PRINCIPAL’S NEWSLETTER                                                               MAY 21, 2008

Dear Families of Academy of Our Lady ,

                May is such a beautiful month outdoors, but here at school, it is beautiful indoors too! Tomorrow night is the Annual Arts Festival! Beginning at 6:30PM the hallways will be transformed into an art gallery featuring each student’s artwork. Then at 7:30 PM the Band will perform in Community Hall. This should be a terrific evening! We hope you and your family can come and enjoy the evening. Last Thursday at the Bergen Catholic Arts Festival four of our students won ribbons for their art work in a juried exhibit: First Place went to Emily , Gr. 8, Carly  Gr. 7, Molly , Gr. 6 and Second Place was awarded to Alexandra , Gr. 7. On May 2 Academy of Our Lady Band was awarded the highest – Superior- at the statewide competition held at Six Flags and today selected students are playing at Lincoln Center Plaza . Next Thursday night there will be the spring musical, “A Touch of Broadway” featuring students in grades 5 –8 who will perform Broadway highlights.

            THANK YOU FATHERS’ GUILD! Last Thursday night our dads came and assisted with the Gym Flooring project. The subflooing is now in place and usable, however, unable to sustain the pressure of a rolling piano. Therefore, Kindergarten graduation scheduled for May 31 at 10 AM will be in Community Hall.

            Yesterday our second grade lead our school in the annual May Crowning prayer service. Father Cohan, the presider, encouraged the students’ devotion to Mary, as patroness of our school evidenced in their presentation and procession with flowers. The students sang Bring Flowers of the Rarest, Bring Flowers of the Fairest and others traditional Marian songs. It was a very special day for the second grade beginning with Liturgy celebrating their First Communion followed by a Communion Breakfast with their parents. The Mass was concelebrated by Father Cohan, pastor of Saint Catharine, Msgr. Ronald Rozniak, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Father Benedetto, Pastoral Associate at Saint Catharine. Thank you to Mrs. O’Brien and Ms. Schiller for preparing the students so well.

50/50 RAFFLE NEEDS YOU to BUY the WINNING TICKET!  Yes, the Committee chaired by the Cappello and Tomaszewski families would love if the winner came from our school. Each ticket application costs $100 with the limit of 500 tickets sold! The grand prize is $25,000. Pool together with others and enjoy the winnings together! Raffle tickets can be purchased through the business office. The drawing will be Sunday, June  8 . Thank you to our families working hard after Mass on Sundays to make this a success.

 The Track Team had a great season with a number of practices culminating in a party today. The students in grades 1 thru 8 won a team trophy at the first meet, which is on display in the lobby. Thank you to Mrs. Ferioli and Miss O’Brien for a great season. They are all number 1’s to us. Keep Running!

We were very honored to have Ms, Donovan, Olympic Gold Medalist, visit and kick off the summer reading program theme, “Go for the Gold”. Ms. Donovan is the coach for the USA Women’s Basketball team for the 2008 Olympics. Ms. Donovan explained to the children that books can take you anywhere you want to go and she always enjoys reading. She shared that she practiced in our gym twenty years ago and passed her medals around for the students to see and answered all their questions. It was a great experience and we thank Mrs. DiPiano for her kindness to arrange this memorable event. I asked the students to pray a novena beginning August 1 for the safety and success of their trip to the Beijing Olympics. We will  e-mail this to you as the date approaches!

All tuition for 2007-08 was due by May 15. Report cards and year end events will be restricted for students whose families have not paid. Please look for next year’s tuition coupons in youngest child’s report card envelope on June 17. The tuition rates for 2008-09 tuition are set by the budget for 08-09, which is in process now.  If a family has a difficulty paying tuition applications for Msgr. Holmes Tuition Assistance Applications are available from Mrs. Correll and are due. Class assignments are determined by the principal and are sent home in the Welcome Back letter at the end of the summer. Requests are not acknowledged.

We will have a color day, RED, WHITE and BLUE for veterans Friday, May23. There is also 12:15 PM dismissal  with no After Care. We wish you a great Memorial Day weekend,

                                                                       May God bless all our veterans here and in heaven,

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