Happy All Hallow's Eve and All Saints Day! Hope you have a GREAT time celebrating this fun season! Just a reminder we have our FULL SCHOOL PLC tomorrow, Friday at 1:00 PM-3:00 PM. Students are released at noon and lunch will be ready for you in the teacher's lounge after that. As we will begin having teachers use the computer to take lunch count each day, Mr. Smith is training teachers on using this system. You can choose to eat your lunch in the computer lab and he will offer training between 12:30-1:00 or after our meeting time between 3:00-3:30. As this is an item we can remove from our agenda, we are able to reduce our time dedicated to PLCs and AdvancEd. Please:
- Be in the computer lab by 1:00 PM and we will have a quick 30 minute staff meeting
- At 1:30, we will break into AdvancEd Teams to work on putting together your team expectations and scheduling
- Bring your staff handbook and your (blue) notes about AdvancEd to this meeting Thanks!
Agenda for Tomorrow's PLC:
- Paper and Codes for Printers - credit for paper - $3
- Coaches Meeting - Tuesday, 6:45 AM
- Rubric Review
- Mid-Year Evaluation Meetings
- Budget Review - Dawn has copies
- Liability Insurance Review
- Pick-Up Procedures - new plan begins Monday
- AdvancEd Teams
All Hallow's Eve by Mary Reed Newland
“One of the nicest surprises of living around
the year with the Church is to find that Halloween is part of it. Not that
the Mass of the day has mention of black cats, or the Divine Office of witches,
but for so long Halloween meant nothing but parties and vandalism that when
someone first proposed that it came out of the liturgy, I asked: "Are you
sure?" You still hear people doubt it, even when you show them that
Halloween is ‘All-Hallows'-Eve which is the night before ‘All-Saints Day. Some
tell me they understand that Halloween pranks were a post-Reformation
contribution to plague Catholics who kept the vigil of All Saints.
Now it is
possible that Halloween was abused for such a purpose; nevertheless, during all
the Christian centuries up until the simplification of the Church calendar in
1956, it was a liturgical vigil in its own right and thus has a reason for
being. Learning this, one pious lady of our acquaintance was heard to say:
"Oh, I'm so glad to know that. I was about to write my congressman and
suggest the whole thing be outlawed…
Begging at the door grew from an ancient English custom of
knocking at doors to beg for a "soul cake" in return for which the
beggars promised to pray for the dead of the household. Soul cakes, a form of
shortbread — and sometimes quite fancy, with currants for eyes — became more
important for the beggars than prayers for the dead, it is said. Florence
Berger tells in her Cooking
for Christ a legend of a zealous cook who vowed she would invent
soul cakes to remind them of eternity at every bite. So she cut a hole in the
middle and dropped it in hot fat, and lo — a doughnut. Circle that it is, it
suggests the never-ending of eternity. Truth or legend, it serves a good
purpose at Halloween…”
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/civilization/cc0070.html
ALL SAINTS DAY and ALL SOULS
“Many popular
devotional practices involve veneration of the saints. The saints have a
special place in the Body of Christ, which includes both the living and the
dead. Through Christ we on earth remain in communion both with the saints in
heaven and with the dead who are still in Purgatory. We can pray for those in
Purgatory and ask the saints to pray for us. Through their prayers of
intercession, the saints in heaven play an integral role in the life of the
Church on earth. "For after they have been received into their heavenly
home and are present to the Lord, through Him and with Him and in Him they do
not cease to intercede with the Father for us, showing forth the merits which
they won on earth through the one Mediator between God and man." The
saints, the members of the Church who have arrived at perfect union with
Christ, join their wills to the will of God in praying for those in the Church
who are still on their pilgrimage of faith.”
Ideas for students to celebrate All Saints Day
Ideas
for discussion/activities/prayer - http://www.catechist.com/archive/articles_view.php?article_id=1918
Professional Development Survey
Just a reminder that Marcia graciously made copies of our diocesan professional development survey and placed it in your boxes! Please complete the survey and return it to Marcia by November 1. I have also forwarded you a copy via email if you would prefer to complete it electronically. :) Your opinion counts!
Jesse Tree This YearThis year we are going to have our students make our Jesse tree ornaments in Art! We have a slightly different design and Cathy will be having one from each class represented on our tree BUT all students will get to make a cool ornament. As a reminder, our Advent Gathering time will begin on December 2nd. For the entire month of December, we will be on a full school AM gathering schedule every day of the week (other than Wednesdays which will be a Mass schedule and no AM Gathering time).
Submissions to the Colt
As a reminder, the Colt Express goes out to our entire school community on a weekly basis and will have content you may find beneficial. If you have GOOD NEWS you would like share with the entire CCCS community, please send it to me!
Pilgrimages and Hot Lunch Program
Please let the kitchen know if your class will not be eating lunch in the cafeteria so that they can plan accordingly. You can email Toni at Toni.Dellow@d11.org at least two weeks in advance.
Athletic Facilities Manager
We are in the process of hiring our new PE teacher. This lovely individual will be taking the athletic director role as part of this job but we will be looking for a person to serve as our facilities manager during athletic events held in our gym - ie, CSAL Basketball, Volleyball, Wrestling etc.
I am opening this position to our staff first as most of your hours would not conflict with this additional role of 5-9 PM on Tuesdays and Fridays during Basketball, Volleyball and Wrestling seasons.
Please let me know if you personally are interested in these additional duties. We will open this up to our larger community next week if we have no staff members interested in this role. The job would entail basic leadership of the gym during events that would include:
- On Tuesday and Friday evenings the gym will need to be opened by 5:00 to let players and coaches in
- Additional hours are required for beginning and end of season tournaments
- Games and clean-up are done by 9:00 PM - depending on the CSAL schedule.
- The gym would need to be set up for games and cleaned up following games
- Any "rowdy" behavior would also need to be addressed by this individual
- A prayer and introduction of players is also led by this person
The testing window for EasyCBM is now set to the first two weeks of December. Teachers will therefore need to ensure testing occurs between December 2-13 and have all scores entered no later than December 15. The vision would then be to send home by December 20th (before Christmas break) a mid-year report (revise the form Rebecca made to fit your grade level) . Thanks!
USDA Program
Just a quick heads up, we now have about 40 students in our school benefit from the USDA free and reduced food program. This program is run here at our school by Dawn Ambuul and not by D11. This is a very beneficial program for not only these students but also for our school. We are not only reimbursed for free and reduced lunches but are also reimbursed 36 cents per lunch for a "verifiable lunch". This keeps what we charge all students for lunches at a lower price.
This participation also entitles us to numerous grant opportunities. So with this benefit comes with a lot of restrictions and guidelines that we all need to be aware of. We will, therefore, be trained at our next full school PLC on November 4th on the program requirements. Also, if you notice that students are not eating proper lunches, please respectfully suggest to parents that they apply. It is a wonderful opportunity for our low income, large families and the income level of the family is kept very confidential.
Mid-Year Review
Tomorrow at our PLC, we will be discussing this further but I wanted to give you a heads up that we will be having our Mid-Year Evaluation reviews on Thursday, December 12 and Friday, December 13 for teaching staff. During these two days, we will have each of you come for your planning period or after school to discuss your progress using our evaluation rubric. Please plan to meet with Maureen and I at:
Tuesday, December 10
After School - 2:45-3:45 - Maloney
Wednesday, December 11
1st -7:40-8:32 - Nuvolini
2nd - 8:34-9:25 - Conlon
3rd - 9:27-10:19 - Gieck
4th - 10:21-11:13 - Cave
Lunch - 11:52-12:30 -Gutschick
5th - 11:15-11:50, 12:35-12:50 - Degenhart
6th -12:52-1:42 - Hennessey
Mass - 1:45-2:45
After School - 2:45-3:45 - Bruno
Thursday, December 12
1st -7:55-8:53 - 2nd - 8:55-9:53 - Ortiz
3rd - 9:55-10:53 - Wetta
4th - 10:55-11:52 - Dusbabek
Lunch - 11:52-12:30 -Chromy/Rothstein
5th - 12:33-12:37 - Gonzales
6th -1:39-2:37 - Corbett
After School - 2:45-3:45 - Wilson
Friday, December 13
1st -7:55-8:53 -
2nd - 8:55-9:53 - Leckey
3rd - 9:55-10:53 - Sr. Mary
4th - 10:55-11:52 - Smith
Lunch - 11:52-12:30 - Martinez
5th - 12:33-1:37 - Baca
6th -1:39-2:37 - Kowalsky
Accreditation Team Sign Up
As sent in a prior email, we have a finished our AdvancEd Teams list. Please access this list to see where you are serving! There have been a few changes to simply keep the teams more balanced. Thanks again! :)
Dinner/Auction Tickets
As a reminder, our dinner/auction is next Saturday evening at 6:00 PM. Tickets are FREE to staff members and spouse or significant other tickets are $20 each. Al will have reservation forms at our PLC on Friday!
AdvancEd STAFF Survey
Thanks so much to the teachers who directed parents to the computer lab to complete the parent survey! Unfortunately, we have only had 6 that participated. So we have included in this week's Colt Express a link to the survey. PLEASE encourage your parents to complete their survey. Also, we have a staff survey - please click on the following link to complete our survey: AdvancEd Staff Survey
Attendance Marking
Thank you SO much for making this happen daily by 8:30 AM. We have really reduced the number of teachers we are contacting to get this done each AM! Thank you!
Blogs
Just a reminder that I need you to send me links to your blogs AND you will need to send links to your families as well for them to access. It will be a link like cccsfifthgrade.blogspot.com . Mike is putting a link on our website but please send out the link to all of your families as well so they can follow you if they like. Please see TO DO list below of the ones we have already!
Virtue of the Week for NEXT week: Faith
Announcement Schedule:
On all days but Wednesdays we will now have announcements at 8:45 (a few minutes after second period begins) and on Wednesdays at 8:30 AM. As a reminder, please send TWO students to the office just a little before these times so they can practice- November 3-7 - 7A; November 11-15 - 7B; November 18-22 - 6th Grade
Here's What Coming Up This Week and Next:
Friday, November 1 - ALL SAINTS DAY - All students dress as FAVORITE SAINT or wear Mass Uniforms!
8 AM - MASS - Parents are ENCOURAGED to join us for this Holy Day of Obligation!
11:15-11:45 AM - First Friday Adoration
NOON - Noon Dismissal - First Friday PLC - INDOOR DISMISSAL
Monday, November 4- Everyday Uniform with Dinner Auction Shirt for K-8
Tuesday, November 5 - 6:45 Coaches Meeting in Conference Room
- Everyday Uniform with Dinner Auction Shirt for K-8; Meet Me at the Pole 7:40 AM - come join our school as we gather around our flag pole to pray for our nation on election day!
Wednesday, November 6 - Mass Uniform for K-8; School Picture RETAKE Day - students who wish to receive retakes or were absent on picture day should bring back the pictures they ordered (if applicable) and wear their Mass uniforms today!
Thursday, November 7 - Everyday Uniform with Dinner Auction Shirt for K-8; HSA Board Meeting - 7:30 AM; Kim out at Principal's Retreat
Friday, November 8 - Spirit Day - students wear their uniform bottoms and a CCCS Colt shirt or a "Holy" spirit wear (Christian-type shirt); Kim out at Principal's Retreat
Saturday, November 9 at 6 PM - Our ANNUAL Dinner Auction - here at our CC Gym! Bring your checkbook or credit card for all kinds of GREAT auction offerings!
Sunday, November 10 - Corpus Christi Catholic School Colors Sunday - all students who wear their Mass uniform to Mass at CC Parish earn a free dress down pass! See Mr. Chromy for a pass while you are at Mass.
11:15-11:45 AM - First Friday Adoration
NOON - Noon Dismissal - First Friday PLC - INDOOR DISMISSAL
Monday, November 4- Everyday Uniform with Dinner Auction Shirt for K-8
Tuesday, November 5 - 6:45 Coaches Meeting in Conference Room
- Everyday Uniform with Dinner Auction Shirt for K-8; Meet Me at the Pole 7:40 AM - come join our school as we gather around our flag pole to pray for our nation on election day!
Wednesday, November 6 - Mass Uniform for K-8; School Picture RETAKE Day - students who wish to receive retakes or were absent on picture day should bring back the pictures they ordered (if applicable) and wear their Mass uniforms today!
Thursday, November 7 - Everyday Uniform with Dinner Auction Shirt for K-8; HSA Board Meeting - 7:30 AM; Kim out at Principal's Retreat
Friday, November 8 - Spirit Day - students wear their uniform bottoms and a CCCS Colt shirt or a "Holy" spirit wear (Christian-type shirt); Kim out at Principal's Retreat
Saturday, November 9 at 6 PM - Our ANNUAL Dinner Auction - here at our CC Gym! Bring your checkbook or credit card for all kinds of GREAT auction offerings!
Sunday, November 10 - Corpus Christi Catholic School Colors Sunday - all students who wear their Mass uniform to Mass at CC Parish earn a free dress down pass! See Mr. Chromy for a pass while you are at Mass.
Reminder of THINGS to DO:
- Send Kim AND Mike a link to your blog! :) According to mine and Mike's notes, we have links from the following teachers:
- Dusbabek
- Baca
- Maloney
- Gieck
- Bruno
- Smith
- Kowalsky
- Nuvolini
- Conlon
- Gonzalez
- Corbett
- Wilson
- Check out what accreditation team you are on
- Complete the staff survey at the link above
- Complete the PD survey and return it to Marcia
- Turn in your RTI Tier 2 Classroom Intervention Logs to Kim
EVENTS COMING SOON:
Monday, November 11 - Veteran's Day Celebration - 1:45 PM - please invite your veteran family and friends to join us as our school honors those that have served so boldly! Teachers - please make sure you are preparing either a full class or a group of individual presentations!
- SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR OPENS Today in MS Art Room! More info to come!
Monday, November 25-Friday, November 29 - THANKSGIVING BREAK! :)
Sunday, December 1 - First Sunday of Advent
Monday, December 2 - Friday, December 20 - Advent Celebration in Gym EVERY Morning at 7:40 AM
PLCS Schdule and Themes for the Next Few Weeks:
- Preschool/Pre-K PLC -6:30 AM - lead by Jen
- K/1/2 PLC - Mondays at 10:30 AM - lead by Kim
- Middle School PLC - Tuesdays at 12:00 - lead by Maureen
- 3/4/5 PLC - Thursdays at 11:10 AM - lead by Maureen
- SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR OPENS Today in MS Art Room! More info to come!
Monday, November 25-Friday, November 29 - THANKSGIVING BREAK! :)
Sunday, December 1 - First Sunday of Advent
Monday, December 2 - Friday, December 20 - Advent Celebration in Gym EVERY Morning at 7:40 AM
PLCS Schdule and Themes for the Next Few Weeks:
- Preschool/Pre-K PLC -6:30 AM - lead by Jen
- K/1/2 PLC - Mondays at 10:30 AM - lead by Kim
- Middle School PLC - Tuesdays at 12:00 - lead by Maureen
- 3/4/5 PLC - Thursdays at 11:10 AM - lead by Maureen
- Week of November 4- Effective Teaching, Part #2 - the objective of this PLC is to once again distinguish between effective and ineffective teaching practices - please bring your notes on how you are working toward highly effective teaching. Remember our goal is not to be perfect but to be MORE effective than you already are! :)
- Week of November 11 - Bell to Bell Teaching - the objective of this PLC is to learn how to engage students when the bell rings and keep them engaged until the bell rings again - "Bell to Bell Instruction - our goals are 1) to help us all be aware of what happens when students are allowed time with nothing to do, and 2) to suggest a few ways to plan for bell-to-bell teaching :)
Diocesan Committees
Team members please mark your calendars for meetings at the diocesan office!- ACI Team - November 5 - 2-4 PM
