Principal’s Post for February 23, 2025

Preferred Re-Enrollment Deadline for 2025-26 Has Passed

Teaching Positions Open Now

JFK has several teaching positions open now:

Long-term and short-term substitutes: Through February, we have been short about one substitute teacher per day. Persons with teaching licenses, substitute licenses, and/or a substitute authorization are encouraged to apply.

Reading interventionist: We have been authorized to hire a full-time teacher immediately to work as a reading interventionist for the rest of the school year. A person in this position would likely be offered a job in an SCCS elementary building next school year regardless of whether or not there was a position to be filled at JFK next year. An Iowa teaching license is required.

For more information, please contact me at chad.steimle@olvjfkmail.com.

Youth and Family Engagement Survey

The OLV/JFK Youth and Family Engagement Team would like to hear from you about barriers to attending Mass and ideas you may have to better engage families at Church!

Please take a couple minutes to complete this survey by Friday, Feb 28th. As a thank you for completing, each of your children will receive an out of uniform pass! All responses will be kept confidential within the YFE group. We appreciate your help and honesty in providing feedback.

https://forms.gle/UZQrgPxQna3HpGjS9

Yearbook Sales End this Week

Yearbook sales are 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.

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 

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