Mr. Kaftan's Korner

September 7, 2011

Dear Notre Dame Families:

Welcome Back!!! There are many new and exciting things happening at Notre Dame. Enrollment is up! We have eighteen new families in grades one through eight. Welcome to all the new families. Pre-school enrollment has doubled! We have several new teachers! We have a new parking lot and widened streets at the elementary school. Thank you St. Mary's!

Our Welcome Back to school mass will be this Friday! This will be a great opportunity to celebrate mass with our new pastor Father Getchel. Welcome to Father Getchel!! Father Getchel has made his presence known around the school and in the lunchroom.

"Get in the Spirit" is the theme for our open house that will be held Monday, September 12^th from 6:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. . Please see the flyer further down in the newsletter for details. I hope to see you all at this wonderful event.

This is the first newsletter of the year in our new electronic format. A big thank you goes out to Annie Bongiorno for spearheading this effort and the Notre Dame Newsletter team! We are attempting to go Green with this new format. Please forward all flyers electronically to ndnewsletterteam@gmail.com with a brief description of the flyer that can be easily copied and pasted into the newsletter. All flyers should be sent in a pdf format. We hope to cut down on the cost of paper and reduce the time to stuff the brown envelope.

Opportunities abound for volunteer hours. We need playground volunteers, classroom volunteers, middle school walk volunteers etc. Please contact Jenny at the elementary school (337-1103) or Elisa at the middle school (337-1115).

Just a quick heads up, all e-mail addresses at Notre Dame have been changed to the persons first initial, last name, @ gracesystem.org. My new e-mail address is jkaftan@gracesystem.org.

Our theme for this year is:  "We've got Spirit!."  During the school year we will be learning about the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit as referenced in Galatians 5:22-23. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

Tomorrow is Packer spirit day!  Bring one dollar and dress in your favorite Packer gear.  Proceeds will fund a surprise for staff members. Go Pack!

This is going to be a great year!

In Spirit,

Jeff

 Notre Dame of De Pere OPEN HOUSE

Monday, Sept 12th 6:00-8:00pm

Be sure to attend our Fall Open House. The evening will begin with a program in the Middle School gym for all parents.  The program will include a welcome message from Father Getchel and Father Patrick and an opportunity to meet all teachers. In addition, the new school promotional video will be unveiled and you will have the opportunity to hear from our newly reorganized Athletic Booster Club (ABC).  The program will run from 6:00-6:30 and immediately following all middle school parents will follow thier child's schedule from class to class.  After the program elementary parents will be able to visit all classrooms!  Be sure to mark your calendars!

Information booths will be set up for:

Script

Home & School

Key Club

Golf Outing

Market Day

Raider Athletic Wear

Home & School

Who is Home & School?
All families are members of Home and School.   

YOU are Home and School.  Join Us. 

We cultivate a better understanding and a spirit of cooperation between home and school.

We offer programs of interest and special activities that give families the opportunity to have fun with other families.  

We raise funds to assist with materials, equipment, special programs, etc.

We honor our teachers: Back-to-school faculty luncheon, teacher start-up checks, teacher requests, faculty treats  

We provide an annual Book fair.

We offer PAINLESS FUNDRAISING options such as box tops, milk caps, printer cartridges, receipts collection

Some of the events we sponsor are:   

Fall Festival
Fundraisers such as Seroogy's sales and bake sale
We Add to the Catholic Schools Week celebration
Grandparent's Day

Some examples of things we have purchased with the money we raised:

New slide for the elementary school
New sports and play equipment for the middle school
Learning materials for science  

Reading labs
Computer technology
Items that enhance student and teacher life

We want to ensure our children are receiving the best educational experience possible, as well as give the teachers extra resources to provide such. We also show appreciation for all that our teachers and staff does!  

Click here for Painless Fundraising  

SAFETY FIRST

Roadwork is Complete!  The plan included widening Huron street in order to create a safer drop zone. 

Construction on the parking lot continues this week.  Students will be kept a safe distance from construction. 

Thank You St. Mary's Parish for making this happen!

FUNDRAISING

Click the Market Day Logo for details, or  email Lisa Urick -lonepine4@tds.net with questions!

VOLUNTEER

 "From what we get, we can make a living; What we give, however, makes a life."    

Winston Churchill

All families are required to fulfill volunteer hours both in the school and for fundraising events (Third-source funding) that benefit our school and help to defray the cost of tuition.

Volunteering is a way to build spirit and community at Notre Dame. It is a great way to meet new families and build connections that turn Notre Dame School into the Notre Dame family. Notre Dame offers a vast variety of volunteer opportunities to fit everyone's needs, experience and interest. It is a great opportunity to meet new people and make friendships that can last a lifetime!!

So, bring your calendars to the Open House on September 12, and sign up for volunteer opportunities available during the 2011-2012 school year!

ATHLETICS & BOOSTER CLUB (ABC)

 GET YOUR GAME ON!  

Packer Tailgate 

Save the Date: Sunday October  9   

Packers VS Falcons 

Adults $10, Children $8, Pizza/Nacho Bar (Drinks available for purchase)  

 Watch for information at our ABCC tables at both buildings during the Open House.