Griffin has a kind heart and is a friend to all. He puts forth his best effort even when things are hard. Griffin is extremely polite and is always smiling.
- 2nd Grade: Jude T.
- Jude is a great leader in the classroom. He guides his classmates in positive directions and is a great example of kindness, respect, and responsibility. He is a light to all those around him.
- 3rd Grade: Grace T.
- Grace demonstrates a love of learning and consistently receives good grades. She is kind, respectful and helpful to classmates and teachers.
- 4th Grade: Elaina K.
- Elaina is a hardworking student who takes her school work seriously. She is always kind and respectful to her teachers and her classmates. Elaina makes a difference in our classroom.
- 5th Grade: Crue N.
- Crue is new to JFK this year, but he has been an awesome addition to the JFK family. He is an incredibly hard worker and always tries to do his absolute best. He treats all of his classmates, the faculty, and the staff with immense kindness. He illustrates diligence, a growth mindset, kind-heartedness, a love for learning, and virtuous actions/values.
- 6th Grade: Hanna S.
- 7th Grade: Marshall N.
- Marshall is a hard worker who is always available to help out others who need it. He always has a positive attitude and a smile on his face.
- 8th Grade: Alayna A.
- Alayna puts in great effort on assignments and participates well with her peers. She is a pleasure to have in class.
St. Valentine’s Day at JFK
Below is a repeat of the email sent to families on 2/6/25:
As we approach St. Valentine’s Day, there are often special activities at school. Depending upon the grade level/homeroom, students may be asked/assigned to bring in treats for a party, and/or students may bring in individual Valentine’s cards for every student.
We do have a Safe Snack List at JFK. If students bring food/candy that is not on the linked list, it will most likely be sent back home. If the individual Valentine’s cards come with a candy attached that’s not on the list, we ask that the candy be removed before the card is brought to school, or we may also ask that your child remove it at school before handing out the Valentine’s cards.
We strongly encourage families to consider non-food items like stickers, pencils, erasers, etc. As always, we appreciate your help in keeping JFK safe for all students.
I’d also like to remind families that February 14th is a themed out-of-uniform day: red, white, or pink colors. Out of uniform dress guidelines found in our handbook do apply. The 14th is also a two-hour early dismissal (12:40) for K-8. There are no morning or afternoon preschool classes on the 14th. There are then no classes on the 17th either for President’s Day. ECLC is open on the 17th.
Principal’s Post Email Last Weekend
I apologize if you did not receive the email with the links to the Principal’s Post last Sunday. The email system only loaded about half of our families’ email addresses that afternoon. I thought something was odd when I was sending it out, and it took nearly the week to analyze the data comparing last Sunday’s email to other emails. So far, the half loading of email addresses seems to be an anomaly. You can find the Principal’s Post through means other than the link in the email: on the front page of our website and our three Facebook accounts (the main JFK account, the preschool account, and the closed group JFK Moms & Dad).
Federal Funding
Reporting about federal funding has been in the news lately. How does federal funding affect JFK? The biggest impacts are through Title programs and the lunch program. Under Title programming, we don’t receive the funds directly. The funds go to the DCSD, and we then receive the value of those services. Federal Title I funds pay for 1.4 FTE of the three reading interventionists we have at JFK. Title II funds pay for professional development, such as the instructional coaching work we have at JFK. Title IV pays for Finance Park and other smaller miscellaneous programs/activities.
In the lunch program, EVERY student meal is government subsidized. We often think that only those eligible for free or reduced-price meals are affected. That is not true. EVERY student meal receives a government subsidy; some students just have the cost further reduced or free.
Absences
This weekend’s Quad City Times had a feature on chronic absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism is defined as a student missing 10% or more of the school days FOR ANY REASON. The state average is currently 22%. Bettendorf has a chronic absenteeism rate of 23%, Davenport’s at 38%, North Scott’s at 19%, and PV is at 9%. JFK’s chronic absenteeism rate is 7%.
Registration for 2025-26 Update
The deadline for preferred re-enrollment of current students who will be returning for a grade at JFK next school year is February 21st. I would encourage families to do the online re-enrollment and/or application for a new student as soon as possible. It looks like there will be wait lists for some grade levels, particularly at lower grade levels.
Yearbook Sales Have Started Online
Everything is done online directly with the yearbook/picture company. Below is the link to place your order. The order deadline is February 28th.
https://yearbookforever.com/school-store/vneLSdV2TF8hbu6644R2ihoi
Registration/Re-Enrollment and Application for 2025-26 is Live
Below is the timeline for registration/re-enrollment and application for the 2025-26 school year in SCCS elementary schools. The registration fee is $150 per student. ESA funds may not be used for registration.
Jan 22:
- Registration/re-enrollment and new application link went live on the front page of the JFK website. There are different directions for those who are “re-enrolling” and those who are new to SCCS. The most often seen error is that some families that already have a student in an SCCS school are clicking on “Get Started” instead of “Log In.” If you have any student in any SCCS school, you click on the “log in” button.
- Current K-11th grade students may re-enroll for 2025-26
- Students who will be kindergartners or pre-schoolers in 2025-26 may apply
- Acceptance is not automatic due to space/class size restrictions
- New families with students in grades 1-8 may apply
- Acceptance is not automatic due to space/class size restrictions
Feb 10:
- JFK’s preschool open house, 5:30-7:00 p.m.
- Learn more about JFK and our preschool and wrap around care programs
- Receive help with the online application
- We encourage families to complete the online application even prior to round-up as time/date stamps may also be used. Morning preschool slots fill up fast throughout SCCS!
Feb 13:
- JFK’s kindergarten round-up, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
- Learn more about JFK and kindergarten
- Activities for future JFK kindergartners
- We encourage families to complete the online application even prior to round-up as time/date stamps may also be used
Feb 21:
- Deadline for preferred re-enrollment of current K-7 students who are going into grades 1-8. After this date, current SCCS families are not guaranteed a spot for next school year. Re-enrollment is not complete without the $150 per student registration fee.
Mar 3:
- Applications for families new to SCCS schools with students in grades 1-8 for next year begin to be reviewed and accepted
- Kindergarten and preschool applications begin to be reviewed and accepted for SCCS schools
Are You a Participating Member of Our Lady of Victory or Other Catholic Parish?
The diocese has asked us to clean up some data/questions for this 2024-25 school year, and families are being contacted individually. Please make sure the information you enter/update for 2025-26 is accurate as well.
I imagine we will be having more conversation at OLV this month about how we are verifying whether families are actually participating members of OLV. Below is the definition within our handbook:
An OLV registered and participating member or member of another supporting Catholic parish, at a minimum, follows the precepts of the Church and is called to go far beyond the minimum in the love of God and neighbor. Below are the precepts of the Church:
- Attend Mass at OLV or a supporting Catholic parish on Sundays and holy days of obligation. Members of OLV are expected to fulfill the majority of those obligations at OLV to help ensure that the parish and families develop their relationship together as disciples of Christ.
- Confess one’s sins at least once per year.
- Receive Holy Communion at least once per year, during the Easter season.
- Observe the days of fast and abstinence.
- Provide for the needs of the Church, including OLV or the supporting Catholic parish to which one has membership. The use of envelopes or electronic funds transfer should be used by OLV registered and participating members to facilitate this obligation. If this obligation is too much of a hardship, an individualized plan for donated services/voluntarism may be agreed upon. Those who are members of another supporting Catholic parish should utilize methods desired by the supporting parish.
In addition, the following are also included in the definition of an OLV registered and participating member, and similar requirements are often made by other supporting Catholic parishes:
- Register in the parish by completing the parish registration form.
- Participate in and help with parish/school activities.
Registration/enrollment for 2025-26 will be available first to participating members of OLV. Families who are members of OLV “in name only” may not be given as high of a priority.
Dress Code
We seem to have become a little lax with dress code after Christmas. It’s the usual issues: shirts untucked, missing belts, trying to wear hoodies, and skirts that are too short. Please note that the dress code does not have provisions for the height of a student or trying to avoid having to spend money on dress code acceptable clothing when the older clothing is starting to get too small.
The latest thing I saw right before Catholic Schools Week in the older grades has to do with earrings. Below is the relevant section from our handbook: “K-8: No more than 2 post earrings in each ear. No dangle or hoop earrings.”
With our CSW out of uniform days past, we will move back toward regularly looking at dress code.
Career Fair Presenters Needed
Presenters are needed for the annual SCCS 8th grade career fair at St. Ambrose. This year’s fair is March 7th. 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 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
Standards/Evidence-Based Assessment and Reporting
A letter regarding the next step in the diocesan and SCCS elementary schools’ transition to more standard/evidence-based assessment and reporting was emailed around the beginning of November. It is also available below:
SBAR Letter
Here, again, is the link to the UPDATED instructions for parents to check their 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.
Instructions
Highlighted Events
The following events are highlighted. For all of our events and more information, please see the calendars on our website and communications from individual teachers:
- Feb 10: PS Open House. Kids K-5 Heart Challenge Begins
- Feb 11: SCCS Regional Science Fair
- Feb 13: Jump for JFK. Kindergarten Round-up.
- Feb 14: 2 hr early dismissal at 12:40. No 4/5 YO PS am or pm classes. Red/white/pink dress day
- Feb 15: Sweetheart dinner.
- Feb 17: No classes. ECLC open.
- Feb 21: Middle School Youth Night
- Feb 25: 7th to Finance Park
- Feb 27: 4th Symphony Day. Dine & Donate at Portillos.
- Mar 3: No buses (DCSD is not in session). Candy Bar sale begins
- Mar 5: Ash Wednesday (OLV Masses at 7 am, 12 pm, 6 pm)
