When you think of Halloween, what comes to mind? For a lot of people, Halloween has become synonymous with candy, costumes, scary stuff, and pumpkins. But do you know the religious connection to the holiday? The word Halloween itself is a contraction of "Hallowed evening". Hallowed is an old English word for "holy" — as in "Hallowed be Thy Name", in the Lord's Prayer. All Saints Day, celebrated on November 1st, is the day on which Catholics celebrate all the saints, known and unknown. The vigil or eve of this feast, October 31, is Halloween. The purpose of Halloween is to prepare us for All Saints Day by remembering and celebrating those saints. This year, All Saints Day is a holy day of obligation. Celebrating this special feast day by attending Mass is a wonderful way to honor the saints. Please consider joining us at 8:30am on Friday, November 1st for our student body mass honoring saints. Following mass we will present the academic excellence and citizenship awards
We will celebrate Halloween tomorrow, Thursday, October 31st. Just a reminder that costumes worn to school must be age appropriate and bathroom accessible. Make up must be applied at home, shoes must be comfortable for walking, and no weapons of any kind are allowed. The Halloween costume parade will be after lunch recess, beginning about 1:05. Please wait outside the school gates until this time. The students will parade around the homestead for thirty to forty-five minutes. You should have plenty of time to capture your child’s Kodak moment. After the parade, students will return to class to party until they drop. Parents are not permitted in classrooms unless specifically arranged in advance with the classroom teacher. At dismissal we will be thrilled to return your child to you complete with a sugar high!
REPORT CARDS: Report cards will be sent home with your student on Friday, November 1st. Please note that there will be some changes in the report cards for students in grades K-2 because of the adoption of Common Core Mathematics. The current report card for those grades does not address the standards that are now being taught. For this reason, the mathematics section of the report card will be left blank instead; you will receive a Common Core Math Report Card Addendum along with the regular report card. This addendum will more closely correlate with the math standards your child is working on at the moment.
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARDS: We would like to invite everyone to join us at the awards ceremony on Friday, November 1st immediately following the 8:30am Mass. Academic awards will be presented to students in grades 3 through 8 if he/she maintains outstanding grades in the following subjects: Religion, Mathematics, Reading/Literature, English, Science/Health, and History/Social Studies. The following criteria will be used to determine eligibility.
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First Honors 1. Students must earn a 3.75 GPA or above 2. Behavioral Expectation and Learning Skills of 2 or above |
Second Honors 1. Students must earn a 3.50 GPA or above 2. Behavioral Expectation and Learning Skills of 2 or above |
Citizenship
1. Exemplify exceptional Catholic values
2. Demonstrates overall good citizenship
3. Behavioral Expectation and Learning Skills of 2 or above
PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES: Just a reminder that Monday through Friday next week are all minimum days with 12:15/12:30 dismissal. We will have parent-teacher conferences during that time. Yes, there is extended care each of those days. Students not signed in to extended care will not be allowed to remain in the yard during your conference.
ATTENDANCE: Here are a few reminders about parent responsibility regarding absences, tardiness, and medical appointments. If you know your child is going to be absent in advance please send a note or an email to your child’s teacher. If your child is ill please email the teacher and the school office in the morning to let us know. Do not send ill children to school. The following are some California State Law regulations regarding attendance.
- If a student is absent or tardy a written excuse from the parent is required at the beginning of the next school day.
- Medical absence: Students are legally credited for attendance when time is spent in medical and dental appointments. Verification of such appointments is required from the medical or dental office. We request that where possible you schedule medical and dental appointments after school or during vacation time.
- Tardiness: A student is tardy if he/she arrives after 8:10. That means any students arriving after the bell rings are considered tardy. If he/she arrives after 10:00am, he/she is marked absent half a day. Students picked up before 2:00pm will also be marked absent half a day.
2014-2015 PRESCHOOL APPLICATION FORMS: Our preschool class for next year is filling up fast. If you have a younger child who you would like to have attend Utopia, please make an appointment to visit with Michelle Ovando, our preschool director. Preference will be given to our current families only if applications are completed on time.
NOVEMBER CALENDAR: In your Envelope today you are receiving the Hot Lunch Menu and Calendar of Events for the month of November. With all the minimum days for conferences, etc., it will be a helpful reminder throughout the month. Please take note that Tuesday November 26th will be a minimum day and yes, extended care will be available that evening until 6pm.
UPCOMING FIELD TRIPS: Permission slips for the below mentioned field trip are in your envelopes today. Please pay attention to the due date to return the form and payment.
- 1st grade students will attend a production of Jack and the Beanstalk on Friday, November 8th.
- On November 15th, the 6th graders will enjoy various exhibits at The Exploratorium.
- On Monday, November 11th, the 7th graders will begin their Confirmation preparation by volunteering their time at the SF Food Bank.
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS WEEK: Thank you to everyone for making last week such as success. The Student Council did a phenomenal job organizing activities, bake sales, and our breast cancer awareness walk. They are happy to announce that they raised over $2,200 to be donated on Miss Beach’s behalf to the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation. If you still wish to contribute to this worthy cause we will accept donations up to Friday of this week.
STEM ELECTIVES: We are half way through our STEM classes, and the 6th, 7th and 8th graders are enthusiastically engaging in some wonderful learning experiences. Today we had some wonderful smells coming from the kitchen. Students in the Chemistry of Cooking class made a variety of homemade pizzas from breakfast pizzas to dessert pizzas. Our stop-motion animation class were lucky to have a special guest speaker. They skyped with Academy Award winner, Gene Dietch, all the way in Prague. Gene has won 24 awards for his animations over the past 50+ years. What a wonderful way to kick off our first STEM year.
1:1 IPAD: In preparation for the roll out of our 1:1 iPad program, 6th, 7th and 8th grade students are all receiving a lease contract/reservation form today. 6th graders have until Tuesday, November 26th to complete and turn in their contract and lease payment. 7th and 8th graders are receiving iPad rental reservation forms. If your 7th/8th grade student does not currently have an iPad, please use this form to reserve one through the school. Please note that quantities are limited and is on a first come first served basis.
And finally, congratulations to Melody Oakley, winner of the Fall Festival iPad mini Raffle. Winners of the 2 tickets to Cioppino were the Mihelich family (8th grade) and Padraic Hegarty (Kindergarten). The $50 Chevron gas card went to Jack Reynolds (5th grade), the $25 Game Stop card was also won by Padraic Hegarty (Kindergarten), and the winner of the $15 iTunes gift card was Benny Sablad (7th grade). Prizes will be available in the office tomorrow afternoon. Thank you to all who supported the raffle and the Fall Festival.
Happy Halloween! Happy All Saints Day!
Marie Fitzpatrick
Principal
