Parent Newsletter

Friday, May 9, 2008

 

School Mass   On Friday, May 16, 2008 at 1:30pm the students in Grades K – 8 will attend a School Mass in the St. Albert the Great Church. The 2^nd grade students will be ministering at this mass. All are welcome to attend. Rev. Barry O’Leary will be our celebrant.

 

Terra Nova Test Scores Grades 2 - 8 / Open Conferences   On Monday, May 12, 2008 there will be open conferences for parents of students in Grades 2 - 8. These conferences are for parents to learn more about their child’s test results on the Terra Nova Standardized Test that was administered in March 2008.  Each faculty member in Grades 2 - 8 have interpreted the individual profile results and are now ready to share the scores with their homeroom parents. If you are unable to attend a conference your child’s test scores will be sent home in a sealed envelope after the conferences. Reminder these are open conferences which means no specific scheduled time, just come to the school on Monday May 12, 2008 beginning at 5:30pm and ending at 7:30pm and wait your turn. Each individual conference will be 10 minutes. Conferences will end at 7:30pm. Also, parents of students in Grades K & 1 are invited to attend open conferences with their child’s homeroom teacher to discuss your child’s progress during this fourth nine weeks.

 

2008 Kennywood Ride-All-Day Passes   On Wednesday, May 14, 2008 personnel from Kennywood ticket sales will be in the school building at approximately 11am for your convenience to purchase Ride-All-Day passes at $19 each (Cash or Money Orders) for our school picnic, scheduled for Saturday, June 14^th. No personal checks will be accepted.

 

Bedners Nursery Spring Flower Sale   Bishop McDowell Regional School is sponsoring a spring Flower Sale. Order forms were sent home on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 in your child’s bookbag. All orders are due next Friday, May 16, 2008. Pick up is scheduled for Wednesday, May 21, 2008 after school. Your help in participating in this fundraiser is greatly appreciated. Call the school office at 412 - 884 - 5676 for additional order form if needed.

 

Fuzzy’s Hoagie Sale   Bishop McDowell Regional School is sponsoring a Fuzzy’s Hoagie Sale starting today Friday, May 9, 2008. Order forms are attached with this week’s newsletter. All Hoagie Master Order forms are due Tuesday, May 20, 2008. Pick up is scheduled for Thursday, May 29, 2008 after school. Your help in participating in this fundraiser is greatly appreciated. Call the school office at 412 - 884 - 5676 for additional order form if needed

 

Diocese of Pittsburgh Spelling Bee   Sixth year student, Zacharey McGuire will represent Bishop McDowell Regional School at the Diocese of Pittsburgh Spelling Bee sponsored by Harcourt School Publishers. The Spelling Bee will be held on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at St. Paul’s Seminary. After some very tough competition among fourth, fifth and sixth grade students Zacharey won his spot in the bee. Good Luck Zacharey we are rooting for you!

 

May Market Day Pick - Up / New Coordinator   Pick-up is scheduled for Wednesday, May 14, 2008 from 6pm - 7pm in the Cafeteria of the school building. As always we are in need of volunteers to help on Market Day, consider giving 1or 2-hours. If you would like to volunteer or have any questions about Market Day call the school office at (412) 884 – 5676. Also, we are looking for a parent willing to take over as our Market Day coordinator for the 2008 – 2009 academic year, if you are interested contact Mr. Grgurich at (412) 884 – 5676.

 

3 & 4 year old Preschool Registration   Bishop McDowell Regional School is now accepting registrations for our 3 & 4 year old Preschool program. We presently have (5) 3 year olds and (15) 4 years olds registered. If you know of anyone interested in our 3 & 4 year old Preschool program tell them to contact the school office.

 

8^th Grade Egg Drop   On Thursday, May 15, 2008 the students in 8^th Grade will be participating in an egg drop. Each student is to design a container to house and protect a raw egg. From breaking when dropped out of a second story window from the school. This sounds like a very eggciting event. Lots of luck to the eggs

 

Bishop McDowell Regional School Preschool/Kindergarten Rainbows and Butterflies Story Hour   On Wednesday, May 21^st the Bishop McDowell Regional School Rainbows and Butterflies Story Hour will be held at 6:30pm in the Kindergarten Room of the Bishop McDowell Regional School building. Mrs. Dern our first grade teacher will host this hour of storytelling and activities for Preschool and Kindergarten age children. This program will be open to Preschool and Kindergarten students of Bishop McDowell Regional School as well as children of St. Albert the Great, St. Basil and St. Wendelin Parishes of Preschool and Kindergarten age. This will be the final story hour for the 2007 – 2008 academic year. Mrs. Dern and the administration of Bishop McDowell Regional School would like to thank you for coming to our story hour, we hope the children enjoyed spending time listening to the stories along with participating in the related story activities. We invite you to come back next school year and look forward to seeing you beginning on Wednesday, September 17, 2008.

 

Amateur Night Dress Rehearsal   There will be a full dress rehearsal on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 during school. At that time all aspects of the student’s performance will be determined as appropriate or inappropriate by the Activities Committee. Amateur Night 2008 will take place on Saturday, May 17^th at 7pm in the School Cafeteria. We look forward to seeing your act performed.

 

Genesis of Pittsburgh Collection   Genesis of Pittsburgh is a pro-life service organization that offers practical help for woman facing unplanned pregnancies. Tutoring, baby clothing and equipment, counseling, emergency housing and adoption referrals are just a few of the many free services provided to women of all ages. Genesis is a volunteer group that does not make a profit. The students of our school have been asked to help with the yearly Genesis Tag Day at St. Wendelin Church. Students and/or families are needed to offer rose appliqués in return for donations. The collection will take place after the Saturday, May 17^th 4pm Mass and after the 8:30am and 11am Masses on Sunday, May 18^th. Contact Mrs. Dern by calling the school office at (412) 884 – 5676 for more information or to volunteer. This is a wonderful way to show honor to our Blessed Mother and all mothers in the month of May.

 

Field Day 2008 Volunteers   Field Day is scheduled for Wednesday, May 28^th with a Rain Date scheduled for Thursday, May 29^th. At this time we are looking for parent volunteers to help direct our field day stations. If you are interested in volunteering fill out a Field Day volunteer form and return it to Mrs. Naylor. As always we appreciate your involvement in helping to make Field Day a huge success!

 

Protecting God’s Children   St. Albert the Great Parish is sponsoring a Protecting God’s Children workshop on Tuesday May 13, 2008 from 7pm – 10pm. This workshop will be held in the Bishop McDowell Regional School building. Protecting God’s Children is a requirement by the diocese for any adult working with children. There is no fee. If you have not attended one of these sessions in the past then parents, parent volunteers and volunteer coaches should make every effort to attend. For more information and to reserve your place call the St. Albert the Great Religious Education Office at (412) 884 – 8282. You must register for this course in order to reserve enough materials for each participant.

 

Rock Band Competition   We could use help planning and running the Rock Band Competition. We need help with the following areas: plan and run the concession stand, registration, door, collecting items for one large Chinese auction item, being a judge and help with setting up the equipment and lining up the contestants. Without parent involvement we will not be able to have this fun day for the kids. The Reverb Communications Company is providing us with one Rock Band unit for us to use that day, we would hate to send it back unused. Please contact Karen Cook at 412-885-0646, 412-445-6258 or karendavid12@aol.com, by Friday, May 9, 2008.

 

2008 Battle of the Books Results   On Tuesday, May 6, 2008 the Baldwin Borough & Whitehall Public Libraries held the 8^th Annual Battle of the Books Competition at Bishop McDowell Regional School. Congratulations to our Senior Division team, the Magic Nerds: Madison Gallucci, Jena Grgurich, Michael Mankos, Megan Mient and Elise Zielinski for taking First Place in the Senior Division. Also, thank you to our 4^th & 5^th grade students who participated in the Junior Division of the competition: Nina Baker, Alyssa Blair, Alexia Facchiano, Giavanna Facchiano, Britney Fitzgerald, Amanda Henning, Antonio Parente and Christiana Shields. Finally, congratulations to all of our students and Way to go!

 

7^th & 8^th Grade 2008 English Festival    The following 7^th & 8^th Grade students: Zachary Klimo, Abby Oravetz, Alyssa Taylor, Jenny Velez, Madison Wrubleski, Emily Zielinski, Nick Rubenstein, Miranda Koratich and Rachel Mowder participated in the 2008 English Festival held at Duquesne University on Thursday, May 1, 2008. The goal of the English Festival is to communicate to each student the value of literature in the enrichment of his or her life. The students competed in teams of 4 or 5 in various categories such as: Trivia, Talk Show, Insights, and Super Trivia. The students spent a great deal of time preparing on their own and in school for the competition. Thank You to Mrs. Murawski for moderating this activity.

 

4^th, 5^th & 6^th Grade 2008 English Festival   On Friday, May 23, 2008 the following 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grade students: (Team#1) Stephanie Bott, Madison Gallucci, Jena Grgurich, Shannon Redding, and Elise Zielinski, (Team #2) John Cottle-Stone, Steven Dziadyk, Antonio Parente, Nicholas Phillips and Samantha Stangl will participate in the 2008 English Festival at Seton LaSalle Catholic High School. The day will be one of learning and fun, with our students competing against students from other Catholic and public schools. The 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grade classes have prepared for this competition by reading four novels, and have reviewed these materials in their Reading & Language Arts classes along with doing a variety of activities to improve their knowledge of these books. Thank you Ms. Wolfe and Ms. Devlin for all your preparation time spent in the classroom. Good luck to our Teams!

 

Last Multiple Intelligence Activity Period   On Tuesday, May 20, 2008 the Bishop McDowell Regional School students in Grades K – 8 will participate in the final multiple intelligence activity period of the year. This activity period will focus on the interpersonal intelligence which is concerned with the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people. It allows people to work effectively with others. Educators, salespeople, religious and political leaders and counselors all need a well-developed interpersonal intelligence. The students in grades K – 8 will be permitted to dress down on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 in comfortable clothing (jeans, sweatpants, shorts (no short shorts or ripped shorts/jeans), Capri pants and gym shoes (no sandals/open toe shoes) along with wearing the Gray Bishop McDowell Spirit T-shirt. As usual Mr. Grgurich deems the right to determine what would be considered inappropriate clothing.