Mass with Bishop Zinkula
Last week’s all school Mass celebrated by Bishop Zinkula was also attended by the diocesan superintendent of schools, Lynn Devaney. Having attended school Masses throughout the Diocese of Davenport, she had nothing but praise for our students’ singing, participation, and reverence as well. It’s nice to hear good things from “outsiders.” “Come to the Table” at OLV/JFK!
60th Anniversary Celebration
As I’m working on this Post, I’m taking a break from the 60th anniversary celebration of Our Lady of Victory. OLV was established in 1962 when Bishop Hayes told the parishioners of Holy Family that everyone who lived north of Duck Creek would now be members of Our Lady of Victory. As there were no buildings yet for OLV, Masses were actually held in the Assumption High School auditorium. JFK was built in 1964, and Masses moved to the gym and cafeteria, where the original crucifix hangs today. In 1968, the groundbreaking took place for the church.
As Fr. Jake said in his homily, those first OLV parishioners took a leap of faith. They did not know what the future would look like for the next 60 years. We, too, are called to take our own leap of faith and journey down the road for the next 60 years, building the paths as we need them.
“Come to the Table” to be part of the present and future of Our Lady of Victory and the Catholic Church.
Transition to a New Student Information System Makes Progress
Student information systems communicate back and forth with the Iowa Department of Education. On Wednesday afternoon, the number of data errors for JFK was about 22,600. By Thursday afternoon, the number of errors dropped to about 1,500 as many more automated transitions/conversions of data finally took place.
We are, indeed, making progress with the new student information system, PowerSchool, that the diocese has licensed for all of the schools in the diocese. Even the few schools which were already using PowerSchool have had to change to the diocese’s licensed version. The process has not been easy for any school. We are thankful for Lynne Devaney, superintendent of schools in our diocese, Brian Brock, in IT at the Mississippi Bend AEA, and, of course, Dianne Siefers, Technology Coordinator at JFK.
As we continue with the transition to PowerSchool, please note that we are still using our old student information system, JMC. JMC will be used for our lunch program the entire year and for grades/report cards for quite some time yet. Parent access information for JMC was emailed last week.
The first mid-quarter ends on Wednesday. Then, teachers have about 2-3 work days to finalize the grades and ratings. Mid-quarter progress reports will be emailed after September 26th.
Student Information Sheets for 22-23 Still Missing from Some Families
Communication from the school can only work when the contact information is accurate. Each year, families are asked to verify the information on student information forms, and new families complete new ones for us in August. A month into the school year, we are still missing 22-23 verified information from about 2-6 families per homeroom. Please share that information with us ASAP, if you have not already done so. A link to a fillable form follows: Student-information-sheet-K-8-2022-23
Handbook Sign-Off
Please read the parent and student handbook, available HERE, and on our website: https://www.olvjfk.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Parent-Handbook-2022-23-pdf-version.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.
Home & School’s Step It Up Campaign
- Step It Up: We have done a great job so far, but we’re still looking for 75% of our families/students in grades K-8 to participate, and we’re only at 42% as of Friday. This program is the largest H & S fundraiser that benefits all students and staff. Another of our local Catholic schools has raised so much through this fundraiser that they have discontinued their Gala! All parents have to do is register online and send 10 communications.
- Homeroom competition:
- There’s a little homeroom competition going on for the rate of participation. Mrs. Maxwell’s homeroom leads with 78% participation, followed by Mrs. Putnam’s homeroom at 71%, and then Mrs. Poster’s at 65%. Fifth-8th grade participation is a little low with the highest level of participation in these grades being Mrs. Weiser’s class with 41%, and the lowest homeroom’s participation at 9%. This year, 5th-8th graders will benefit greatly from Home & School’s support as boys’ and girls’ Catholic League sports teams will all utilize new uniforms. (These are school owned uniforms and will likely last 7-10 years.)
- Student winners of the drawings for the refrigerators stuffed with cash last week were the following: Bryce B (3rd grade), Luci D (1st grade), Hailey E (7th grade), and Landon P (2nd grade).
- The drawing for the $250 Amazon gift card is Monday!
- Continue to submit the emails/texts online!
- Homeroom competition:
- Sept 21: Skate Night at the Eldridge Community Center Roller Skating Rink, 4:30-6:30
Home & School is like a parent/teacher association. All parents/guardians of students enrolled at JFK are part of Home & School.
Teaching Safety: Empowering God’s Children Safe Environment Training
Each year, the Diocese of Davenport, in response to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, requires that students in Catholic schools and faith formation programs in grades K-12 receive education in the prevention of child sexual abuse. The prevention of child sexual abuse requires more than adult vigilance and education. It also requires us to give children the age-appropriate background and tools to help them stay safe. To this end, the Diocese is using the Teaching Safety: Empowering God’s Children program, sponsored by the VIRTUS program we are currently using to educate adults and volunteers. For more information, click Teaching Safety – Empowering God’s Children, Parent Letter, 2022-23
Other Upcoming Events
- Sept 21: End of first mid-qtr. Student Council officer candidates’ speeches in the gym
- Sept 22/23: Picture Day
- Sept 26: 2nd Grade Sacraments Preparation
- Sept 30: H & S sponsored Fall Festival at Pride of the Wapsi (Registration deadline: Sept 28)
Chad
