Kindergarten Round-up and Pre-registration
Please contact the school office right away, if you missed Kindergarten Round-up and pre-registration. These pre-registration figures are used to help determine whether or not there will be one section or two sections next year and/or how many classroom aides we’ll need.
Pre-school and Daycare Registration
Registration for all sections of 3 year old preschool, 4/5 year old preschool, and ECLC is underway for all families. Morning classes fill up quickly, in particular, so do not delay PS registration.
See the K, pre-school, daycare roundup flyer, 2022
Tuition and Textbook Tax Credit
As you prepare your 2021 income taxes, don’t forget that Iowa doubled the tuition/textbook tax credit. The maximum one can now receive is 25% of the first $2,000 per child ($500). The only trick is to remember that tax years run from Jan 1 – Dec 31, while school years run from roughly July 1 – June 30. If using tuition amounts paid, you need to look at what you paid in 2021, which splits the 20-21 and 21-22 school year.
Dress Code
Now that our five days of themed attire for CSW has concluded, we will be back to dressing according to our policies. We have been pretty lax, and things need to be tightened up. Below are some things for which we need to do better. Some are perennial issues, and some are more recent issues. Note that the below is not the entire dress code; it’s parts of the dress code for which we need to do better:
- Skirt lengths should be no shorter than 2″ above the knee
- Shirts should be tucked in
- No hooded clothing is allowed to be worn inside the building
- Belts are worn in grades 4-8 with clothing that has belt loops
- Grades 5-8 when they have PE: Non-white solid colored plain t-shirts or t-shirts with a JFK or AHS logo. Over their t-shirts, students may also wear sweatshirts, fleeces, and long-sleeve dry fits that meet the regular uniform policy.
Dress code demerits in grades 5-8 do lead to detentions.
Volunteer Opportunities
Great programming, like Lego League, doesn’t happen without parent volunteers. Volunteers are still needed for the following:
- Junior Achievement’s Finance Park: Volunteers still needed, or we’ll have to consider cancelling this capstone activity. Finance Park is the capstone program for personal finance and career exploration held at JA’s facility in downtown Davenport. Eight or more adult volunteers are needed for the time period of 8:15-1:00 on Friday, February 25th. The first 45 minutes is an overview and training for the adults. Although we do Finance Park with 7th graders, the volunteers are not limited to 7th grade parents. Please contact Bridget Parr (bridget.parr@olvjfkmail.com) or me if you can help. We will be having to make a joint determination with JA regarding this capstone activity soon based upon the number of adult volunteers.
- Scott County Catholic Schools and St. Ambrose University 8th Grade Career Fair: Friday, March 4, 2022. While most presenters operate a booth/station for the full day, the full day is not a requirement. Representatives from small businesses would be a great addition to the career fair. If you can help, please contact our Student Support Specialist, Emma Wolf (emma.wolf@olvjfkmail.com).
Scott County Catholic School System
As I mentioned at Masses during Catholic Schools Week, the unification efforts to form the Scott County Catholic Schools System continues. Recent decisions are mentioned below. The system should be fully in place July 1, 2023, about one and a half years from now.
- Because decisions need to start being made from a system-wide perspective, local boards of education will begin transferring their power on July 1, 2022.
- Some finance work will begin to be done on a centralized basis during the 2022-23 school year.
- Tuition payments for the 2022-23 school year will begin July 1, 2022 and match the fiscal year for schools, July 1 – June 30. JFK was the only school that began tuition payments in August and ran its 12 month payment option across fiscal years. For some JFK families, therefore, who are on a 12 month payment plan, they will be making their last payment for the 2021-22 school year in the same month when their new payments begin for the 2022-23 school year.
- More social media posts and marketing will begin to be done on a system-wide basis in the next few weeks.
Upcoming Events
- Feb 14: Red, White, and Pink Dress Day (Out of Uniform if wearing one of our themed colors)
- Feb 17: Orange Out Day
- For a $1 or more donation, students and staff can be out of uniform, if they wear orange. Orange is the color representing leukemia. Proceeds will support Natalie Paulsen, a recent JFK graduate and Assumption student, who is battling leukemia.
- Feb 17: End of the 3rd mid-quarter.
- Feb 18: In-Service. No classes. ECLC is open.
- Feb 21: President’s Day. No classes. ECLC is open.
- Mar 2: Ash Wednesday
- Mar 14-18: Spring Break. No classes. ECLC is open.
Ignite Sundays
See below for the list of IGNITE Sundays. There is no cost or registration required to participate. Come to as many of the opportunities listed below as you are able on IGNITE Sundays. Families are encouraged to participate together. There are small group activities and family activities at each session.
Typical schedule for IGNITE Sundays:
- 4:30-5:30pm Mass
- 5:35-6:05pm Meal in the Parish Center
- 6:10-7:15pm Group Gatherings
Ignite Sundays:
- March 6: “I thirst” Lent
- March 20: “I hunger” Eucharist
- April 10: Family: The foundation of society
- April 24: What does God want me to do?
Assumption High School Musical
Assumption’s production of Howard Ashman’s and Alan Menken’s Little Shop of Horrors will be presented on March 4, 5, and 6. Meek floral assistant Seymour Krelborn can’t seem to do anything right- until he stumbles across a new breed of plant. The growing plant attracts a great deal of business for the struggling store, but it unfortunately comes at the price of the plant eating people! Will Seymour be able to stop the plant before it achieves global domination? While Little Shop of Horrors does have a PG-13 rating (assigned by Music Theatre International) for language, mild violence, and dark themes, some language has also been omitted or changed for Assumption’s production.
Tickets are officially on sale! The link is: https://www.showtix4u.com/events/78
Tickets are $10 for Adults, $8 for students and Senior Citizens, and free for AHS students and staff with their IDs. There is also a “Flexpass” that can be purchased at the above link for $20, that is good for 3 “seats.” It’s a great option for parents who want to see all 3 performances
COVID Guidance for 2021-22
Click on the JFK COVID FAQ, 2021-22 to have your questions answered. Please note that the information is, however, subject to change. The most recent changes were made on January 2 and 5, 2022.
COVID Data and Comments
Below is a link to a .pdf file that shows several graphs for Scott County and JFK. Below are also some comments related to the pandemic.
- With the emergency proclamations in Iowa related to COVID coming to an end on February 16th and the data collection completely changing, this week may be the last week that I share COVID information with families. COVID-19, in Iowa, will now be reported and handled similarly to illnesses like strep throat, influenza, fifth disease, chicken pox, etc.
- Scott County’s COVID numbers continue to decline. We are still firmly entrenched in “high” community transmission, however. The county’s numbers are about the same as they were in late November or early December except trending downward now rather than upward. I wouldn’t expect to consistently be out of “high” or “substantial” community transmission until April or May.
- JFK’s student absences seem to be declining, but staff absences rose significantly this past week due to both expected and unexpected absences. On Monday, for example, we started the day with about 16% of staff absent and ended the day with nearly 20% out.
Chad
