Holy Family School Newsletter
December 2023
A Note From Ms. Otte
Dear Parents/Guardians,
As you know, we have an amazing school and wonderful staff educating our children. We also live in a world and time where safety is a very real concern. The School Board and I have discussed many items needed to continue providing a safe and secure learning environment and updated facilities for our students and families.
Holy Family School is one of the largest schools in the St. Cloud Diocese. There are approximately 254 students enrolled in Kindergarten through Sixth Grade. The school was originally built in 1948 and added on in the 1960s. Some repairs have been made since then, including converting a boiler, new doors and windows, and roof repairs on the entire building, to name a few. However, many major items, including building security, have not changed since the 1970s. We have received approval from the Bishop to move forward with a $300,000 Capital Campaign Project to support Holy Family School improvement initiatives. The School Board will work closely with our Marketing Committee to launch our Campaign and reach our goal.
Items to be updated with the Capital Campaign include:
Security upgrades: building cameras, new external locks, key fobs, main entrance door security upgrade, all new interior door locks and handles, two new sets of security doors for the gym, and hardware.
Boiler: Burner replacement
Kitchen: New range/oven and griddle/oven, and new hood to meet State Regulations, remodeling cost to remove and install existing hood and ceiling repairs from hood removal
Replacing Exterior Concrete: repairs to the sidewalk for the safety of all
Student Locker Installation: 1st and 2nd grade hallway
We plan to complete these improvements in the summer of 2024. We have a wonderful opportunity before us right now to reach our $300,000 goal. Some anonymous community members will donate $1.00 for every $2.00 dollars pledged up to $100,000. In addition, I have reached out to the Catholic Schools Center of Excellence, and they will match $25,000 for the first $25,000 raised. These are extremely generous offers and amounts! Any contribution, regardless of size, will be greatly appreciated and help us reach our goal.
Here are the ways you can donate:
Online: Givebutter (click the link below)
Mail: make checks payable to Holy Family School Capital Campaign
In-person: drop off a donation with our Business Manager
Phone: call us at 320-352-6535 to donate over the phone
Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our most prized possessions, our children. I prayerfully ask that you consider donating to this very important cause. If you are looking for a last-minute tax deduction, please consider donating to the campaign before the end of the calendar year.
Thank you for being a pillar of support for Holy Family School. Your generosity is a gift that keeps giving, and we see that in the children daily! I am deeply grateful for your commitment to making Holy Family School an even better and stronger place for our children.
God bless you.
Lisa Otte, Principal
Holy Family SchoolA Message from Nurse Raymie
Seasons greetings from the Nurses Office. December is here and flu season is starting. How do we lessen the chance of getting the flu?
- Avoid close contact with others who are sick.
- Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze.
- Wash your hands frequently. Review the CDC hand washing flyer below with your family.
- Avoid touching your mouth, nose and eyes.
- Get plenty of rest.
- Drink lots of fluids.
- Do some physical activity every day.
- Consider getting the seasonal flu shot.
- If you are sick, stay home.
Recommendations from the MN Department of Health
Should students with influenza-like illness (ILI) be excluded from school?
- Yes, students and staff with ILI should stay home from school and school activities.
- ILI is defined as a fever (at least 100°F) and a cough or sore throat.
- Students and staff who become ill during the day should be immediately isolated from others and sent home.
- Students and staff can return to school 24 hours after both vomiting and their fever is gone without the use of fever-reducing medication, (e.g., Tylenol or Advil). They should also be well enough to participate in school before returning.
CHRISTMAS PAGEANT SETUP
Christmas Pageant
Please click here to be brought to a separate page that will hopefully answer all of your questions regarding the upcoming Christmas pageant.
5th & 6th Grade Electives
With the start of the quarter 2 begins a new set of electives for our 5th and 6th grade students. The electives the students can choose from include:
GENIUS HOUR (taught by Ms. Breitbach - 6th grade):
During Genius hour, students take ownership in their own learning. They learn about something they want to learn about. Genius Hour sparks curiosity, and students have an opportunity to become their own genius. Genius Hour encourages life-long learning, imagination, perseverance, self-awareness, and adaptability as well as other life-lessons. At the completion of their learning, they will share with the group what they have learned.
STRATEGIC GAMES (taught by Mrs. Feist - 6th grade):
Students will have one big opportunity to improve memory, exercise working memory, demonstrate creativity and problem-solving, strengthen concentration and compound skills practice, learn resilience and patience, along with encouraging big picture thinking!
CREATE-A-COUNTRY (taught by Ms. Stalberger - 5th grade):
The students in my class have become the proud owners of their very own country! They are now responsible for everything that happens in their country. They must think about what is best for their people, their environment, and their future. They must design a flag, design the money, make the laws, decide what biomes are included in their country, what crops the country will produce, the landmarks found there, along with holidays celebrated and many other things. Each student is encouraged to think outside the box and plan, plan, plan.
ALL ABOUT ME (taught by Mrs. Kohorst - 5th grade):
Students will be engaged through writing, creation of timelines, poetry and drawing. Through these activities, students will share with others insight into their life thus far while using different mediums of artistic expression.
6th Grade Student News Team
The 6th grade "Student News Team" is a group of 6th grade students who (on a monthly basis) create their own news presentation of current events, then go around to classrooms to present their material. This presentation is sometimes in the form of trivia questions asked to the students. The news team consists of Kacie Nelson, Aubree Fuchs, Scarlette Deters, Blake Dingmann, Jack Yarke, Linus Dunn & Nathan Zenzen.
Faithful Five "Shine On!" Showcase
Our Faithful Five band has been working hard to perfect their musical talent for our monthly assemblies. This group of students has been entered into "Shine On!" which is a competition offered through the Catholic Schools Center of Excellence (CSCOE) and is available to all 4th - 8th grade students attending a Catholic elementary school who are talented in the areas of acting, singing, dancing or playing instruments. We wish them luck and hope they advance to the next level of competition! (Finalists are notified around the end of December.)
Holy Family School's Faithful Five Band is made up of 6th grade students; Scarlette Deters, Karsten Saltmarsh, Quinncy Jennissen, Linus Dunn & Raya Nathe
Parent's Day - Catholic Schools Week
Looking ahead to the end of January, we will celebrate Catholic Schools Week during the week of January 28th. We will celebrate the parents on two separate dates based on the the letters of the alphabet.
Tuesday, January 30 - Families with the student's last name starting with L - Z
Thursday, February 1 - Families with the student's last name starting with A - K
On the above dates, parents will be invited to attend mass in the morning with the students then join them afterward in the school cafeteria for bingo and pastries. Each parent's day celebration will be done by 10:45.
December Dress Up Days
MARCH CALENDAR CHANGES
Based on survey results, parents were overwhelmingly supportive of transporting students to AND from school on Thursday, March 21, 2024. We realize there have been a couple of changes to the school calendar for that week so here is what school will look like that week:
- Monday, March 18
- HFS & public school in session
- Tuesday, March 19
- HFS & public school in session
- Wednesday, March 20
- Public school in session
- HFS in session for Grades 1 - 6
- NO SCHOOL for current Kindergartners - Kindergarten Round-up
- Thursday, March 21
- HFS In Session
- Parents must transport to AND from school
- No School for public school students
- Friday, March 22
- NO SCHOOL (Teacher Work Day/Inservice) at HFS or the public school
Please visit the school website (or click the link below) to find an updated school calendar.
DECEMBER 1
CARING ABOUT PEOPLE ("CAP") DAY
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the November CAP day will be Friday, December 1. Students are allowed to wear a hat/cap all day if they pay at least $1. 100% of funds donated during these days are given to a local family in need.
DECEMBER 5 & 7
Students in grades 3-6 will receive the sacrament of Reconciliation this week.
DECEMBER 8
All staff and students will attend mass.
DECEMBER 13
Today is a 2-hour late start for the public school. Therefore, parents will be responsible for transporting their child(ren) TO HFS in the morning. (Busses will be available for afternoon transportation.)
To ensure a safe flow of traffic, during drop-off on these late-start days, please follow these procedures: at least 5 cars should pull through the parking lot onto Birch Street (past the barricades and along the curb by the playground) and 5 cars should line up in the parking lot. Children should exit the vehicles on the passenger side. (Essentially, 10 cars will be dropping off at the same time.) Staff will be directing traffic to ensure a smooth process.
DECEMBER 14
CHRISTMAS PAGEANT
9:00 AM - Dress Rehearsal (staff and students only)
1:00 PM - Afternoon Performance
7:00 PM - Evening Performance
DECEMBER 21
CARING ABOUT PEOPLE ("CAP") DAY
Students are allowed to wear a hat/cap all day if they pay at least $1. 100% of funds donated during these days are given to a local family in need.
DECEMBER 21
Today is the last day of school before Christmas break. Classes will resume on Wednesday, January 3.
DECEMBER 25
November "Thankful" Assembly
Below are the November Little World Changer Recipients for showing Thankfulness in the month of November.
Back from left: Lauren Sunderman (6), Kadie Miller (6), Claire Pohlmann (5), Etta Dold (5) & Chloe Dalton (4)
Middle from left: Ms. Otte, Haddie Henderson (4), Lucy Gruber (3), Emily Wiener (3), Piper Leagjeld (2), London Kelly (2), Easton Anderson (1)
Front from left: Chloe Bromenshenkel (1), Nora Minette (K), Isaiah Deters (K)
These students performed a skit at our assembly this afternoon introducing the December character trait of being "Kind & Caring". Their skit included examples of being kind and caring and what students can do to be more empathetic with the people around them and put themselves in someone else's shoes. Please ask your children about different ways they can be more kind and caring every day.
The students who performed the skit include: Laney Wilber, Claire Pohlmann, Kali Yarke, Elizabeth Friedrichs & Lauren Sunderman
Steve Angrisano Visit
On Monday, Steve Angrisano visited and sang with the students to teach them how to be Disciples of God. To see a short video of the students singing with him, please click the file below.
Patriot's Pen Winners
This year, the top three essay winners were from Holy Family School. Local VFW members, John Steffes and John Olmscheid surprised and presented awards to these three sixth grade students. Congratulations to our essay competition winners:
1st Place: Karly Homan
2nd Place: Scarlette Deters
3rd Place: Aubree Fuchs
These students' essays will now be presented at the district level. Along with the awards for the students, the 6th grade classroom teachers were awarded with $200 to be used within their classrooms.
Thank you to our local VFW for sponsoring this event for our students!
CHECK THE SCHOOL WEBSITE!
We are continually updating our school website with important information while also providing you access to our monthly newsletters, school calendars, lunch/breakfast menus, JMC resources and more! To be brought directly to our school website, click the picture above (or go to www.holyfamilysc.org) then click the "Current Families" tab.
NOTE: When viewing the website from a mobile device, you have to click the hamburger menu in the upper left hand corner then click the drop-down arrow next to "Current Families".
KEEP TRACK OF HFS EVENTS!!
To stay informed of everything happening at HFS, follow us on Facebook.
In addition to Facebook, please watch page 3 of the the Sauk Centre Herald every week to read up on spotlight events in the school. We are very thankful to our sponsors for giving us this space in the weekly newspaper.
Questions about JMC?
We are continually updating our school website (www.holyfamilysc.org). Under the "Current Families" tab, a link to the JMC login page has been added along with a page for families to gain access to different resources and FAQ's regarding the JMC Family Portal and the JMC Family App. Please continue to check the website for other updated documents. We appreciate and welcome feedback on how we can offer you more resources in the future through our website. Please do not hesitate to call the school or email admin@holyfamilysc.org with your questions.
THANK YOU!
Thanks to your generous donations to our Hunger Hero food drive, we were able to bring in 98 lbs of food for our local food shelf!
A HUGE Thank You!
Thank you to ALL who supported our book fair last week! Sales exceeded over $4,255 which is the highest we have seen in 38 years of hosting the book fair. This has provided the library with over $2,000 in new books. Without your help, this would not have been possible, so we thank you!
WANT TO MAKE A GENERAL DONATION TO HFS OR DONATE TO OUR ONGOING WORKATHON?
Holy Family School is excited to have a new website set up for community members, extended family members, family friends, etc. to make donations to specific causes at Holy Family School. As we have mentioned in previous communications, students will participate in year-long Workathon projects to support our community. If you know someone who may need help with a project or a day brightener out in the community, please let us know. We would be happy to help and add it to our Workathon.
If you or someone you know would like to donate to the Workathon or another cause at Holy Family School, please scan the QR code below, or click the "Donate" button above to be brought to the donation landing page. This page will be updated as we add different causes throughout the school year.
Toys of Christmas Past
The Sauk Centre Area History Museum & Research Center is having an open house and would like you to attend on Saturday, December 9th from 10:00-2:00.