Patty Bajek / Thursday, September 21, 2023

Saints Speak from Mrs. Marshall - 9/21/2023 - Caring for Creation

Take a few minutes to reflect on today’s message from Pope Francis:

“The vocation of being a ‘protector,’ however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live.”

Each week I take these quotes from a daily calendar. I don’t read the quotes each day but always just flip to the date for Saints Speak (so I’m reading one per week). Of course the person who put together the calendar wouldn’t know that, but I was surprised to see that Pope Francis mentioned St. Francis of Assisi again, exactly one week later. Our Lord must really want us to think about how we’re caring for creation! In your prayers today, take a moment to reflect on the choices we make and how they impact our world.

New Arrival Pattern

Thank you all for adapting to the new traffic pattern for arrival this week! Please continue to follow this new pattern and use both doors for arrival. The new arrival pattern should be successful as long as families continue to proceed to Door 7 when the line is open/moving. We can unload twice as many cars at one time at Door 7, and we begin unloading cars there 10 minutes earlier each morning since students can gather in the Safety Zone. Thank you for your attention to this!

ASCA Fun Run

The big day is here – tomorrow is our Fun Run!! We have already raised nearly $40,000 toward our $60,000 goal – THANK YOU for your support of this important fundraiser! Congratulations to Mrs. Spagnoli’s 5^th graders for getting the most pledge dollars last night and earning a Pajama Day for next week.

Our class competition continues…Ms. Cash’s 3rd graders are in the lead overall, followed closely by Mrs. Spagnoli’s 5th graders, Mrs. Baldauf’s Kindergartners, and Ms. Styles’s 1^st graders. Everyone is eager to see which class will end up on top and get to throw pies at me! Pledges will be collected through early next week.

Even though tomorrow is a Mass Day, students may wear spirit wear shirts, gym shoes, and any bottoms (school appropriate) to school for the Fun Run. Please make sure your child brings a water bottle and comes ready to run! The run times are below; parents are welcome to join us on the recess pad to cheer on the students. Please park in the west lot (by Door 1) and proceed directly to the recess pad; you do not need to check in at the welcome desk since you will not be entering the school building.

Say a prayer for good weather, but if it rains we will relocate the event to the gym. If you don’t see us on the recess pad, it means we’ve moved to the gym – please enter at Door 1 where you will check in as a visitor at the Welcome Desk.

Fun Run Times:

9:35: PK & K

10:35: 5th/6th

12:10: 1st/2nd

1:10: 3rd/4th

2:10: 7th/8th

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Sign-ups for Parent-Teacher Conferences opened yesterday afternoon. If you haven’t yet done so, please log in to your FACTS Family Portal account to sign up for a conference with your child’s teacher. You will click on “Calendar” from the left menu, then select “My Classrooms” along the top. Scroll to the October calendar, and on October 5^th you should see a link for each of your child’s teachers that you can use to sign up for conferences. Some people have had glitches with scheduling multiple children, so if you have multiple children at ASCA we recommend you select your child's name along the top as well so you only see the links for one child at a time.

We are aware that there are some issues with the system not letting you sign up for two time slots even if you have two children who have the same teacher (ex: twins). I have notified FACTS and am working with them to find a solution. In the meantime, please reserve one slot and then email the teacher so they can block out the next slot for you.

We are also aware of a few cases where the system has allowed two parents to sign up for the same slot, which should not have happened. We have made FACTS aware of this glitch as well. If this happened to you, the teacher may email you and ask you to reschedule to a different time. Thank you for your understanding.

Charleston Wrap Update

We have 119 families participating in the Charleston Wrap sale so far, and they have collectively earned over $6,500 toward their FFO! There is still one week left to place your orders; don’t miss this chance to get great products while earning toward your FFO and supporting the school. Sale closes Wednesday, September 27^th.

Letter from the Diocese

Please click here for a letter from Dr. Quaid, Superintendent of the Catholic Schools Office for the Diocese of Joliet, about the importance of carefully choosing our words and actions especially as it relates to threats in schools.

Saintly Acts

Congratulations to these students who have earned Saintly Acts this week: Annalise A. (4^th grade), Ashton B. (4^th grade), Julie Ann C. (2^nd grade), Ryan C. (8^th grade), Seth G. (1^st grade), Maddox G. (6^th grade), Charlotte H. (2^nd grade), Britta H. (8^th grade), Cate H. (4^th grade), Lucas J. (8^th grade), Aiden K. (3^rd grade), Cosette L. (2^nd grade), Alexa L. (3^rd grade), Adithri P. (4^th grade), Sreenika P. (1^st grade), Annabelle S. (2^nd grade), Alex S. (8^th grade), Tyler T. (5^th grade), Mila V. (2^nd grade), Skylar V. (3^rd grade), Paulina W. (1^st grade), Zachary W. (6^th grade), and Aubrey Z. (3^rd grade). Keep being Saintly!