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Newsletter from Mrs. Tomasetti
June 2021
Dear St. Dorothy Families,
Congratulations to our Pre School and Kindergarten students, they had their closing ceremonies Thursday, June 3rd. They certainly were evidence of in school learning this year! We wish them well and look forward to their return in September. Both Pre School and Kindergarten teachers will be reaching out with a time for Orientation. Kindergarten Orientation will be Wednesday, September 8, 2021. They will begin full classes Thursday, September 9, 2021. Pre School will have Orientation on Wednesday and Thursday, September 8th and 9th and full days begin for them on Friday, September 10, 2021.
Please join me in wishing our Eighth grade graduates well in their High School endeavors. Graduation Mass and awards for our 8th grade will take place on Tuesday evening June 8th at 7:00 PM in church. Graduates will meet in the Annex at 6:40 PM. Church doors open for family members at 6:40 PM also. Please follow the guidance shared last week to the 8th grade families. We look forward to celebrating their accomplishments!
Our closing Mass and awards ceremony for the entire school community will take place on Friday, June 11th at 9:00 AM. Families are able to join us on our parish YouTube channel or listening in the school yard on our parish radio station, 87.9 AM. This is the first time since the fall months our students are able to be together in church. Due to our need to continue keeping them safely distant from each other, we are in need of the whole church to accommodate all students in grades 1-7 in the pews. Students are not vaccinated or fully vaccinated yet, therefore school guidance has not been altered other than outside activities. We need to continue with our health and safety caution for them. Thank you for your understanding. Dismissal is after Mass and awards on Friday, June 11th at 10: 45 AM for all grades.
Summer work is necessary for success and confidence in September. St. Dorothy students are required each year to complete summer packets and read from a required book list. In September all students are tested as a baseline to assure they have the incoming skill sets necessary for that grade. In place of packets we are requiring students in grades K-4 to work on the Summer Bridge book for their grade level. (see links below) They should work approximately 2 hours a week in the book along with completing all reading assignments shared on the class page. This would most likely be 4 pages in Math and 4 pages in Phonics/Reading skills a week. Students should return to school on September 8th with these books to show the teacher. They will not be checked for accuracy here at school. We thank you, the parents and guardians, for checking each day to assure work is completed correctly.
Students in grades 5-8 will be assigned IXL by their teachers. They will have a posting in Google Classroom each month for that month’s skills, June, July and August. Reading requirements will also be posted by teachers and on the St. Dorothy website.
Summer Bridge Book links:
https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Bridge-Activities%C2%AE-Grades-Activities/dp/1483815811
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/summer%20bridge%20books
Enjoy the summer months with your children; hopefully they take time to rejuvenate. It has been a very different year and they have accomplished so much under the circumstances. We do not have guidance yet for the opening of schools. I think much will have to do with the Covid-19 numbers as the summer month’s progress. We are hopeful for no mask wearing, but we are not sure. This was our best year for low numbers in illness spread throughout classes. We certainly will continue with our cleaning and mitigation strategies that are best practices. I am grateful to the many families who took advantage of getting your child aged 12-15 vaccinated. The more we have vaccinated the better our chances of safely opening. St. Dorothy will not be offering virtual learning next year. We have proven our mitigation and safety practices to be safe. There was never a spread of Covid-19 due to classroom exposure. For this we are very proud. Thank you, parents and guardians, for partnering in the safety protocol for the benefit of all of our students and faculty! We value your partnership. I cannot tell you how many people stop and ask how we did it. I give credit to you, the parents, always as well as the faculty. Together we are a great team!
I cannot end this year without once again giving recognition to our fabulous faculty and staff for taking the chance in such uncertainty last August to open school in person during Covid-19. The sacrifices they made will never be known to everyone. I am incredibly lucky to work with such a dedicated group of educators! Thank you, teachers and staff for all of your efforts!
We have many items on the agenda this summer. Nothing slows down here at St. Dorothy’s. We will continue to make our buildings safe for your child’s return with updates to rooms, fixtures, technology and more.
Due to the ever present need to differentiate instruction and meet the needs of our student population while supporting the classroom teachers the implementation of a Resource/Support Teacher for grades 1-5 has been approved. Beginning in September our very talented and qualified Mrs. Christine Jaeger will be leaving the 4th grade classroom to take on this new role. Mrs. Jaeger will work as a remediation Math and Reading support teacher for grades 1-5 as well as Math enrichment for grades 1-4. Her schedule will allow for pull out and push in services at each grade level for remediation and enrichment according to the needs. This role supports parents and teachers to assure we are preparing students in our mission providing an academically challenging curriculum preparing our students for their future. Mrs. Jaeger holds a Masters in education with a concentration in Reading. Her greatest asset is her 25 years of classroom teaching experience. She will be greatly missed as a homeroom teacher, but welcomed by her colleagues as a support teacher. I am very grateful to Fr. Murphy and our finance committee for recognizing this need when it was brought to their attention.
School will open Wednesday, September 8, 2021 with dismissal at 12:00 noon. Thursday and Friday are full days of school. Please check the St. Dorothy website for calendar information.
May God continue to bless you and your family! Enjoy your summer time together! We look forward to seeing everyone back in September.
Karen Tomasetti
Principal
Live Each Day Giving Witness to Christ.