Dear Parents,

Greetings of peace to you! I trust you are well and I am pleased that school is now the routine and we are back on track! Liturgically, we are in Ordinary Time but really there is not much that is ordinary here at St. Max. We start working and learning on the first day of school and we don’t stop until June. Each day discloses more and more of God’s love for us and the realization of the many blessings God sends to us.

I want to report that 95% of the books arrived. We are waiting for a few math books to be delivered. I am hoping that the new system for ordering should be much better for next year. Speaking of books, the new ELA books that we ordered from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company (HMH) appear to be catching everyone’s attention. The series is full of authentic literature. The children apprear to be responding positively to the new materials.

It is really exciting to observe the children from PK 3 up to 8th grade using devices to support learning. In addition to the ipads and laptops, the teachers are implementing the STEM science lessons within the Next Generation Science Standards. We have new equipment and many more supplies for science classes thanks to Max Annual Fund. We want each child’s performance to be his/her personal best and that achievement continues to improve each year. I hope you are hearing about the projects and activites.

We have the Parent/Teacher Conferences set for October 27 and 28th. While we are looking forward to seeing you then, please do not hesitate to communicate with the teachers if you have concerns about your child/ren and their learning.

Office Mike Meiswich was here on Wednesday to conduct the first of three lockdown drills that we will have this year. He is a familiar face here at St. Max and he works with us on all the issues pertaining to drills, safety, and emergency services. He plans to return for a lockdown drill during the lunch periods. He will be working with us on bomb threats and evacuations during October and November. I am sure you saw the Save The Date that the Home and School Association sent home regarding the first General Meeting on Monday, October 20th. PLEASE make every effort to attend. Mr. Chuck Favata, the national speaker on cyberbully, internet safety, the ugly truth about some social media, and how they impact the lives of the children, will be here once again to make a presentation to all parents. He is not a stranger to us. Any of our parents who attended his presentations in the past learned much more than they anticipated. Chuck was a middle school teacher and because middle school is where many issues arise, he has his pulse on the internet world. Bring all your questions with you. The presentation will be just under an hour but if you have questions, he will stay and answer all of them for you.

We are well underway with the preparations for A Kolbe Christmas. I want you to know we need everyone to help make it another great day for St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish. Please volunteer to help with the set up, one of the committees, or the games in the gym. We need your support and so appreciate any time you can donate to us on Saturday, December 6th.

I am heading to a conference for the Archdiocesan principals this week. One of the topics will be the upcoming World Meeting of Families. It is very exciting to think that over a million people will travel to Philadephia for this special meeting. I know that Archbishop Chaput is going to ask families, teachers, and principals to volunteer and support the meeting. I do hope you will consider volunteering for the meeting. I know I will have much more information by the end of next week.

Do you think it is possibe to understand human identity without God? Archbishop Chaput and Cardinal Paglia (President of the Pontifical Council for the Family) wrote a preparatory catechesis for the World Meeting of Families. The name of the book is the theme for the World Meeting: Love Is Our Mission with the subtitle, The Family Fully Alive. There is a definition of family in the book. The Archbishop states, “The family is a domestic Church, a small cell of the larger universal Church.” The first section of the book is called, Created For Joy. In that section, it asks us to pray about how the Church can serve families and how families can serve the Church. Perhaps you may want to take this statement and ponder it as you move through October into November. Knowing that we are called out of pure love, knowing that your vocation summons you to embody the love of God everyday, beliving God created us for joy, what does life look like knowing God created us in His image and likeness? I end this note with the Archbishop’s words, “Love is the family mission.”

May our good and loving God continue to bless you, your family, and all who are in need of the presence of God in their lives. Peace and joy to you!

Sincerely,

Ms. Dixon