NEW HIRES – We are very excited to announce the hiring of several new staff members to St. Patrick’s for the 2007-08 school year.  Each of these new staff members will be a great addition to an already very talented, caring, and passionate staff. 

DAN MALINE will be our new 6th, 7th & 8th Math teacher and 7th and 8th Science teacher.  He comes to St. Patrick’s from Shelton, Nebraska where he taught junior high Math and Science along with computer classes.  Dan has five years of teaching experience. He has very strong references as well as the enthusiasm, energy, and talent to do some outstanding things with our junior high math and science programs.  He coached track and cross country and is married with two young children.  NOTE: We had hired a teacher for this position in the spring but she has recently accepted another job where she will teach and coach at the high school level.  We always hear how when God closes one door He’ll open another; well this time he did that and than some.

STEFANIE GREWE has been hired as our new Office Assistant.  She will be here Monday through Friday helping your children, the teachers, as well as, Mr. Ridder and Mrs. Moritz.  You may recall in an earlier note that Mrs. Moritz has been hired as our new Administrative Assistant and Mrs. Kruntorad will be staying home with her one year old and her soon to be born baby.  Mrs. Grewe and Mrs. Moritz will make a great team in the office as they have both worked at St. Patrick’s for a long time.  They are both very talented and passionate about doing everything they can to make St. Patrick’s School the very best place for all of us who work here, all of you parents and most importantly, all of your children.

VICKI PAYTON began working as the Parish Business Manager in May.  She comes to St. Patrick’s with nearly 15 years experience in accounting type positions.  She has already proven to be a valued employee in the short time she has been with us. Vicki is married and has 3 children.  We look forward to many years with her in this position. 

TEACHER ASSISTANT NEEDED – St. Patrick's School is in search of a half-time teacher assistant for grades 6 through 8.  This person will assist in implementing the daily curriculum and activities.  This applicant will assist under the direction of the Principal and Teachers in accordance with the policies and philosophy of the St. Patrick's School.  This candidate prepares needed materials and supplies as requested by teacher.  This applicant possesses the flexibility and enthusiasm for teaching children.  Creative imagination and resourcefulness is required.  For more information or to apply for this position, please contact Principal, Don Ridder at 402-289-5407 or via email at ridderd@stpatselkhorn.org.  We will be announcing the hiring of our new teacher assistance in next week’s notes.

SUMMER SCHOOL REGISTRATION - This summer St. Patrick’s School will be hosting one session of summer school.  Each of the classes are intended as a “kick-start” for students who will be entering grades K-5.  The class size limit will be cut off at 15 students based on the 15 turned in first.  Please take a few moments to review the classes listed below.

                                   2007 Sessions:      July 30th-August 3rd

                                   Time:                    8:00-12:00

                                   Course Fee:          $100 (Includes $20 building fee)

Kindergarten Readiness  (Miss. VanDyke) - This class will be an upbeat session for children entering kindergarten to fine-tune skills needed to be successful in the fall.  Emphasis will be on readiness skills such as fine motor, listening, social, and letter/number recognition.

1st Grade Readiness  (Mrs. Kill) - This class is intended for students who will be entering first grade in the fall.  Emphasis will be on early reading/phonics skills: word analysis, word patterns, sight words, and decoding. VoWac will be introduced.  Basic math skills will also be covered.

2nd Grade Readiness  (Mrs. Hotovy) – This class is intended to build reading and VoWac skills for students entering second grade in the fall.  A continuation of basic reading skills will include oral reading, decoding, and comprehension.  Math concepts to be covered: addition and subtraction strategies, place value, money, and time.  The students will be introduced to two digit addition and subtraction.

3rd Grade Readiness  (Mrs. Simons) - This class is intended for students who will be entering third grade in the fall.  Emphasis will be placed on reading, writing, and grammar, as well as the review and application of VoWac sounds and rules.  Math concepts such as addition and subtraction with regrouping, problem solving, time and money will also be covered.

4th Grade Readiness (Miss. Magnuson) - This class is intended for students who will be entering 4th grade in the fall.  An emphasis will be placed on both reading and writing skills. Math concepts such as multiplication, division, and geometry will be covered.  General mastery of basic facts will be encouraged through daily review and timed tests.  Your soon to be 4th grader will be sure to start the New Year with confidence!

Technology Readiness-Grades 3rd, 4th, and 5th  (Mrs. Nelson) - This course is designed to introduce and reinforce skills in keyboarding (using Mavis Beacon), Power Point, Microsoft Word, Excel, and Movie Maker.  Students will sharpen their computer skills by creating projects that reinforce each of these applications.  Students do not need prior experience with these applications to be successful in this course.

5th & 6th Grade Math Readiness  (Mrs. DeWald) - This class is intended for students who will be entering the 5th and 6th grades in the fall.  This class will cover the following areas: Study skills: notes taking, organization, test preparation; Math concepts: basic facts and concepts; Reading skills: novel unit, vocabulary, comprehension, and logging; and Geography skills.  These skills will be beneficial to the student and help prepare them for the upcoming year.

Click on the link below to print out your registration form.

SUMMER SCHOOL REGISTRATION

SUMMER OFFICE VOLNTEERS – We are always looking for volunteers to help with the office tasks such as filing, organizing for the upcoming school year, or answering phones.  If you or someone you know is interested in helping out in the office or completing various other school tasks, please contact Kathy Moritz at kmoritz@stpatselkhorn.org.

MEN’S CLUB NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!!!  The fireworks sale is the largest Fundraiser of Men’s club. Everyone’s time is at a premium, but there are available times every day, nearly all day – hopefully one of these times can fit into your schedule. PLEASE, PLEASE, sign up to help the entire church community benefits. Shifts are ONLY 2 hours.  Surely you can find two hours to help somewhere in a 10 day period. Please contact Andy D’Agosto or call the school office to schedule a shift. The Men’s Club thanks you and the St. Patrick’s Community thanks you!

Andy D'Agosto

andagosto@arbyspandainc.com

LETTER FROM THE MEN’S CLUB -

June 7, 2007

St. Patrick’s Parishioner

The St. Patrick’s Men’s Club will once again be selling fireworks as a major fundraiser.  All of the proceeds from our fireworks sales goes back to support the many projects and necessities within the St. Patrick’s Parish Community.

This year we have been faced with a challenge, we have had to relocate our stand outside of Elkhorn due to the annexation.  Although, with your help, we don’t expect that we will see any changes in our sales.  We are asking for your support in helping us make the 2007 fireworks fundraiser a success. 

The fireworks stand is being relocated to the parking lot of the old Harr’s Restaurant in Waterloo.  This location is easy to find as it sits to the southwest of the water tower in Waterloo.  We will help you with directions as we ask you to follow the signs that have a shamrock on them, this will lead you to the storage and sales facilities that will also feature shamrocks all over it.  The fireworks stand will open on June the 25th and run through July the 4th, the stand will be open from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM, and will close at 8:00 PM on July the 4th.  Please bring along this letter to receive your 10% discount on your purchase. 

Thanks again for your continued support of the St. Patrick’s Men’s Club fundraising events.  The Men’s Club continues to provide the parish with support, we can only do this with the support that our parishioner’s provide to us.

Sincerely,

Willie Douglas

Chairman for fireworks advertising for the St. Patrick’s Men’s Club

COME JOIN THE FUN! - It’s the 7th Annual St. Patrick’s Golf Outing benefiting the St. Patrick’s Building Fund.  Get a foursome together or join in yourself and meet some new people.  Join us on Friday, August 10th at Tiburon Golf Course from noon until ??.  The cost to play is $100 per person or $400 per team.  This registration fee includes golf, cart, prizes and dinner following the tournament.  Click on the link for the entry form or call John Dunn at 289-1890 with questions.

ST. PATRICK’S GOLF OUTING REGISTRATION FORM

Capital Campaign Update-  The Capital campaign continues to grow nearing the $1.5 million mark.  This past week alone we have received another 38 pledges.  We could still use volunteers though – if you can spare about 6 -7 hours spread out in one hour increments over the next few weeks, we could use your help.  If you are interested, please give us a call at the office and we can give you more details. You won’t be under any obligation (unless of course, Fr Ron or Principal Ridder find out you called but we won’t tell).  We would love to have you! John Dunn or Robb Spence 289-4289 or 289-1890.

Principal’s Notes Deadline

Please submit all items/information in final form for Principal’s Notes

by Tuesday, 8:00am to the school office or email to

ridderd@stpatselkhorn.org or kmoritz@stpatselkhorn.org

Archived Principal Notes