Mrs. Tilkens continues to be out of school to care for CJ and his treatment for Neuroblastoma. If you would like to help the Tilkens, please consider donating through GoFundMe. Click CJ Cancer Fight or use the following link/url: https://www.gofundme.com/CJCancerFight
Campus Safety Listening Sessions
Thank you to those who participated in the campus safety listening sessions. Over the three sessions, we had about 30 attendees with a mix of staff, past JFK students’ parents, and current JFK students’ parents. Please contact the school office, if you were unable to attend but would like to share your feedback.
While there were lots of nuanced differences, there are probably two main ideas emerging in regards to safety concerns relating to traffic in the parking lot during drop off and dismissal times and safety concerns relating to children being in the parking lot before/after school and recesses:
- Change drop off/pick up procedures/routes/barriers and also develop a hard surface play area south of the current play equipment.
- Change drop off/pick up procedures/routes/barriers and “flip” the parking lot so that student activity is on the south end of the lot and traffic and parking is on the north end of the lot.
Developing a new location for handicapped and short term visitor parking for the school was widely supported. For dealing with congestion on 42nd Street when buses are on the street, the only option receiving any level of support was to see if the city would eliminate parking on the north side of the street during bus times.
Bell and Bus Times for Next Year: DCSD Alternative Proposal Made Public May 7
The Davenport Community School District (DCSD) will make public an alternative proposal to change bell times for all of its schools and the faith-based schools at its Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, May 7th at 5:30 p.m. at its Achievement Services Center on Brady Street. I will share the proposal after it is made public. I’m sure it will generate as much discussion as the previous proposal! Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to rely upon busing from the DCSD at all?
What a Fun Evening
The Gala was a fun evening — good food, fellowship, music, dancing, Fr. Jake wearing a pinata,…. The Gala had it all. There was even the anxiety in the final days of preparation with being sold out until seating was rearranged to accommodate even more people. The last count I heard was 267 tickets sold. Many thanks to general chair, Molly McCarty. Over the next few weeks, we’ll list many of the others who worked behind the scenes and at the event. They all deserve our gratitude, and their work serves as a model illustrating how everyone can contribute in some way. There were even people who coordinated elements of the Gala but were not able to attend themselves.
Smartphones Interfere with Cognitive Tasks Even When We’re Not Using Them
An article in THE Journal: Transforming Education Through Technology by Dian Schaffhauser summarizes two studies that show that just having smartphones nearby, even if turned off and/or in a pocket or nearby backpack, impairs students’ cognitive abilities. Perhaps even more alarming is that students in the study didn’t think the location of their smartphones had any impact when the results showed it clearly did! The advice of the researchers is that separation from one’s smartphone helps students with cognitive tasks. Here is the full url/link: https://thejournal.com/articles/2018/04/09/even-the-mere-presence-of-a-smartphone-makes-you-dumber.aspx
Home & School
Legislation and Funding for Non-Public Schools
The tax reform bill brought some positive changes to helping families afford non-public school education. Catching up to recent federal legislation, changes to Iowa’s 529 plans will allow those funds to be used for K-12 non-public school tuition as well as college costs.
The family eligibility for financial assistance provided through School Tuition Organizations was increased from 300 to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, which would take the threshold to about $98,000 for a family of four. An additional $1 million was also allowed statewide. Unfortunately, the additional funding probably won’t match the additional need identified with the expanded eligibility. Now, we know what a legislative priority for us will be next session.
Last Day of Classes
May 31: 3 and 4 year old pre-school. Four year olds have their programs on the 31st, and 3 year olds have their family activity on June 1.
June 1: K-8. This differs from the DCSD which is having classes on June 4.
June 1: Last day of ECLC
