February 2015 Newsletter - All Saints Catholic School

February 2015
“Together we can do something beautiful for God.”-Mother Teresa
As we begin a new year, I would like to express, on behalf of all our teachers and staff, our deepest gratitude for your
generosity during the holidays. Please know that you and your families will be in our prayers and thoughts now and
throughout this school year. Also, please offer special prayers for families who are going through tough economical and
personal losses in their lives.
Thank you for supporting your children’s learning. It always makes a great difference to the progress the children make.
When we work together we can make sure we encourage the children to achieve the very best they can. Remember that if
you have any worries, concerns, or even positive comments to share, please see your child’s classroom teacher or come
and talk to me. We always welcome your input.
As Luvern Gubbels, the Superintendent of Catholic Schools in Des Moines, has said:
In happy moments praise God,
In difficult moments seek God,
In quiet moments worship God,
In painful moments trust God and
In every moment thank God!
Jeanne Von Feldt
All Saints Catholic School Principal
Catholic Schools Week
The theme for Catholic Schools Week 2015 was “Communities of Faith, Knowledge, and Service”. The annual observance
began on Saturday, January 24, 2015, when we had a very special children’s Mass at 4:30pm at Holy Family Church. We
had wonderful events scheduled all week long from January 25, 2015 through January 30, 2015. Please always check our
website or this newsletter for all of the All Saints Catholic School activities.
Lunch Program
All Saints Catholic School is part of the federally assisted meal program that operates in public and nonprofit private
schools. All kitchen and lunchroom equipment are purchased through this program. Each year the lunch program
purchases new equipment to ensure the smooth operation and food safety in the preparation of our school meals. This year
the school purchased a new steam table, refrigerators and a freezer.
New Office Position
Rose Miller our fantastic, wonderful, dedicated bookkeeper is easing into retirement and will be starting to work part time at
All Saints Catholic School beginning in February 2015. Betsy Nolan, an All Saints parent and a Licensed Practical Nurse,
will be our school nurse and also helping in the office where needed. Betsy has a BA in Psychology from the State
University of Northridge. After living in Los Angeles for 25 years, she and her family moved back to the Quad Cities. She is
now an LPN and has worked at the Kahl Home for 2 1/2 years. She is looking forward to meeting and getting to know all of
our students! She is also a firm believer in Catholic school education.
Happenings in our Classrooms
Preschool - The Preschool students are playing with “fake” snow in their water table with vehicles as they study
transportation. Their paintings are displayed in the hallway that they made by running matchbox cars/trucks through paint
and made tracks on their papers.
1st Grade - Flat Stanley is back and he has traveled all over the country! The Flat Stanley travel adventure and posters
created help the students learn about the states in the USA. The 1 st grade also celebrated the 100th day of school with all
kinds of reading, writing and math activities based on the number 100.
2nd Grade - The 2nd graders are working on becoming better writers. Students are learning about sentence structure and
paragraph writing. In Social Studies they will be starting a unit on National Monuments and Presidents.
3rd Grade - The 3rd graders are studying the solar system, multiplication and division, and also cursive writing.
4th Grade - The 4th grade students performed the plays, “A Boy Named Abe” and “Harriet Tubman, Guide to Freedom” for
their families and friends. They have just finished studying the southeast states. During this time, they discussed the Civil
War and the issue of slavery.
The 4th and 5th Grades are getting ready to go to Biztown in March. This is a Junior Achievement project. During this time,
the students will spend a day in downtown Davenport at the JA facility seeing what it is like to run a city. Our parents help
facilitate each of the businesses. The 4th graders will also go to the Jr. Quad City Symphony at the Adler Theatre in
Davenport on February 24, 2015.
5th Grade-The 5th graders have submitted entries for the American Flag Essay Contest and they also participated in the
Letters about Literature Contest in which the students wrote about a book that has changed their lives. Now they are
reflecting on Black History Month and many students will enter an essay contest about an historic Black-American. This is
sponsored by the St. Martin de Porres Society of Sacred Heart Cathedral. These projects all have required research,
writing, and computer skills.
Middle School
Science-The 6th, 7th, and 8th Graders made fantastic projects for the Science Fair and the 8th graders made roller coasters.
Now the 6th Grade Earth Science is learning about soil types and soil conservation. They are studying and experimenting
with different soil samples. 7th grade continues to study the cell and they are working with microscopes and looking at a
variety of slides.
8th Grade is studying energy and energy conservation and will soon begin a study of simple machines.
Social Studies - The 6th and 7th Graders are getting ready for the ASCS Culture Fair. They are learning about the beliefs
and actions that define a group of people’s way of life and how and why people immigrated to the United States. The 8th
graders will be concentrating on our Manifest Destiny-Our Growing Nation.
Physical Education-Our 8th Graders will be going on their ski trip on February 20.
Language Arts - In 6th grade and 8th grade, Language Arts classes are focusing on the 8 different parts of speech by taking
notes, practicing on the Smart Board, and completing independent practice assignments.
7th Grade - These students will soon be participating in the Battle of the Books!
Music-During Music classes, there was a discussion about service, which was one of the themes during Catholic Schools
Week. They talked about using their God-given talents to provide service to others. They also learned about USA for Africa
and the song, “We are the World,” which celebrated its 30th Anniversary during Catholic Schools Week.
FAST Summary
All Saints has replaced the Dibels Assessment with FAST or Formative Assessment System for Teachers. This assessment
is highly efficient and instructionally relevant. These assessments are designed for screening, progress monitoring and
evaluation.
Kindergarten and first grade skills assessed are concepts of print, letter sounds/names, phonological awareness,
blending/segmenting, decoding sight words and sentence reading.
Second through sixth grades are measured on CBM reading or Curriculum Based Measurement for reading. This
assessment is used to screen and monitor students’ progress across these primary grades. The teacher evaluates students’
performance while they read aloud from grade level passages.
Students are tested in the fall, winter and again in the spring. We are very excited about this new way of evaluating our
students.
Kindergarten Roundup
We had our Kindergarten Registration on February 3, 2015 from 8:00-9:00am and in the evening from 6:00-7:00pm. Any
Kindergarten age child was welcome to come as he/she met the teachers and did some activities in the kindergarten rooms
while parents heard about All Saints Catholic School and tuition assistance. The Scott County Health Department nurse
and our All Saints nurse, Mrs. Nolan, also were available for any questions that parents had.
Kindergarten Registration will continue. Please bring a birth certificate and Baptismal certificate. There is a registration
fee of $100 due at registration.
Preschool Registration
Our Preschool registration is February 10, 2015 from 5:30-7:00pm. Please bring a birth certificate and proof of health
insurance. There is an enrollment fee of $100 due at registration.
Mark Your Calendars
Get your friends together for a great night and get your bidding game on! We are excited to announce that on February 28
our annual All Saints GALA will be held at the Starlite Ballroom, at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds. Our GALA is All
Saints Catholic School’s premier fundraising event.
Please join us for a fun-filled evening of killer auctions, raffles with great prizes, delicious food, and great music! But that’s
not all…come have fun, mingle with friends, bid against friends, and dance the night away. We promise that this is not an
event to be missed. Tickets are on sale now. Due to popular demand, we again will be having at our GALA the same
band we had last year called The “Candymakers”! They will entertain you with fabulous music while you check
out our silent auction!!
We have so much fun planning the GALA and it wouldn’t be a smashing success without all of you! We need YOUR help to
make this happen. So, if you are looking for a fun and rewarding way to give back to All Saints Catholic School during this
joyous season of giving, please contact us. It’s a great way to meet other parents.
If you bring 4 new people to our GALA, your name will go into a drawing for $100!!
If you would still like to donate an item to the auction, we’d be more than happy to accept it! We are looking for restaurant
and spa certificates, vacation homes, frequent flyer miles, sports memorabilia, and anything unique for our auction
Please contact Gina Bundy at (563) 650-2041 or All Saints School (563) 324-3205 for more information. Thank you for
being so supportive of All Saints Catholic School!
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Candy Sale kickoff
Zumba 8-9:30am in gym
Chess Club 2:50-4pm
Preschool registration 5:30-7pm
Newspaper staff mtg 2:50-3:30pm
Market Day pickup 6-6:30pm café
8:15am Mass (4th in charge)
Swing Choir selling Valentine grams for 50cents
1:50pm early dismissal
Jean Day for Job for $1
Swing Choir selling Valentine grams for 50cents
Boys BB games at ASCS
Pack the Gym at AHS games
Zumba 8-9:30am gym
Kof C breakfast for men and boys after 8am Mass at HF
No school for students – in-service for teachers
School Board mtg 5:15pm HF Church office
Science Club 2:50-3:30pm
Ash Wednesday Mass 8:15am (4th in charge)
1:50pm early dismissal
Solo Festival at St Paul’s
8th grade ski trip
Young musicians honor band in Cedar Rapids
Zumba 8-9:30am gym
Blue & Gold banquet 10-4pm gym/café
Candy sale ends
Chess Club 2:50-4pm
Cub Scout Den mtg 6pm café
AHS visits 1st grade 8:15am
4th to Symphony 8:30-10:30am
Boys BB games at ASCS
8:15am Mass (3rd in charge)
1:50pm early dismissal
8th grade parent mtg at AHS 6:30pm
Set up Gala at Mississippi Fairgrounds
Zumba 8-9:30am gym
GALA 5pm-midnight Mississippi Fairgrounds