17. September, 2021Weekly BuzzIt was good to see many of you this week at our three Back-to-School nights, especially those families with multiple students who seemed to be here as much as I was the few evenings! The new format helped limit the time obligation to an hour, so I hope that was well-received even if you were here several nights. Thank you for completing the family survey, which we submitted this week. We appreciate you taking the time to provide vital information that translates directly to outside funding for our school. Please know that we will pursue every possible source of revenue to improve our instruction while also limiting what comes directly from your pockets. Keep that in mind as we step up fundraising efforts for the year, particularly if you work for a company that matches gifts, and especially if you have generous family, friends, and neighbors that might support our efforts!
COVID Update As you recall from last weekend, there was a positive Covid-19 case reported in the school, and our team was able to anticipate the directives of the health department in order to limit the disruption of instruction. We have a plan in place for distance learning due to quarantine, which I have attached for your reference. It will be revised throughout the year as we review each incident, with an eye toward minimizing the inconvenience of families having to lead learning at home while also maintaining the rigor of core subject instruction. We all agree that in-person instruction is preferred, so while we will keep working to improve the distance learning plan, our best course of action remains to keep our students, families, and staff Covid free.
HSA Call for Volunteers In follow-up to last week’s HSA meeting and our need for volunteers, the SignUp Genius link follows. Please reach out to HSA president Meaghan Corrado if you have any questions: https://www.signupgenius.com/
FREE DRESS DAY NEWS FLASH The first Tag Day of the year will be next Thursday. See below for more information.
The last item I have for this week is that room parents are being notified of their selection this afternoon, so expect correspondence from them shortly as they look to harness the excitement of our students in this first month of the school year. I hope to see many of you on the field tonight, and may everyone have a blessed weekend!
Mr. Ewanciw
Important Dates Ahead September 17 Friday night on the Field September 23 $1 Tag Day to support Homes Without Borders October 1 HSA Movie Night (Rain date is October 15) October 11 Columbus Day, NO SCHOOL October 23 Scarecrow Festival 2:00-4:00 pm October 24 Fall Festival October 29 ADW Teacher Collaboration Day, NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
SING to Shine Under the Stars! Join us under the stars on Friday, October 1st for our annual Movie Night!! This year the HSA is excited to debut SING, premiering on the SBS field at 7:30 pm. With SING 2 being released this December, this is the perfect opportunity to enjoy this fun and lighthearted film with family and friends. *HSA movie night rain date will be held on Friday, October 15th. SING stars the ensemble voices ofMatthew McConaughey,Reese Witherspoon,Seth MacFarlane,Scarlett Johansson,John C. Reilly,Taron Egerton, andTori Kelly. Koala Buster Moon (McConaughey) presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. He loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. He takes one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition. Five contestants emerge a mouse, a timid elephant, a pig, a gorilla, and a punk-rock porcupine proving the message that anybody can dream big!
There is no Greater Love than this… Our greater love coordinators have been busy planning our service projects for the year, including Tag Days that support neighborhood food drives and other causes. The first Tag Day is Thursday, September 23, to support Homes Not Borders with its Afghan refugee resettlement efforts. Bring in $1 or more to participate in the f out-of-uniform day. Stay tuned for more Tag Days, Charity Drives, and Service Project news!
News from the HSA Here is your first newsletter of the year from the Home and School Association! Click the link to view: https://mailchi.mp/ (Sorry if you received this communication twice, once from the HSA and once from me. If you did not receive it directly from the HSA, consider subscribing for future event updates and newsletters, using the links in the newsletter or clicking here: tinyurl.com/sbs-hsa-email ) |
10. September, 2021Weekly BuzzGood afternoon Saint Bernadette School families, Next week will be the first big test. Can we handle a full five-day week of school?! The answer is yes, of course. The teachers and students have hit a good stride already, and instruction is happening at a steady pace. You’ll learn more about what’s going on in the classrooms during Back-to-School nights next week. For each child, only one parent is asked to attend each session since these meetings will be held in the homerooms. During this time, you’ll learn the expectations for the students this year. These meetings will be in person. Home School Association You should have gotten by email earlier today the presentation from the HSA meeting held on Wednesday. Thank you to the HSA Executive Board of Meaghan Corrado, Meg Lewis, Erica O’Neill, and Jessica Marconi for a wonderful launch to a year that promises to keep everyone engaged. The SignUp Geniuses referenced in the presentation will be published next week, so you have not missed any opportunities to participate yet. Family Survey–Please return Monday! However, the Family Survey mentioned has already been mailed to your homes, and we need to submit this report early next week. Much of our state and other funding relies on the full completion of this survey, so please help us maximize this funding by getting your survey into the office on Monday! Health Screening I hope most of the snags in the health screening tool have been eliminated. Since we are seeing a higher incidence of positive Covid tests in our community, we need this completed diligently for all students. So far, the revised screening is working well, but I continue to advise that we are counting on you to follow the correct protocols each morning and to keep Nurse Perrotta aware of any student health concerns. Staff Updates Today we bid farewell to Ms. Belknap as she heads to the Baltimore School for the Arts, but I am happy to introduce you to Mrs. Siena Baker, who begins as our music teacher on Monday. Mrs. Baker has been the lead soprano with our parish choir for the past seven years, so many of you already have heard her sing, and she most recently taught at Christ Episcopal School in Rockville. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from Catholic University and a Master of Education degree from Loyola University. I am excited that our students will be transitioning from one highly talented music teacher to another! While I’m on the subject of music, have you signed your child up for instrumental lessons yet? That form is attached to this Buzz. One last staffing note is that we still need an aide for Kindergarten. Please pass this link on to anyone that might be interested: https://www.schoolspring.com/ Enrollment for Current School Year Still Open Our school continues to attract new families, with another new student starting today, so I want to repeat my enrollment pitch: If you know someone whose children can benefit from our rigorous and faith-filled education, have them reach out to Ms. Fridley in our admissions office (efridley@ That’s it for this week from me, and as we head into a weekend marking the 20th anniversary of 9/11, please join us in continued prayer for peace in our world. I hope everyone has a glorious weekend, and I’ll see you at Back-to-School nights next week!
In His service, Mr. Ewanciw
Important Dates Ahead September 14 Back-to-School night for Grades 1 and 3 September 15 Back-to-School night for Grades 2 and 4 September 16 Back-to-School night for Grades 5 and Middle School October 11 Columbus Day, No School October 23 Scarecrow Festival October 24 Fall Festival
News from the HSA Here is your first newsletter of the year from the Home and School Association! Click the link to view: https://mailchi.mp/
(Sorry if you received this communication twice, once from the HSA and once from me. If you did not receive it directly from the HSA, consider subscribing for future event updates and newsletters, using the links in the newsletter or clicking here: tinyurl.com/sbs-hsa-email ) |
3. September, 2021Weekly BuzzGood afternoon Saint Bernadette School families, We’re back! Every year, it’s like we never left. The weather cooperates so we can resume our traditional Opening of School greeting and blessing. The children find their new classrooms, meet their teachers, and make new friends. The teachers pick up doing what they do best. The parents reacquaint themselves with the comings and goings of the school day. Everything runs smoothly. And then a tropical storm passes by! The early dismissal on Wednesday probably caught me off guard more than the rest of you, because you and the students seemed to handle it in stride. We got everyone home before the skies opened up, and thankfully we were spared the worst of it. Still, others in Maryland have suffered more from this, so remember them in your prayers. COVID Precautions Today we wrapped up the first week of school with our initial school mass of the year, and followed that with pizza lunch outdoors for most grades. Both were hits in my book and I am grateful for all the parent pizza helpers. We have to work on outdoor lunch logistics and I hope it can be a more regular occurrence. On that note, we hope to find larger tents that can be installed permanently, but there are few to be had. If you work with anyone in that business, let me know how their inventory is and we might be able to have outdoor lunch more frequently. We like going outside because it gives the children mask breaks, but we nevertheless have to be aware to not gather too closely or in large groups even then. Over 200 students still cannot be vaccinated, which is why wearing masks is mandatory in the school building. Teachers are reaching out to families when this becomes a concern. Please help us by making sure your children have several correctly-fitted masks with them each day, and make sure you coach them at home about the proper wearing of masks and why it’s so important to help keep your children healthy and to prevent them from infecting anyone else, whether with Covid-19 or with other illnesses. Health Screening I apologize for the snags in the health screening tool through the Parent Plus portal. We are working with the developer to fix these as they arise. Regardless of these bugs, we are counting on you to follow the correct protocols each morning. Please keep Nurse Perrotta aware of any student health concerns. Staff Update On the teacher front, I’ve heard from many of you how much the students are enjoying Mr. Brown’s, Ms. Calice’s, and Ms. Goudreau’s classrooms, and I want to tell you that these teachers also love having your children in their class, so everybody’s winning! However, today I must tell you that we will have another new teacher joining us soon as Ms. Belknap will be leaving us after next week to join the Baltimore School for the Arts. I’ve already interviewed several qualified candidates and hope to have her replacement lined up quickly. Finally, I wrote last week that Mrs. Sallah had to leave for a family matter. Her mother passed away this weekend and she will be returning to the classroom next week. Please keep all the Sallah family in your prayers and pray for the repose of her mother’s soul. Open House for Prospective Families With Labor Day on Monday, we have another shortened week ahead, but with much in store. We will be hosting our first Open House on Wednesday, September 8, from 4:00 to 6:00. If you know someone whose children can benefit from our rigorous and faith-filled education, have them reach out to Ms. Fridley in our admissions office (efridley@ Extended Day If you have not registered for our extended day program yet, you should contact Mrs. Nguyen (tuition@stbernadetteschurch. Upcoming Dates The HSA meeting also is on Wednesday evening at 7:00 in the school hall, and the 8th-grade parent meeting will be on Thursday evening at 7:00. Following this, we will have full weeks of school until Columbus Day in October. We look to have a glorious weekend ahead of us, so I hope your family makes the most of it. Drive safely if you are hitting the road, pray that all our children and families have had a great first week of school and will enjoy the long weekend, and stand firm in the faith! I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday.
In His service, Mr. Ewanciw
Important Dates Ahead September 6 Labor Day, NO SCHOOL
Gala Update It’s taken a while, but we’re finally able to hold the Bourbon Tasting Gone A-Rye from our last gala next Friday, September 10. If you did not take advantage of this sign-up party at the time, we’ve added a few more seats so click this link for more information: |
27. August, 2021Weekly BuzzWe reached the final weekend before school begins, and everything is coming together nicely as we prepare to welcome your students on August 31. Our new teachers and the veterans have their rooms sparkling, with books waiting to be opened. The last of our summer work concluded today with windows repaired, blinds installed and light bulbs replaced and floors buffed and shined! As of today, we have 325 students enrolled! On Tuesday, we will have 82 new students from 52 families join us on the parking lot, weather permitting, to launch the 2021-2022 school year. As is the tradition at Saint Bernadette School, the students begin to gather on the playground by the basketball courts around 7:45 for a greeting and blessing before being led into their classrooms by the teachers at 8:00. Families should park behind the church and school if accompanying children to the playground and the HSA will have coffee and refreshments available afterward. With so many students and parents gathering outdoors I ask that we all respect that the majority of students will not be vaccinated and use our face masks if we are not maintaining sufficient social distance from each other. I reported last week that our teaching staff is complete with the addition this summer of Mr. Brown in 4th grade, Ms. Calice in 6th grade, and Ms. Goudreau in 1st grade, but we still are seeking an instructional assistant to work with our Kindergarten team. Please reach out to me if you are up for the joy and challenge of working with these children, or if you know someone who might be! Also, we will have one temporary staff change to begin the school year as Mrs. Sallah has returned to her hometown for a family matter. Please keep her family in your prayers, and until she returns, Mrs. Baravechia will be teaching middle school language arts. While we now have waiting lists in both Pre-K and Kindergarten, we will accept applications in the other grades and will be hosting our first Open House on Wednesday, September 8, from 4:00 to 6:00. If you know someone whose children can benefit from our rigorous and faith-filled education, have them reach out to Ms. Fridley in our admissions office (efridley@ I urge you to read Nurse Perrotta’s email from this morning as it contains many important items about the school’s protocols for Covid -19 as we begin the year, and she also included information about required student health records and other procedures. In closing, this is not the last you will hear from me or the office before Tuesday, but if you have any questions or concerns about the start of school, please reach out to us or your children’s teachers at any time. Have a wonderful final weekend of summer, and stand firm in the faith! (State in Fide) In His service, Mr. Ewanciw
Important Dates Ahead August 29: New Family/Mentor reception after mass August 30: Supply Drop Off from 1:00 to 3:00 August 31: FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2021-2022 September 1: Extended Day Program begins September 6: Labor Day, NO SCHOOL September 8: Open House for Prospective Families from 4:00 to 6:00 September 8: Home School Association meeting at 7:00 September 9: 8th Grade Parent meeting at 7:00 September 14: Back-to-School night for Grades 1 and 3 September 15: Back-to-School night for Grades 2 and 4 September 16: Back-to-School night for Grades 5 and Middle School October 11: Columbus Day, No School |
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