Principal’s Post for March 17, 2024

I’m So Blessed!

I’m so blessed to be part of an administrative team in Scott County Catholic Schools that seems to continually have an eye toward how we can operate better as a system rather than as five separate schools, which is how we operated until the last couple of years. Yes, we have growing pains, but we’re also learning how to be better together. Two newer examples are below:

• A cohort of 44 teachers from our SCCS elementary schools (eleven from each building) will be doing Lexia’s Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) training this spring and continuing over the next two years. LETRS training enhances teachers’ knowledge and ability to teach reading utilizing science of reading research in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension and spelling. A cohort of 25 administrators from the Diocese of Davenport, including all of the SCCS elementary school principals and some other SCCS building leaders, is also undertaking the LETRS for Administrators training.
• A unified textbook replacement cycle for SCCS elementary schools has been created. First up for SCCS schools are K-5 ELA/Reading materials. The SCCS schools will finally be using the same materials in all subjects, as the replacement cycle is implemented over time. We have often tried to use the same materials, but, operating independently in the past, if a school couldn’t afford to replace their materials, they didn’t.

7/8 Shark Tank Finalists

Consistent with science/engineering and ELA/public speaking standards, JFK’s 7th and 8th graders are participating in a Mock Shark Tank experience. Seventh graders developed/improved upon a game, and 8th graders developed/improved upon household items. After the development of their prototypes, they have to “pitch” it to the “sharks” just like on the TV show. The final round of competition is this week. Best of luck to the following students:

7th Grade:

• Sully G. and Sylvia R.: Check Your Luck, Mate — an easier way to play a chess-like game and progress to learning the real thing
• Evy S. and Sophia N.: The Toy Carwash — how to clean your toy cars
• Anthony C. and Lincoln M.: Pool Darts — jumping through holes on a “dart board” in the swimming pool to earn points
• Kinley V. and Waylon A.: Lego Table Football — moving goalposts and table make the classic lunchroom game of football more challenging

8th Grade:

• Caroline M. and Grace K.: Scrubby Hand — a glove with scrub pads attached
• Sydney S. and Hailey E.: Sprinkle Dinkle — a toilet seat helper for potty training boys
• Leia H. and Emma S.: Mirror Bracelet — a handy mirror attached to a bracelet
• Natalie S., Noah F., and Kyle D.: Spoonalicious — an edible spoon

School Calendar for 2024-25

The academic calendar for the Davenport SCCS elementary schools for 2024-25 has been linked on the front page of our website.  It is also available here: SCCS – Davenport Elementary School 2024-2025 Academic Calendar

For this April, there is no plan in Davenport SCCS to make up any snow days. The public schools are now going to school on April 1st. With more school days and a longer day, SCCS schools have no need to do make-up days. We will continue to have off on April 1st, which is Easter Monday.

April 8th is now an in-service day for JFK and all the SCCS elementary schools in order to accommodate a joint training session. The DCSD was already going to have an in-service day on this date.

Registration Letters

Given some of the difficulties families were having with the registration process, we will be emailing acceptance letters to families who have children at JFK in grades 2-8 in 2024-25. This letter will be another point of confirmation that your registration was received.  Acceptance or waitlist letters were emailed before spring break to families with 3 year old preschoolers, 4 yr old preschoolers, kindergartners, and first graders.

Communication will then begin for those who have not paid the registration and/or 4 YO PS extra time fees. The link to pay the fees is available on the front page of our website.

Participating Member of Our Lady of Victory or Other Catholic Parish

We do have a definition for being considered a participating member of OLV:

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.

Mass Attendance chart for Principal’s Post, 3-17-2024

Online registration and application for PS-12th grades is open. The links and some directions are available on the front page of our website, www.olvjfk.com.

The registration fee, except for those Iowa residents applying for four year old preschool, is now $125 per child. The registration fee should be paid at the time of registration/application. The link has been changed for new families so it includes the options for paying the extra time fee for 4 YO preschools and the wraparound registration/deposit fee. The K-8 registration fee button can also be used to pay for 3 YO preschool registration and 4 YO Non-qualifying preschool registration.

If a child, INCLUDING A PRESCHOOLER, is currently in JFK or any Scott County Catholic School, he/she is NOT a new student. You must do the Login to PowerSchool as a parent. If, after you login, you do not see one of your currently attending preschooler-11th grade students, please contact the school. You will need a new code to add the missing child. If you do not remember/have your PowerSchool login, please contact the school as well. If you are changing schools, please contact us so the new school can be added as an option.

If you see a message next to your child’s name in PowerSchool that says “Not Submitted,” you must finish the registration process by submitting the application. A “Not Submitted” application is in “no man’s land;” we can’t see it at all, and we don’t even know you’ve tried to apply!

If you are having difficulty with registration, please let us know.

ESAs: The target date for ESA applications to become available for the 2024-25 school year is April 16th. Even if you received an ESA in 2023-24, you have to apply again.

• Families must apply each year! The application is through Odyssey, the state’s vendor.
• Eligible families in 2024-25 are the following:
  • All kindergartners and first graders
  • New transfer students
  • Students who already received an ESA this year due to transferring to JFK for 2023-24
  • Families whose income is less than 400% of poverty, which is just over $120,000 for a family of four
  • (In 2025-26, all families, regardless of income will be eligible for ESAs)

K-8 Tuition Rates for SCCS Schools

Below are the tuition rates for K-8 in Scott County Catholic Schools for 2024-25. For those paying tuition themselves (“private pay”), the rate is about a 5% increase, which has been about the historical average for many years.

Grade School Tuition
Parish Subsidized Private Pay			Parish Subsidized ESA
Student #1	$4,600		Total per student	$5,425
Student #2	$3,910
Student #3	$3,000
Student #4+	$2,300
Non-Parish Subsidized Private Pay			Non-Parish Subsidized ESA
Student #1	$6,810		Total per student	$7,635
Student #2	$3,910
Student #3	$3,000
Student #4+	$2,300

 

Preschool and Wraparound Programs and Rates

There are many possible combinations for 3 year old and 4/5 year old preschool, most of which can also be combined with part-time or full-time wraparound childcare. Three year old classes are offered MWF, M-F, or T/Th. These classes run from 7:25-9:55 a.m. Students must be 3 years old on or before Sept 15th. Four year old classes are offered M-F from 7:25-10:25 a.m. or M-F 11:40 a.m. – 2:40 p.m. Students must be 4 years old on or before Sept 15th. Five year olds may also enroll in the four year old class, if there is space available.  See the below for rates for preschool and wraparound care options. This document has been updated to show the application fee/deposit for wraparound care:

Preschool Tuition Rates_FINAL 2_7_2024

Checking Grades in PowerSchool

Have you been logging in to check your student’s grades in PowerSchool? The third quarter will wrap up on March 27th.

Calendar Entries: Did You Know?

Entries on our website calendars that are underlined expand to include more details when one clicks on them. The special dress day for March 18th is an example.

Calendar Highlights

Here are just a few items highlighted from the detailed online school calendar:

• Mar 18: Green/White Dress Day. Middle School Youth Night
• Mar 19: Home & School
• Mar 21: JFK Skate Night. 8th Grade Confirmation Prep Activity. Hand-in-Hand Out of Uniform Fundraiser
• Mar 23: Easter Egg Hunt
• Mar 24: Palm Sunday. Ignite Sunday.
• Mar 26: Supply Store.
• Mar 27: 8th Grade Band Members Trip to Blue Man Group in Chicago. End of 3rd Qtr. Dismissal at 12:40. No afternoon preschool
• Mar 28: Holy Thursday
• Mar 29: Good Friday. No Classes. ECLC Closed
• Mar 30: Holy Saturday
• Mar 31: Easter
• Apr 1: Easter Monday. No Classes. ECLC Closed