St. Agnes School
Family Newsletter
October 27, 2010

Mission Statement of Saint Agnes School
Saint Agnes Elementary School strives for excellence in providing a Catholic education that inspires and empowers our students to embrace the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ as compassionate and faithful Christians, who continue to pursue their spiritual journey, their highest academic potential, and stewardship to others.

First Quarter Report Cards: First quarter report cards are being sent home today with your child. Please review the report and sign and return the parent signature portion of the report card by this Friday.

Spiritwear Day Tomorrow: Students may wear a St. Agnes spiritwear shirt/sweatshirt with gym uniform pants/shorts or regular uniform pants/shorts tomorrow.

Important Reminder: Kindergarten registration for in-school families is due to our school office tomorrow, October 28th. If you have a child for kindergarten for next school year….please have your registrations in tomorrow. We will give morning or afternoon preference to in-school families if the registrations are in. Thank you.

Greg Percy to Visit on Friday: Mr. Greg Percy, an artist in residence will visit St. Agnes School this Friday. Mr. Percy is an artist and a musician. His assembly is “Songs in the Key of Art.” Students will visit by classrooms during the morning and in the afternoon Mr. Percy will provide an assembly for all the grades. We look forward to his visit. Thank you, PTO, for sponsoring this event.

Halloween: Parties are replaced by treats this year because of our visiting artist’s assembly. Room mothers will bring a treat for all the students. Students may wear Halloween accessories with their uniforms on Friday….orange and black hair ribbons, socks, etc. Uniforms should be worn on Friday. Thanks.

Monday is All Saints Day: Bishop Foys says all diocesan schools will be off of school on holy days. We will not have school on Monday, November 1st, All Saints Day. Check the parish bulletin for the holy day mass schedule. Enjoy the long weekend.

c-Notify: Last year the PTO was gracious enough to purchase the Community Safe – one call system so I could make one call on snow days or in emergencies, and everyone would get the message. This year we are changing the system to c-Notify. The whole diocese purchased c-Notify, so we are getting the service at a nice discount. This is really the only reason for the system change. C-Notify is a system from Cincinnati Bell. It is an essential communication tool for notification and communication. Within minutes of an emergency, we can use cNotify to deliver a single, clear message to parents or guardians by telephone.
Please help us get started with this new system of contact, by providing your contact information. Each family may include two phone numbers which will be called in an emergency or when an announcement is made. The reason each family has only two numbers this year is that the whole diocese is on this system, and in order to guarantee that every family is served within thirty minutes of the original call, we have to limit it to two calls per family. Think carefully about which two numbers would be the most important for you to receive a call if an emergency or snow day occurs. Please email the numbers to office@saintagnes.com or send the numbers to the school office with your child. Thank you.

Parents Can Help:
 

• Parents, please check your child’s uniform before your child leaves home; check the handbook for skirt length, boys’ haircuts, and proper blouses, etc.….then we don’t have to stop instruction to be uniform police.
   
• Parents, please follow the after school dismissal and before school arrival procedures….then we don’t have to get on your children for not following procedures, or find them in a place they shouldn’t be…like in front of church, across the street, etc., or even worse, not find them.
   
• Parents, if an all-call message is sent, please listen to the all-call message before you call in; yesterday we had about forty calls to the office after the message was sent from people who missed the message but wanted to know if everything was okay. In a real emergency, this would not work. Maybe I need to send more messages, so everyone is used to getting them. I just thought parents would want to know that we were all fine after the storm.
   
• Parents, if your child is sick in the morning, please don’t tell your child to come to school and if he feels sick, he can call you….I guarantee your child will call you by 8:10. We will take care of any child who is sick….that is not a problem….in fact, this is the time that the children aren’t feeling their best…..but don’t tell them to call…..we will always call if they have a temperature, or we see they are sick.
   
• Thanks for helping us in these simple ways.

Cafeteria Volunteers Needed: There are several days in November and MANY days in December that we need help in the cafeteria. Please see the November Lunch Calendar on our website for a list of November dates needed. December still needs almost every day. If you are willing to volunteer, please call the cafeteria at 261-4924 or email Mary Fischer at cafeteria@saintagnes.com. Thank you!

Congratulations to the St. Agnes 5th and 6th grade golf team. They placed first in the Junior High Golf League. The team members are: Ian Galvin, Josh Galvin, Marc Maier, Lincoln Hammon and Paul Thelen. Ian Galvin came in first place; Marc Maier came in second place. Great Job!!!

6th Grade MathCounts: MathCounts for 6th graders is an extracurricular accelerated math program that is available to your students. It is NOT tutoring but a very challenging math program offered by the Kentucky Society of Professional Engineers. Tim Pangallo, Tom Arnold and Tiffany Pangallo will again be coaching any interested 6th grade students. They will have class/practice on Monday evenings starting Monday, November 8 through February from 7:30-9 PM.
     If your child is interested in attending, please let me know via an e-mail to jpangallo@fuse.net. I will need your child's name, parents’ names, home address, grade, home and ALL cell numbers for contact AND ALL E-MAIL addresses you would like information sent regarding the program and weekly information.
Prior to the first meeting I will send out an e-mail with more information but our current plan is to have a short meeting at 7:30 on November 8 for students and parents to introduce the coaches/teachers and let parents ask any questions they may have. After that the children will stay until 9 PM on that night.
Please let us know before Monday, November 1, if your 6th grader is interested joining the Mathcounts Team so that we may prepare for the entire group on November 8. There is a $15 snack/drink/supply fee for each child. Snacks and drinks are provided each week. If anyone has any questions please feel free to e-mail me. Thanks, Jeanne Pangallo jpangallo@fuse.net

Board of Education News: Thank you to all who helped with kindergarten registration on October 21st. The next board of education meeting will be this Tuesday, November 2nd at 7 pm in the library. Board meetings are open meetings, all are welcome to attend.

PTO News:

November Eat Out Nights: Mark your calendars for the following November dates:
Skyline - Monday, November 1 from 5:00p to 9:00p. Click here for coupon.
Greyhound Tavern - Wednesday, November 10 from 11:00a to 9:00p. Click here for coupon. Coupons are good for all day -- lunch, carryout, dinner, etc. COUPON IS MANDATORY.
Sub Station II - Wednesday, November 17 from 5:00p to 8:00p

Ladies Night Out: Please join us for the 3rd Annual Ladies Night Out! This is a special evening to benefit St. Agnes School. There are some changes to this year’s benefit. The benefit will be held at The Gardens-Arbor Room in Park Hills, Friday, November 19, 2010 from 7:30-11:30. The fun will include: beer, wine, and hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar for mixed drinks, mini spa services from Salon Beck and others, a DJ and dancing, and exciting raffles. The cost is $20 if you make your reservation by November 12th or $25 if you pay at the door. If you make your reservation by November 12th, your name will be entered in a drawing for a $50 gift certificate to the Grandview Tavern. You can make your reservation through mail, Kidmail or drop-off at the church rectory with a check made payable to St. Agnes PTO, attention Ann Flood. If you have any questions, call Ann at 859.341.8489. Bring your family and friends for an evening of fun!

Market Day: Time is Running Out! Buy a Pie! Donate a Pie! All pie orders and grocery orders need to be placed by Thursday 28th. I’m sending home Pie Order forms again for those that wish to donate a pie to the Parish Kitchen. No need to pick the pies up. We’ll donate for you. Checks need to be made payable to Market Day. So far we have sold close to 50! Let’s go for 100! Pickup is on November 2nd at 5:30 in the Cafeteria.
     Want to volunteer for Market Day? We could really use one more person to help us with Market Day Reminder Calls. Please contact Heather Mast at 291-0787 or email me at hmast@zoomtown.com if you think you might be interested. It really doesn’t take any time at all. It’s a great way to get your service hours!
NOVEMBER ONLINE PROMOTIONS: FREE 4 pack ChicNSteakes with any ONLINE purchase of $90; Promo code NOVBONUS

And the Box Tops Classroom Challenge winner is................................7E!
Thank you all for sending in the Box Tops. Classroom 7E collected a total of 806 box tops with some other classrooms close behind in the 700's. We are happy to report that the classroom challenge netted 7194 points equaling $719.40, along with the box tops collected previously (2689 or $268.90),our 1st submission will reap a total 9883 points or $988.30 to St. Agnes! A big thank you to the 7th grade volunteers, who cut, sorted and counted the first round of the classroom challenge box tops. The collection box will be back in its original location in the cafeteria until the next challenge this winter, so keep sending them in. Every box top counts. Kathy Theobald

Open House - Covington Catholic High School: Sunday, Nov. 7thth from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Tour the school and hear from the students, teachers, administration, and parents. In-district seventh and eighth graders can register to win one of four $500 tuition credits. Please call 491-2247 with any questions. He’s Worth It: A Covington Catholic Education

Silverlake After-School Care: Click here for more information about Silverlake’s after-school care.

Destination ImagiNation: Destination ImagiNation (DI) is an extraordinary team tournament that invites student teams from all over the world to solve mind-bending Challenges. DI is designed to teach three essential skills: creativity, teamwork and problem solving. DI teams are tested to think on their feet, work as a team and devise original solutions that satisfy the requirements of the Challenges. DI participants gain more than just basic knowledge and skills—they learn to unleash their imaginations and take unique approaches to problem solving. Click here to read the Northern Kentucky Flyer. WANT MORE INFORMATION? Go to www.idodi.org.  

It’s time to think snow…. Perfect North Slopes is offering discount passes to St. Agnes. The deadline for the offer is November 21, 2010. The passes include lessons and snow tubing. Ski and snowboard rentals are available for a nominal fee. Our preferred lesson day is Friday, but a variety of passes are available to meet different schedule needs. Spending time at the slopes is a great way to enjoy the winter months with family and friends. Passes make great Christmas gifts! A convenient debit card can be purchased with bonus cash to be used to purchase tickets, food and merchandise. Online registration is available at www.perfectnorth.com.  Select Club Log-In located at the upper right hand corner of the home page. Type in the group name, St. Agnes School, and use the password showtime in lower case. Select the pass you want to purchase and follow the online instructions. If you have any questions, please call Kathy Smith at 331-8717 or email kab-smth@att.net.  Looking forward to seeing you on the slopes!

Around Our School

Did you know… eighth graders started making rock candy? They are quite the cooks!

Did you know…sixth grade science students went on a field trip to Thomas More Biology Field Station on the Ohio River in connection with their ecosystems unit? We handled and identified various types of fish and macro invertebrates. Students also got to perform water quality tests on the river samples they obtained. Our hike to identify land animals and their tracks was cancelled due to bad weather. We learned that the Ohio River is 981 miles long, beginning in Pittsburgh, PA and ending in Cairo, IL. It is an exceptionally clean river with 150 different species of fish. It was interesting to find out that there are eels in our river and fish actually do sleep!

Did you know…8th graders are finishing up all work for the novel, Across Five Aprils? They are now beginning the short story unit in their literature books.

Did you know…7th graders are working in the last section of the short story unit in literature? Next they will read a Revolutionary War novel to coincide with the curriculum in their social studies classes.

Did you know…that next Monday and Tuesday (November 1-2) is Día de los muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico? It is very closely tied in with All Saint’s and All Souls Days.

Did you know…The third graders went to California Woods last Thursday? While there they investigated the meadow ecosystem, the forest ecosystem, and the creek ecosystem. They also learned many interesting facts from the naturalists who were their tour guides for the day. If you see a third grader you may want to ask them about the “ghost tree.”