Formal Registration for K-8 Begins this Week
Tuition contracts for K-8 will be mailed to families this week. The return of the tuition contract and the registration fee, discounted for OLV parishioners and returning families from $150 to $100 per student when returned before April, is the formal enrollment process for 2022-23.
Please contact the school office right away, if you missed Kindergarten Round-up and kindergarten pre-registration. We don’t want to miss sending you a tuition contract for next year!
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
Position Change and Opening for Next School Year
We are pleased to announce that Ethan Connors will assume the position of Assistant Principal/Director of Special Programs in the 2022-23 school year. Ethan has taught band at JFK since 2013 and has served on the Building Leadership Team/Professional Development Team for the last several years. He also completed his administrative internship at JFK several years ago. As a member of our Gospel Values/School Climate committee, he has statistically analyzed parents’ and teachers’ survey data and examined open-ended question responses to provide meaning to the raw numbers. He has become immersed in the minutia of schools, like scheduling and providing coverage when short-staffed, and he can also see the broader picture of Catholic school education. Ethan Connors is an asset to the school and will be in his new position as well.
Band Position: Our middle school band position is open for next school year. An Iowa teaching license with a K-8 or 5-12 music endorsement, or the ability to obtain one of the endorsements within a year or two, is required. Interested parties should contact me at chad.steimle@olvjfkmail.com.
Upcoming Events
- Mar 21: Classes resume
- Mar 22: Penny War for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation begins
- Mar 24: Final round of civic oration
- Mar 25: Dress in your favorite color day
- Mar 26: Confirmation retreat (8-11 with sponsors or a parent)
- April 1: Two hour early dismissal (12:45). End of 3rd quarter. No afternoon PS
- April 15: Good Friday. No classes. ECLC closed
- April 17: Easter Sunday
- April 18: Easter Monday. No classes. ECLC closed
COVID Comments
The vast majority of our remaining COVID mitigation strategies will be removed by the time we come back from spring break. More noticeable changes are mentioned below:
- Masses are back to “normal” including the requirement that Catholics attend Mass on the weekend.
- One all school Mass on Wednesdays at 7:40 a.m. will be restored. Arriving at school on time will be even more critical on Wednesdays as students who arrive late may find that their class has already left for the church. Singing will return to Masses, but students as song leaders will take a while longer. (They haven’t sung at school Masses for over almost two years!)
- Any seating arrangement without regard to the physical distancing that had been used for COVID mitigation will be allowed in school. (Tables for preschoolers will not likely return until we can figure out where to store the 60 desks that would have to come out of classrooms.)
- Rugs in preschool, ECLC, and kindergarten, in particular, will return, and students can be gathered together on them for instruction and story time.
- Singing will more regularly be a part of music classes. A more regular spring show and 7/8 grade spring showcase will return.
- Clear partitions have been removed in the cafeteria, art room, library, and resource rooms.
- Zig-zag seating with an open seat between students in the cafeteria is no longer required in grades 1-8.
- The exclusion of students from school due to illnesses returns to the normal procedures outlined in our regular handbook. (Kids still should not be at school when they are sick and not feeling well.) There will be no more discussion of COVID “high risk” or two or more “low risk” symptoms. COVID-19 itself has been entered on the Iowa Department of Public Health’s (IDPH) longer list of illnesses for which exclusion is required, and the 5 with or 10 day without mask exclusions still apply.
- Notification letters regarding a positive case of COVID in a homeroom will end. There are very few illnesses on the Iowa Department of Public Health’s list that require notification. COVID is not one of them.
- Large assemblies will return, as opportunities arise. The Scott County Catholic Schools’ Mass at AHS for grades 2-12 is scheduled for April.
- Field trips are returning.
- Water fountains will be turned back on once our supply of bottled water is at a more reasonable level for storage. We still have about 140 cases (a pallet and a half) and are distributing about three cases worth of bottles each day.
Please continue to take care of yourselves and your family. It is possible that we will see another slight increase in COVID numbers after spring break like we did last year. COVID guidance that we have been receiving lately seems to emphasize the following strategies:
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- Recommending vaccination, including boosters, for all eligible
- Optional masking, particularly indoors and/or in crowded settings and when the vaccination status of others is unknown
- Ventilation
- Handwashing and respiratory etiquette
- Staying home when sick and getting tested
- Physical distancing and masking are important here too as they are, or perhaps should be, for any other airborne illness
- Close contacts taking precautions, including some physical distancing and masking, to not only protect themselves but also so they do not become asymptomatic spreaders
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:
- April 10: Family: The foundation of society
- April 24: What does God want me to do?
Changes in Weather – How Many Jackets?
When there are changes in the weather around here, people always say that it’s Iowa, and one should just wait a few hours. Iowa’s weather, however, is nothing compared to the weather along Lake Michigan in the Milwaukee area where I grew up. As storms would move across the country from west to east, they would also swirl clockwise, and we’d have lake effect snow with moisture being picked up from the lake even though we were on the west side of the lake. We’d also face 20 degree or more changes in temperatures within minutes when the wind shifted and would come from the east across the lake. What we needed in the morning as we walked to school was often not what was needed at recess time or after school. We learned to dress in layers and always have jackets available, even tying them around our waists, if need be. In our family, we rarely talked about the weather in terms of the temperature. We talked about it in terms of the jackets or sleeves. What’s the weather supposed to be today?
- Short sleeves
- Long sleeves
- Light jacket
- Two jackets with your light sweatshirt jacket
- Two jackets with your insulated sweatshirt jacket
- Winter jacket
At Marquette University in Milwaukee and the University of Chicago, where I earned my BA and first MA, you could always tell those who grew up along Lake Michigan from those who didn’t. When the wind shifted, those who grew up along the lake would just pull out another jacket. Those who didn’t grow up in the area would run indoors because they were so cold. Amateurs!
Chad
