Catechetical Sunday — 9:00 a.m. Mass on Sept 15
Catechetical Sunday, and the first all school weekend Mass, is September 15th at the 9:00 a.m. Mass. Please make arrangements to attend this Mass and show your children your commitment as parents and their first catechists to their faith formation through OLV and JFK.
Did you see the article in the parish bulletin regarding worshipping and resting on Sundays? Click HERE or use the following link/url: https://www.olvjfk.com/olv/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/1032800041C-090819.pdf
Parish Picnic
The OLV parish picnic is Saturday, September 21st after the 4:30 p.m. Mass. Golf carts will be available to take people from the parking lot to the school grounds and handicap seating will be available. Bring your lawn chairs and your appetite as we will be serving BBQ catered by Smokin’ Butt BBQ, iced tea, lemonade, coffee and water. Beer and wine coolers will be available for purchase. Music and fun for all! Tickets are $1 each and free for children 5 and under. (Children still need tickets so we can get an accurate attendance count.) Tickets will be sold each weekend until September 14 in the Gathering Space. Tickets may also be purchased at the parish and school offices. In addition to your ticket you are asked to bring a dish to share. Please bring a serving utensil and mark all dishes and utensils with your name for return:
Last name ending in:
A – H bring Desserts I – P bring Vegetables Q – Z bring Salads
Plenty of volunteers are also needed. Click HERE or use the following link/url to sign up to help: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0d4ca5a62da4fc1-parish1
Locals Love Us – Do You?
Vote for JFK on LocalsLoveUs.com. Preschool, childcare, and K-8 Private school categories.
Communications
Are You Registered to Receive Text Messages from JFK?
If you are not registered to receive text messages from JFK (primarily families new to JFK and/or preschool), type “Y” or “Yes” to 67587. You will not receive text messages from JFK if you do not take action yourself. There is no action required to receive email or phone messages.
Principal’s Posts are written each weekend and posted on our website, available off the front page. I also send a link via email and post it to the school’s Facebook account. It then gets sent home via hard copy via “backpack mail” with the “youngest or only child” in a family at the beginning of each week. I use the Principal’s Post to reach the whole school community and sometimes highlight happenings in particular grades. It does not replace the many communications you will receive from your children’s teachers.
We also utilize a JFK Facebook page, and there is a closed Facebook group, JFK Moms & Dads, where people can post to others in the group. JFK’s Facebook page can be accessed from the front page of our website. If you’d like to be a member of the JFK Moms & Dads group, please let Angie Hillebrand, in the school office know via a Facebook request or even via email. Social media is not the best venue for voicing a concern, and posts that appear to do so will be removed while we try to reach out to address the concern through a better means. Social media, including our Facebook pages, are great ways to share your photos and connect with other JFK families. Photos from an event are often posted to these pages by families before we can even get photos taken by staff posted. Make sure you “like” us on both Facebook pages!
Take advantage of the calendars on our website. We have eight: School, Parish, Lunch Menu, Lunch Duty, Faith Formation, Youth Ministry, Gym & Athletic Fields, and Room Reservations.
Altar Server Trainings
All boys and girls of the parish in 4th grade and up who are interested in being an altar server are invited to attend training in the church on Saturday, September 14th from 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. At least one parent is needed to complete the necessary paperwork. If you have any questions, please contact the Parish office at 563-391-4245.
Handbook Sign-Off
Please read the parent and student handbook, available HERE, and on our website: https://www.olvjfk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/JFK-Parent-and-Student-Handbook-2019-20.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.
Reminder: Smart watches are in the same category as “cell phones and other electronic devices” and prohibited from use between 7:00 a.m. and until students leave the building. Because staff members are not able to tell which Smart Watches and FitBits are connected to data plans or phones in one’s locker, all such devices will be prohibited.
Shiny Floors
Aren’t the floors beautiful? The shine on the school floors is incredible. Please thank our evening custodian, Jeff Edens, for the pride he takes in taking care of the school floors.
Open Positions
We have a 6-8 hours per week Title I funded interventionist position available to provide math support for elementary-age students. This position requires a K-6 IA license.
We also have additional instructional aide hours to assist students and teachers in elementary classes and supervisory duties. The aide hours can be combined with the teaching position.
At last week’s board meeting, the board created a new position: student support specialist. In next week’s Principal’s Post, I’ll introduce our new student support specialist. She will have many duties similar to a school counselor.
Familiar Dilemma?
Lynn and I are struggling with a project at our house. We have a 30+ year old retaining wall on three sides of our garage that is failing. I’ve replaced two sides over the years, but even these are starting to show signs of deterioration. We probably need a complete demolition and replacement. We’re running into a dilemma that many of you probably also face: we work too many hours to be doing the work effectively ourselves but don’t make enough money to be able to hire someone else to do the work!
Chad
