Please remember to return the envelope to school every week!

Have you returned $25 for the Entertainment book?

Sept. 2, 2010

Dear Families,

We are off to a slightly soggy but great start! The New Family Orientation and the Back to School Barbeque were successful as well as loads of fun. Thank you to Lynette Crumity for the planning, coordination, and hard work on these events. Thanks to all of the many parents who helped both with set up and clean up. Thank you to Poe for manning the grill! We are blessed with wonderful new families in our school. We currently have 171 students with a full Prekindergarten class at Visitation and an over-full 6th grade! Prekindergarten at St. Ann is filling up, too! If you see a new face, please don't hesitate to say hello.

THURSDAY NOTE HOME: As you can see our first Thursday note home is very full. I know this can be overwhelming, but please don't hesitate to call should you have any questions.  Included are the REQUIRED STUDENT/PARENT PAPERWORK (the nuts and bolts that we need to help keep things running smoothly. Please be sure and fill out all the paperwork and return to the office by Monday, Sept. 13th if not sooner. We have included the monthly calendar, lunch menu, SCRIP order form and much, much more. Please be sure to take some time to review the information….we promise next week's envelope will not be as full!

T-SHIRT TUESDAYS and Other Free Dress Info: Every Tuesday, students may wear Viking CYO T-shirts or sweatshirts instead of the uniform Visitation sweatshirt. They are still required to wear the uniform pants and white shirt under the t-shirt or sweatshirt. If you would like to order a Viking CYO T-shirt for your student to wear on Tuesdays, check for the order form in this envelope. They also come in adult sizes, too! All proceeds go to support our sports teams.

Students may have free dress on the first Tuesday of each month, provided that they also bring either a canned good or boxed food for our parish food bank. Students who show up in free dress without something to contribute to the food bank will call parents to bring a uniform. Students may also wear free dress on the first Monday of the month if they bring a note from their parents indicating that they wore their school uniforms to Mass on the previous Sunday. Please review the free dress policy with your student, as well. Finally, as our policy states, students are to be in full dress uniforms for Friday Mass.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: With the exception of Pre-K parents, all parents are required to do a certain number of volunteer hours. I will be listing volunteer opportunities in the Note Home, but there is also a new Volunteer Bulletin board located just down the hall from the School Office. If you are looking for opportunities to get your hours done, you will find them on the Volunteer Bulletin Board. Some current opportunities include:

1. Two people are needed to buy food for the emergency kits (we'll give you the list and reimburse you!)

2. A "crafty" person is needed to revamp our Viking banner

3. 5 people are needed to be part of our 2010-11 Calling Tree; each person will be assigned up to twenty families to call and remind them of events throughout the school year. Especially if you are fluent in Spanish or Vietnamese, we need you!

4. If you can do 1, 2, or 3, please fill out at the bottom of the Note Home. Check the Volunteer Bulletin Board for more opportunities!

ATTENDANCE: Please help us regarding student absence. When a student is ill, or for some other reason is not able to attend school, a parent or guardian is expected to call the school office between 8:00 and 9:00. If this is not done, the school will telephone the parents at home or work. If a parent cannot be reached, persons listed on the emergency form will be contacted. When a student returns to school, a note verifying the date and reason for the absence is required. This written excuse should be given to the teacher. It is kept on file for the year. When a student has had three unexcused absences in any given month, the principal will be notified. A pattern of unexcused absences will result in the principal contacting the parent for either a telephone conference or a school conference to develop an attendance plan.

HOT LUNCH: Our hot lunch program is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, September 7th. Hot lunches, which cost $3.50 per student, are sold by weekly tickets and/or you may purchase by the month. You will also find an application for free and reduced lunches through the State program. I strongly encourage families to fill the application out and return it.

ATTENTION 7TH & 8th GRADE PARENTS: A meeting has been scheduled for 7th & 8th grade parents who are considering the Washington DC trip. The meeting will be held Sept. 9th (Thursday) at 6pm in the 8th grade classroom.

BAND NEWS: Band will begin on Friday, Sept. 10th. We are pleased that Eric Anderson is returning to teach. Beginning band will be Tuesdays from 1:00 – 1:40 pm and Fridays from 10:30 – 11:10 am. Advanced Band will be on Tuesdays from 1:40 – 2:20 and then on Fridays 11:10 – 11:50. Any questions please feel free to email Mr. Anderson at andersone@bellarmineprep.org

REMINDER IF YOUR CHILD HAS MEDS AT SCHOOL: If your child needs a prescription drug on hand at school, please be sure you bring a physician approved order form (a copy is in your envelope today) and the medications in their original container. If you had a physician's note last year, you need a new one for this year.

MORNING DROP OFF REMINDERS: PLEASE do not drop your children off in the middle of the street! Either pull over to the curb on 58th or park in the parking spots available on Lawrence Street; (the first two spots are reserved for the winners of the bidding for those two spots at the auction, so please don't park there). The best and safest option is to pull into the school grounds through the Lawrence St. gate and either park behind the building if you are walking your child in or pull forward and take advantage of our Visitation Valet service to let your child out safely.

MORE THANK YOUS: To Don Johnson and Bill Bradley (great grandfather and grandfather of Bransen, 6th grade) for the playground clean up, to Joe Leister for repainting the basketball poles and backboards, and to Oberlin Tello, along with Emmanuel (8th) and Eric (grad) for helping paint.

FAIR TICKETS: You will find one Free Student Gate Admission only ticket for the Puyallup Fair in your envelope today. Good for Sept 11-27th.

Blessings,

Sheila Harrison