Saints Speak from Mrs. Marshall - 8/11/2022 -Welcome Back to School
This is the first Saints Speak of the year, as school for our 1st-8th grade students begins in just six days! We can’t wait to welcome your children for the 2022-2023 school year. You can expect a Saints Speak communication like this (although often not this long!) each Thursday throughout the school year.
This year, I’ll always begin Saints Speak with some words of wisdom from Pope Francis. His words often align with our theme of Kindness Rocks and will, I hope, guide us on our faith journey throughout the school year. Today’s message will also be featured on our Kindness Rocks t-shirts:
"Let us learn to live with kindness, to love everyone, even when they do not love us."
Please keep reading for important updates and information as we prepare for the first day of school, including arrival and dismissal procedures!
Meet & Greet Sunday, August 14 th, 1-3pm
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone for our Meet & Greet on Sunday! Please park in the west lot (closest to Door 1) and walk over to the field. We’ll begin with a short prayer service and then there will be time to meet your child’s teacher(s), visit with old and new friends, purchase spirit wear, enjoy an ice cream treat, check out the photo booth, and shop the uniform resale. We will also be collecting cereal boxes for Loaves and Fishes. Thank you to ASPA for their planning of this event!
One of the best ways to show your Saints pride is with an All Saints Yard Sign. We have a reserved ASCA yard sign for all of our brand new school families, and also have an additional limited number of first come first served signs. Pick up a yard sign at the Meet and Greet on Sunday.
First Day Logistics
Since we won’t be visiting the classrooms on Sunday, many of you have asked about how your children will know where to go on their first day. In addition to our faculty and staff who will be present at both entrances to assist students as they arrive, our junior high Student Ambassadors will serve as a Welcome Committee for our first day of school. The Welcome Committee will help all students (new and returning) to find their new classrooms and carry supplies. Your children are in good hands!
We’ve also gotten several questions about how to handle School Supplies. If you ordered your supplies through us in advance, they have already been delivered and will be waiting in your child’s classroom on the first day of school. If you ordered late and had the supplies shipped to your home or purchased on your own, please plan to bring the supplies on the first day(s) of school. We know it can be a lot for students to carry on their own, so we encourage you to divide the load over the first 2-3 days of school. Paper towel rolls and Kleenex boxes are definitely not needed on Day 1, so consider saving those for Day 2 or Day 3! The Welcome Committee will help carry supplies in as well.
Uniforms
We are aware that some families are experiencing shipping delays, and uniforms may not be here on the first day of school. If this is the case for your family, I highly recommend that you check out the uniform exchange at Meet & Greet! If you still cannot find a uniform in the right size, please let your child’s homeroom teacher know. Your child may wear a solid color school-appropriate polo/collared shirt and solid color dress pants in the interim. We know these delays are out of our control, and your child will not be penalized if he/she doesn’t have the proper uniform for the first day.
If you have any questions about dress code, please re-read the uniform policy beginning on p. 23 of the Parent-Student Handbook. Students should be in uniform on the first day of school. Fridays are our Mass days, which means students should be in perfect uniform on Fridays. Spirit Wear Wednesdays (students may wear spirit wear tops with uniform bottoms) beginning Wednesday, 8/24.
New Faculty & Staff
We have several amazing new individuals joining our team this year. Click here to learn more about them, as well as a few team members who are moving into new roles for the 2022-2023 school year.
Arrival Procedures
Arrival procedures will be the same as last year. When you arrive on campus, you will use the far west entrance. We ask you to form two car lines leading to Door 1 (front of the building) and Door 7 (proceeding around the back of the building). Click here for the parking lot map. Please pull up to limit the space between you and the car in front of you to make space for more cars.
Beginning at 7:35am , students may disembark from their cars by Door 7 and gather in the Safety Zone. Students will be led into the building beginning at 7:45am. Students may begin entering the building at Door 1 at 7:45am. All K-8 students are expected to arrive by 8am. Students may enter at Door 1 or Door 7 based on personal preference. We do recommend that all Kindergarten students enter at Door 7, as there will be additional staff available to assist them as needed. For safety and efficiency, parents should stay in the car throughout the drop-off procedure. To keep the drop-off lines moving, we ask all students to be ready to exit their car when they reaching the unloading zone, with backpack handy.
Preschool students will drop off at Door 5 between 8am and 8:15am. Preschool students with older siblings are allowed to be dropped off with their older siblings after 7:35.
Before Care will be available to all families beginning the first day of school. Before care is supervised by ASCA faculty and staff from 7:00am-7:45am daily in the cafeteria. Students attending before care will enter at Door 7; no pre-registration is necessary. Families using before care will be charged a flat rate of $3 per student per day, billed through FACTS.
District 203 busing will be available to and from school for families that live in D203 boundaries and at least 1.5 miles from school. We will provide more information on bus routes to those families as soon as it is available. As many of you know, our morning bus routes arrive at ASCA early. There is no charge for busing, but students who take the bus to school in the morning and arrive before 7:35am will be charged for Before Care services.
Dismissal Procedures
We are making some adjustments to the dismissal procedure with the goal of dismissing more efficiently and allowing time for community building, all while ensuring the safety of our students and families. Please see this map and the additional details below.
Preschool students will dismiss at Door 1 at 3:00pm. Parents should park in an available parking spot and walk up to the coned area to retrieve your child. All children must be escorted by a parent/guardian when leaving the coned area and walking through the parking lot.
K-8 students (and preschool students with older siblings) will have two options for dismissal, Door 1 and Door 7. At Door 1, parents may park in an open spot and walk to the coned area (marked in orange on the map), where students will be stand. Parents will retrieve their students from the coned area and escort them back to the car. For the safety of all, students may not leave the coned area unless accompanied by a parent/guardian. Staff will be available to assist with connecting students to their parents. Once parent and student have been united, parents are responsible for monitoring their student(s) and ensuring they are safely escorted through the parking lot to their car. You are welcome to stay and visit with other parents in the coned area, but please be sure to supervise your child(ren) during this time so the teachers can return to the building and all children can leave school safely.
For ease of connecting students to parents, Kindergarten-2nd grade students (and preschool siblings) will exit Door 1 at 3:25pm to be connected with parents first. 3rd-8th grade students will dismiss at 3:30pm.
K-8 families also have the opportunity to use the car line for dismissal at Door 7, as we have done the last few years. If you use the car line, we will provide you with a name sign to place in your window or visor. You will still enter campus at the west entrance and then will proceed around the back of the building and form a line around the safety zone. At 3:30pm students will be dismissed to the safety zone and will begin to load into cars there.
To help the first day of school go smoothly, please click here to complete a quick form and let your child’s teacher know how your family will dismiss each day. If there is a change to your plans or you have an irregular schedule, please contact your child’s homeroom teacher directly to share these arrangements.
As with any new procedure (and the start of any new school year), we expect things will be a little slow these first few days. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as we work out the new process. If there are any changes that need to be made, we will communicate those to you via email.
Lunch & Recess Volunteers
We are looking for volunteers to assist with lunch and recess volunteers this year! If you are interested in volunteering your time one or more days a week, visit the Lunch/Recess table at Sunday’s Meet & Greet. This is a great way to support the school, with the bonus of getting to see your child during the day! If you can’t make Meet & Greet or have questions about this volunteer role, contact Cristine Shaw at cshaw@ascacademy.org.
Extracurricular Activities
There are several extracurricular opportunities available this fall! Click on the links below to learn more about the current offerings.
· Art Club
· Chess Scholars
· Sticky Fingers
Lastly, it's never too late to start planning for Out of Uniform days! Use this flyer to purchase your out of uniform days throughout the year and support the 7th grade class as they fundraise for their 8th grade class trip.
I'm looking forward to seeing you all Sunday!
Warm regards,
Margie Marshall
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A Tremendous Thank You to the Cornerstone Sponsors of our
2022 Dinner Dance Auction (DDA): Shine Bright ~ Light Up the Night Gala
Cornerstone Sponsors
We hope that you will support these generous benefactors of All Saints with your business. Please thank them, and let them know that you are an All Saints school family.
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