Principal’s Post

Principal’s Post for March 24, 2024

I’m So Blessed!

I could not sit through the 7/8 mock shark tank finals on Friday without a smile on my face. It was such a fun experience!

7/8 Shark Tank Winners

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 had to “pitch” it to the “sharks” just like on the TV show. Congratulations to the following students:

  • 1st place: Natalie S., Noah F., and Kyle D.: Spoonalicious — an edible spoon
  • 2nd place: Sydney S. and Hailey E.: Sprinkle Dinkle — a toilet seat helper for potty training boys
  • 3rd place: Anthony C. and Lincoln M.: Pool Darts — jumping through holes on a “dart board” in the swimming pool to earn points

Just like on the real Shark Tank, I think some inventions and presentations also just resonated with the judges. I thought the finalists all did an amazing job!

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. The SCCS schools in Davenport also have off on Good Friday.

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 Have Now All Been Emailed

Registration acceptance or waiting list letters have now been emailed to all families who have children who will be in 3 YO PS through 8th grade at JFK next school year. This letter is another point of confirmation that your registration was received. Communication will now 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.

Why Keep Printing the Definition of a Participating Member of Our Lady of Victory or Other Catholic Parish?

Eventually, someone at each parish, including OLV, will have to verify that the students registered for JFK and Assumption, for example, are either participating members of OLV or another Catholic parish or not participating members.

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

The first precept of the Catholic Church is Mass attendance. All too often it seems as if there are not too many JFK students at Masses at OLV. It also feels awkward when we have a fairly large Catholic school and not enough altar servers for OLV’s weekend Masses. OLV itself has been concerned about Mass attendance since before COVID. Before COVID, there was only about 30%-35% of parishioners who were included in the official Mass attendance count days in November. Since COVID, we have yet to go above 30%. Can you imagine a school or workplace where not even 30% of the students or employees are in attendance? Or having a weekend athletic tournament with only 30% of the team showing up?

The link below shows OLV’s Mass attendance as a percentage of  OLV parishioners from 2015 to 2023.

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

Registration and Application for 2024-25

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)

ESAs and State Assessments

Families receiving ESAs may have received a message from the Iowa Department of Education reminding them that their students must participate in the same federal and state required assessments as those attending public schools. This participation requirement actually is in place by JFK’s policies already. JFK students will be taking the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) in late April.

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.

Measles Immunizations?

There are relatively few students who have immunization exemptions at JFK. If your child or you does not have a measles immunization, usually obtained through a once per lifetime MMR shot, you may want to talk to a health professional. Measles, which was once thought to be “eradicated,” has had several cases move from the coasts toward the middle of the country. If there were to be a measles case, it’s not just the person with the illness who needs to be out of school; typically, all others who are not immunized also need to be out of school for as many as 21 days.

Calendar Highlights

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

  • 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
  • Apr 4: Jump for JFK Event at The Fun Station
  • Apr 8: In-service. No Classes. ECLC Open. Middle School Youth Night
  • Apr 11: Jersey Mike’s Night. Confirmation Practice
  • Apr 12: Confirmation