Family Newsletter
Issue 5 - January 2015
NOTRE DAME ACADEMY
312 First Street
Palisades Park, NJ 07650
www.notredameint.org
From the Principal’s Desk
As a community of faith, we had so many wonderful celebrations in December. What a beautiful way to
await the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ! Our students have embodied the spirit and true meaning of
the season. Their generosity with their talents, treasures, time and love have truly been a blessing to us
all.
On behalf of Father Cho, the faculty and staff and I want to wish you all a Blessed Christmas and a
Happy New Year. We pray that the Good Lord bless each of your families with peace, health and love.
We thank each of you for helping make the first part of this school year so successful.
As we look forward to a new year it is our desire to continue to strive to “Make Peace Visible” and to
continue to “Walk, Talk and Live in the Peace of Christ”. May that message , our message, be an example to all others.
STUDENT OF THE MONTH
Congratulations! The following students were Student of the Month for December 2014
The category was: GENEROSITY
Sharing what we have with others.
Grade 8 Christian Perez
Grade 7 Giovanni Sotomayor
Grade 6 Mariel Bacolod
Grade 5A Adriana Santos
Grade 5B Cassidy Orbe
Grade 4A Nicholas Pallotta, Justin Gabriel
Grade 4B Kevin Mayman, Terri Park
Grade 3A Chiara Petrone, Juliana Kye
Grade 3B Maya DeLucia, Jaelyn Rivera
Grade 2A Katerina Arapidis, Joshua Kwon
Grade 2B
Grade 1A
Grade 1B
Grade KA
Grade KB
PREK 4A
PREK 4B
PREK 3
Valentina Gonzalez-Pichardo
Chelsey Park, Christopher Lee
Eugene Song, Erin Gavin
Jason Rodriguez
Elena Vieitez
Gabriella Maggiano
Alex Koltsov
Caitlyn Ahn
The category for January is: SELF DISCIPLINE
*Thinking about our words and actions and making good choices.
FIRST HONOR ROLL FOR THE 1st MARKING PERIOD
FIRST HONORS
FIRST HONORS
FIRST HONORS
GRADE 8
GRADE 7
GRADE 6
Emily Ash
Lili Fiano
Jonathan Perez-Vento
Michael Eskandar
Anthony Ionta
Patrick Lee
Valeria Gonzalez-Pichardo
Juliet Machado
GRADE 5-A
GRADE 5-B
GRADE 4-A
Farah Mahmood
Ria Mehra
Sofia Ospino
McKenzie Flynn
Geena Kye
Christine Lee
Richard Machado
SECOND HONOR ROLL FOR THE 1st MARKING PERIOD
GRADE 8
GRADE 7
GRADE 6
Andrew Marrero
Vanessa Pallotta
Christian Perez
Kyra Reyes
Elizabeth Slovak
Julia Vartanyan
Ariana Atlihan
Mariel Bacolod
Sarah Chavez
Victoria Devoto
Daniela Espada
Andrea Ferreira
Alexander Hroncich
Chloe Osei-Yaw
Julianna Cabrera
Ava Callas
Samantha Gomez
Adriana Santos
Christina Thomas
Fredric Aryafar
Christina Callas
Kaleigh Campen
Hyun Seo Choi
Alanna Cordero
Marco DeLucia
Michael Gutierrez
Vincent Juliano
Jessie Lee
Jane Lim
Jazmin Rodriguez
Giovanni Sotomayor
Daniel Trukhin
Giovanno Widjaja
GRADE 4-A
GRADE 4-B
Isabella Bagnato
Tristan Lee
Nicholas Pallotta
Guilliano Widjaja
Briella Bagnato
Daniel Hwang
Rebekah Kim
Victoria LoPiccolo
Terri Park
Andres Perez
Marcos Rodriguez
Etienne Servaes
GRADE 5-A
GRACE 5-B
Lizelle Bacolod
Dylan Gabriel
Cassidy Orbe
Chaelin Park
Maria Pundik
Tara Rico
Ricardo Severino
Marcus Torres
Stephanie Vieitez
ON A ROLL
GRADE 6
Gaeun Kim
GRADE 5-A
Malcolm Ouattara
GRADE 5-B
Karley Dobronski
GRADE 4-B
Annalise Dominguez
Emily Chavez
Kevin Kang
Julia Joung
Charli Mosley
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
WEEK
Catholic Schools Week is right
around the corner. The week
of January 26th to February
1st has been designated Catholic Schools Week. This years
theme for Catholic Schools
Week is “Communities of
Faith, Knowledge and Service.”
Santa’s Workshop
Our Home School Association sponsored Santa’s Workshop on Wednesday, December 3rd. Students were able to shop for affordable gifts for their loved ones.
Big thanks to Mrs. Peggy Flynn for chairing this event and making it a great success. Thanks also to her committee of volunteers: Rebeca Arteaga. April Busset,
Tracy Bagnato, Monica Castro, Idalia Dominguez, Nataly Mendez, Debbie Morin,
Suzanne Pallotta, Stacy Pallotta, Carmen Pichardo, and Lisa Truncellito.
Notre Dame will have many
activities planned for that
week. They include:
Thank you to all the Notre Dame families for making our Advent collection for
The Congenital Heart Defects Coalition a huge success. Grades K-8 brought in
various items to help create “Heart Bags”. Our Pre-K students collected teddy
bears for Englewood Hospital. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.
Sunday, January 25th - Open
House 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Monday, January 26th
School Mass 9:00am
Tuesday, January 27th
PreK-2nd Special Person Day
Gr. 3-8 Day of Service
Wednesday, January 28thSchool Tours 10:00am 2:00pm and 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Thursday, January 29th
School Wide Olympics
Friday, January 30th Early Dismissal 12:15pm
Teacher Appreciation Day
Thank you all for your support of this event.
SEASON OF GIVING
Spelling Bee
The Annual Spelling Bee will be on Monday, January 26th for students in
grades 4 through 8. Classroom teachers will provide students with additional
information.
Christmas Concert
We had two wonderful Christmas Concerts this year. On Monday, December 15th
our PreK treated us to a joyous celebration of song. Mr. Guthrie put together a
program filled with fun and Jesus! So touching to have our littlest brothers and
sisters praising His name in song.
On Thursday, December 18th we celebrated the season with grades K-8 and our
instrumental band. The energy and enthusiasm of the singing from Kindergarten
thru 8th grade was truly joyful. The Nativity presented by our 7th and 8th grades
was an emotional and reverent reminder of the true reason for the season. The
finale brought our whole Notre Dame Academy family to remind us that one child
can change the world.
We thank Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Vignone, all of the teachers and staff for making this
concert superb!
REGISTRATION
During the week of January 5th you will be receiving a Letter of Intent for the 2015/2016 school year. This letter is
regarding if your child is returning to Notre Dame for the 2015/2016 school year. Since we receive many phone calls
daily regarding enrollment of new students, it is vital you respond to this letter by the due date.
**LATENESS**
There has been an increasing number of students arriving late to school. The bell rings at 8:10am. Please try to get
students to school on time. Teachers begin instruction promptly and some students are missing lessons.
ABSENCE
We would like to remind parents that you must contact the school office any day your child is absent. Students should
present a note from home explaining the absence. Absences of 3 or more consecutive days require a doctors note the
day the student returns to school. Please consult the Student Handbook page 9 for full details.
SCHOOL MASSES
We celebrated two wonderful masses in December. On December 8th, Mr. Biggiani and 5B with Mrs. Miraglia and 1A
prepared a beautiful mass to celebrate The Feast of the Immaculate Conception. On December 22nd, Mrs. Sengul and
4A with Mrs. Capano and 2B prepared the joyous liturgy for our Christmas celebrations. The mass for January will be
on Monday, January 26th to celebrate Catholic Schools Week and the 8th grade will receive their class rings.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK JANUARY 26th TO FEBRUARY 1st
IMPORTANT DATES
IMPORTANT DATES
IMPORTANT DATES
Thursday, January 1st
NO SCHOOL
New Year’s Day
Friday, January 16th
PreK & Kindergarten Report
Cards
Tuesday, January 27th
PreK– 2 Special Person Day
Gr. 3-8 Day of Service
Friday, January 2nd
NO SCHOOL
Monday, January 19th
Martin Luther King Day
School in Session
Wednesday, January 28th
School Tours for Prospective
New Families
10:00am-2:00pm
7:00pm-8:30pm
Monday, January 5th
SCHOOL REOPENS
Tuesday, January 6
Feast of Epiphany
NJHS Giving for Ramos Family
begins
Thursday, January 8
Gr. 3 Field Trip
Saturday, January 10th
Home School Association
Pancake Breakfast 8:00am 11:00am
Thursday, January 22nd
Deanary 6 Martin Luther King Oratory Contest at 4:00pm
Sunday, January 25th
Catholic Schools Week Begins
Open House 1:00pm—3:00pm
Monday, January 26th
School Mass—9:00am
8th Gr. Ring Ceremony
Spelling Bee
Thursday, January 29th
School Wide Olympics
Friday, January 30th
Teacher Appreciation Day
Early dismissal 12:15pm
SNOW DAYS
If there is inclement weather we have 3 options:
1. No School
2. A 2 hour delayed opening:
Before Care begins at 9:30am
Students may arrive between 9:50 and 10:10.
3. Early dismissal 12:15pm, no lunch, no Aftercare.
You will be notified by School Reach. It will also be listed on at least two of the following stations
ABC/NBC/CBS/NJ 12 for New Jersey.
Using any of the above options is a difficult decision. Thank you for your cooperation. The safety of
the students is top priority.
Pancake Breakfast
The Home School Association will be sponsoring a Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, January 10th from 8:00am
to 11:00am. Tickets are $10.00 per family. Details will be coming in January.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Oratory Contest
This year we will host the 1st annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Oratory Contest for schools in Deanary 6. All
students in grades 4-8 are already working on learning speeches to present to their homerooms. Finals will be
held in early January and the winners will go on to represent our school in the Deanary Finals here at Notre
Dame Academy on January 22nd. More details will be sent out in January.
Breakfast with Santa
On Saturday, December 13th, Santa came to Notre Dame to have his photo taken with the children and have a little
breakfast. We were so happy that he was able to take time from his busy schedule to be with us.
Many thanks to Mrs. Christine Guido for chairing this event! What a success!
Thank also to all of her helpers including Rebeca Arteaga, April Busset, Yve Severino, Lorraine Slovak, Iris Castellon,
Loredana Altamura, the Koegel family, Laura DeGidio, Carrie Koralja, Ms. Ilaria and the 8th grade elves.
Donations from the following families and businesses helped make the event possible: Meson Madrid, Rispoli Bakery,
Palermo Bakery, AGA Produce, Scardigno Family, Metropolitan Café, BJ’s of North Bergen, Costco of Hackensack,
Boulevard Diner, Boulevard Bagels, Shop Rite of Palisades Park, Mr. Jose Dominguez and the Palisades Park Fire Department.