May 7, 2021
Hello Faithful Falcons!
I hope you are having a blessed Easter Season and a beautiful Spring. We are in the academic homestretch now!
The Year of St. Joseph was declared by Pope Francis to be December 8, 2020 through December 8, 2021 in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of St. Joseph as the Patron of the Universal Church by Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1870.
- As part of this celebration, Archbishop Schnurr designated three archdiocesan churches as temporary shrines for the year, including St. Joseph Church of Dayton.
- As a temporary shrine, one can make a pious visit to one of these churches in honor of St. Joseph and receive a plenary indulgence (after fulfilling other plenary indulgence requirements).
- St. Christopher’s 8th grade fulfilled all of the plenary indulgence requirements and attended Mass at St. Joseph’s on Tuesday of this week (see below picture).
- To learn more about temporary shrine designations and plenary indulgences, please click here.
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Hollie Bryan will not be returning to St. Christopher next year, so she can focus on her health. We thank Hollie for her many years of exceptional service to our school community. Please click here to read a letter from Mrs. Bryan to our school families.
Emily Kallenberg will not returning to St. Christopher next year to pursue another opportunity. We thank Emily for her valuable contributions in the classroom and theater.
Colleen Kandel will be joining us next year! The tentative plans are for her to teach 3rd Grade Science and Social Studies, and 4th Grade English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. Colleen comes to us with 20 years of teaching experience and we are blessed to have her join our faculty. Welcome Colleen!
PTO Notes from this Wednesday’s meeting will be posted on our website soon, but here are a few items that were covered:
- Enrollment: we have 268 students this year. We budgeted 270 students for next and we currently have 260 enrolled for next year.
- Class Sizes:
- Next year’s class size and structure will be similar to this year.
- Class sizes will range from 21 to 30 with most grades splitting into smaller groups multiple times per day, especially for core subject areas.
- We will add teaching resources to the second grade next year, but the remaining grades will look much the same as this year.
- We are in a challenging enrollment range. The most profitable schools in the archdiocese are found at the 200 and 400 student levels. That coincides with one class per grade versus two classes per grade. We are in the middle of that range, as we continue to move from one to two classes per grade.
- Spring Breaks: it is our current school policy to be in school for the week before and after Easter, so we can celebrate, together, the most important of all liturgical times. Therefore, our spring break will continue to occur at some point prior to Holy Week.
- Fall Opening & Covid: it is too early to tell, but we hope restrictions will be lifted, so we are planning for a regular opening in the Fall.
- Option C: we are switching to a new Student Information System next year. More details to come.
- Cafeteria: we will be outsourcing our cafeteria next year. More details will be provided, but pricing will be the same and the menu will be expanded.
- Iowa Tests: the national testing window was extended due to Covid, so we are waiting for the testing company to score all of our region’s assessments. We hope to receive our results soon and send them home before the end of May.
The All-School Baby Shower for Elizabeth New Life Center will happen on Wednesday May 12. Please click here for more details.
Field Day Volunteers are still needed! Friday, May 21 from 8:00AM – 12:15PM. Please complete this Form, if you are able to help. All volunteers must be VIRTUS trained before May 21. If you have any questions or concerns, please email Ashley Schwieterman at aschwieterman@scpschool.org.
The 2021 Spring Gala Auction is happening NOW through this Saturday 11:00PM – we have 68 packages to bid on. Something for everyone! Please click below image and start bidding…
Have a Blessed Weekend!
God Bless & Go Falcons!
Mr. O’
St. Christopher School Principal
toloughlin@scpschool.org
937.898.5104
