ASH WEDNESDAY VISITORS - How many times do you hear adults compliment the behavior of kids? Well we heard nothing but praise when we had over 50 visitors from the Lakeside Village, Marquis Place, Life Care Center of Elkhorn and St. Patrick’s Parish.  These special friends could not say enough good things about the way our students treated them as they prayed and shared ashes during the Ash Wednesday Service.  Following the Mass, they shared a lunch featuring grilled cheese and tomato soup. They ended their time together after the students gave their friends a tour of the school.  

I wish every one of you could have been here to witness our students/your children at their best.  They pushed wheel chairs, held hands to keep their special friend from falling, moved chairs, and shared their smiles. Most importantly, each child talked openly and confidently while making their visitor feel welcome.  This was obvious by the smiles seen on each visitors face.   We heard statements from the special friends like: “those were the two nicest kids I have ever been around”, “you have to be so proud”; “these kids are all so friendly and caring”. It was absolutely remarkable!

Our teachers are constantly communicating to our students the importance of strong character skills. I am pleased to tell you that the skills they exemplified on Wednesday were number one.  Way to go parents and teachers!  You are doing a great job with these children!

REMINDER – No school Monday, March 5th due to teacher in-service.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS - Tuition Commitment Weekend will be held Saturday, March 24th and Sunday, March 25th.  The Tuition Commitment Weekend will be located in the Parish Center after each Mass.  Attendance is required of all families.  This will replace the Tuition Weekend formerly scheduled in August. However, tuition payments will begin next fall based on arrangements made during this weekend.  See below for payment schedules:

All full tuition payments and the first installment for the half-payments are due August 1st, 2007.  Please send all payments to the school office.

All monthly installments must be made via electronic transfer.  The monthly installments are made September 20th, 2007 through May 20th, 2008.  

Second installment for the half-payment is due January 11th, 2008.  Please send all payments to the school office.

Kindergarten Roundup – Saturday, March 24th     

A – M  8:00 – 9:30 a.m.   N – Z  10:00 – 11:30 a.m.

TWINDERELLA!  TWINDERELLA! - Are you looking for a fun family activity? Look no further! The St. Patrick’s Middle School Students will be performing Twinderella, the Musical on Saturday, March 10th at 7:30 in the Parish Center.  This fun show will make you laugh, cry, and appreciate the unique talents of our middle school students.  Please make plans to join us for this fun evening.

JUMP ROPE FOR HEART - It is time for Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart!  Tuesday, February 27th we will be having a kickoff ceremony after church (9:15-9:30).  Jenny Nixon, youth marketing director for the American Heart Association, will be here to speak to the students about the program. 

Students will be jump roping for heart and shooting hoops for heart (weather permitting) during the week of February 26th – March 2nd.  This will be a great learning experience for our students, as well as, a lot of fun.

Jump for heart packets will be sent home Friday, February 23.  If your child plans to help raise money for the American Heart Association, I will need the permission slip that is attached to the packet.  Please, have your child turn this into their homeroom teacher so that they can turn it into me.  If your child chooses to not partake in raising money, he/she will still be involved in our jumping and hooping activities in PE class.  As an incentive for our Hoops for Heart students (5-8) we will take a short trip up to Mount Michael to shoot hoops if they reach their class goal.

   All packets with money will need to be filled out and turned in by March 16th!

Your child will be rewarded very nice gifts based on the money he/she raises!  The gifts are listed on the packets they will receive on Friday, February 23rd.  Along with the students receiving awards, our school with be rewarded on the total amount raised.  Last year we raised over $15,000 and we were rewarded $800 worth of PE equipment.  I think this is a great opportunity for us to make a difference in other people’s lives.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact Nolan Reilly at nreilly@stpatselkhorn.org.

MARCH LUNCH MENU -

TUITION ASSISTANCE - We are in the process of registering children to attend St. Patrick's Catholic School for the 2007-08 school year.  Each year we have more and more parents who really want their children to receive a Catholic Education, however their financial status does not allow them the opportunity.  If you and/or anyone you know would like to help these families give their children the opportunity to attend our Catholic school, please contact us at ridderd@stpatselkhorn.org.  Thank you.

SCHOLARSHIPS – We are excited to announce that four of our eighth graders at St. Patrick’s School have received scholarships to attend area Catholic High Schools.  Frankie Smith received the Skutt Catholic Merit Scholars Award from Skutt Catholic.  Elliot Plotz, Bobby Thomas, and Peter Kritenbrink all received scholarships to attend Mount Michael High School.

5th GRADE ALL AMERICAN SALUTE! - On Saturday, February 24th, the Elkhorn Public Library is celebrating an All-American Salute. The library has invited our 5th grade students to come and sing for this special occasion. The fifth grade choir will be performing at 1:30 in the main room of the library. We would love to see lots of friendly faces in the audience. Please come support us as we help celebrate this fun event!

HOUSE RAFFLE NEWS - On Friday, February 23rd, before Stations of the Cross in the church (approx. 2:20), we will be drawing for the Game boy DS, the iPod Nano, and the $250 Target Gift Card.  As stated prior to the house raffle, students who have sold 25 tickets were able to put their name in the drawing for either the Game Boy or iPod.  Every 5 more tickets sold and turned in allowed he/she to add to their chance by putting their name in again.  Once an individual got to 50, he/she were able to enter their name in for the Target Gift Card drawing.  Again every 5 more sold and turned in allowed another chance to put their name in to win. 

This raffle drawing was for St Patrick's school students and for RF students combined.  Remarkably, there are multiple entries into each drawing.  This is a result of the hard work we all put forth to make our House Raffle the wonderful success that is was.

Also on Friday, we will be announcing the classroom/grade who sold the most tickets based on percentage of students in that classroom.  Rewards will be granted to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place classes.

Feel free to attend this gathering as well as joining the school for Stations of the Cross afterward. 

 Winners of all prizes will be in next week's Principal Notes.

***FYI***This week, we are distributing the final prizes/rewards to students for their selling/returning tickets.  If a child received a House T Shirt for selling 20 or more tickets this week, he/she along with other House T Shirt owners will be allowed to wear their House T Shirt for the following two Fridays, with a pair of dress down pants (jeans or wind pants).

SCRIP Tip of the Week… Thinking about spring??  Thinking about home improvements??  Don’t forget that our SCRIP program has Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards – on hand – always!  Get your SCRIP today!  Call Staci Witkowski @ 614-0955 with questions!

Younkers Spring Benefit

Saturday, March 3, 2006 - Stores open at 7:00AM

St Patrick’s Home and School will once again participate in Younkers Spring Benefit Sale.  St. Patrick’s Home & School will sell the coupon book for $5.00 and you, the buyer will get $10.00 off per item! (One coupon per item bought at Younkers through March 3rd.)  You will also get eight coupons worth 20% off in addition to the one day sale prices!

Yes! You pay $5.00 and get $10.00 off!!!!

If you would like to purchase a coupon book they will be available for sale with Scrip after masses on the weekend and at the Welcome Desk from 8:30 a.m. till 3:00 p.m.  If you have any other questions concerning the Younkers Benefit Sale please contact Eileen Mendlik 289-2064.  Tickets will be available for sale until Friday March 2nd.

ARE YOU READY TO CATCH THE READING WAVE?

Then mark your calendar for the

SPRING BOOK FAIR

scheduled

APRIL 17th – 22nd

Grab your surfboard and sunglasses

and watch the forecast for more information.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE – Just a friendly reminder the St. Patrick’s Day Parade held in downtown Omaha will be on Saturday, March 10th.  Mark your calendars for fun and excitement!

DESSERT HELP WANTED

The Men’s Club has asked us,

The Parents of 5-Day School Children,

To help with the Lenten Fish Dinners

by providing desserts.

Please bring in 2-3 dozen dessert servings to school on the Friday morning you are scheduled.

There will be a table by the office and your child can easily set it down on his/her way to class.

February 23   Last names A-I

March 2   Last names H-M

March 9   Last names N-Z

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

If you are able to help out on more than one Friday — It would be appreciated.  All deserts welcome (brownies, cookies, cupcakes, etc.)

ST. PATRICK’S DAY DINNER - Celebrate our Patron!  Celebrate our Parish!  St. Patrick's Day Dinner is Saturday, March 17th in the Parish Center.  Corned beef and cabbage meal as well as hot dogs or mac-n-cheese for the wee ones served from 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.  Advance ticket sales will begin in March - $4 for adults and $2 per child.  Prices at the door - $6 for adults and $3 per child.  Kids 6 & under are free!  Proceeds go to the High School YNIA Mission Trip.

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CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message and any attached documents may contain confidential information from St. Patrick's Catholic School - Elkhorn. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for the delivery of this message to the intended recipient, the reader is hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message or of any attached documents, or the taking of any action or omission to take any action in reliance on the contents of this message or of any attached documents, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail and delete the original message immediately. Thank

Principal’s Notes Deadline

Please submit all items/information in final form for Principal’s Notes

by Tuesday, 8:00am to the school office or email to

ridderd@stpatselkhorn.org or jkruntorad@stpatselkhorn.org. 

Archived Principal Notes