e-mail:  sps@stpatrickwadsworth.org   

March 4, 2010

----Achievement Testing Week----
Grades 3 - 7

UPCOMING EVENTS

Terra Nova Testing this week
Kids Night Out Friday
Father/Son Event Sunday
Parents Association Meeting Monday
Mass on Tuesday

RE-ENROLLMENT / PRE-REGISTRATION PACKETS
Our pre-registration packets were due back Tuesday, 2/23.  Questions or concerns may be directed to Mrs. Bosnak.  Parents of kindergartners in the fall are reminded that their child's birth certificate and baptismal certificate must accompany the pre-registration form and fees. Please also send a photo of your kindergartner (this will not be returned).  We look forward to welcoming you back next year.

ST PATRICK SCHOOL FATHER/SON EVENT -
Volo Auto Museum - March 7th at 1:00

Please arrive at the museum at 1:00 PM to obtain your admission wristbands.  Shari Munro and Jennifer Corr will be at the entrance of the museum to distribute the wristbands.  If you have any questions, please contact Shari at 847-223-3946 or 847-910-5520 or Jen at 847-662-6574 or 847-909-7268. There is also a food court, antique mall and gift shop on site. We hope you all have a great afternoon! 

Directions: Follow Route 120 (Belvidere Road) west to Volo Village Road (just west of Hwy 12/Route 59), turn right, follow for 0.2 miles. Visit www.volocars.com for more information.

KIDS NIGHT OUT 
Admittance tickets will be sent out this week.  All name tags, and room assignments will be given at time of check in.  Check-in will be at 6:15 PM on Friday 3/5. Please send in your food donations on Friday, being sure to mark them Kids Night Out.  All donations are greatly appreciated.

PARENTS NIGHT OUT
Rhapsody Cafe is having a restaurant night on Friday, March 5th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.  This is in conjunction with Kids Night Out. The owner is a St. Pat's family and parishioner.  We are sending home coupons with the youngest/oldest students today.  They will be donating 15% of your total order to the school.  If you are looking for a quiet restaurant with great food, this is your perfect choice. The address is 1475 N. Dilleys Rd., Gurnee. They are at the opposite end of the building from Moe's Mexican Restaurant.  Their website is www.rhapsodycafe.com

SCRIP PROGRAM
Keep those Scrip orders coming!  There are families out there who don't seem to know what this program is all about.  If you purchase cards through this program (we have a number of vendors participating in the program i.e. Woodman's, Wal-Mart, Jewel, Dominick's, Outback), a percentage of your total purchase will be applied to your tuition account.   The school also receives a percentage of your sale.  Please check out our vendors on our Scrip form posted on the website at www.spswadsworth.org   We sell through backpack mail (send your order in through your child in your Scrip envelope which was provided at the beginning of the school year or just send it in another envelope marked "SCRIP") on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and we sell on Sundays at mass between the hours of 9:00-11:00 AM and Sunday evening mass.

WHITE TIES/COMMUNION
We have white ties available in the school office for First Holy Communion.  The ties are $8.00 each.  If you are in need of one, please send $8.00 in an envelope to the school office marked Communion Tie with your childs name and class.  There is no obligation to purchase the tie from us.  We offer it as a convenience to our families.

MATH TEAM NEWS
On Saturday, February 28, our 7th and 8th grade math teams competed at Carmel High School against other Catholic and public junior high schools. The 8th Grade Team:    Joseph K., Madison B., Andrew U., Kathryn K., Anna B. and John D.   The 7th Grade Team:  Rebecca H., Joseph H., Brian C., Claire D., Andrew M. and Angela A.  Both teams placed first in their division and Andrew U. placed second in the individual category.  Congratulations to our teams on a job well done.  Our thanks to Mrs. Jennings for coaching our math teams!  

2010 ST. PATRICK SPRING RAFFLE
Early Bird Drawing:  March 17, 2010  - $5,000 cash

Friday $250 Drawings:  March 5, March 12, March 26, April 9, April16, April 23, April 30,
May 7

Grand Prize Drawings:
May 15, 2010 - Grand Prize $100,000
2nd Prize $20,000
3rd Prize Harley-Davidson Dyna Wide Glide $10,000
4th Prize $5,000
5th Prize $2,500
6th thru 10th Prize $1,000
11th thru 50th Prize $500
51st thru 100th Prize $250

The first $250 Friday Drawing is this Friday, March 5.  Tickets must be received in the rectory, school office or online by noon on Wed. March 3 to be eligible for the first Friday Drawing.  Noon on Wednesdays is the deadline for all Friday drawings. Thanks for your support!  Remember, tickets can be purchased on www.stpatricksraffle.com

Again this year, it is mandated that each St. Patrick school family buy or sell at least three Spring Raffle tickets. Last year, the Spring Raffle was a HUGE success, all because of amazing ticket sales by our St. Patrick families.  Thank you for your dedication and continued support to the success of our school. Raffle hotline 1-847-244-4161 ext 19.

PARENTS ASSOCIATION
The next Parent Association meeting is Monday, March 8th.  Come see what weve been up to. We will also be discussing what is going on for the rest of the school year. The meeting will be from 1:15 2:15 in the Old Church Hall.  We look forward to seeing you there.

NEW FAMILY LINK
The New Family Link committee of the Parents' Association is planning to assemble a flyer/booklet for new families containing a list of Frequently Asked Questions, with answers.  We ask any interested St. Pat's School families to submit a question or two that they wish they had known as new students/families to our school.  We want to cover the basics, plus all the little bits of information that are usually shared by word-of-mouth.  Questions may be submitted to Debbie Jasnoch via email at djasnoch@sbcglobal.net  Thanks!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

e-mail:  sps@stpatrickwadsworth.org           

 February 25, 2010

UPCOMING EVENTS
Hot Lunch Orders and Pizza Orders due Friday
Pasta Dinner Saturday
No School Monday -- Teacher in-service day
Terra Nova Testing next week for grades 3-7

RE-ENROLLMENT/PRE-REGISTRATION
Re-Enrollment/Pre-registration forms were due back at the office on Tuesday, February 23rd.  If you have concerns regarding re-enrollment, please contact Mrs. Bosnak as soon as possible.

HOLD THE PHONE
We have asked that you refrain from using a cell phone on school property.  Some questioned that policy stating it is not a law.  We checked it out and found that the law went into effect on January 1st of this year.  The law states:

Public Act 096-0131 - the new legislation on cell phones in school zones states:  "A person, regardless of age, may not use a wireless telephone at any time while operating a motor vehicle on a roadway, in a school speed zone or on a highway in a construction or maintenance speed zone."  The law provides exceptions, including "a person using a wireless telephone for emergency purposes, included but not limited to law enforcement agency, health care provider, fire department or other emergency services agency...or to a person using a wireless telephone in voice-activated mode."  Fines begin at $75.  This is while in a school zone.

Please refrain from using a cell phone when driving a car on our school property.  Lets keep each other safe.

PIZZA/HOT LUNCH ISSUES
We had many students come in today and state that they ordered pizza and were not on our list.  We have had posted in RenWeb for a few weeks now, the list of students who have ordered for the rest of the school year and for the month of February.  This list is for your convenience so that you may check to be sure and not find out on pizza day that you have not ordered.  We do not have that many extra pizzas and cannot assure that everyone who did not order will receive one.  Please take advantage of this service and check your childs order in RenWeb to avoid all this confusion on pizza day.    We also post the hot lunch for the month in RenWeb.  If your child has a double XX in the milk line item, they have ordered milk for the rest of the school year.  March hot lunch will be posted soon.

HOT LUNCH & PIZZA ORDERS
Hot Lunch orders for April and Pizza orders for March are due on Friday.  Please dont forget to check out the    5-month pizza through RenWeb if you are unsure if you placed an order. 

KIDS NIGHT OUT 
Kids Night Out is closed as all tickets have been sold.  Any forms received after Tuesday will be returned through backpack mail. Admittance tickets will be sent out next week.  All name tags, and room assignments will be given at time of check in.  Check-in will be at 6:15 PM on Friday 3/5. 

At the end of the bulletin you will find a tear-off asking for parent volunteers to help with activities for the night.  We are also asking for donations.  If you can help in any way we would greatly appreciate it.   

 PARENTS NIGHT OUT
Rhapsody Cafe is having a restaurant night on Friday, March 5th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.  This is in conjunction with Kids Night Out. The owner is a St. Pat's family and parishioner.  We will give more details in next week's bulletin but wanted everyone to start making plans.  If you are looking for a quiet restaurant with great food, this is your perfect choice. The address is 1475 N. Dilleys Rd. , Gurnee. Their website is www.rhapsodycafe.com

PASTA DINNER!!
Bring your family and friends to enjoy a delicious, homemade spaghetti and meatball dinner.  Join us in the Boehm Center on Saturday, February 27th, between 4:30pm and 7:30pm.  Tickets at the door, $7 for adults and $4 for children (ages 3-10).  All proceeds support St Patricks School.

THE BIG RAFFLE
Last week all of the St. Patrick Spring Raffle tickets were distributed.  Please call the Raffle Hotline at 1-847-244-2161 ext. 19, if you have not received your tickets yet.  We have just about one week to buy or sell tickets for the first $250 Friday Drawing on Friday, March 5.  Tickets must be received in the rectory, school office or online by noon on Wed. March 3 to be eligible for the first Friday Drawing.  Noon on Wednesdays is the deadline for all Friday drawings. This year we would ask a simple request that all unused tickets be returned to St. Patricks rectory or school office for redistribution.  (But really we would like them returned with $100 attached!)  Thanks for your support!  Remember, tickets can be purchased on line at www.stpatricksraffle.com

2010 ST. PATRICK SPRING RAFFLE

Early Bird Drawing:  March 17, 2010  - $5,000 cash

Friday $250 Drawings:  March 5, March 12, March 26, April 9, April16, April 23, April 30, May 7

Grand Prize Drawings:

May 15, 2010 -    Grand Prize $100,000

                                2nd Prize $20,000

                                 3rd Prize Harley-Davidson Dyna Wide Glide $10,000

                                 4th Prize $5,000

                                5th Prize $2,500

                                 6th thru 10th Prize $1,000

                                 11th thru 50th Prize $500

                                 51st thru 100th Prize $250

ATTENTION ALL GIRL SCOUTS
Girl Scout Sunday is coming!  St. Pat's will be recognizing the Girl Scouts of our parish at the 10:30 Mass on Sunday, March 7 and you are invited to attend!  Please be at the church, in uniform, no later than 10:15 so that we can all be in the processional together. You can attend with your troop or with your family. Feel free to contact Bruce Campbell gurneebruce@comcast.net if you have any questions.

 MIKE SMALL BASKETBALL CAMPS
Registration for summer basketball camps are going on now.  These basketball camps are held at different schools in the area for different grade levels.  If you are interested, please visit their website at www.mike-small.com or email them at info@mike-small.com

BOOSTER CLUB 
Girl's Basketball - Last home game is Tuesday 3/2.  Come join the celebration.
Boy's Volleyball - Matches for the boys will begin in March.  Check out the schedule on the Athletics site.

TRACK COACHES NEEDED -    We are still looking for Head track coaches.  Please contact the Athletic Director if you have any questions.  We cannot have a track team without Head Coaches.   We will need a commitment for a Head Coach by the end of February or the Track season will have to be canceled.

 Open positions for the 2010-2011 school year - The Booster club is looking to fill the roles of Uniform Coordinator and Picture/Awards Coordinator.  Role responsibilities may be found on the Athletics page of the school web site. 

MRS. BS BLACKBOARD
On Tuesday, March 2nd, our children will be involved in a standardized testing program.  The Archdiocese requires that all schools administer the Terra Nova achievement and ability test to students in Grades 3, 5, and 7. Last year we extended our testing program to include grades 4 and 6.  This will provide a more complete testing profile for our students as we strive to meet the needs of all of our learners.

It is important that children come to school well rested and well fed during testing week.  We want them to be rested and relaxed so that their tests reflect their best work.  Standardized tests provide us with one objective measurement of a childs progress.  We need to keep their role in the educational process in proper perspective.  So, children need to be prepared without being anxious.  Good rule of thumb for adults, too! 

Our scoring reports arrive in early May.   When the test results arrive, the teachers evaluate the progress of our students based on predicted ability and the content measured.   Our students do quite well -- scoring well above the 50th percentile.  A report card charting the progress of our students will be prepared for the beginning of the new school year.  More to follow when the results are in!  

 --Mrs. B.