EARLY DISMISSAL – Mark your calendars for the following early dismissals:

• Thursday, May 10th at 2:00 p.m. – Teacher Inservice
• Friday, May 18th at 11:00 a.m. – Last Day of School & Field Day

DRESS DOWN DAY TOMORROW – Bring your dollar to benefit the dimes for chimes and earn a dress down day tomorrow!  Please remember students’ street clothes must follow these guidelines: 

• Pants or jeans are acceptable but must be the correct size and worn appropriately at all times.
• Girls may also wear dresses, skirts, or skorts.  Hemline must be longer than 3 inches above the middle of the kneecap.
• Clothing must be neat, clean, and free from holes.
• Clothing with inappropriate or derogatory logos or slogans is not permitted.
• Students may wear walking shorts in August, September, and May.  Shorts must be longer than 3 inches above the middle of the kneecap.
• All tops must have sleeves, no halter tops, spaghetti straps, tank tops or muscle shirts.
• For safety reasons, all students’ footwear must have enclosed toes and heels, sandals, flip-flops, clogs and mules are not permitted.
• Baseball hats or head coverings are not allowed.

SUBSTITUTES NEEDED – How would you like to be involved in our school on a random basis working in any of the following areas?  There is a need for substitutes to step in when we call for it in the classroom as a teacher’s assistant, in the lunchroom from 10:45 until 1:00, or as a custodian working with our awesome Maintenance Director, Craig.  You will be compensated for your time worked.  If you have questions contact Mr. Ridder, Principal, via email ridderd@stpatselkhorn.org or call 289-5407.

ATTENTION PARENTS - If your child has medication at school it will need to be picked up by May 25th.  Please plan to pick up your child’s medication during the week of May 21st – 25th.  School office hours for the week of May 21st – May 25th will be 8:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m.  Any medication, including EPI-Pens not picked up by this date will be discarded.  We are not able to send medication home with students. 

Thank you for your assistance in this important matter.

MRS. CONNOLLY - It is with mixed emotions that I will not be returning to St. Patrick’s School next year.  I will miss working with the students, staff, and families; but am looking forward to staying home to be “mom” for a while.  The last 3 years have been a wonderful experience.  St. Pat’s is a school that feels like family, as staff, and parents work together to help all children.  I look forward to seeing familiar faces at mass, and during parish activities.

LOST & FOUND - Please take a moment to stop by the main entrance to retrieve any items that may have been lost over the course of the year.  Any items that have not been picked up by the last day of school will be donated to the uniform loan closet or Goodwill.

MAY CROWNING - is planned for Tuesday, May 8th, at the 8:30 a.m. all school Mass.  Two girls from each class will be chosen from a drawing to present the flowers to Mary.  A 2nd grade girl will be chosen from a drawing to crown Mary.  Thank you to our MOMS groups for donating the flowers that will be presented to the Blessed Mother on this day!  As we begin the month of Mary, it is a great time to direct our thoughts and prayers to our Blessed Mother.  The following is a family prayer that can be used when praying through our Blessed Mother.

Come into our home, oh most loving Mother Mary, and make yourself a part of our family.  Hear us when we are lonely.  Comfort us when we are sad.  Heal us when we are torn.  Celebrate with us, enjoy with us.  Share with us these moments of intimacy that transform a family from the mundane to the unique.  Honored Mother, invite your Son, Jesus, into our hearts and our midst.  Let us reflect the light of His love in all that we do here at home, and let the rays of His love extend from our family to His family everywhere.  Amen

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.

FORMS ARE DUE BACK BY MAY 11TH!!

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

SUMMER SCHOOL REGISTRATION

A GREAT BIG thank you to all the volunteers who helped clean up the grounds and plant new shrubs.  Everything looks great.  The giving of your time is a true reflection of your generosity towards St. Patrick’s church and school.  THANK YOU AGAIN!

LIBRARY BOOKS - All books checked out from St. Patrick’s School Library were due this week.  Please check your child’s homework folder for any overdue notices.  We will also e-mail parents this week concerning overdue books or fines and follow up with phone calls next week if books still haven’t been returned.  Please contact Anne Kalkowski if you have any questions (akalkowski@stpatselkhorn.org). Also, just because school library books are due doesn't’t mean reading stops!  Here is a link to the International Reading Association’s Children’s Choice, Teacher’s Choice, and Young Adult Choice books: http://www.reading.org/resources/tools/choices.html  Happy Reading!

REPORT CARDS – In order to ensure prompt receipt of your student’s report card, please be sure the following items are completed:

• Library books are turned-in.
• Tuition payments completed.
• Extended Care fees are paid.
• Lunch fees are paid.

If you have any questions regarding any of the above please call the school office for more information at 289-5407.  Thank you for taking care of these in advance.

PART TIME TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANT – St. Patrick’s School is looking for a part-time technical assistant.  We are in search of a high energy, self starter with strong IT skills.  This position will require about 20 hours per week.  This position calls for the capability to work with a variety of software / hardware, networking, maintaining and managing email accounts, as well as, ensuring optimal workstation performance for students and staff.  If you are interested in finding out more information or would like to apply for this position, please contact Denise Breinig at dbreinig@stpatselkhorn.org or Don Ridder at ridderd@stpatselkhorn.org. 

LUNCH - This is a reminder to all families that lunch accounts need to be paid up by May 11, 2007. Check your emails or your children’s backpacks for the most current lunch bill. The last day hot lunches will be served is May 17. Any bills due on May 18 will need to be paid before report cards will be issued.  Thank You for your continued support of the SPE Lunch Program.   

TEACHER APPRECIATION - Hopefully by now all St. Patrick's school families have received their packet about Teacher Appreciation week (May 7-11th).  Thank you to all who have returned their drops.  For those who have not returned their drops please do so in the envelope received to the attention of Deb Strumberger or Teacher Appreciation Committee.  There are extra drops at the Welcome Desk in the event you misplaced yours or would like to fill out an extra one or two.  Many thanks go out to those who are helping with this worth while project!

USED UNIFORMS - Parents, now is the time to gather up all those uniforms that your children have grown out of and sell them at the next Used Uniform Sale.  You may:

1.     Donate your used uniforms to Home & School, in which the items will then be sold and funds will go towards the Tuition Assistance Program.  .  If you are donating your items, then simply drop them off in the school entry with a note included stating that it is for donation.

2.     Sell your used uniforms at the sale for a modest profit.  If you will be selling your items, PLEASE INCLUDE with each item; YOUR NAME, PHONE NUMBER, SIZE, BRAND, AND DESIRED SALE PRICE. 

Please place any uniform items that you want to contribute or sell in the used uniform tub in the school entry.  Each item must be washed, pressed, and each item in a separate large ziploc bag.  There will be a Used Uniform Sale held this summer.  Please look for notices in the Principals Notes and the Church Bulletin.  If you have any questions please contact Richelle Novak-Allen at 289-2759.

HONOR BAND HONORS - At Wednesday night's Honor Band final concert, Tobin Brown was awarded "Most Promising Young Musician" (as the top 6th or 7th grader) and was in the "Outstanding Section" (Horns).  Tobin did an outstanding job with the band this year.

BABYSITTING - Are you looking for a way to be helpful to others and even earn some extra spending money at the same time?  We have some families who may be able to help you with that.  Some of our 2007-2008 Pre-kindergarten families are looking for help with rides to and from school, as well as some after school care.  If you are interested in this position, please email Jennifer rombalski at jrombalski@stpatselkhorn.org. 

FALL SPORTS REGISTRATION NOW OPEN - Registration is now open for all fall sports, including CYSL Soccer, Micro-soccer, PAL Volleyball, YMCA Volleyball, Adult Volleyball and Flag Football.  The registration form may be downloaded and printed from the St. Pats website at www.stpatselkhorn.org.  The forms should be placed in the Athletic Committee folder in the school office until May 11th.  A last chance on-site registration forum will be held in the school lobby on May 12th from 9:30am- 11am.  After this date, a late registration fee of $20 will be required and there are no guarantees of space available.  If you have any questions please contact Tricia Harder or Lynette Davis.  Fill out your registration today!

CAMPAIGN KICK-OFF & ICE CREAM - Mark your calendars!  The Capital Campaign for our building expansion officially kicks off on the weekend of May 5th and 6th.  Everyone is invited to a Campaign Ice Cream Social directly after the 5:00 P.M. mass on Saturday May 5th.  The reception will formally announce the campaign with Fr. Ron and campaign leaders giving a brief presentation about the campaign.

Come see what the building will look like and see how you can become part of this exciting event in our parish.

Popcorn and ice-cream treats will be served and everyone is invited to attend.  All parishioners will also receive a packet in the mail around the time of the kick-off containing a beautiful brochure and information about the campaign.  Please plan on joining us to kick off this exciting new part of our parish’s growth.

RELIGIOUS FORMATION ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - Applications are currently being accepted for the Religious Formation Administrative Assistant position.  For more information, please call Mary McMahon at 289-4947 or email your resume and references to mmcmahon@stpatselkhorn.org.

Important Reminder for Confirmation Candidates

Saturday, May 12th, 2007

Confirmation pictures / practice @ 8:00 am

**Sponsors need to attend practice with the candidates

**Candidates are asked to dress in the attire they plan to wear to confirmation, whether you order individual pictures or not.  There will be a group photo taken at  practice.  This will be the only opportunity for professional pictures.  Thank you!

Saturday, May 12th, 2007

Confirmation Liturgy @ 5:00 pm 

Safety N.E.T. Kids - No Easy Targets

9:00-10:30 a.m., at Elkhorn’s Common Ground

1701 Veteran’s Drive

(North of high school)

Parents and concerned adults:  This seminar is for you and your kids!  We will teach children vital skills they need to prepare them to recognize and thwart abductors and abusers! They will learn vital information to help keep them safe, all in a fun and supportive environment.  We are all about promoting confidence and personal safety.

Free Safety-Net T shirts to the first 50 participants; please call now to register your child by calling Elkhorn’s Common Ground at 289-0451 by May 9. 

Special thanks to the following sponsors of Stranger Danger Day and Bully Prevention Day:

Elkhorn’s Common Ground                         Kassebaum’s ATA Black Belt Academy   

Kicks Explosive Sports Wear                      Alegent Health

Outdoor Recreation Products                      Center Stage Danz

Reagan Buick, Pontiac, GMC                     American National Bank

GoodFellas Exterminating                           Omaha Police Department

Elkhorn Express

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 jkruntorad@stpatselkhorn.org. 

Archived Principal Notes