Notes from the Family Club

Jan. 2011

December 2011

Family Club News

November 2011

Our last Family Club Meeting was very well attended.  Following are notes from that meeting.

Officially we will no longer be alternating between morning and afternoon meetings; we will only meet at 8.15am for FC meetings.  The turnout is consistently great at the morning ones.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.  

Morning with Saint Nick - a little like Breakfast with Saint Nick, complete with crafts, Santa, Petting Zoo and treats etc (minus the breakfast) and will actually be on the last day of school before the Christmas break.  There will be no need to hold your own individual class Christmas parties, as this will be a school wide Christmas party (no mess to clean up in your classroom!).  Thursday December 22 - 10.30-12:00.
 
Christmas Parade, November 26 "rain or shine" (3pm gather, 5pm parade).  Coordinator is Tiffany Smith stefandtiff@yahoo.com  Please contact her directly if you have questions and want to be a part of the parade.  Come to the parade with holiday lights to string on the float.
 
Our next Dine and Donate will be at Compadres - Saturday, December 3rd.

Children's Advent Program - save the date - December 20 at the church - more info to follow.
 
Crabfeed January 21 - looking for a volunteer to shadow and take over from Laurie Daw, who has been the event coordinator for this event for many years - but who's daughter will graduate this year.  Important that someone steps up to take over and learn from her on her last year, so this great fundraising event can continue on.  Plus once again classes will be responsible for donating 3-4 fancy (auction worthy!) desserts for the dessert auction. RC's you might want to solicit this early so you're not left scrambling in January.
 
Hospitality - looking for someone to takeover coordination of the several hospitality opportunities throughout the school year.  Judy Franzino's daughter will graduate this year, and so we do need a replacement for Judy.  
 
Checkin/Checkout - looking for a group of dedicated volunteers who can format and streamline our checkin-checkout process at our fundraising events.  Looking to develop a uniform and efficient method that would be used at each of the events, and this group of volunteers could share the role at the events throughout the year.  Goal is to have consistency at the events.
 
Mrs. Jordan shared results of the ITBS scores (snapshot of results will come home in the Wednesday envelope).  SJTB continues to be well into the 90th percentile for Language Arts, YAY! and although we are well above the national average for Math, there is always room for improvement in this department (appears to be a nationwide downward trend).  So, anyone who would like to be involved in starting up a "Math Club" (multi dimensional i.e. opportunities inside the classroom with the kids, at home, afterschool and during recess - suggestions welcome!) please contact Nancy Jordan or Denise Davis anaparedhead@hotmail.com .
 
Next meeting is December 5 - 8.15am - bring a plate of Christmas goodies to share and we'll kick off the holiday season together!

October 2011

Notes from the Family Club

• The Scholastic Book Fair
• ITBS Testing Week daily snacks for students
• Lunches and afternoon pick-me-ups for our teachers for the long afternoons of Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Jog-a-thon preparations

Coming Up this Month:

- Jog-A-Thon - This Friday, October 14 - Thanks to all the parents who have volunteered to help this Friday.  If you wanted to participate and were not contacted, it is because the jog-a-thon planners had many volunteers.  Please email ktbatt@yahoo.com if you would like to assist and were not contacted.

- Pumpkin Head Contest - Look for upcoming emails from your room coordinators about the Pumpkin Head contest (judging is October 31).  Photos of Pumpkin Heads from years past are posted on the bulletin board in the school entrance.  The teachers and class choose the literary character they'd like portrayed with their pumpkin head, and the parent volunteers gather the supplies and coordinate a time to work with the class on the project.  It's one fun way to bring literature to life for our children and the winning class gets a pizza party.

- Friday, October 28 - Family Club serves Pizza Lunch - 11am - 12:30pm, set-up, serve and cleanup.  See the sign up sheet posted on the bulletin board, or email judyfranzino@sbcglobal.net to sign up - just 2 more parents needed.

- Dine & Donate Tuesday, October 18th at Villa Corona - you must bring the flyer, which is included in your Wednesday Envelope.  More flyers are available in the school office.

- Gala Planning Meeting - November 2, 6:30pm - If you are interested in helping plan or joining a committee to work on the gala (April 21, 2012), join us at this next planning meeting.

Next Family Club Meeting - Monday, October 31 - 8:30am.  Don't be frightened!  There will be no ghoulish fiends present - just your Family Club planners, Room Coordinators and Mrs. Jordan  -  Please join us!

Sept. 28, 2011

Sept. 2011

A mere 3 weeks into this school year, and St. John the Baptist Catholic School is in full swing!
 
We welcomed the new school year - Kristy Reynoso and her team of parent volunteers were up bright and early, bringing coffee and treats to help us all get going, a tradition that we look forward to on the first day of school! It was great to see so many friendly familiar faces, meeting many of our Room Coordinators for the year, reconnecting with old friends and reaching out to welcome new parents (perhaps giving some Kindergarten parents a good excuse to linger just a little longer!). 
 
Your Room Coordinators were busy quickly preparing sign up sheets and teacher wish lists for Back to School Night. So many parents attended and signed up to help with classroom activities that night! Many thanks again to Kristy Reynoso again and all the parents who helped set up, prepare and donate refreshments for the evening. 
 
Coming up this month –

- ITBS Testing: If you volunteered to bring a ‘brain-boosting” snack for your class during the week of testing, be on the lookout for an email or call from your Room Coordinator.

- If you have not already done so, please turn in your 2011/2012 Commitment Form, this form is a critical piece of information from which our committee and event chairs draw their volunteer information - currently there is only about 50% returned.
  
Principal Nancy Jordan, Room Coordinators, and Family Club planners and parents gathered for the first Family Club meeting of the year. New parents were welcomed (including one brave dad!), we reviewed the schedule of school activities for the year, Katie Batt reported and answered questions about the Jog-a-thon, and we shared coffee and treats.
 
Can’t make it to morning meetings? Join us at the next FC Meeting: September 26 at 3pm. (Aftercare provided for your children during afternoon meetings).
 
All parents are invited, welcomed, and encouraged to attend! As parents, you are all members of the Family Club. It's a great way to find out about all the upcoming school activities, get current updates from Mrs. Jordan about projects the School Council, Administration and teachers are working on, as well simply a chance to meet and chat with other school parents.

 2010- 2011 Family Club Calendar.

Family Club News May 2011 - We can see light at the end of the tunnel........can you???? A few things we want to speak to in this week’s e-gazette:- 

Family Club NewsApril 2011 - The sun is shining, flowers are blooming, and Family Club is "springing" into action! Teacher Appreciation Week and the Parish Festival will spring upon us soon after Easter Break. Please join us at the next Family Club meeting Monday, April 18 @ 3:15, share your ideas, find out about the new opportunities to support our school, and share the fun of getting together with other St. John parents.
See you all then!

Family Club News January 2011 - Welcome back St. John's Families - Happy New Year and we hope your Christmas was a blessed and peaceful one!

Join your friends and school community for an evening of fun, January 22 at our annual Super Bowl Crabfeed & Beyond. This event always proves to be a crab bucket load full of fun, with great food, wine and dancing! Thank you sincerely to our Room Coordinators and parent volunteers who have been working diligently coordinating and creating the classroom projects for the auction; pictures and descriptions of each piece will be available on the website very soon (you don't have to attend the function to put in a bid for these special pieces). Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to send in a fabulous dessert (plated and wrapped) for the dessert auction. About 25 desserts are needed for it to be successful, so if you haven't committed please consider doing so - the dessert auction is always a fun part of the evening. This event typically sells out so please try and get your tickets early so you won't be disappointed.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and Family Club will assist Cupid again by sending out Candy Grams. You and your children will have an opportunity to send them, their friends and staff members a special treat which will be delivered on Monday February 14. Look for the Candy Grams Tags to come home in your Wednesday envelope. Money and tags will need to be returned to the school by Friday February 11 (this is the day we will tag the candy grams) but we will be stuffing the candy grams goodie bags at our next Family Club Meeting January 31. So if you signed up to help out with this little project please join us on Monday January 31 at 8.30am (if you did, you will hear more news about this directly via e-mail though) and then again on Friday February 11. Last year we sent out a whopping 900 grams!!!!

As I'm sure you have heard, our Capital Campaign, "Building Faith and Future" is well under way and proving already to be successful. Each ministry (including Family Club) within our parish community is being asked to participate in an evening spent calling a certain number of our parish families to follow-up on information material that was mailed to each family (in essence, a phone-a-thon). Please be assured volunteers are not being asked to solicit money on these calls, simply confirm they have received the information and answer any questions they may have about the improvements or campaign (scripts are provided). The schedule is set, and Family Club (this is all school parents) has been asked to provide callers on January 19 from 7-9pm. These hours count towards your 10 hour requirement of fundraising hours and as a thank you for coming along, refreshments and special treats will be served. If you are able to join us, please RSVP to Judy Franzino at judyfranzino@sbcglobal.net

Remember to join us at our next FC meeting on Monday January 31 at 8.30am, but we hope to "cut the rug" with you sooner at the Crabfeed first!

Family Club News December 2010 - We had a fantastic turnout for this months FC Meeting on Monday, as well many parents came early to help us stuff goodie bags for Breakfast with Saint Nick prizes. So, THANK YOU for your ongoing support! It's really true; many hands make light work - we were done in 30mins!

Speaking of Breakfast with Saint Nick - Santa is on his way and arrives this Sunday! Please join us for our traditional Breakfast with Saint Nick; pancake breakfast is served from 8am-Noon and our Hall will be stuffed to the brim with craft tables, games, and bake sale and craft tables. We invite you to swing by with the kids and support this long standing St. Johns tradition. (See attached flyer).

A couple of exciting pieces of news were delivered in the FC Meeting. After much anticipation, we have our "second hand store" space secured (on Yajome Street) and the doors will open on February 1st! Because of the delay in finding the perfect space, our volunteer hours to be dedicated to the store will be reduced for this school year (more info will follow from Administration). As well, our Building Faith and Future Capital Campaign Kick-off Dinner was a huge success last Saturday evening with early profit numbers being reported at $19,000!!! An enormous thank you to Patty Lowenstein and Christina Rossi-Cato (and their helpers) who worked tirelessly to make this event a big success.

Nancy explained further the difference between the "Annual Giving Fund" and the Building Faith and Future Capital Campaign. Our personal school goal, in order to be more successful when soliciting grant monies, is to have 100% school family participation in the "Annual Giving Fund" - remember no amount is too small! We are currently sitting at about 70% participation. These are monies that are available to only schools, so as school parents we are encouraged to participate in order to receive that free money just waiting for us to claim! The Capital Campaign is a separate drive and will hugely benefit the Parish as a whole (including our school - think gym!).

Reminder that FC's Hospitality Sign-up Sheets are located on the FC Bulletin Board in the foyer of the school. Lots of people have graciously donated food, beverage & labor in the past, and we thank you for your generosity. However we still have a quite a few months left in the school year and plenty more "opportunities" to help out. Please take another look at the sign-up sheets.

See you at St. Nick (with sleigh bells on!)

Family Club News November 2010 - The Building Faith and Future Kick-Off Dinner, Dance, and Auction is quickly approaching! Chairpersons Patty Lowenstein and Christina Rossi-Cato, along with their faithful helpers, have adorned our carpool line before and after school, reminding us to buy our tickets to attend the event and to donate wine for the wine closet drawing that will be held that night. They have been working very hard to bring this fun and festive event to our school and parish, so if you haven't bought your tickets yet, get some friends together and plan a fun night out. It isn't too late to bring in your wine donation for the wine closet. Just leave it at the front office with Mrs. Giaquinto.

Calling all Santa's Helpers (aka Family Club Parents)!
Please join us Monday, November 29 @ 2pm to stuff goodie bags for Breakfast with St. Nick. Lots of helpers make this a quick, fun job! AND, you'll already be there for the Family Club meeting, which immediately follows goodie-bag-stuffing, at 3:15pm. As with all the after-school Family Club meetings, aftercare will be available for children who are currently enrolled at our school.

It was great to welcome some new parents to the last FC meeting. Thank you to all the Classroom Coordinators and classroom parents attending the meetings - it is great to have a representative from every classroom there. You are doing a fantastic job of sending out communications to all the parents. Many thanks!

Speaking of St. Nick, before he visits St John's Hall for breakfast, he may make an appearance at the Napa Christmas Parade, the day after Thanksgiving. All St. John students are invited to wear school colors and ride on our float in the parade. Please see further details from Mrs. Batt in upcoming eGazettes.

Congratulations to 8th grade for their rendition of "Peter Rabbit" for the Pumpkin-Head contest. A special thanks to all parents who helped create all the Pumpkin Heads, along with our teachers and Mrs. Ham.

Filippi's Pizza Grotto was bustling with St. John families on October 26. Thank you to all the school families who helped make our first "Dine & Donate" of the school year a success; we're sure you enjoyed a fun night out of the kitchen too! We raised a total of $232 in commission - thanks Filippi's!!

Hope to see you at the next Family Club meeting, Monday, November 29 at 3:15 (or 2pm if you can join us to help get ready for Breakfast with St. Nick).

Family Club News September 2010 - Escaping triple digit temperatures, many Family Club parents and Room Coordinators, (including one brave dad!) filled the seats of the St. John the Baptist School computer lab for the September Family club meeting Monday afternoon. Lucky for us, those computers need to stay cool!

Every classroom was represented by a Room Coordinator; a huge thank you goes out to all the Room Coordinators for all the responsibilities you take on, including attending the FC meetings, informing your classroom parents of activities, organizing volunteers for those activities, etc., etc., etc.!! This week we thank Room Coordinators and parents for organizing and bringing healthy snacks for all our students for ITBS testing. Look for upcoming emails from your Room Coordinators about the Pumpkin Head contest and classroom projects for the Crabfeed. It was great to see you all at the meeting.

Principal Nancy Jordan was there to extend a warm welcome to new families. All parents are welcome, and encouraged, to join in the FC meetings, but new families are especially encouraged! This is the best way to find out about all the school and classroom activities, ask questions, and meet other parents.

A big thank you to our Hospitality Team of parents and volunteers for the delicious luncheon prepared for our teachers last Wednesday. It was set up beautifully and the food was delicious. It was a treat for our teachers and let them know how much we appreciate all they do.

SCRIP update: Nancy gave a detailed explanation of who, what, where and how you can participate in the Scrip program. Scrip brings in approximately $40,000 each year and are funds that the school definitely counts on in their budget. You may now use your credit card to buy scrip! If those credit card airline miles or other special credit card points are important to you, you may now receive the benefits of using your credit card, and still help the school by participating in the Scrip program. Nancy made a handout available that described the program in detail, but if you were not at the meeting and would like a copy please see Jenny in the school office.

DINE AND DONATE, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26: Back by popular demand, Filippi's Pizza Grotto will host the first Dine and Donate of the school year. Take the night off from cooking! Enjoy lunch or dinner at Filippi's, or get takeout on your way to the next sports practice; Filippi's will generously donate 10% of the day's purchases to our school. During the last school year, the dinner hour at Filippi's was fun-filled and quite the social spot with almost every table filled with a St. John's family!

DAUGHTERS OF GOD RETREAT, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7: We were honored to receive a warm personal invitation from Sr. Olive (our Diocesan Director of Religious Education) to attend the Daughters of God retreat, with presenter Sarah Hart, to be held at Justin Siena High School on November7, 1-5pm. See the flyer found on the bulletin board to find out more about it.

BREAKFAST WITH ST NICK: with 100-degree days, Santa still has his suit packed away. But Chairperson Jami Bement-Mendez has already been hard at work to make Breakfast with St Nick another great success. The first meeting for pre-event volunteers is scheduled for FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15 @ 8:30am.

SISTER JOYCE'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY: Sister Joyce's 50th anniversary will be celebrated at 10am mass on Sunday, October 10. After-mass Hospitality will be held at the parish Hall in Sr. Joyce's honor. Join in and celebrate with Sr. Joyce! We need about 20 school parents to contribute items for Mass hospitality. Please sign up on the volunteer sheet on the bulletin board. Contributions may include items such as cookies, cheese and crackers, etc., enough for 8-10 guests. These can be dropped off at the Hall anytime after 9am that same morning.

See you at the next Family Club meeting October 25th at 8.30am

Family Club News September 2010 - We hope everyone enjoyed a little relaxation over the Labor Day holiday weekend. It looks like we'll need it, as things are already in full swing here at St. John the Baptist Catholic School!

So many of you signed up to help with both classroom activities and Family Club activities on Back-to-School Night. Coming up this month in the classrooms is ITBS Testing. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to bring snacks for the students during the week of testing. Be on the lookout for an email or call from your Classroom Coordinator to schedule your day to bring healthy "brain food" for the kids to snack on!

In commemoration of Sister Joyce's 50th Anniversary there will be a special Mass celebrated in her honor on Sunday October 10 at the 10:00am Mass (followed by a reception in the hall). The school will be involved in this Mass and as Sr. Joyce is very special to us we want to help make her anniversary celebration a memorable one. Family Club has been asked to contribute to the reception; we thank those parents who have signed up to bring a food item already and invite more people to do so (the sign-up sheet is at the Family Club Bulletin Board).

If you signed up to participate in the first Teacher Luncheon, look for an upcoming email. The first luncheon for our teachers is scheduled for Wednesday, September 22.

Hope to see you at the next Family Club meeting on Monday, September 27 @ 3:15.

Family Club News August 2010 - What a great way to start off the new school year - so many friendly familiar faces, reconnecting with old friends and reaching out to welcome new parents. Kristy Reynoso and her team of parent volunteers were up bright and early, bringing coffee and treats to help us all get going, a tradition that we look forward to on the first day of school! Thank you, Kristy and all the parents who helped.

The first Family Club meeting of the year took place right there around the coffee table! Room Coordinators were there representing every class. We thank you, Room Coordinators. From welcoming new families to joining in at the first Family Club meeting, to preparing sign up sheets and teacher wish lists for Back to School Night, your Room Coordinators have been busy already! If you are unable to attend Family Club monthly meetings, do not worry about missing out on information...your Room Coordinator will communicate with you and keep you informed.

Don't forget to look at the Family Club calendar on the bulletin board in the main entrance hallway. It will be updated monthly and give you an overview of what is coming up during the month. Sign-up sheets will also be posted on the bulletin board. You can look for volunteer opportunities throughout the school year and sign up for activities you would like to participate in.

Please come to the next Family Club meeting Monday, September 27 @ 3:15 pm. Aftercare will be available for parents joining the meeting. All parents are welcome and encouraged to come to the meetings, to visit with new friends and old, get information, and discuss your thoughts and ideas about school activities.

We are all looking forward to a wonderful school year.

Family Club News May 2010 - Nine days and counting, but don't expect the activities to start winding down until Day TEN arrives!

The school Volunteer Commitment Form has been revised for 2010/2011 and your copy is coming home in the Wednesday envelope. The school has made changes to incorporate every opportunity to fulfill your 30 hour obligation and asks that you complete your form and return it to school before the last day. For those of you who are "on the ball" and return the form by the last day of school, you will participate in a drawing for... get ready for this... a night at the beautiful Westin Verasa, Napa! How is that for enticement? If you have any questions about the new form, please bring it to the last Family Club meeting of the year, on Friday June 4, and would be happy to assist.

Last week our school reached out to our church parishioners, and they answered! We asked for participation in the school Scrip program by registering Safeway Club cards, Target cards, and using pre-registered (thanks to Mrs. Giaquinto!) Raley's/Nob Hill and Lucky store cards when they shop. School parents, teachers, and students helped pass out cards and collect Safeway card forms after mass, along with Fr. Gordon's encouragement and Mr. Carlin's help during each mass.

The opening of the Napa City Council and Arts Council Napa Valley student art exhibit at City Hall last Tuesday night was uplifting! It was a full house, with almost every seat was filled with students, parents, and teachers. Each St. John the Baptist student created the textured paper used for the project, so in actuality every one of our students had a hand in the artwork chosen for the exhibit. Mayor Jill Techel handed a certificate of recognition to each artist.

The Classics program has been a success this year with 18 children chosen for the annual "Classics Party" next week, with 9 of those children reading 15 or more classics. Speaking of the library, Family Club wishes Mrs. Evans a fond, yet sad, farewell. Thank you for bringing your talented gifts to our school and turning our library into such a special place during your time here. We have taken pretty good notes, so will do our very best to continue some of the traditions you have shared with us!

Thank you to our "Boxtop" program coordinators Lee Tatsuguchi and Rebecca Griffen. They have done a fabulous job all year, along with your continuous help sending in boxtops and Campbell's Soup labels. They have organized the 2nd annual End of Year BBQ/Yearbook Signing Event to be held Monday, June 7. Family Club will be on hand to pass out an "end of year" gift to each student. Look for more details in this eGazette.

The last Family Club meeting of the school year is scheduled for Friday, June 4th. Our teachers and staff will provide the morning refreshments for this meeting, to be held in the school library! Please join us and help us work on volunteer plans for the 2010-2011 school year. If you have been looking for that perfect volunteer opportunity, this is the meeting for you! This is also the time where we offer our sincere appreciation to the amazing group of volunteers who have supported us throughout the year.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Family Club News May 2010 - It's that time again-we are almost to the end of the school year!

Family Club is busy with end of year festivities and once again, we invite you to attend the 2nd Annual "End of Year BBQ/Yearbook Signing Event", organized by our "BoxTop" team. Please join us during the lunch hour on Monday, June 7th for a hot dog lunch. More details to follow.

Save the date: Tuesday, May 18th at 6:00 p.m. at the Napa City Hall
The Napa City Council and Arts Council Napa Valley invite you to an opening of a student art exhibition honoring the 40th anniversary of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." Please join us for a reception to celebrate the exhibited art work of our very own St. John the Baptist budding artists. We send out a huge thank you to our art teacher, Suzanne Gibbs for the devotion given to this unique project. We are proud to say, St. John the Baptist is the very first school EVER to have their artwork presented at the City Hall!

Our next Family Club meeting is scheduled for Friday, June 4th. Please join us for our final meeting of the school year and help us work on volunteer plans for the 2010-2011 school year. If you have been looking for that perfect volunteer opportunity, this is the meeting for you! This is also the time where we offer our sincere appreciation to the amazing group of volunteers who have supported us throughout the year. Join us for Starbucks coffee and breakfast treats.

If you have any questions on volunteering for the next school year, don't hesitate to contact Renay Williamson or Judy Franzino.

Open_FC_Meeting_-_May_4_2010_minutes.pdf

Family Club Open Meeting Minutes April 16, 2010

Notes from the Family Club

April 28, 2010

We are in the home stretch. Our children have informed us there are only 30 days of school left!

Our Art teacher, Mrs. Gibbs, has been helping bring art to our St. John students all year long, and now she needs your help to help set up a display of our children's artwork for the Fine Arts recital being held this Friday April 30. Thank you, Classroom coordinators, for sending requests asking parents to volunteer to help Mrs. Gibbs. Please contact your Classroom Coordinator or Mrs. Gibbs to let her know you can help this Friday. The reception and art display will be held in the school hallways beginning at 6pm, followed by live performances in the St. John Family Hall from 7pm to 9pm.

The Scholastic Book Fair was a success! With a goal of 600 books, we came together to sell a whopping 881 in all! That is approximately four books child; great job St. John's! We are still working on the financials, but hope to come very close to our goal for the 5th and 6th grade state books. We'll keep you posted! Thank you to a great team of volunteers and to the families that supported our efforts.

Bring a picnic and enjoy family fun and friendship at St. John's 1st annual Petanque Tournament on Saturday, May 8 at the Justin-Siena. Turn in your entry forms

Many parents have been out at the track volunteering and running at the track practices that students in all grades may participate in. Many thanks to Paul Vlaming for organizing the track program, teaching our kids the proper way to minimize injuries by stretching and strengthening to prepare for the sport, and thanks to all the parents get out there on Friday afternoons.

At our last FC meeting, our principal Mrs. Jordan shared updates on the new Smart Boards that can help bring so many subjects to life for our students, and our school has been fortunate enough to receive one for each classroom. The important annual fund was also discussed. Find out about these fascinating points of interest, as well as sharing ideas and opinions with many St. John parents, and enjoying friendship, coffee and treats at the Family Club meetings. At our next Family Club meeting there will be information about Teacher Appreciation week and we will be discussing opportunities for parent participation for the next school year!

Please join us for the next Family Club meeting on Tuesday, May 4.

Family Club

April 14, 2010

We hope you and your family felt God's love and blessing this Easter and throughout vacation week.

April showers bring...the Spring Scholastic Book Fair! Next week, beginning Tuesday, April 20, our library will be transformed. We have daily purchase incentives this time around, encouraging us to meet our goal of selling 600 books! Your participation will help keep our kids enthusiastic readers of great literature, but will also help our library purchase a wonderful new set of up-to-date state books geared for 5th -8th grade students. Look for a flyer in your Wednesday envelope where you will find more fun details on just what will happen in the library each day!

An interested group of parents attended the workshop for responsible use of digital technology on Monday night at Justin Siena High School. It was an eye-opener! Our 5th-8th grade students then had this important information presented to them Tuesday. This is just one of the many ways that your Family Club dollars extend support to the school community. Thank you to Mrs. Jordan and Cindy O'Brien for organizing this event.

Please join us THIS FRIDAY, April 16, for a Family Club meeting, same time, same place!

Notes from the Family Club

March 24, 2010

With only a few days left in the month, don't forget to use your Dine & Donate vouchers at PicaPica! Meet other families there, or take out for a quiet dinner at home. Either way, our school receives 10% of every order during the month of March. More vouchers are available at the front office.

It was "standing room only" at the March Family Club meeting! Moms, Dads, grandparents, teachers, and staff all participated, along with our Principal Nancy Jordan. There were great ideas and suggestions, lively discussion, and lots of information. Many thanks to all who were there...

Doesn't our library inspire our kids to leap into the stories they find in the fantastic selection of literature (and fun) to be found there? Read Across America, daily activities, story time, and the upcoming Spring Book Fair are just a few examples of the many ways our librarian, Mrs. Evans, brings literature to life in our school. Volunteer opportunities are available, so please contact Mrs. Evans if you would like to help! How about helping for 30 minutes during your child's library time, or for an hour during lunch recess? Speaking of the library, the upcoming Spring Book Fair begins April 20. This year, we have a BIG goal! We need to raise at least $2,200 in profits to help us purchase a beautiful (and much needed) set of current state books for our 5th-8th students to use for state reports.

Plan to attend the important workshop for parents discussing the responsible use of digital technology, hosted by St. John the Baptist Catholic School and the Family Club. The parent workshop will be held at Justin-Siena High School on April 12 @ 6:30pm.

Last Friday, March 19, St. John the Baptist Catholic School celebrated the Feast of St. Joseph. As the 6th graders told us, "Joseph always said "YES" to God." Thank you to all the students, teachers, staff, parents, and Fr. Francisco who said "YES" and created a special morning assembly followed by a delicious lunch in honor of St. Joseph.

Save the date for the next Family Club meeting, April 16 @ 8:30am.

Family Club open meeting minutes, March 5, 2010 (PDF format)

Tuesday February 9, 2010 8.30 – 9.45am

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

FC Board Present (FCB):  Renay Williamson (RW), Judy Franzino (JF), Claudia Kalten (CK), Marisa Bartalotti (MB) Peta Shindle (PS), Deanne Valine (DV)

Room Coordinators (RC) Present: Nubia Kunst (5), Jen Warner (1), Angie Troppy (3), DeeAnn Valine (K&6)

Event & Committee Chairs (ECC) Present: Suzanne Gibbs (Art)

Other Parents: Theresa Parmigiani, Jodi Andino  _______________________________________________________________________________________________

BOLD indicates an action required.

Valentines Candy Grams – at the beginning of the meeting orders were at about 580 (we planned for 800) consistent with last year.  Update after stuffing:- We are OUT of candy, many more orders came in, and we expect some more to trickle in over the course of the week.  A very successful year for St. Valentine!

Catholic Schools Week – Last week was a great start to this important week.  FC helped out with Student Appreciation Day and Hospitality after Mass.  RC’s please remember we have open house this Thursday night from 5.30-7.30pm.  Pease touch base with your teacher to see if they need any assistance, and also send a reminder your class parents to “talk it up”, with their friends and neighbors.

Cyber-bullying Workshop – FC has the funds to support a cyber-bullying workshop that will be coming to our school on the evening of April 12 (tentative date) for the parents and April 13^th (tentative date) during the school day for the students.  More info will be sent out by Admin. at a later date.

Closet Clean-out – FC have spent numerous hours on the FC and the Costume closets and have set one final date to finish the job off.  We could really use some additional hands to get the job completed (we’ll bring treats!!!) and invite you to join us after assembly on February 18.  RC’s please spread the word to your class parents.  After we have finished making the Costume closet more “teacher friendly” we will be officially handing that beast over to the school and will just be responsible for just our own FC closet.  Suggestion made to keep a sign in/out sheet on a clip board in the costume room to help them keep track of what stuff is moving in and out and by whom.  NJ to f/up.

Dine and Donate – We are introducing a new venue to our Dine and Donate line-up.  “Pica Pica” is at Oxbow Market (a very fun place to eat) and they will be supplying us with vouchers that we may use at our leisure over a month period (will be coming home in the Wednesday envelope) and they will donate 10% back to the school. 

Read Across America – kick-off is March 2 with “Pajama Day” for the week long celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday.  Fun prizes will be given out to students and the mascot will be passed around the classes again.  RW advised Mrs. Evans is looking for someone to create a Dr. Seuss poster; suggestion was made to ask 2 students from grade 7 do it.  PS to f/up. RC’s please touch base with your teacher to see how they might need assistance during the week.  There is a really cool website offering great ideas about how to celebrate it in the classroom, please take a look.  http://www.nea.org/readacross

Box Tops – FC received a check in the amount of $300 from Box Tops for Education.  It’s working, so keep those tops coming in!

Crabfeed – another successful fun and fundraising event, thank you for you support.  RC’s you did a great job at getting desserts from your classes, as there were plenty; some went for as high as $100 and the total for desserts came in at $1850! The ceramic art pieces were very successful as well going for anywhere between $170 and $550.  A pat on our own FC backs for stepping-up for this event.

FC Budget – With the introduction of a small FC Due for the 2010/2011 school year, we have adjusted our budget accordingly.  Next year FC will not be asked to cover any curriculum based costs, so it alleviates our need raise funds to cover cash donations (e.g. Graduation and Grade 8 Art).  As FC will no longer need to raise funds for those types of costs, it frees up our time and talent to provide support to the school in other creative ways.

Art – SG shared that the room in dire need of sharpies, glue sticks, scissors (that grew legs) and pencils.  PS will draft a letter for Marisa to take to Costco to see if they will donate these items.  As well it is suggested that the little ones need aprons due to their messiness with sharpies, therefore Marisa will solicit donated aprons from Home Depot.  With thanks to a family for organizing, the grade 6 class will be heading to deRosa winery to visit their art galley (RW, PS, DV, JF, SG - DV to communicate this with Mrs. Kiernan).  NJ will be joining the group as well).  SG hand selected one piece from each grade, from the Eric Carle art event held we held in the fall, to be framed and put on display at her galleries open house.  SG will put out more info closer in.

Hot Lunch – JW advised that a parent in her class knows someone who owns a “hot dog truck” and asked if we would be interested in switching up our hot lunches a little, or adding an additional hot lunch day.  Nancy was keen to hear all ideas so JW will have the parent contact her directly.  As well, there might be an opportunity to have the treat purchased and supplied at wholesale prices.