Principal’s Post for September 17, 2023

I’m So Blessed!

Tuesday is National IT Professionals Day.  Just as in your home and work place, we could not function without great IT support.  Whether it be tending to students’ or staff members’ needs, we are so blessed to have Dianne Siefers at JFK!

Drop-Off and Pick-Up

The bulk of the morning traffic occurs about 7:14-7:27.  Please make sure you move slowly through the parking lot and be watchful at all times.  Saving a few seconds by going too fast or trying to multi-task will pale in comparison to hitting a child with one’s car.  The same applies in the afternoon.  Our first group of car riders are escorted by staff out of the building beginning at about 2:38.  They are followed by students dismissed at 2:42 and 2:43, and our car riders are out of the parking lot by about 2:50.  We are blessed with a large parking lot with drop-off/pick-up lanes at both the south and north ends of the lot and multiple entrances/exits.

The drop-off lane along the barriers in the morning is for those who are just pulling up and letting their kids out.  If you need to park and/or get out of the vehicle yourself, please park in the lot and not in the drop off lane.  Cars pulling around a parked vehicle in the drop off lane can be dangerous as there are two lanes of traffic moving in the same direction nearest the building.  Careful “zippering” near the northeast exit is also helpful.

NET Retreats for 7th/8th Graders & Housing Needed

NET team members will conduct retreats for 7th and 8th graders again this year.  The retreat is on Saturday, October 7th.  NET team members come from all across the country and are trained and based out of the Diocese of Minneapolis.  These 8-12 young adults combine social interactions, skits, music, prayer, and discussion to create a powerful religious experience for students.

Want to extend the experience even more for your student?  We are in need of host families for the NET team members on the evening of Friday, October 6, 2023. Hosts are requested to house a minimum of two up and up to seven team members of the same gender. The NET team members will have sleeping bags, mats, pillows, towels and toiletries and are fine with sleeping on the floor, couches or air mattresses. They do request shower access. Please consider opening your home to these exceptional young people providing this ministry. Contact Kaye Meyers, davolvcre@diodav.org, if you are able to provide a space.  Host families often gain much from the presence of these energetic, faith-filled young people!  You do not need a 7th or 8th grader to host NET team members either.

Middle School Youth Night

Adult volunteers are needed to help with middle school ministry this year.  Contact Abbey Heinrichs at davolvym@diodav.org, if you are interested.  She can also guide you toward the required Protecting God’s Children background checks and requirements for volunteers.  They are looking to have a middle school youth night on September 25th, from 6:00-7:30 in the JFK gym.

There are multiple steps to utilizing an ESA:

1. Apply to the state through Odyssey and have one’s application be accepted.  The deadline for the application was June 30th.
2. Go back into Odyssey to identify the school for which you want your ESA to be applied.  If parents don’t do this step, we have no idea that they have been accepted for an ESA.
   1. SCCS or the school will then “verify” that the student will be attending the school and assign tuition
3. Go back into Odyssey to accept the tuition.  Without this step, money will not go to SCCS.

Steps 2 and 3 are just as critical as step 1.  The deadline for steps 2 and 3 is prior to September 30th.  If not completed by September 30th, the ESA is forfeited, and parents will have to pay the entire tuition bill themselves.

If you have questions, please contact Rose Strickland at the SCCS business office at AHS:  rose.strickland@sccsiowa.org or 563-326-5313.  No one at JFK has access to your account information in Blackbaud.

Calendars

Multiple calendars are available on our website, www.olvjfk.com.  On the school side of the website, a one page summary calendar is on the front page.  Detailed calendars can also be reached by clicking on the calendars heading.

Calendar Highlights

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

• Sept 20:  Picture day for M-F PS and MWF 3 YO PS
• Sept 21:  Picture day for T/Th 3 YO PS and K-8.  Students may be out of uniform for picture day but should adhere to the “Out of Uniform Dress Guidelines” available under the dress code on our website
• Sept 22:  2 hr early dismissal (12:40).  No afternoon PS classes
• Sept 24:  OLV parish picnic
• Sept 29:  No buses (The DCSD is not in session).  JFK Pumpkin Patch Night at Pride of the Wapsi
• Oct 9:  No school.  ECLC is open

Altar Server Training

Open Positions at JFK for 2023-24

JFK still has open positions for 2023-24:

Instructional aide/support position:  Follow the same work calendar as your children’s school calendar.  We are looking for a “jack of all trades” person to help in preschool, supervise recesses, provide instructional support, and care for students in aftercare and/or wrap-around care.  On some days, one might start as early as 7:10, and, on other days, one might work until 5:30.  The total is about 39 hours per week, and the rate is $12 per hour.  Summers are off, and most other breaks also follow the same schedule as your children!  If interested, please send me a cover letter, resume, and references, and/or stop by the school office for an application.

Instructional aide positions:  Help teachers and provide instructional support for students in K-8.  Multiple positions are available.  If interested, please send me a cover letter, resume, and references, and/or stop by the school office for an application.

Substitutes:  Substitutes are always needed for both long-term assignments (like maternity leaves) and short-term assignments (like when a teacher needs to stay home with his/her own sick child).  You do not need a teaching degree to work as a substitute.  A minimum of an associate’s degree may be enough to qualify.  The process to become a substitute teacher includes completion of a 15-20 hour workshop, multiple background checks, and applications with the Iowa Board of Education Examiners and JFK.  Workshops are being held almost every week throughout the state, and many of them are virtual so geography does not need to be a limiting factor.   If you are interested in being a substitute, please contact me and/or the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency at 563-359-1371.  We would also like to thank our current substitutes:  Kayla Mason, Jen Kira, Amy Jackson, and Dianne Longenecker.

Open Lunch Position(s) at AHS and All Saints

Part-time help is needed to help serve lunches at Assumption and/or All Saints.  Approximately 12-15 hours per week while the kids are at school.  The day starts after drop drop off and is finished before pick up.  All school holidays are observed.  No experience is necessary.  Please contact Nikki Gartner to discuss  further:  nikki.gartner@sccsiowa.org or 563-326-5313 ext 203

Handbook Sign-Off

Please read the parent and student handbook, available HERE, and on our website: https://www.olvjfk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/JFK-K-8-Parent-Handbook-2023-24.pdf    Then, print off the last page, sign it, and return it to the school office — one per family.  Thank you for helping us to reduce our printing costs.  

Free and Reduced Lunch Application

Those who are not “direct certified” and would like to apply for free or reduced priced lunches should use the following link:  F/R Application.  By participating in the National School Lunch Program, JFK receives a federal and state subsidy for EVERY lunch served.  The subsidy helps us keep down the prices of student lunches for all students.  The subsidy is the greatest for those who qualify for free lunches, smaller for those who qualify for reduced price lunches, and the smallest for all other students.  Applications can be submitted at any time, and eligibility must be determined annually.  When communicating about the lunch program, the following two nondiscrimination statements must also be posted.