Saint Ann School News

October 6, 2008

Dear Fifth Grade Parents and Guardians,

If all goes as planned, our class should be finished with our ITBS Testing today. I appreciate the students’ cooperation and work ethic from the first test to the very end.

I would like to thank Mrs. Cornelius for information and supplies for a new service project for our class. We will participate in the ‘Cell Phones for Soldiers’ program. We will periodically mail in donated cell phones to a company who sells the used cell phones to, in turn, purchase calling cards for our military men and women overseas. What’s inspiring about this program is that it was started by two teenagers. Since then, they’ve helped in raising over $1 million dollars and sending over 400,000 phone cards to our troops. In your Monday envelope today, I’ve included one bag to collect used cell phones and a couple of copies of tax forms for those donating their cell phones. Bags should be placed in a highly visible area (at your office? at a friend’s place of business?) where potential donors can see the bag and you can see progress in donations. If you would like more than one bag, please let me know, and I’ll gladly get you as many as you’d like. You don’ t need to wait until the bag is full; as you get four or five, send those into the classroom and we’ll work to get them packaged to mail. You can go to the website (http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/) for more information. Thank you in advance for this very important project!

The fourth and fifth grade classes have decided to use our PE time each week to work on volleyball while the nets and lines are already set up in the Parish Center for the middle school girls. We have moved our PE time for now to Thursday afternoons. Although we enjoyed cooler temperatures last week, students will still need water bottles and perhaps, an extra water bottle, on Thursdays for volleyball.

Have a great week,

Tracy

Religion: We will finish Chapter 4 (The Calming of the Sea-A Scripture Story) this week. This chapter covers the importance of Jesus’ public ministry as recorded in Scripture to our growth in faith and trust in Jesus. We will have a test over this chapter on Thursday. Students may take a practice test on the publisher’s website FaithFirst.com. Students should click on the ‘Legacy edition’. I do not need students to e-mail me their results.

Math: We will finish Chapter 1, Lessons 8-13 (decimal numbers – place value, comparing and ordering, rounding and working with negative numbers and the number line). Students will take a quiz this Friday over Chapter 1 Lessons 8-13. Students will take a chapter test next Tuesday or Wednesday.

English: We will review subjects and predicates and begin studying pronouns. Then we will begin working on subject, possessive, indefinite and object pronouns. Students will take a grammar quiz over subjects and predicates and pronouns on Friday. Students should turn in their book report rough drafts by next Wednesday to give them sufficient time to work on their final drafts. The second, and final, book report for first quarter will be due next Friday on October 17.

Literature: Students will finish The Sign of the Beaver Chapters 17-19 vocabulary, and they will take a quiz over these chapters on Wednesday.

Social Studies: We will continue Chapter 2 (Age of Exploration) in the Social Studies workbook. We will review the first couple of lessons we started before ITBS testing, and then we will move onto the last two lessons covering explorations made by land and where in the Americas European countries claimed land.

Science: We will finish Unit E Chapter 2 (Observing Weather) by looking at wind direction, wind speed and wind energy.

Spelling: Students will complete Unit 8 p. 50-55. This is due Thursday. The Unit 8 Test is Friday. Students should use the information for this week’s paragraph on p. 53 ‘Write a Tribute’. They should especially focus on describing the qualities they admire about the featured person by using strong verbs and vivid adjectives. The paragraph is due on Friday and should be a minimum of 10 sentences.

Cursive: Students need to complete Lesson 8 (Day 1 through Day 4) in cursive. Students may use pen or pencil. The Scripture verse for Day 4 can be written on the blank pages at the back of the Handwriting workbook or done on regular notebook paper. This assignment is due on Friday.

October 6, 2008 Middle School Newsletter

Dear Middle School Parents and Guardians,

• We would like to say a fond farewell to Tommy Purcell who will be moving with his family to the Bay Area this week. Good luck, Tommy! We will miss you!

• ITBS testing will continue this week. Students will still have some homework, although it will be less than usual. Please make sure that your child is well rested, has a nutritional snack and is ready to test.

• This week’s student council spirit day will be on Wednesday. Students will be allowed to wear sunglasses to school to continue our theme of “Your Future is Bright.”

• 8th Grade has important information about the week included in the Monday Envelope – please read all flyers!

• No School next Monday (Oct 13th for Columbus Day).

• The first quarter is quickly coming to an end and we are beginning to plan for our Parent/Teacher Conferences. These conferences are optional at the Middle School level. With 42 students this year, our conference schedule is going to be very busy. We will be providing you with information about whether or not we feel it would be beneficial to schedule a conference. You are still more than welcome to make a conference.

• Volleyball News from Miss Rossi: Volunteers needed! We desperately need volunteers to help take admission fees and do clean-up today, tomorrow and Thursday. It is a pretty easy way to rack up Parent Hours! I will e-mail you the shift schedule . . . any help you can give will be greatly appreciated! Mrs. Little and I will do the supervision and fill in for the shifts for which parents are unavailable.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Stokes, Ms. Gibbs, and Mrs. Lloyd

6th Grade

Language Arts: Students will work towards the following objectives which will focus on the SLE of “A Communicator who articulates ideas clearly and creatively through writing”: use an informal outline to begin the drafting process of writing their essay, learn how to write an effective introduction and strong body paragraphs. Spelling unit 8 workbooks will be due Thursday and the final test is on Friday.
Outside Reading: Students need to finish reading Roll of Thunder by Friday. Students should be prepared for a quiz over this week’s reading.
Social Studies: This week the students will be focusing on examining archaeology and reading The Henge by Edward Rutherford.
Religion: Students will work towards the following objectives as they begin Chapter 3, “The Mystery of God”: explore why we say God is a mystery, understand that God created the world and identify the sins of our first parents. These objectives focus on the SLE of “A Catholic Learner who studies and understands the doctrine and scriptures of the Catholic faith.”
Earth Science: Chapter 4 Rocks: Mineral Mixtures will be started. The students will learn about the rock cycle. There is a fun lab on Friday, which will model the various aspects of the rock cycle using chocolate chips.

7th Grade

Language Arts: Students will work towards the following objectives which will focus on the SLE of “A Communicator who articulates ideas clearly and creatively through writing”: continue the drafting stage by writing effective body paragraphs, learn how to use clear transitions between paragraphs and incorporate evidence to support statements made in their writing.
Outside Reading: Students need to finish reading The Giver by Friday. Students should be prepared for a quiz over this week’s reading.
Social Studies: Students will begin learning about the events that contributed to the decline of feudalism. They will also be experiencing King John and the Magna Carta. At the end of the week, they get an opportunity to experience the Bubonic Plague. They have been waiting since the beginning of the year to catch the Bubonic Plague.
Religion: In October, we pray the rosary. These next couple weeks we will not only focus on the rosary, but a special type of rosary for world missions. Students will be learning about the different continents connected with the different decades of the rosary. They will also be doing a world mission project in which they will pick a continent and research the Church’s missions there. This project will not only help students learn about the mission of the Church to spread the Good News and help others, but assists them in working on being a life-long learner.
Life Science: Chapter 4 will start with students learning about the organization of organisms and the role of cells.

8th Grade

Language Arts: Students will work towards the following objectives which will focus on the SLE of “A Communicator who articulates ideas clearly and creatively through writing”: continue the drafting stage by writing effective body paragraphs, use appropriate transitions between paragraphs, incorporate evidence to support statements made in their writing and learn how to edit their work as they progress.
Outside Reading: Students need to read Ch. 16-25 in Treasure Island by Friday. Students should be prepared for a quiz over this week’s reading.
Social Studies: Monday is the Ch. 2 test on the Revolution. This week the students will start examining the state of the government after the Revolution.
Religion: This week the students are focusing on Christian Morality and God’s gift, The Freedom of Choice. The students will be answering the question “How does Christian morality and free will fit into our school’s SLE’s?”
Physical Science: Chapter 4 will begin with a focus on elements. Students will learn the characteristics of elements and be given examples of these characteristics. They will also be shown how to identify and classify elements as metals, nonmetals, and metalloids based on their properties.
Math 6th, 7th, & 8th

Concepts & Applications: Students will work towards the following objectives: review and prepare for the chapter 2 test on Thursday. Students will also begin working on a group statistics project which focuses on the SLE of “A Critical Thinker and Problem Solver who works independently and collaboratively.”
Pre-Algebra: Students will learn to solve equations through multiplication and division. They will start solving two-step equations at the end of the week. There will be a quiz on Friday that covers solving equations through addition, subtraction, multiplication and/or division.
Algebra: Students will continue to work on chapter 3. They will be learning how to solve equations with variables on each side, ratios and proportions. They will also review percent of change. There is test over this chapter on October 17th.
Geometry: Chapter 2 test will be on Tuesday. Students will then begin chapter 3 which covers parallel and perpendicular lines.

PE 6th, 7th, & 8th

PE: The unit on Volleyball will start with a focus on skills and techniques.

• I am beginning this newsletter with a serious plea for volunteers for our upcoming events. In this Monday Envelope, you are being asked to help with the Casino Night (Oct. 18) and the Holiday Bazaar (Nov. 14-16). With over 150 shifts to fill and only 85 families in the school, we really need every family to help with these events by signing up for one or more shifts for both events. If you have a scheduling conflict with working the actual day, you can still help in advance by:

Casino Night – sell/purchase raffle tickets, donate a door prize, decorate, sponsor a table
Holiday Bazaar – bake pies, contribute baked goods, make crafts, donate raffle items, decorate, organize a class Christmas tree

• For the next week and a half, students will continue to take the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Oct. 1-14). These tests are difficult to make up, so please do not remove your child from school for anything other than illness.

• “Your Future is Bright”—in keeping with the Student Council’s theme this month, students may wear sunglasses during their break and lunch period on Wednesday. Throughout this month we are reinforcing with students the importance of making healthy choices.

• The Middle School’ car wash fundraiser raised over $1,000 towards their Camp KEEP trip. Thank you for supporting this fundraiser – and thank you to Weinerschnietzel for use of their facilities!

• The Desert Empire Fair parade will be on Saturday, October 18 !!! We had a suggestion of centering on George Washington Carver for the parade theme of We’re Nuts about the Fair . Any help you could give on figuring out dress/decorations would be greatly appreciated. Please call the School Office if you have any ideas or would like to help. Permission slips will be sent home next week. Earn parent participation hours!

• Enclosed is a scrip handout for you to use to have friends and family link their Albertson Community Partner cards to Saint Ann School. This takes no effort on anyone’s part other than registering their name, phone number and card number. Please put your name at the top of this form so that your family gets the scrip credit from these linked purchases.

• The Middle School Girls’ Volleyball game schedule is as follows. Please come cheer them on!
o Monday, Oct 6, @ 3:00 PM vs Monroe, 7th Grade team at Monroe
o Tuesday, Oct 7, @ 3:00 PM vs Monroe, 7th Grade team at Monroe
o Thursday, Oct 9, @ 5:20 PM vs Murray, 8th Grade team at Monroe

• PTG News:

The PTG meeting is this Thursday, October 9, in the school library.

Look for flyers regarding the Casino Night and Holiday Bazaar in this Monday Envelope.

Last week in the Monday Envelope, you received Casino Night tickets. Please remember that it is important that you return the money for sold dinner tickets by October 13 so we will have an idea of how much food to prepare. Although it is not mandatory that you sell the raffle tickets, we urge you to do so because the raffle is critical to making this event successful. Ticket stubs of sold raffle tickets, all unsold tickets and the money must be returned before the event.

Pie Baking Up-Date: No baking this Thursday or Friday.

Pie Pre-Orders: Just a reminder that the purple pre-order forms went home last week. Please return these pre-order forms by Oct. 24.

Reminders
• Please join us in saying a decade of the rosary each Wednesday morning at 7:30 AM at the grotto. This week, the decade will focus on the third Luminous Mystery, the Proclamation of the Kingdom.
• Turn in Box Tops for Education by Oct. 15 so we can meet the submission deadline.
• Tuition and EDP Contract Payments are due this Fri., Oct. 10.
• Parent/Teacher Conference Scheduling starts this Wednesday. Come to the School Office to sign up.
• The annual Pumpkin Carving Contest will be on Halloween, Oct. 31.

Upcoming Events—

Wed., Oct 1
Rosary at the Grotto, 7:30 AM

Thurs., Oct 9
PTG Meeting, 7:00 PM, School Library

Fri., Oct 10
Communion Service, 8:15 AM, 3rd Grade

Monday, October 6, 2008

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Our Blessing of the Animals on Friday was truly special. Thank you to parents and guardians who were able to bring pets. The children are showing that they are Catholic learners by participating in this devotion. I hope that the children will always remember this tradition for years to come.

ITBS Testing continues this week. Again, they usually do better when they are well rested. Please be sure to have your child get plenty of rest this week.

We started praying the rosary last week. The children are doing a very fine job. Every day the children have a job during the rosary. They take their leadership role very seriously. Every Wednesday the school will be praying one decade of the rosary together in the grotto at 7:30 am. Please join us!

God bless,

Susan McDonald

Third Grade Goals This Week

Religion: We will study the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus in chapter 6. Check out the website www.faithfirst.com weekly for activities for your child.
Reading: We will finish reading The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Since we are still testing, we will not read a story from our reading book. We will play phonics games to take the place of the phonics lessons this week. The children will be working on reading folder games this week.
Language: In “Writer’s Workshop” we will continue to focus on grammar and punctuation. Writer’s Workshop is a time the students will work on expository paragraphs they write, revise and edit.
Spelling Words: We will not have a spelling test this short week.
Math: We will study telling time to the minute and elapsed time.
Science: We will begin our unit titled Sun, Moon, and Earth. We will begin by studying the moon and comparing it to Earth.
Handwriting: We will continue to work on reviewing manuscript letters for the next few weeks.
P.E.: We will finish volleyball skills this week.
Social Studies: We will continue our study of Native Americans this week. We will discover the differences of the coastal, valley, mountain, and desert Native Americans of California.

Spelling Unit 8
8th Grade

1. circuit
2. perforate
3. transform
4. perplex
5. circulation
6. transparent
7. circumstance
8. persistence
9. transition
10. perpetual
11. circumvent
12. circumnavigate
13. transfer
14. persuade
15. transplant
16. circulating
17. pertinent
18. transistor
19. persevere
20. circumstantial

Spelling Unit 8
7th Grade

1. encouragement
2. idleness
3. canoe
4. manage
5. forgiveness
6. acreage
7. outrageous
8. management
9. forgive
10. canoeing
11. inventiveness
12. encourage
13. acre
14. commencement
15. advantageous
16. commence
17. fierceness
18. amazement
19. awareness
20. announcement

Spelling unit 8
6th grade

1. mischief
2. ceiling
3. siege
4. relief
5. reign
6. niece
7. leisure
8. achieve
9. yield
10. weird
11. conceit
12. grief
13. shriek
14. fierce
15. seize
16. thief
17. receive
18. sleigh
19. receipt
20. shield

Monday, September 29, 2008

Dear Parents and Guardians,

ITBS Testing starts this week. The students will be taking one or two tests each day this week and next week. Third grade will start Tuesday to allow an extra day to schedule the testing. I explained to the children that these tests show us what they can do. The children usually perform better when they are well rested. Please be sure that your child gets plenty of rest.

We are still working toward earning our first Reading Picnic. The children have been working hard to move Noah’s animals into the ark. If they move the last few animals onto the ark, then the children may bring blankets, pillows, books, and one board game to school on Friday. We will spend time reading books and playing board games. I will send a notice if the class reaches this goal.

This week we will celebrate the Feast of the Archangels. Each third grade child will recite the prayer St. Michael the Archangel. This is a way that the children show that they are St. Ann School Communicators.They are working on memorizing and speaking loudly and clearly. This week the children will also present the Guardian Angel Prayer. I realize that most of the children already know the prayer. I want them to focus on fluency and a confident delivery. You will find a copy attached to this Monday letter.

Friday we will be celebrating the Feast of St. Francis with first and second grade. We will have a blessing of the animals. One of our Schoolwide Learning Expectations is Catholic Learners. The children show this by participating in this devotion to St. Francis. You may bring your family pet, picture, or stuffed animal to school and meet us in the Meditation Garden. We will have a blessing and parade starting at 2:00 pm. This has been quite an exciting event the past five years!

We will begin praying the rosary daily during the month of October. The children may bring a rosary with your permission. Pope Benedict XVI has asked us to pray for respect for all life this month in our Holy Mother’s name. The children will add their own petitions as well. Every Wednesday the school will be praying one decade of the rosary together at 7:30 am. Please join us!

I need to ask you a favor. Please do not combine lunch orders when there are two lunches during the week because the money goes to two different class funds. Please fill out the individual form, include the money for that lunch and put it in an envelope labeled with your child’s name and 3rd grade. Please also indicate the type of hot lunch…hot dog for example) on the outside of the envelope. Last week I had to open several envelopes to determine where to send the envelope and make change. Thank you for your help.
God bless,
Susan McDonald

Third Grade Goals This Week

Religion: We will study why God sent Jesus to us, and how Jesus proclaimed the Good News in chapter 5. Check out the website www.faithfirst.com weekly for activities for your child. Children will present the Guardian Angel prayer.
Reading: In “Reader’s Workshop” we will study plays. We will continue to read The Mouse and the Motorcycle and complete vocabulary and comprehension questions. We will review the long o sound spelled o, ow, o_e, oa_, and _oe in our phonics lessons.
Language: We will continue to work on the writing process. In “Writer’s Workshop” we will continue to focus on grammar and punctuation. Writer’s Workshop is a time the students will work on stories they write, revise and edit. They will eventually publish at least one story per week. We will also work on nouns, pronouns, verbs, and complete sentences for the unit. We will have dictation scripture this week. This week’s scripture is: I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth are My followers. John 18:37
Spelling Words: Students will not have a spelling test this week.
Math: We will begin working on telling time to the hour, half-hour, quarter-hour, and five minutes. We will have a quiz on this week’s lessons.
Science: We will finish our unit on plants and animals.
Handwriting: We will continue to work on reviewing manuscript letters for the next few weeks.
P.E.: We will continue volleyball skills this week.
Social Studies: We will continue our study of Native Americans this week.

Guardian Angel Prayer

Angel of God, my guardian dear,
to whom God’s love commits me here,
ever this day, be at my side,
to light and guard, to rule and guide.
Amen.

Schoolwide Learning
Expectations

As we enter this year of accreditation, I thought it would be helpful to share with you the Schoolwide Learning Expectation (SLE) in a version that is written in a more “third grade friendly” manner. As we discuss these SLE’s in class feel free to include them in your discussion with your child as they complete homework or discuss their school day.

A Catholic Learner is a student who prays, goes to Mass, listens to God’s Word in the Bible, and helps others.

A Life-Long Learner is a student who always does his/her best, and looks and listens to learn.

A Communicator is a student who listens to the teachers and staff and shares ideas by pictures, writing, and speaking.

A Responsible Citizen is a student who shares his/her gifts with others, takes care of the earth, and respects others.

A Critical Thinker and Problem Solver is a student who works independently, works with others, makes good choices, and thinks before acting.

Fire Station Filed Trip
We are excited about our trip to the Inyokern Fire Station tomorrow. We spent some time today reviewing and practicing the fire safety skills that we learned last week. The students should wear school uniforms for this trip and pack a snack as usual. We will eat our snacks when we return. Please be sure to leave car/booster seats on the bench outside of the classroom in the morning.

Open Court
The students have been working in class on many basic skills during the first quarter. Your child should be able to recognize both capital and lowercase letters from Aa-Mm. Your child should also recognize all of the letters in his/her name. Also, he/she should be able to write his/her name neatly with a capital letter at the beginning and lowercase letters to follow. These are very important skills that should be reinforced at home even though they are not always listed on the homework packet instruction sheet.

Your child has also been bringing home many color, letter and pre-decodable books. Please be sure to have your child read and reread these books with you. This is very important as we work on pre-reading skills.

Math
Our math studies have lead us to be problem solvers and critical thinkers as we work to solve and extended patterns. We are having fun exploring patterns with a variety of manipulatives. Be sure to read the math section on the back of this newsletter to find out some fun items to use to make patterns at home.

Angel Prayer/Rosary/Saints
The students are doing very well with the memorization of the Guardian Angel Prayer. Don’t forget that this is also the month of the Holy Rosary. We have been praying a decade of the rosary in class daily. This would be a wonderful time to add the rosary to your family prayer time. As Catholic learners, we have been studying the lives of many saints in class. Last week, we took a “Saint Walk” and found many statues and pictures of saints in the church and the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. We also learned how to genuflect on both knees when we are in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Perhaps you can visit the Blessed Sacrament Chapel after school one day or on Sunday with your child. We also hung some special apples in the church vestibule last week. They will be on display through the month of October.

Parent Teacher Conferences
Please be sure to sign up for a conference time in the school office. The sign-up sheets are posted on the bulletin board. We will go over your child’s first quarter progress report at the conference.

Halloween Festival/Visit to High Desert Haven
Plans are being made for a Halloween celebration on Thursday, Oct. 30. We will visit High Desert Haven and sing to the residents. We will then travel to our very own Halloween Festival and enjoy fun activities with Shine Montessori. I will have more details about this event in the weeks to come.

Language Development

*Shared Reading of Pumpkin, Pumpkin
*letter recognition and formation with a focus on Uu, Vv and Ww
*putting the letters from A-M in alphabetical order
*recognizing the 5 vowels and learning the two sounds each vowel makes (a-e-i-o-u)
*read nonfiction stories sharing information about scarecrows and pumpkins
*sing “Brown” song and illustrate things that are brown
*continue to work on segmentation and hearing word parts (syllables)
*introduction of new Star Words and review of previous words
How can you help?
Practice the letter formations for the letters Aa-Mm. Continue to review all Star Words and participate in Lap Reading nightly.

Math

*explore and extend patterns of shape
*learn to recognize the following shapes of pattern blocks (triangle, square, diamond, rhombus and hexagon)
*make pattern necklaces using link manipulatives
*counting and recognizing numbers to 30
How can you help?
Order number flash cards from 1-30 on the floor. Make a pattern necklace by stringing beads at home. Make patterns using common objects found at home such as crayons, cereal or pasta.

Religion

*continue to recite the Guardian Angel Prayer
*the Bible is a special book from God
*the Bible tells us about Jesus
How can you help?
Help your child memorize the Guardian Angel Prayer. Share John 10:1-18 and Matthew 2:1-12 with your child.

Science/Health/Social Studies

*study the life cycle of a pumpkin
How can you help?
When you scoop out your pumpkin for Halloween this year, be sure to discuss the parts of a pumpkin. Don’t forget to roast those seeds and even save a few for planting!

• Congratulations to our 8th Grade volleyball team who won 2nd place in their tournament this weekend in El Tejon! These young ladies are amazingly talented!

• Beginning this week, students in Grades 2-8 will be taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Oct. 1-14). It is particularly important that your child gets a good night’s sleep and eats a proper breakfast during this period. It is also crucial that students have regular attendance. These tests are difficult to make up, so please do not remove your child from school for anything other than illness.

• Student Council has been working hard planning for this school year. One of their ideas is to have a theme each month that is tied to the Schoolwide Learning Expectations. The theme for October is, “Your Future is Bright.” Look in this Monday Envelope for a flyer from Student Council explaining the upcoming theme days and special dress code modifications.

• We need help planning for the Desert Empire Fair parade on Saturday, October 18 !!! The parade theme is We’re Nuts about the Fair and we are going nutty trying to figure out what kind of dress/decorations to use. Please call the School Office if you have any ideas or would like to help. Earn parent participation hours!

• October is Respect Life Month. This is a time when we remind ourselves of the sacredness of all human life. One of our Schoolwide Learning Expectations is that your child will understand the teachings of our Church, one of which is the belief that every human person is created out of love by God, made in His image and likeness, and is destined to live forever. Particularly this month, please have a conversation with your child about this essential belief in the sacredness of life. You might also help your older child understand how this issue is being covered this election year.

• This month, students will say the rosary in their classrooms and during morning assembly at the grotto each Wednesday morning. We would love to have you join us on Wednesdays in the grotto as we practice this beautiful devotion given to us by the Blessed Virgin Mary.

• The Middle School Girls’ Volleyball game schedule is as follows. Please come cheer them on!
o Tuesday, Sept 30, @ 3:00 PM vs Immanuel Christian, 7th Grade team at Monroe
o Tuesday, Sept 30, @ 3:45 PM vs Monroe, 8th Grade team at Monroe

• The School Advisory Council will meet tonight, September 29, at 7:00 PM in the School Library. We will discuss the completed accreditation Self-Study, the school’s Action Plan for school improvement, the revised budget and the efforts of the Long-Range Planning Committee. Please join us.

• PTG News:

o In the next two months, we have two very important fundraising events – Casino Night and the Holiday Bazaar. It is very important for every family to help make these events successful. We simply cannot rely on a few families to do all the work. These fundraisers are critical in helping us take care of paying for costs that tuition cannot cover. I can also honestly say that volunteering at both Casino Night and the Holiday Bazaar is fun! Please be generous with your time when you are contacted by the organizers and/or your room parents.

o The Holiday Pie Order Form is enclosed in this Monday Envelope. Remember to ask your relatives, friends, neighbors, colleagues and acquaintances if they would like to purchase pies. You can find extra order forms in the School Office and in the vestibules of the church. Remember, if you would like to participate in baking pies and earn parent participation hours, please call Kristi Cook at 384-1410 or Kelly Hastings at 371-1941.

o In your Monday Envelope, please look for the Casino Night envelope with tickets and the half sheet information flyer from Greg Perry. As he stated in the flyer, it is important that you return the money for sold dinner tickets by October 13 so we will have an idea of how much food to prepare. Although it is not mandatory that you sell the raffle tickets, we urge you to do so because the raffle is critical to making this event successful. Ticket stubs of sold raffle tickets, all unsold tickets and the money must be returned before the event.

o Also enclosed in the Monday Envelope are two copies of the gold Casino Night poster for you to share with friends or to post at your office.

Upcoming Events—

Mon., Sept. 29
School Advisory Council Meeting, 7:00 PM, School Library

Wed., Oct. 1
Rosary at the Grotto, 7:30 AM

Fri., Oct. 3
School Mass, 8:15 AM, 4th Grade