Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s):

The school year is quickly passing us by!! We are already into February and we have lots of exciting activities planned for this month and upcoming school year. As you know, next week is Catholic Schools Week and we have lots of great activities planned to celebrate our school and faith. Be sure to take a look at all the things happening.

National Catholic Schools Week is the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. At Holy Family School we are “Walking in Faith'' as we celebrate Catholic Schools Week January 30th - February 4th. It is important to remember it is about “Faith, Excellence, and Service.” (NCEA) These words encompass the core products and values that can be found at Holy Family School and in Catholic schools across the country. Not only are we teaching students to become future servant leaders, faith-filled disciples and enriched citizens in our communities, educators are growing with them. In Catholic schools, we are all learners, servants and leaders. These shared qualities are what make Catholic schools work. They are what make Catholic schools succeed. (NCEA)

I am grateful every day for the teachers, staff, board members, parents and volunteers who make our school a success. Catholic Schools Week is a good time for all of us to thank them for their dedication and service. The staff at Holy Family School are grateful for the support the community provides to our school. The community and business efforts help make it possible for us to offer an important educational alternative to the families of our community. You are an inspiration of true community service and a role model for our students. We look forward to celebrating Catholic Schools week with you!

This month we are focusing on Honesty - the ability to tell the truth, even when we are not proud of what we have done. With younger children it is important to remember that they are still learning to differentiate between what is real and true and what is not. Their understanding of reality and fantasy is still being developed. We need to keep this in mind as we help them learn to tell the truth, and not use guilt too heavily as a way to try to make them be honest. They need to understand that we are counting on them to tell us the truth and that it is another way to do the right thing, even when it is sometimes hard. They can also understand that the consequences of not telling the truth are much worse than admitting a mistake from the beginning. When you read to your children, look for books that stress telling the truth, like the well-known Pinocchio. As children hear what he went through for telling a lie they can relate to this their own lives and realize how much worse it makes everything.

Those of us who are influencing children every day must also remember the power of modeling. As we tell “little white lies” on the phone, at the store, to the highway patrolman, etc. they are listening and learning another lesson different from the one we want to teach them about honesty. It is confusing to children to hear one thing but watch us do something else and honesty is one area where many of us adults fall short, thinking it won’t really matter. Children can’t differentiate between our understanding of “big” lies and “little” lies so we must be consistent and tell the truth at all times if we want them to do so too.

Remind your children daily that you are there for them whether they are doing the right thing or whether they mess up, and that together you will get through the mistakes if they always tell you the truth and let you help. Honesty, both from parent and child, forms the basis of a trusting, caring relationship that will get you and your children through many of the challenges that may lie ahead.

Thank you for your help and support.

Ms. Otte

Catholic Schools Week will be celebrated next week Monday, January 30 through Friday, February 3.

Just a reminder that this year we are changing things up with our Parent's Day celebration. To ensure everyone will be able to attend mass, families will celebrate on different days as follows:

Tuesday, January 31 - families with last names A - K

Thursday, February 2 - families with last names L - Z

Parents will attend mass with students beginning at 8:30. Students will be brought to the church by the teachers and they will find their parents to sit with them. After mass, parents & students can then go to the school cafeteria (by entering through the middle doors by the gym) to enjoy some Bingo and "Pastries with Parents". Bingo will start at 10:00 and will be done around 10:45 at which time students will return to their classrooms for the remainder of the day.

Details about Catholic Schools Week can be found below along with an outline of the dress up theme for each day.

If you haven't already done so, please return the RSVP for Parent's Day for your family ASAP.

To kick off our Catholic Schools Week celebration, we will be participating in a Divine Mercy Chaplet at St. Paul's Church at 8:30 AM. Parents are welcome to attend and this even will be live-streamed to the parish website as well as the parish YouTube site. The links for each are:

Parish website where you can find all of the recordings:

https://parishesontheprairie.org/online-mass/

YouTube page for the live-stream:

https://www.youtube.com/@catholic-sc2196/streams

The month of February is "I Love to Read Month" and to celebrate, we will be designating 20 minutes each Friday of the month to Drop Everything And Read (DEAR). Students and staff will be invited to stop everything they are doing and enjoy 20 minutes of reading. Learning to read and reading to learn are critical academic skills, but reading for pleasure is one of life’s greatest gifts that stretches far beyond classrooms. It gives us the opportunity to experience the quiet escape and satisfaction of following characters and a plot outside our normal world of home and school.

Reading is an exercise for the mind - it improves your focus, memory, empathy and communications skills. It also helps kids calm down and relax, opening doors of new knowledge to enlighten their minds. Kids who read grow up to have better cognitive skills.

Reading is good for everyone, not only children or young adults. It can reduce stress, improve your mental health, and help you live longer. Reading also allows you to learn new things to help you succeed in your work and relationships.

According to the "Young Readers Foundation" website, reading can help in the following ares:

• Improved vocabulary
• Better comprehension
• Critical thinking skill development
• Improved memory
• Improved results at school & work
• Improved analytical skills
• Confidence builder
• Helps you socialize
• Broadens horizons
• Improved writing skills
• Improved focus and concentration
• Makes you more empathetic
• Emotional development
• Readers are leaders
• You can learn at your own pace

For more detailed information, please click the link below.

Springfest will take place on Sunday, March 5, 2023. To stay updated on everything related to this event, please follow our event website:

http://bidpal.net/hfsspringfest2023

Updates will occur regularly so don't forget to check back! Also, if you want to place any bids on silent auction baskets, you will need to do that through this event website.

Today we are sending home Springfest raffle tickets for you to sell. Please return ALL sold AND unsold tickets before Springfest, which is Sunday, March 5. Below is additional information on this raffle.

The success of all of our fundraisers depends entirely on help from all of you! Each family is required to sign-up to help in at least one work area of Springfest. Signup will take place through School Speak. Please watch future communications on how and when to sign up.

Every Friday morning, at approximately 8:25, students from our 6th grade Literacy Group are going to be leading the school with the morning pledge and prayer. Students also share information about a Saint that they have researched, a snip-it on the character trait of the month and a Friday Fun Fact! This past month we have heard from Megan Hass, Brynn Breitbach, Jordan Klimek and Zander Borgerding from Mrs. Feist's class.

This month we are excited to have the Lions Club with us doing a vision screening on February 21st. They will screen the 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders.

They will be bringing a small camera-type machine that will take a picture of your child’s eyes and determine if they need to have further testing. The machine is very accurate and reads the results immediately. If it is found that your child needs further testing we will let you know. If you hear nothing from us, your child passed the screening.

If you decide you don’t want you child screened, please let us know.

Thank you

Nurse Raymie

Below are the January Little World Changer Recipients for showing Responsibility in the month of January.

Back row from left: Lauren Sunderman (5), Rhyan Anderson (5), Olen Minette (6), Carmen Bromenshenkel (6)

Third row from left: Joseph Stepan (4), Blair Bromenshenkel (4)

Second row from left: Ms. Otte, Haven Stachowski (2), Millie Winters (2), Avery Peters (3), Hunter Groetsch (3)

Front row from left: Evie Radjenovich (K), Vaida Lewis (K), Marcus Moritz (1), Hudson Nathe (1)

With parent permission, our Marketing Committee at HFS is creating two videos each month on the character traits. These videos will be used at our student assemblies to educate peers about the various traits throughout the year. Ashley Bruggeman is taking the lead on creating these videos. With parent permission, one of the videos will be shared on Facebook with K-6 students and the other video made by just 6th grade students will be used during our assemblies.

We want to say Thank You to all the parents who have been bringing in treats for the staff at HFS. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!