|
2012 - 2013 School Year Falcon News 101112
|
Vol I, Issue 8
|
|
Our Lady of Fatima Parish School |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Educating students
to become Catholic leaders
of the 21st Century!
|
|
|
|
| Strategic Planning for OLF | |
Dear Parents and OLF Families,
As you may know, our school works with Catholic Schools Management (CSM). CSM collaborates with our Consultative Board and consults with the school on strategic issues. OLF is in "Year 3" of a five year cycle that is strengthening the strategic plan for our future. This is a vital task for all of us, as we shape the educational path for our children and future generations of students.
OLF is unique in its geographic location, demographic composition, strong connection to Camp Pendleton and support for our military families. We have a rich history of Catholic traditions and cultural influences. There is much to celebrate and to be proud of!
Our school's image has a sound reputation for our excellence in faith-filled, quality education. We cherish the professionalism and dedication of our staff. We appreciate the nurturing support from our parish. We value the strength of our families who always show such generous support for the school! But most importantly, we love the amazing success of our students!
We are blessed to have a Learning Community that stands out for its investment of extra effort, endless time and generous resources thereby ensuring a strong identity, financial base and quality education.
We continue to build on this solid foundation of past accomplishments, to grow in our Catholic Identity, to develop our 21st Century Learning Community and to preserve our reputation for excellence in Catholic education. This requires continuous commitment, strategic planning and true visionaries, who are willing to apply their professional expertise for the benefit of the school.
Whether its is the fresh look of our school logo, the integration of new technologies or the preservation of our school traditions and historical heritage, we understand that our decisions and strategic planning are part of a "bigger picture."
We truly appreciate the past support of David Gibbs and Dani Kelly. We continue to be are grateful to our current members on the CSM Committee: Brian Marquez, Linda Gould, and Mike Dolan. Thank you for your wonderful dedication and contributions to this process!
Blessings,
Beate Nguyen, M.A. Ed
Principal
|
|
 |
MARK YOUR
CALENDAR!
October 2012
Thursday, October 11 World Sight Day Collection of used eye wear begins! Friday, October 12 Early Bird AGC deadline! Tuesday, October 16 World Food Day Wear your Spirit shirt!
FAM Food Collection
every Spirit Tuesday!
Wednesday, October 17 Our Parent Meeting is a prayer evening with a Candlelight Rosary Procession @ 6 p.m. in the Grotto Thursday, October 18 Great California Shake-Out 10/18 @ 10:18 a.m. Sunday, October 21 HUNGER WALK @ SC Monday, October 22 Red Ribbon Week Parade @ SC Wear your Spirit Shirt! Tuesday, October 23 Wear your Spirit shirt! FAM Food Collection Minimum Day NOON Dismissal Wednesday, October 24 United Nations Day Tuesday, October 30 Minimum Day NOON dismissal Parent Conferences 1-5:30 p.m. Wear your Spirit shirt!
FAM Food Collection
Wednesday, October 31 Happy Halloween Early Dismissal @ 2p.m. Parade & Fun! Thursday, November 1 All Saints Day 8:30 Mass (full formal uniform) Minimum day NOON dismissal Parent Conferences 1-7 p.m. |
|
|
|
ANNUAL GIVING CAMPAIGN 2012
| 
To date we have 30% of our families participating and 40% of our faculty and staff! Our goal is to have 100% support, regardless of the size of your gift! No gift is too small! Please contact Linda.Gould@pimco.com if you have any questions!
Friday, October 12 is the last day to receive your
"early bird" invitation!
EARLY BIRD BREAKFAST If you have made your contribution to the Annual Giving Campaign prior to Wednesday, October 10th, you will receive an invitation in your child's yellow envelope today. If you turn in your contribution to the clinic tomorrow by 3:00, you will receive your invitation to the Early Bird Breakfast which is on Friday, October 19th. Thank you for all your generous contributions!!
EARLY BIRD DEADLINE IS TOMORROW, OCTOBER 12!
|
|
World Site Day - Thursday, October 11th
| |
OCTOBER 11 is WORLD SIGHT DAY!
Our Ambassadors are once again collecting used and new eye wear to be donated to those who can not see without glasses!
Last year's Ambassador action produced 467 pairs of used glasses with the help of the school and parishioners! Items will be delivered to Lenscrafters who refurbish the collected items for "One Sight". Then our collected eye wear goes to patients in their global clinics.  |
|
IMPORTANT T-dap BOOSTER REMINDER!
|  FINAL DEADLINE: October 15th REMINDER: As you are aware, all 7th & 8th graders are required by the State and by the Diocese of Orange to have up-to-date immunizations which include theT-dap booster. If your child received the T-dap over the summer, please make sure the clinic gets a copy of their updated immunization chart. Parents who opt out of immunizing their children must ensure that we have their signed documentation on file in the clinic.
Failure to submit an up-to-date immunization records or to comply with proper documentation for T-dap, can result in your child missing school until this requirement is met. Please contact Kristi Johnson, Clinic Supervisor, at kjohnson@olfschool.net if you need assistance or contact Mrs. Nguyen for individual concerns. Thank you to all families who are easing our workload by complying at the first request! Let's keep our learning environment healthy! |
|
Late Arrivals / Early Releases
| |
REMINDER: Please note that your child's attendance record is a very important and legal document. Our clinic staff and faculty make every effort to keep the most accurate records possible. Parents are required to:
 - sign in the child at the clinic when he/she is late
- sign their child out and back in when they leave and return from a medical/dental appointment
- sign the student out properly when he/she needs to leave earlier than the official dismissal time
Your child may be marked absent for a whole day, if you have not signed him/her in on the clinic sign-in/out log. For security and safety reasons, it is imperative that we have an accurate account of students who are on campus. Thank you!
|
|
Volunteer Fingerprinting
| 
REMINDER: No person can volunteer for any position on campus or at school activities without being fingerprinted and trained in Safe Environment (Shield the Vulnerable). Please be sure to take care of this requirement immediately, if you plan to volunteer. It takes up to 3 weeks for fingerprint clearances to be available to us. Please contact Kristi Johnson in the clinic at 492-7320 with questions about fingerprinting. The school can apply the "opt-out" option, if volunteer hours are not performed, because fingerprinting and safe-environment training requirements are not met.
|
|
Parent Conferences and Student-Led Reviews
| |
Student-Led (Grades 4-8) and Parent/Teacher (MAP-3) Conferences have been scheduled according to the sign-up sheets that were made available last week.
Please note the following important dates (*changed from the preliminary yearly calendar)
October 30 Minimum Day - dismissal at 12 noon* Conferences 1-5:30 p.m.
October 31 Early dismissal at 2 p.m. - Halloween
November 1 Minimum Day - dismissal at 12 noon* Conferences 1-7:00 p.m.
November 2 No school - Faculty In-Service
|
|
Parent Meeting - Wednesday October 17
|  Join us next Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Grotto! The parent meeting on Wednesday, October 17th will be an evening of prayer instead of a business or information meeting. Last year's beautiful candlelight rosary was so appreciated, we are processing again around the campus. Please join us! All children must be supervised by an adult! |
|
Great California Shake Out
|
 The "Great CA Shake Out" is a statewide event that prepares us for the unthinkable. We take our emergency plans very seriously and on 10/18 at 10:18 a.m. the school will practice an earthquake drill with other communities, companies and schools around the state. We are blessed to have Todd Offord on our OLF team! As a parent, Mr. Offord consistently works with us on emergency preparedness and supports us with his professional expertise! Thank you for making sure we are properly prepared!
|
|
Annual Christmas Joy Luncheon & Boutique
| |
Mark your calendar:
On November 30, our Parents of Fatima volunteers will be holding the Annual Advent Ladies' Luncheon. This year it is called "Joy of Christmas Luncheon & Boutique". The event will be held at McGowan Hall.
Support our school:
If you are a parent or alumni parent of OLF and would like to support the school by participating in the boutique with your
home business
, please contact Mary Martin at
themartins6@cox.net
by October 19, 2012. There are specific requirements, such as seller's permit and sales tax documentation for example. We look forward to a very delightful day!
|
|
Class of 2014
|
For the Class of 2014 (current 7th Grade), there will be an
important
parent information registration session on Monday,
November 12th at 6 p.m. for the Washington D.C. trip. The meeting will last approximately half an hour.
|
|
Spirit T-Shirts
| 
For those of you who ordered an extra shirt or one for yourself, they are scheduled to be delivered on the 23rd of Oct. Hopefully, the day before in time to wear them on that Spirit Day.
|
|
Pray for Lilly Needham
| |
We all continue to pray for Lily Needham! Our 4th Grader continues to recover slowly. To obtain factual journal information on her progress, please visit: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lilyneedham
Last week OLF met Lilly's orangutan, who will hold Lilly's spot in class until her return to school. The orangutan will wear a backpack so that anyone can place special messages in the backpack which will be delivered to Lilly.
|
|
TEAM LILY
| |
"Team Lily" is supporting the Needham's and our Lily by wearing the "Team Lily T-shirt!" If you would like to get one, please see below! Order deadline is October 19th! OLF students will be allowed to wear this t-shirt on the 1st Tuesday of every month!
|
|
Box Tops Collection
|
Throughout the school year, please remember to clip and save Box Tops for Education as well as Labels for Education.
Each Box Top has a value of $0.10 and with each Box Top collected we earn money for Our Lady of Fatima Parish School. Box Tops and Labels for Education are available on 100's of participating products so remember to look for them before you recycle, then clip and save! Please ask your family and friends to save Box Tops and Labels for Education as well - the more we save, the more we earn! You may turn them in to the clinic.
We also need your old ink and toner cartridges. Cartridges For Kids is another program that earns money for our school. Those may be brought to the clinic as well.
Please try to get the Box Tops turned in ASAP as there is a Nov. 1st deadline for submitting.
|
|
Mark your November calendar!
| |
November 9th School Mass and Veteran's Day celebration at OLF
November 16th School Mass and Special Persons Day celebration!
November 30th Christmas Joy Luncheon and Boutique
Further details are forthcoming!
|
|
Halloween Parade
| |
Wednesday, October 31
A fun-filled day for everyone!
On Wednesday, October 31st we have an early dismissal day at 2 p.m.! This year we will not be having the Trunk-or-Treat in the parking lot. Most parents weren't happy with all of the candy that was being accumulated, ....and we listened! Therefore, our Student Council has decided that we will be having a costume parade instead with fun, games and activities throughout the day!
Please read this carefully, so that your child can enjoy this special day!
Students, teachers and parents are allowed to come in costumes. Costumes need to be in-line with our Catholic values and be appropriate for school-aged children! No masks! No props! No painted faces! No spaghetti straps! No clothing shorter than 4 inches above the knee! No scary costumes! Clothing must be comfortable and able to be worn during the entire school day.
- Pictures with your "Halloween Buddies"
- Costume parade and competition
- "Most inspiring", "funniest" & "home-made original"
- Pumpkin carving competition and exhibit!
- "Classic", "spooky", "funniest", "artistic"
- $1 to enter (proceeds for Student Council funds)
- Games and fun at lunch time!
|
|
Target Red Cards
|
TARGET RED CARDS Our school receives checks from Target's Take Charge of Education program which equal 1% of purchases made by REDcard users. You can support our school through Target by signing up for the REDcard program in one of three ways: visit https://www-secure.target.com/redcard/tcoe/home , stop by the REDcard kiosk in your favorite Target store, or by calling 800-316-6142. Many of you have been shopping at our new Target store. Make your purchases count by designating our school with your REDcard! |
|
Mathtastic Motivation
| |
 We are introducing a new program designed to build your child's interest and skill level in mathematics. Mathtastic Motivation's offers our students additional opportunities to succeed in a challenging subject. The focus is to inspire students and instill in them a great love for math. The program will provide enthusiasm for math, encouraging students to build skills and to expand their knowledge. Mathtastic Motivation develops an appreciation for mathematics and divergent thinking, which lasts a lifetime.
The program is open to all students in grades MAP-8th. It will be held each Wednesday during lunch recess in the third grade classroom. If you would like your child to participate in this exciting math program, please complete the registration form which you can obtain from Mrs. Rodriguez. Space is limited, so sign up now!
|
|
Football and Volleyball Schedules
| 
The Falcon Football and Volleyball schedules are now posted on the school's website. Click here to go directly to the schedule. Please come support the OLF teams. |
|
SCHOOL ACTIVITY PHOTOS WANTED!
|
 Our young Yearbook Committee made up of 8th Graders who chose this as their elective, would like you to assist in submitting your pictures to Principal Nguyen and Mrs. Fries, our 6th Grade teacher. Please do not email, but put pictures on a flash drive! Thank you! |
|
|
Our Lady of Fatima Parish School Mission Statement
Our Lady of Fatima School is a Catholic parish elementary school. Our mission is to nurture individuals to discover their God-given gifts, to encourage them to use these gifts in the service of others and to empower them to be models of integrity and peacemakers who work for justice. We-parents, school staff, and parish community- collaborate in striving for excellence in the education of our children.
|
|
|
|
|
|
