April 16, 2015

Dear Parents,

Little things mean a lot!  What I am referring to?  I am referring to the manners exhibited by our students.  I have been so impressed with the large number of "thank yous,"  "how are you?" and "excuse me."  This is not only an indicator of a great amount of respect shown toward adults, but a reflection on how you as parents work with your children.  Teaching children respect and manners is one of the best indicators that the parent is the prime teacher of their child.  Thank you.

Last week we put on the website a form for elementary parents to make requests for classroom teachers for next year.  I have put an article on my link as to a common sense view on how parents can request a particular teacher.  After my detailed evaluations of all classroom and homeroom teachers, I would feel comfortable as a parent in having any one of the classroom teachers at the elementary campus.  Determining classroom placement at the elementary level is a very touchy process.  Reading the article on my link is a great guide in reflecting on this practice of classroom requests.

A special thank you goes to Mr. Kurt Risch, who has been our band teacher this year.  It has not been easy to keep our band program, but Mr.Risch has provided a wonderful sense of direction as well as high expectations for our students who are in the band program.  One of my future administrative goals is to bolster our band program at Notre Dame.  Art and Music are two ways that students can achieve success that they may not be able to acquire through a traditional classroom setting.

One sign of an excellent school is the ability for it to think of its long term vision.  I would ask you to read about the Overdue Overhaul ad on the webpage.  There are a number of teachers and parents who are spearheading this initiative.  The staff and SAC have identified our libraries as an area we can improve on, both in the quality of books and the configuration of what we would refer to as a media center.

Please read the attached items carefully.  Looking at improving the quality of our school through a "big picture" vision is exciting and will improve students educationally in many ways.

This week is Tornado Awareness Week.  We had  a school wide tornado drill this afternoon at about 1:30 pm.  The teachers have talked to their classes about what location they need to go during such a drill. With spring upon us, we know that tornado warnings and tornadoes are things we as a school need to be prepared for. We will have three or four more fire drills this year along with one more tornado drill.

Tonight at 6:00 pm. we host a representative from Catholic Student Exchange for the purpose of encouraging parents to host a student from a foreign country in the near future.  The middle school students listened to the presenters this afternoon. One of the great benefits of a program such as CSE is to educate our students and parents on other countries and cultures.  The meeting will be in the middle school Science room on second floor.

Tuesday April 21st Smart Cow on Onieda is donating a part of the days proceeds to Notre Dame.  Put it on your calendar to visit Smart Cow with your children, enjoy a treat and Notre Dame gets a treat too. Please see the website for more information.

Also going on next week is an Earth Day Recycling Fundraiser.  Check out the website for the details.  Clean out your closets, basements, and garages of your electronic equipment and bring it to Notre Dame on the dates of the collection.  Tell you friends.

Jump Rope and Hoops for Heart will be next week.  The elementary students will "jump" on April 23, and the middle school students will "shoot" on April 22.  I will not set a goal for this year in terms of money raised as I would like to see how much we raise the initial year.  Please look at the material on our site. If you have any questions, please call me at one of the campuses.  I mentioned in one of my previous letters how impressed I am with the physical conditioning of our students. Although raising funds is a great goal, I hope that all who participate have a great time.  Personally I have worked with the American Heart Association to include both Hoops and Jump Rope for Heart as activities for students.

I wish to congratulate our second graders who will have received their First Communion.  Receiving the body and blood of Christ is a special event in the life of our second graders.  A thank you goes to Ms. Halverson and Ms. Korinek for doing a great job in preparing our second graders.  

I have an assignment for your child this weekend. I actually got the idea from Mr. Katona at Mass this week.  He told the students they should smile during the Paschal Season.  My assignment is that your child should smile, and smile frequently.  Spring is both a reason to celebrate in many ways.  Let us all take Mr.Katona's advice and SMILE.

 God Bless,

James A.( Jim) Clark, Principal

"May All Of Us Pray The Gospel, And If Necessary Use Words."

Enrollment

Parent Education

Mr. Clark has set up a Education Post at the top of our webpage. This week he added the topic of Think of requesting a specific teacher for your child? Think twice!. This site is updated constantly. There are many valuable tools in which parents can educate themselves in different aspects of their children's education. Very helpful information. Check it out here.