Thursday Note Home

Dear Visitation Families,

In light of recent events, both on our playground and in schools around the nation, I would like to take a moment and talk about safety. This week one of our students had an accident on the playground. It was serious enough to require stitches to his leg. He is recuperating and will hopefully be back at school soon. I would like to commend our playground monitors, Christine Buzard and Joe Leister, because their actions ensured quick aid for the student while keeping all of the other students safe.

As always, when there is an accident involving injuries, we review what happened and look for ways to improve safety. Two actions came out of the review. First, Joe and Christine, along with help from Alex Desmonie, carefully examined the fence and removed severalold pieces of wire that were hanging from the fence. Second, I have temporarily banned football on the playground. Students may throw a football back and forth, but they may not run plays. The question is what activities are appropriate to the limitations of the space while still providing fun and physical movement?

We also reviewed security procedures with support personnel and Extended Care. We have good policies in place. All exterior doors, with the exception of the front door, are locked at all times. All visitors must stop in the office to get a visitor pass, and anyone without a pass is questioned. All fence gates are locked. Students are instructed to not speak with anyone at the fences during recess. All of our personnel are trained in CPR, or will be soon, and many have had first aid courses. These are all good procedures, but is there more we can do to ensure the safety of our children?

To help us answer these questions of safety and playground usage, I have asked Mary Bromberg, who heads the Policy and Planning Committee on the School Commission, to form a committee to examine issues of safety in all areas of our school and make recommendations. If you would like to be part of this committee, please call the office.

CALLING ALL FORMS: Speaking of safety issues, some emergency forms have not been returned.

These are absolutely vital when any emergency occurs. We have sent copies of the missing forms to any family missing them, so please check your envelope and if there are forms to be filled out, please fill them out and return them ASAP.

MARK THIS DATE: October 28th, at 5:00 there will be a special Mass at St. Ann’s Church. All four parishes are involved as Archbishop Brunett officially installs Fr. Tuan as the Pastor of the four parish cluster. Several of our school children are involved as greeters or gift bearers. I would like to see as many of the children at this Mass, dressed in their uniforms, as possible. Any child who attends this Mass in uniform will earn a free dress coupon. This is also a beautiful and solemn celebration.

DON’T FORGET THE FALL FESTIVAL: The annual Fall Festival is on Saturday October 14th. This is always a great event with lots of crafts, food, and fun. There is also going to be a talent show in the afternoon. Did you know that our own Fr. Tuan plays the trumpet? Don’t forget the German Dinner is Sunday 2PM – 6PM.

CONFERENCES: Slips were to be back to the office by today, Thursday, October 5th. We will send confirmations of your appointment time home on Thursday, October 12th. If you missed getting your slip back by October 5th, we will assume that any day or time is acceptable.

EARN FREE TUITION: Yes, that is what we meant! Ask for details.

BOOK FAIR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Be a part of the fun by connecting our students with books they want to read and get some service hours done! You can be part of set up on Friday, the 13th at 1:15 until it’s done or the Wish List on Tuesday the 17th from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM or do Sales on Oct. 18th from 8:00AM to 7:30 PM, Oct.19th from 8:00 AM to 5:00 or Friday, Oct.20th from 12:00 until done for clean up. Sign up on the response portion of this letter.

PENNY WARS: Are your children checking everywhere for pennies to bring in? The reason is that Student Council is running a great fund raiser called Penny Wars. Each class has a jar outside of their door. The objective is to get the most pennies in your jar. You can sabotage other classes by putting nickels, dimes, quarters, or dollars into other jars, because those coins actually subtract the number of pennies. The Holy Name Society gets all of the proceeds. The contest ends on October 20th.

YEARBOOK: Please sign the response portion of this letter if you would NOT like your child’s photo to appear in the yearbook.

THANK YOU! We want to thank Toby and Sherri Dinkins for the 60 movies they donated to Extended Care.

OOPS: The October calendar says Popcorn is 25 cents; it is really 50 cents… sorry!

HELP: Your gently used uniforms are needed to replenish our emergency closet. We would appreciate your donations. Also, when your child borrows clothing, please see that it is returned.

Peace,

Sheila Harrison,
Principal