In this week’s news, you’ll find COVID response news, exciting Auction items and reminders, plans to go back to regular dismissal time, information on 2021-22 tuition, February heart health activities from Mrs. Twining, a school Mass reminder for this week, supporting the Salcido Family with a meal, PTC News including TONIGHT’s General Meeting for all parents and the rescheduled Take & Bake meal, and upcoming calendar items. Thank you for reading!
COVID Update
Thank you for the sacrifices you made this week in order for us to shift to distance learning through February 1st. We know this presents a significant hardship for many of our families in which both parents work outside the home. There were multiple factors that went into this decision even though we trust our mitigation practices. One of the cases on our campus had been asymptomatic, and it was a strong reminder that teachers should be keeping the six-foot distance between students while teaching. Many students and staff will be considered “close contacts” if additional cases become known in the school. In order to preserve the teachers’ health in the chance that other students were asymptomatic, this current 10-day period of “quarantine” for all students and staff allowed us to resolve any cases before everyone returned in person. As of today, no new cases in the school community have become known and we plan to fully return with all grade levels on Monday, February 1st to celebrate Catholic Schools Week and the beginning of a new semester. Thankfully, this reinforces and confirms that our practices are working.
The data board for the WC Health Department shows a decline in cases per 100K (unvalidated) from 530/100K on January 15th down to 345 on January 25th. For the sake of our school, please continue to limit time with other school families. If you are interested, the Department of Health published a new guide for schools this past Monday. It provides updated information and will be used as a reference for all schools in Washington. It can be found here: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/FallGuidanceK-12.pdf
Auction
We are excited to announce our first sneak peek! This is an item you can bid on during the live portion of the Auction on Saturday, March 6th, 2021, so save the date! We have many more exciting adventures to bid on! Please visit our Auction homepage for the most up to date information. The web address is school.assumption.org/auction
We will also have a delicious Take & Bake meal for everyone to purchase to enjoy the night of this fun event. Keep an eye out for more information on these meals! If you are looking for volunteer hours to fulfil your commitment, we will be needing drivers to help deliver meals on Saturday March 6th. Opportunities to sign up will be forthcoming.
Jennifer Sheafor and Tiffany Schuman
Your Auction Chairs
This item and many more will be available during the LIVE event on March 6th!
Change in dismissal time
Starting on Monday, February 15th, we will return to our regular 3:00 pm dismissal time. As you’ll remember, we changed this dismissal time at the beginning of the school year to provide planning time for the teachers at the end of the school day. We will remain with the current specialist rotation every two weeks for one grade level but want to bring back those instructional minutes from 2:05 to 3 pm for the classes that have been missed.
A couple of other changes will also take effect.
- Doors to the school will open beginning at 7:55 am instead of 7:40 am. Students may be screened and line up outside starting from 7:40 am, but teachers will need that extra 15 minutes in the morning with the later dismissal time to prepare. Prayer begins at 8:15 am instead of 8:10 am, and students will be tardy starting at 8:15 am.
- Lunch will return to 11:30 am to 12:25 pm for all classes. There will no longer be an 11 am to 11:25 am lunch for the younger grades.
- Dismissal is 3:00 pm. Students will be lining up before that time in staggered groups, but please plan to arrive as close to 3:00 pm as possible to limit traffic on Virginia Street. The gates will be opened to let cars in at 3:00 pm.
Tuition Increase for 2021-2022
Please read the attached letter from Mr. Anderson regarding changes to tuition for the upcoming school year. Remember that all re-enrollment will be done online through FACTS this year, with more information to follow.
February Healthy Heart Fitness Challenge
February is just around the corner and it is time for a new fitness challenge. This month will include a few activities suggested by the American Heart Association. I have attached the activities links to the calendar; please let me know if you have any trouble locating the activity. Once again, you should check off each day as you complete the activity and when needed, log your results. Be honest and only check off the day if you performed the full activity. However, if you forget a day, you can make up that day on a rest day. Also, if you miss a day due to a practice/game and you were physically active for more than 30 minutes, you can check off that day. We will be turning in our calendar and log sheet the first week of March.
Please turn in your January calendars to the office by February 5th by 2:00 pm. I will be posting student names on the January Fitness Banner over the weekend.
KIDS HEART CHALLENGE!
Let’s get ready! We are one week away from Assumption’s Kids Heart Challenge. On February 3rd, we will continue the tradition of supporting the American Heart Association through the Kids Heart Challenge. Please take a moment and register your child (directions found here) so he or she can learn about their heart health and emotional well-being while having FUN and SAVING LIVES. Sign up today so you don’t miss out! http://www2.heart.org/goto/assumption
Health Screener and Playground Angel Volunteers
Please help us fill in many open February slots! Check out the link for responsibilities and openings.
FEBRUARY: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4CA5AA23A1FEC25-february
We are so grateful for the support Health Screeners and Playground Angels bring to our students and Duty Teachers. Please keep in mind that we count on these safety roles when you sign up, and last-minute deletions send us scrambling for help. If you must cancel a sign up, please email Jessica Sidhu at volunteer.assumption@gmail.com so she can try to find a replacement volunteer.
School Mass on Friday, January 29th
There will be no school Mass this Friday due to our online learning format for this week. Regular school Masses will resume on Friday, February 5th for Catholic Schools Week when we honor our distinguished alumni family this year!
Care and Concern Ministry
There is a cooler outside the school doors on Mondays and Thursdays for the Salcido Family. Please drop your meal off by 1:30 pm so that their daughter can bring it home at pick up. To sign up for a meal, please visit the link here: https://mealtrain.com/rw14nw
PTC Update
General PTC Meeting TONIGHT!
Please join us on Zoom at 7 pm for a valuable presentation from Patti Hoelzle, a school counselor and therapist. We will also provide updates on the school and auction. We look forward to “seeing” you tonight!
“Small child- BIG feelings” with Patti Hoelzle, School Counselor, Ferndale School District
Time: Jan 27, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89627641453?pwd=a3NsWnF3dkVVWnBUU3kzbG94dWxFZz09
Meeting ID: 896 2764 1453
Passcode: BZex71
Take and Bake (Pot Pie) Meal Postponed until Feb. 3rd
Thank you to all who ordered take-and-bake meals. Due to school being closed, we needed to postpone the meal by one week. Everyone who ordered or signed up to volunteer should have received an email with further details. If you would like to keep your order the same and pick up on February 3rd, no action is needed. If, for any reason, you need to cancel your order, please email lynette_machinski@yahoo.com and she will work with Angie King to refund your payment. Thank you for your support of this popular fundraiser!
There are a small handful of volunteer spots still available for meal prep and pick up on February 1-3. Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4CA5AA23A1FEC25-january1
Upcoming Calendar Items:
January 20th– February 5th MAP Testing for grades 2-8 through January 28th
January 27th– PTC General Meeting, 7 pm via ZOOM/Take & Baker Dinner
January 31st-February 5th– Catholic Schools Week
February 3rd– Jump for Heart! kick off, virtual assembly at 2:30 pm
February 10th– State of the School at 6 pm tonight through Zoom.
February 12- NO SCHOOL– Professional Development Day for Teachers and Staff
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