OCTOBER NEWS AND NOTES
What a wonderful feel that is in the air! I love Autumn. It delights all of my senses. Ok, except for the different pollens, molds, and mildews that make their appearance, but thanks to my physician and pharmacist even those things are under control!
Thank you for your continued assistance with your child’s learning process. I do need to emphasize how important it is for you to review with your child the nightly homework assignments. I have noticed over the last two weeks a marked increase in the number of papers that have had to be returned the next evening for corrections. And I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t sent home all that I should. Homework is a practiced repeat of the day’s lessons so that skills may be reinforced. At this young age, if mistakes are not caught at the moment they are made, the student will generally continue to make the same error. Capitalization, end mark punctuation, and spelling errors should never be present in written homework. I realize that we all have busy extra-curricular schedules. However, your child’s primary job right now is being a student, and they need you to assist them along this journey.
Thank you for reviewing and returning each week’s work products that are sent for you to see. Again, it is so helpful to have the papers returned for our joint review at Conference time.
Many thanks to Mrs. O’Brien and Mrs. Sigman who accompanied us to the performance of The Beauty and the Beast. It was a full, Broadway quality show and the students from St. Patrick’s received compliments from the show staff on their exemplary behavior.
IOWA TESTING –
Our annual IOWA standardized testing batteries begins next Monday, October 5, bright and early at 8:15am. Please make certain that your child gets a full night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast each day. These two elements are critical to positive testing results. A third critical element for best performance is arriving at school on time. In fact, if you carpool or walk, having your child at school so they can socialize with their classmates in the Gym in the morning goes a long way to being ready to start our testing.
You cannot “study” for the IOWA testing. It is more of an evaluation of the effectiveness of past teaching and learning skill. There will be no daily homework assignments given next week. We will continue with lessons once testing has been completed, so please remind your student that while this is a bit of a different week it is not a week of no study.
OCTOBER DATES –
October 2 – Holy Hour of Prayer
October 5 – 9 – IOWA Standardized Testing
October 10 – Fall Festival
October 12 – IOWA Standardized Testing
October 15 – First Quarter ends
October 16 – No School / Teacher Workday
October 18 – MACS Open House, 1:30 – 3:30 pm
October 20 – MACS Open House, 9:00 am – 12 noon
October 22 – Report Cards distributed
October 23 – Mass
Slim Goodbody Field Trip
October 29 – 30 – Parent-Teacher Conferences (Information will be forthcoming in Principal’s Newsletter)