Dear Parents, Families and Friends of Notre Dame,

I hope all is well with your family and that your preparation for Christmas Day is well under way (Happy St. Nick's Day!) Our Kindness Honors Notre Dame program is in full swing!!! At Notre Dame we believe acts of kindness are a way to live our faith!Students, parents, and teachers are asked to recognize "Kindness" either given/received.  Forms are in the office! Please help us fill the Kindness containers by encouraging your students to partcipate.  For example, I received an Act of Kindness today from Becca Young, "I told Mr. Kaftan I liked his coat."  She made my day!

Report cards go home tomorrow.  Along with the report cards there will the fall MAPs (measure of academic progress) report for your student. You will see three lines on the graph.  The dark blue is your student, the orange line is Grace and the light blue is the national norm group.  I was able to crunch some numbers (with the help of Jane Schueller, curriculum director for the GB Diocese). The percentage of students that have met or exceeded their goal at Notre Dame exceeded (by a healthy margin) both the national norm and the Grace average for Math, Reading, and Language Usage.  Our students continue to perform very well on the MAPs standardized test. MAPs is just one measure of academic progress. The Notre Dame report card is equally important if not more important because it shows progress in the classroom.  If you have questions about the MAPs test or ND report card please see your child's teacher.

Both the MS and ES have now been connected by fiber optics!!  Thank you Micheal Cuene, and Jody Lahen for speaheading this project.  Connecting both buildings with fiber should greatly enhance the performance of our new computers/labtops/chromebooks etc.  (The fiber project cost $30,000+ and was funded through third source funding and would not have been possible without the Hard  Drive fundraiser last year).  The new computers/chromebooks installed this year were completely funded by the Hard Drive campaign.  Our next step is enhance/create wireless capabilities in both buildings.

We have listened to your, Notre Dame Academy, and East De Pere High concerns about high school readiness.  Middle school students need improved study skills.  In order to help get children ready for the more rigorous demands of high school there will be a new homework policy implemented in the Middle School for the second tri-mester. Your children have already been provided with copies of the policy.  It is a little more strict than the previous policy.  I will be sending out a copy to parents prior to Christmas break. Also, sometime during January we will be holding sessions on homework/study habits, note-taking, test taking skills that will help prepare your children for high school.

The first edition of the new Raider Report  is now on line.  I am very proud of our students for creating the Notre Dame school newspaper! I am sure there are some budding journalists at our school because they did a fantastic job!! (better than the Wall Street Journal or New York Times).  You can find the newspaper on our web-site or click here: https://sites.google.com/a/students.gracesystem.org/nd-newspaper/.

In A Galilee Far, Far Away

     Costume notes:  All students in grades K-2 and choir members in grades 3-5 please support our space ship crew cast by wearing black or navy blue pants and a long sleeved shirt in any one of the following colors: red, light blue, navy blue, gold, or yellow.  Please do not  wear under armor shirts.  We will be lighting the concert, and students will get too warm.    All shoes must tie for safety on the risers.  All cast members (grades 3-5) have been given an information sheet listing all necessary costume pieces. If you haven't seen it, please contact Miss Freeman at  mfreeman@gracesystem.org.

     Snickerdoodles:  These wonderfully named cookies are mentioned in our play.  I'd love to treat students in grades K-5 with one in celebration the day after the concert.  Please let Miss Freeman know if you can help her with the baking.

Home & School News

- Teacher Treat Sign up (the Staff is very appreciative of the delicious treats that are brought in!!!!)... the link is on the Home & School page or volunteer page and there are some open spots in the next few months that need to fill up.