St. Michael School www.stmichaelschoolct.com October 10, 2014 I Westerly-Pawcatuck Columbus Day Parade 1 pm 10/12 Columbus Day No School 10/13 Mass St. Mary Church 9:15 am 10/17 Morning Prayer St. Mary Church 9:15 am 10/24 Exercise for Education St. Michael School 10:30 am 10/24 Red Ribbon Week Advisory Board Grade 7 5:45 pm 10/27— 10/31 10/27 From the Nurse’s Desk:  Practice/encourage good hand washing at home.  Reminder: Children must be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school Columbus Day weekend already! Looks like Sunday is going to be a great day weather wise (Saturday may not be!) We will be decorating the trailer for our float on Sunday morning to avoid the rain. If you have any time before the parade, we are planning to be here about 11:00 to get ready. It’s not to late to join us on Sunday. Meet us with your permission slip and join in the fun. We w il l be f ormi ng a t 12:15/12:30 on Ward Avenue. Drop off is at the corner of Ward and Narragansett. Someone will be at the corner to direct students up to the float. We should be done by 2:45/3:00. If you are not marching with us, children can be picked up by Christ Church. But, please remember, we are in the fourth division, so we will be done before the parade is over! October 24 is the Exercise for Education (E4E) This is one of our big fundraisers of the year. The entire school will be participating this year since we are holding it on a Friday. Students will complete a variety of fun events to help them see that exercise is both fun and good for you. The pledges have been coming in, but we are still a long way from our goal. So gather those pledges and bring in your money for the penny wars. This year we have added the online donation option as well. You can email the link to out of town family members to ask them to support your child and our school. Let’s celebrate the new format with a good total! I was out of town earlier this week on a NEASC school visiting committee. As a result, I missed the PTO meeting on Monday. I understand that Father Perkins did a great job of giving an overview of how important fundraising is to the school budget. I know there are still questions as to where the money goes. This year, to support our Common Core initiative, we purchased a new reading series. It is expensive to update, but the new series provides a variety of fiction and non-fiction pieces, and allows the teachers to begin teaching children close in-depth reading even in the primary grades. We also added new projectors to the classrooms so that now all the classrooms have either interactive whiteboards, Elmo document cameras and projectors, or projectors that are hooked into laptops to provide the technology the teachers need. Of course, each year the money you raise goes to support the quality education your children receive at St. Michael School. Our test scores are among the highest in the Diocese and are well above the national average. Our students graduate and are in honors classes and advanced placement classes and consistently are listed on the honor roll in the various local high schools they attend. The robotics team (which placed 9th in the state last year), our winning cross country and basketball teams are all supported by the budget and your fundraising money. And, it is also important to note that fundraising efforts help keep our tuition affordable and a great value for the education your children receive. I know it feels sometimes like all we do is fundraise, and you don’t see anything tangible for your efforts, but believe me, your hard work and support are appreciated. And, your children are benefitting. Enjoy the long weekend; at least a couple of the days should be nice. If you can’t march with us Sunday, if you’re around come out and cheer for us! Have a great week and God bless! Mrs. Messina