As We End the First Part of Our School Year, I Wanted to Give You a Few Updates Before

Hello all…

As we end the first part of our school year, I wanted to give you a few updates before we return from our Christmas break!

Exciting News In early December we completed a rigorous process applying for the opportunity to be one of 50 private schools nationwide acknowledged as a Blue Ribbon School! To even register for the program, student achievement as measured by a nationally normed test in the most recent year tested must place the school in the top 15 percent in the nation in reading and mathematics. As a matter of fact, Holy Family’s scores significantly exceeded this benchmark! The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. Every year the U. S. Department of Education seeks out and celebrates great American schools, schools demonstrating that all students can achieve to high levels. The National Blue Ribbon School award affirms the hard work of students, educators, families, and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging content. The National Blue Ribbon School flag gracing an entry is a widely recognized symbol of exemplary teaching and learning. We will find out by early February if we are still in the running, so wish us luck!

You may have heard that the state FINALLY passed a partial budget, specifically the part that allows book orders to be processed! While we had already purchased some math books, all of our penmanship books, grammar books for grades 7 & 8, and vocabulary books for grades 7 & 8, we look forward to more materials arriving in January. Please note that we are being fiscally responsible and only ordering those materials needed from this point forward, as we had already copied the assessment materials needed to date.

Improvements A few weeks ago we received the long-awaited lockers for our fourth grade classrooms! While it unfortunately took months for this back-ordered item to arrive, they were installed the day we received them, much to the delight of our students. Over the Christmas break, the alternative white board in Mrs. Logan’s room is being replaced with a more standard white board.

The iPad minis for the fifth graders was the first order to be approved by the state. We expect them to arrive in early January and be in the students’ hands soon after!

Annual Fund By now you have received your copy of our Annual Fund Report for 2014-2015. As we work to improve reporting and communication to you, this report was sent about a month earlier than last year and was followed up with some additional communication.

Our Annual Appeal request was contained in the Annual Fund report distributed to all of our families and several families have already generously responded to this effort. Your donations are what allowed us to make improvements to the school this summer, including the expansion and renovation efforts mentioned previously. You can follow this link http://www.myholyfamilyschool.org/give-to-hfs-1 to make a donation by credit card now or you can use the form on that page to return a check or cash donation to school. To date less than 20% of our families have contributed, so I am asking you to please be a part of our 100%!

Feel free to forward the information to the same people you would have asked to purchase wrapping paper, candy, or cookie dough in support of HFS, reminding them that with this method of contribution, their gift is tax deductible and 100% of it goes to help Holy Family. Drop Off and Dismissal Procedures Please remember for their safety students may not be dropped off at school until 7:45 am when they will be properly supervised. In the event that an earlier drop off time is needed, we offer our CARES program, which is available both before and after school, Monday through Friday beginning at 7:00 am.

We are still experiencing safety concerns with our car drop off and pickup procedures. Students arriving by car must exit on the sidewalk side of the vehicle. They may not cross between cars. Students in cars traveling from Gay toward the park must exit on Third Ave on the right side of their car. Students in cars traveling from Main away from the park must turn right and then exit on Buttonwood on the left side of their car. In order to assist with bus traffic, no car may turn left onto Buttonwood during arrival or dismissal times. Please plan your trip according to these safety procedures.

Students who are late must enter through the front door accompanied by a parent. Please keep in mind that a late arrival poses difficulty for your children, as they start their day rushing to complete a routine which has already started that they may not have enough time to complete.

Dismissal at the end of the day is 3:05 pm. Please remember to call the office if your children are out sick or need to change their dismissal plans.

If you are picking your child up by car, you must FULLY ENTER the side lot to wait for your child. You cannot wait on the sidewalk. If you are not FULLY in the side lot, the teachers on duty have an extremely difficult time determining whether each child is leaving with an adult. For your children’s safety, beginning in January the teachers will hold the car lines until all parents are fully in the lot.

Upcoming Events School resumes this Monday, January 4th. We hope you will be able to join us on Tuesday as our 3rd grade leads us in the celebration of Mass at 9:30 am.

Our students will be experiencing the thrills of Star Lab when we return in January, courtesy of the CCIU.

Registration for the upcoming school year will open shortly as soon as we announce tuition. If you have a younger child who will be joining us for kindergarten or first grade, please let us know immediately as there are currently 27 children enrolled in our pre-kindergarten.

Next Saturday, January 9 we have a middle school dance scheduled for 7pm, and our next family event is ice skating scheduled for Monday, January 18 at Center Ice.

Thank you for all you do for our school. I am grateful for the many small things that so many of you do to make us the success we are. I would ask that right now, the best action you can take to keep your tuition costs down and our school vibrant and healthy, is to suggest your friends and neighbors come and check us out. The more students we have, the more the costs are disbursed, so spread the word!

See you in 2016!

Ann Marie - Mrs. Ann Marie Braca Principal Holy Family School Christ Centered...Student Focused... Family Driven 221 Third Avenue Phoenixville, PA 19460 610-933-7562 (school office) 610-933-8823 (fax) [email protected] www.myholyfamilyschool.org