We must make-up TWO snow days
In the last newsletter you were informed of the snow make-up day on May 5, 2008, to make-up the February 6, 2008 snow day. That remains in effect. An additional change must be made in order to stay within the guidelines of the Department of Education for snow make-up days. We must make-up the snow day we had on December 11, 2007 as well. (We have not had to do this in the past.) In order to make-up this second day, beginning Tuesday, March 25, 2008, we will add 5 minutes to the beginning of each school day from March 25 to the end of the school year.
This means that the morning schedule will be as follows: Students may enter the building at 7:50 AM. Students must be in their classrooms at 7:55, and will be counted tardy at 8:00AM, instead of 8:05AM. We will give you a one-week grace period (March 25 – 28, 2008) in order to get used to the new time frame of getting your children to school 5 minutes earlier (regular tardy time of 8:05AM applies this week). The grace period will end on March 31, 2008. This is late notice for this kind of change and it is a change that has never been done here before. In looking at ways to make up the snow day, this was determined to be the best option to choose. Please make this adjustment to the schedule of your day so that we may make this transition to an earlier start time as smooth as possible for everyone. Thank you.
Accelerated Reader Change over Spring Break
Over Spring Break, an exciting change will be made to our Accelerated Reading Software. We will be updating to the new web-based version called Accelerated Reader Enterprise. This new version will not only provide us with unlimited access to over 110,000 current quizzes, but to all the new quizzes as they are created and several new features including two ways to use AR at home. (Watch for these in the next Newsletter on March 26.)
It is our goal to have this new program up and running as soon as possible when students return from Spring Break. However, students need to wait a few days after returning before taking tests (we will let the students know when tests can be taken again). There will be plenty of time for everyone to make their goals and you can look forward to having many, many more books to choose from. We will let you know as soon as the program is available for use.
One thing to remember is that just because a book is on the AR list, it does not mean that St. Pius X School endorses the content of the book or that the book is appropriate for your child. Some content in AR books are not appropriate to our age-level of students, even though it is written at the reading level of the child. As a parent, you must be aware and informed and make the final decision as to what your child reads for the AR program.
And one other thing………
On Wednesday, March 12, 2008, an order form was sent home to order Kids Against Hunger lime green T-shirts. The order form stated that April 21, 2008 was not a dress down day so the students could not wear the T-shirts to school on that day. April 21 is not a dress down day, BUT, if a student has the lime green KAH T-shirt, they MAY wear the T-shirt to school with uniform bottoms to support the KAH effort.
