May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

And rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Old Irish Blessing

(used as closing prayer for our 8^th grade graduates)

Upcoming Dates

Fri., May 30       Final School Mass, Candle Ceremony for 7^th/8^th Grade

Fri., May 30       PlayScape Design Open House, 2:30-4:00 p.m.

Mon., June 2     Sixth Grade Retreat

Tue., June 3      Last Day of School/Field Day/Progress Reports (No PM Bus service)

Fri., June 6        8^th Grade Graduation, 5:00 p.m.

Summer Work Days (Details Below)

Sat., June 14     Summer Work Day 1 (chapel renovation)

                        GSCM Summer Garage Sale (8:00 a.m. - noon)

Sat., July 12      Summer Work Day 2 (landscaping, chapel painting)

Final School Mass with Candle Ceremony

Friday, May 30, 8:15 a.m.

Our final Mass of the year provides an opportunity to express special thanksgiving for the gift of our school and school community.  At the end of Mass, a "Candle Ceremony" enables all of our students to recognize the upcoming departure of our 8^th grade class.  Our graduates pass lit candles to their 7^th grade peers as a sign of the passing of leadership to next year's oldest students.

Natural PlayScape Planning Open House

Friday, May 30, 2:30-4:00

A design team composed of your teachers, parents and your principal has been working with the Landscape Architectural Firm, Rachel Robinson Design, to develop plans for a Natural Playscape.  The PlayScape will introduce varying nature based activities that will extend our Montessori based education to the outdoors.   All GSCM parents are invited to a "PlayScape Design Open House" by our front entrance on Friday, May 30, 2:30-4:00 p.m.  We will share the Preliminary Master Plan and have time for questions and parental input.  No RSVP required.

Tuesday, June 3:  Field Day/Final Day of School

The end of school is approaching fast, which means Field Day will be here!!  You will receive information about what color your child should wear for Field Day (either red or blue) the week of May 27. 

The schedule for the day will be as follows:

     9:00                   Gathering in classrooms

     9:45 - 11:30        Field Day/Games and Activities

    11:30                  Pre-Primary Farewells/Dismissal from classrooms

                       (parents are invited to stay with their children for lunch)

    11:30 - 1:00         Lunch 

• Arrival and Bus Service On Field Day, children may come at the regular start time for school (8:00 or 8:15) or may come at 9:00 a.m. There will be morning bus service but no afternoon bus service on June 3.  Early dismissal at 1:00 p.m.
• Lunch:  Our lunch this year will be cheese pizza, applesauce and a dessert.  If your child does not care for this please pack their lunch.

Rain Plan:  If it rains, all children will be asked to bring a favorite board game to their class.  Each class will then have a fun filled Board Game Day in their individual classrooms. 

Volunteers needed

Christy Pucci, field day coordinator for the elementary and middle school, is in need of many helpers for setup and to run the games.  Please click here: http://vols.pt/8pPysd

Contact Christy Pucci at 624-7286 or 886-3983 or tcpucci@cinci.rr.com with any questions. Thank you.

2014 Graduation:  Friday, June 6, 5:00 p.m.  

The Good Shepherd Catholic Montessori Class of 2013 cordially invites you to its Graduation Mass and Ceremony on Friday, June 6,, at 5:00 p.m. at St. John Vianney Church.  A reception hosted by the class of 2015 will follow in the Middle School.

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Summer Work Days at GSCM

Seeking volunteer helpers!  Lunch and childcare will be provided by the school. 

TO RESPOND:

• Register on-line:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kQtp7RDxuf-gWgAaUI_9jIiaPc6HsxzMuiSAux5d8BI/viewform?usp=send_form
• Return the response form coming home via hard copy this week or available at http://gscmontessori.org/images/CMS/GSCMWork%20Day%20AnnouncementSummer2014.pdf 

·         E-mail us at ntoon@gscmontessori.org.

·         Call us at 271-4171.

Thank you and God bless you for your energy for

The Good Shepherd Catholic Montessori!

Saturday, June 14, 2014 (8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.)

Construction (and Demolition) Day

We are seeking help with these tasks.  We will have a project foreman to oversee all workers, but are also seeking dads who can oversee particular projects (e.g., wall framing, floor framing).

Construction for Our Lady, Queen of Angels Chapel:

                 Framing walls

                 Hanging drywall

                 Framing a raised floor platform

Classroom work:

     Removing fixed sink bases and cabinetry in preschool classrooms

Saturday, July 12, 2014 (8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.)

Planting and Painting Day

We are seeking help with these tasks.  We will have a project foreman to oversee all workers. 

Outdoor Landscaping

Planting for our Marian garden and other landscaping

Mulching

Our Lady, Queen of Angels Chapel:

Painting new wall surfaces

Cleaning

.

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Ask Our Father

"God our Father, please bless our school.  Assist us in obtaining the money we need to build a school that helps us to learn, grow, and adore you."

The Annual Fund is a joint effort that has an impact on our entire school.  It is a tangible way that we can all "opt in" to show our support for the school and its mission.

Are you one of the 30 families, 11 staff members, and 17 grandparents that have contributed to help us raise $27,000 this year?   If so, thank you! 

Or are you one of the 110 families and 29 staff members who have yet to "opt in"?  Will you give today?

Giving is simple and every little bit helps.  Donate Now with a click of a button at https://gscmontessori.ejoinme.org/AnnualFund.

If you cannot give monetarily, then please consider "opting in" by volunteering your time with the Development Office.  Contact Jana Widmeyer at jwidmeyer@gscmontessori.org or Sheila Lichtenberg at slichtenberg@gscmontessori.org. to see how you can help. 

And, please continue praying that God our Father will bless our school.

PTO News

Thank You, PTO!

Where would we be without the PTO?  Did you know that so many of the annual events and little extras that we cherish at GSCM are made possible by the PTO?  Welcome Back Picnic.  Field Day. Talent Show.  Community Flowers. Teacher Appreciation.  Yearbook.  Grandparents Day.  Spirit wear.  Etc.

We extend a big thank you to Lisa Schmitz and her team who have lead the PTO and are now passing on the opportunity to others.  Lisa served as PTO president for the last two years and was PTO secretary for two years before that.  Jane Koenig has been PTO treasurer for four years.  Sheri Mitchell chaired Celebrations Committee, Carrie  Ellis chaired Fundraising, and Rhonda Hamall chaired Arts and Education for the last four years.

We welcome Christine Godar and her team who take the reins of PTO for the future.

Thank you to all our GSCM volunteers!

Time to sign up for 2014-15 Volunteer Positions

It is hard to believe that we are in the last few weeks of school and it is time to sign up for volunteer positions for next school year!  

This is our school family participation policy: 

1)  Every family is required to sign up for one coordinator position. You should have received a volunteer needs packet in backpack mail on Monday May 5.  We are asking that every family complete this PAPER form for one coordinator position and return it to the office.(or email to Nicolay.walz@gmail.com).  If you don't have a paper form, the packet is on the GSCM website.

 2) Every family is required to sign up for at least three volunteer shifts/tasks throughout the school year.  Some of the shifts are ONLINE now.  Some will be added as volunteer needs arise.  You can sign up now or later, whatever works best for you.   There is a VolunteerSpot link to sign up for event shifts (http://vols.pt/1PdNF8).

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Office News:

Verification in Parent Portal

Please watch for an email this summer asking you to verify your information within the GSCM Portal.  This is information that only you have access to by using your user name and password.  It is important to check it yearly to make sure the school has updated information regarding your student.  We then, print a report at the beginning of the school year for the teachers that shows who may pick up your child(ren), emergency contacts, any allergies or health concerns as well as your contact information.  Please check each tab within the portal and then make sure that under the "verify" tab that you click on the bar that says "click here to confirm that all information is correct". 

Community Flowers

Jane Koenig has generously purchased all the flowers and supplies for our classes to deliver flowers to our neighborhood for the past several years.   Several neighbors have expressed their gratitude throughout the years.  This year, before we even delivered them, a gentleman stopped in to ask if we were going to be passing the flowers out again this year and if so, did I know when.  He said that his wife wanted to be home, if she could be, as she wanted to be able to let the children know how much she appreciated it.  Today, on voice mail there was a message from a neighbor on Britton St. who expressed her thanks and said that "it was very sweet and it brightened her day".  Thank you Jane and thank you classroom teachers for taking the time to make this happen.      

Update: IPM Cereal Collection

Last week's collection for Inter Parish Ministry's pantry brought in 29 boxes of cereal.  The total number of food items collected this year, over eight collections, is 412.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for your participation and generosity.

Thanks also to the Middle School students for helping collect items each month and working an afternoon at the pantry this spring. 

Kroger Rewards Program

If you shop at Kroger and you haven't signed up for our school to receive rewards, would you please take a minute to do so.  We received the following email from Kroger  "Your supporters (58 households) who shopped at Kroger between 02/01/2014 and 04/30/2014 (Cycle 2, Qtr 4) have contributed to your $850.18 total donation. Your organization will be receiving a Kroger check in this amount within 30 days from 04/30/2014. If you have any questions, please email cincinnaticommunityrewards@kroger.com or visit our website at www.krogercommunityrewards.com. Thank you for your continued support of your local Kroger store.  Don't forget to use your newsletter, website, and events to encourage your supporters to link to your organization. The more your supporters shop with us, the more money your organization will earn!

Just think how much our donation could be if all 120 of our families were supporters!  It doesn't cost you anything but a few minutes each year to sign up.  Thank you!

Lost and Found

Don't forget to check the Lost and Found (located at the end of the upper hallway) before the end of the school year.  All remaining items will be donated to a local charity. 

Also, a tablet was found on the playground and turned into the office last week.  No one has come to claim it.  Are you missing one? 

GSCM Garage Sale:

Keep bringing in your tax deductible donations any day from now until June 6th between 7:45 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. at the two-door garage located near the Middle School behind the Church.  If you don't see the garage door open, just call or stop in the office and Nancy will be happy to open it for you.There will be a charitable receipt for you to take for tax purposes near the door. 

If you need to coordinate a different time for dropping things off, or have any questions about your items, OR if you can help out with organizing / advertising, please contact Eileen Myers emyers@gscmontessori.org or 513-675-2931.  We can also arrange a pick up for larger items if needed.

And remember to tell your friends and family to come shop the sale on Saturday, June 14, 8:00 - Noon!

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Have a safe and blessed summer!