SerraDIPITY Volume 15 * Issue 5

SerraDIPITY

Volume 15 * Issue 4 * October 8, 2009

It takes a TEAM to educate a Serra child.

We're going green and so can you! Please view all of the linked articles for the most up-to-date information on school activities and events, but print only those which you need to return to the school! If you are unable to print any of the linked flyers or forms, a limited number are available for families to pick-up in the School Office.

Virtue for First Trimester:

Trust

Partner virtues we will work on: Faith and Believe

Lunch &

Treat Order Forms

ť Juice it Up
due October 9th

ť Baja Fresh

October 30th

Orders due October 16th

ť ANNUAL

Baja Fresh

Annual Order Form

Orders due October 16th

Serra After School Programs:

Click each class title for more information on the exciting After School Programs we offer on campus!

ť Mad Science

ťIrish Dance

ť Eagle MusicAcademy
ť Chess

ť Dance

ť Guitar

ť Art

ť Spanish

(Grades 3-5)

Community Programs of Interest:

Click each title for more information on programs available in the community. The inclusion of any flyer does not constitute approval or endorsement of the program. Flyers are provided as a service only.

Praise & Dance Cotillion

A Message from the Principal:

OCTOBER IS RESPECT LIFE MONTH-As Catholics, our deep prayer is that all humans will respect the precious life that has been given to us by God. This month as we focus on Respect for Life issues, you will notice a new Christian Service project to support Toby's house, helping young mother's keep and raise their babies. I hope you will join us all and be generous to this cause. Look in the upcoming SerraDipity and links on our website www.serraschool.org for more details.

After School Programs to Start

Many of our exciting After School Programs kick-off next week. Please check out the links to the left, or visit us on the website at Campus Life > After School Classes.

Harvest Festival 2009

This Sunday, October 11th, Serra Catholic School celebrates Harvest with our annual festival, Harvest 2009. This year's theme focuses on the Bountiful Blessings that the Serra Community experiences each and every day. I want to personally thank our event chairs Holly Schwartz and Terri Savage for their dedication to the theme, their inclusion of all, and their focus on family fun for all ages.

These two wonderful chairs along with their committee chairs and volunteers are true models of Teamwork and support-this will be a wonderful event.

Join us and bring family members, friends, neighbors for good food, entertainment and fun. See more information below or on our website, www.serraschool.org. See you Sunday.

New Campus Update

Over the past five weeks we have truly enjoyed our new campus. Not many Catholic Elementary Schools in our country enjoy the type of educational facility as we have here at Serra. Our children's future is truly enhanced by this facility.
   As with all construction projects there are often challenges. We have worked to overcome these challenges and I would like to highlight and clarify just a few items:
   a.  New Playground-The equipment has shipped and is due to arrive within 5-7 days, installation will take about one week. We hope to celebrate the last week of October with a new playground structure for Grades One to Four.
   b.  The Student Activity Center is truly a busy place. Our calendar is completely full with many school activities still waiting. The Student Activity Center is not rented out to our families for personal use.
   c.   New Bell and Paging System-These are now complete and will begin when we begin SerraVision broadcasts.
   d.  SerraVision-We have experienced quite the challenge with our hookups between all of our buildings. In an effort to do the correct solution and be wise stewards of our funds, we have had to collaborate with our architects, contractors, sub-contractors, Cox Cable, the Diocese of Orange and Serra staff to work through all options. At this point we are ready to implement the fix. The wonderful thing is that our studio is filled with new equipment fit for a TV studio for adults; our broadcasts will be raised to such an amazing level. A bit more patience in October and we will be up and running permanently.
   e.  Field-Many have worried about the mud on the field as I have. We have currently stopped watering the field and allowing it to dry, then we are working with the landscaper to improve conditions. This will take time, but how wonderful is it that we have such an enormous field.
   f.  Traffic is improving, however, there are some simple ways you can personally help. These will be outlined in a Traffic update letter that will be sent later this month.

Parent Handbook Acknowledgement

At Back-to-School Nights this year, our updated Code of Conduct was distributed to parents. This year we have also clarified a number of points to our school uniform code.

Enclosed in today's Weekly Envelope is a Parent Receipt, acknowledging both receipt of the udpates, as well as compliance of the philosophy of the school and the policies and regulations of the Parent/Student Handbook.

Please take a moment to review the updated changes, then sign and return the Receipt in your Weekly Envelope. Thank you!

Orange County Health Department

CLICK HERE to review the OC Health Department's recent flyer "Eye on Influenza" with update information on the H1N1 Flu.

Serving Christ's Children,

Angeline Trudell
Principal

Bishop Brown Welcome Back to School

Bishop Brown welcomes everyone back to a new school year. How can we be sure that what we teach young people about our Catholic faith really makes a difference in their lives? CLICK HERE to read the Bishop's letter and to sign the Parent Faith Formation Pledge today!

Family Directory Now Available Online

The Family Directory is Now Available through the password-protected "Parent Access" area of the web (found to the left of the school logo on the web homepage).

The Family Directory is provided as a service to our Serra families. The Directory, as authorized by our families during the registration process, is only available during the academic year in which authorization was given.
For this reason, we strongly recommend that families print out a copy of the directory for use after the academic year.