December 2, 2018 | JFK Catholic School

Advent Is a Great Time to Recommit to Mass Attendance

With the start of Advent on December 2nd, it might be a great time to recommit to regular attendance at weekend Masses. Every year the diocese has parishes do Mass counts during the first two weekends in November. OLV’s 2018 count was the lowest level in ten years: an average of 1,193 people (adults and children) were at Masses the first two weekends in November. That low number seems odd as the number of OLV parishioners is at the highest level it’s been at in at least the last seven years. Share the Word and the Eucharist together at OLV!

JFK Cost Per Pupil

As conversations are underway with the other Catholic grade schools to arrive at the common parish supported tuition rate, below are a few interesting financial facts about JFK:

Cost per pupil, K-8: $5,516 Nationwide: $5,936
Average tuition revenue per pupil, K-8: $3,141 Nationwide: $4,841
Parish investment per pupil, K-8: $1,671
Budgeted fundraising per pupil, K-8: $ 315

Starting JFK teacher’s base salary: $28,690 (DCSD: $34,000 in 17-18)
Average teacher’s salary, including supplemental pay and extra duty stipends: $43,364 (DCSD: $58,437 in 17-18)
1. JFK’s 31 full-time teachers have an average of 14 years of experience
2. Avg in DCSD: 13 years of experience
3. There are no JFK teachers with less than four years of experience on staff
4. If JFK’s teachers received the DCSD average, more than an additional $470,000 would be needed. Spread out over our K-8 students, $470,000 would raise tuition by about $1,300
Hourly pay range for 23 non-teaching positions: $9.50 – $21.23 per hour
Average hourly wage for 23 non-teaching positions: $13.13

We are most grateful for the value of the Catholic school education available here at OLV and JFK!

How Announcements Regarding School Closures, Late Starts, Early Dismissals Are Made

To convey this type of information, we’ll rely upon our automated cell phone, text messaging, and email service. Information will also be on our website and our Facebook account. TV stations have been unreliable over the years and are largely not used any more. Due to busing, we follow the decisions made by the Davenport Community School District.

MobyMax Information Went Home Last Week

A separate message regarding MobyMax, including log in information, went home in backpack mail (youngest/only) at the end of last week. MobyMax is an online tool that we are going to use to supplement math instruction, primarily. It does, however, also have modules for reading, English/language arts, social studies, and science. It can be used both in and outside of school across a variety of platforms. Something to do during that long Christmas break!

November & December Special Dates

There’s so much happening in November and December, I can’t list it all! For a complete list, please check our website calendars. Please also check backpack mail for information that is grade or homeroom specific.

Dec 3: End of 2nd mid-qtr. Communal Penance at St. John Vianney. Rather than each parish doing a communal penance service, two are being throughout the deanery. (The first was on Dec 2nd.)
Dec 4: Reconciliation for JFK students in grades 3-8 during the day. First Reconciliation for 2nd graders in the evening.
Dec 6: 5th/6th grade Christmas show (1:00 and 6:30). Second graders out of uniform.
Dec 7: Feast of the Immaculate Conception Vigil Mass, 7:00 p.m. 5th/6th out of uniform
Dec 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Holy Day of Obligation).
Dec 10: Civic Oration classroom round. Skate Night. Lego League shirt day.
Dec 11: Band concert (1:00 @ JFK & 6:30 @ AHS). Blood drive.
Dec 12: Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe All School Mass in the gym. 2nd round of Civic Oration. AHS Information Knight
Dec 13: 3 Yr Old PS Family Activity, 8 a.m. (No 3 yr old PS classes)
Dec 14: 4 Yr Old PS Show and Activity, 7:45 a.m. (Zeimet/Jordan) & 12:00 p.m. (Blocker/Knox) (No 4 yr old PS classes). Band out of uniform. Middle School Youth Night.
Dec 17: 3rd grade Gingerbread Houses (A tradition you’ll all remember!)
Dec 18: Civic Oration PC Rnd (which will really be in the gym this year). K-2 Christmas Show, 6 p.m. K-2 out of uniform during the day.
Dec 19: K-2 Christmas Show for the school after our 7:40 a.m. all school Mass. Red/Green/White/Christmas attire. Special Dismissal at 12:40. No afternoon PS classes.
Dec 20-Jan 2: Christmas Break
Jan 3: Classes resume

Middle School Youth Night

Below are the links/urls for volunteering to help with the next middle school youth ministry session on Friday, December 14th. Some jobs were signed up for in advance by parents at JFK meetings have already been added to the sign up. If the slots for adult chaperones are not filled by Wednesday, December 12th, the session will have to be cancelled, which is what happened to the last session. All chaperones must have completed diocesan safe environment training and back ground check. If you do not know you have done so, please contact davolvpa@diodav.org to verify.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b44ada82da0ff2-middle

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b44ada82da0ff2-qcstorm

For more information, please contact Evan Brankin, davolvym@diodav.org. We have the youth willing to participate; we need the adults to help now!

Bible Study for Middle School Youth

You’ve never seen a Bible study like this before! OLV’s Faith Formation staff is offering “Encounter: Experiencing God in the Everyday,” for 6th-8th grade students after school beginning in January. Dates are January 24 and 31, February 7, 14, 21, and 28, and March 7 and 21. Each session is 2:45-4:00 in the library. Cost is $13. For more information, or if financial assistance is needed, please contact Jennifer Wemhoff at 563-391-8384 of davolvrek6@diodav.org.

Wellness Policy Implementation Review

We will begin the review of the implementation of our wellness policy in December and/or January. The policy can be found on our website under “For Parents” and “Policies and Forms” or can be accessed HERE. If you (or your child) is interested in helping us review and make recommendations for revisions to our wellness policy, please email me.

Need the Bulletin?

When I don’t get a hard copy bulletin at church, I always think that I’ll just go look it up online. Then, it seems as if I rarely do. Here’s the link: December 2, 2018 bulletin

Assumption Knight Players Present Miss Nelson is Missing!

December 7: 6:00 p.m. and December 8: 2:00 p.m.
Sunderbruch Auditorium at Assumption
Based on the beloved children’s book, Miss Nelson can’t control her crazy classroom because she’s just too nice. When she disappears, her replacement is the hard-as-nails, detention-loving, recess-canceling, homework-overloading substitute teacher Viola Swamp. The students, realizing how much they miss Miss Nelson, will do anything — including hiring a private eye — to bring her back.
General Admission seating available at the door. All Tickets $5. Children under 5 are free. Free admission to students with Assumption Activity Pass. (Grade School Students must be accompanied by an adult)

Use Victory Vouchers for Your Holiday Shopping

Victory Vouchers are gift cards that one can purchase for over 7,000 different vendors. You buy the gift card through OLV or online and receive the full face value of the card. The parish, however, ALSO receives a percentage of the face value. You can even direct the parish to use some of its take to help you reduce your own family’s tuition bill! The parish office has a wide variety of gift cards in stock. Stop by before Black Friday! For more information, click here: Victory Vouchers.

Blessing Bags Collection Begins

Have an old backpack? A drawstring sports bag? JFK is teaming with OLV’s Christian Service Ministry to collect new or gently used backpacks or similar bags for adults. During Lent in the spring, the bags will be filled with with non-perishable items for the homeless and distributed. Bags can be sent to school through January 13th.

Chad