Family Messenger January 18, 2011

Faithful God,
How patiently you guide and care for us.
Give us faith in your word, and hope in your steadfast love,
so that we will never lose heart.
Keep us mindful of your many blessings,
and help us to be a blessing to others.
Amen.

A Message from the Principal
We hear and read so much these days about teaching children to be lifelong learners, and this has come to be part of our Schoolwide Learning Expectations. In addition to learning the basics, children today must develop problem-solving and critical-thinking and adapt to a constantly changing world. How can you support your child in becoming a learner for life? Here are four important points to remember in this regard.

1. Skills: Children must gain skills necessary to think through problems and solve them creatively.
2. Connections: Try, in as many ways possible, to connect learning to everyday life. Children often ask, “Why do I need to learn that?” As often as you can, try to help your child understand how a particular learning applies to life. Explain that you use math every day when you cook a meal. Or maybe you can show your child how you solve a problem of setting priorities by using logic. There are countless examples of everyday applications of learning if we simply look for them.
3. Habit: Develop a habit of learning with your child. In addition to the formal learning throughout the school day and homework time, seek out community resources that serve both to enrich and entertain children. Take advantage of teachable moments throughout the day, in ordinary places. Encourage your child to be curious. Asking questions, although it may involve a little more time, is an excellent way to draw out what a child is thinking.
4. Fun: Encourage a positive attitude toward learning, both formal and informal. We often underestimate the great power of informal learning; just think about how much children learn from their friends!

Developing skills, connections, habits, and a positive attitude toward lifelong learning is important not only for children—it benefits all of us. Happy learning!

Sincerely,

Ms. Olivia Carrillo
Principal


Important Dates
• January 18 – General PTO Meeting 7:00 p.m.
• January 21 – 3rd Grade Field Trip
• January 22 – Reconciliation Retreat
• January 30 – Catholic Schools Week Mass and Open House
• February 4 – Grandparents/Special Friends Day – Noon Dismissal

Grandparents Day
Grandparents and special friends are invited to join us for the culmination of our celebration of Catholic Schools Week. On Friday, February 4th, grandparents and/or special friends are invited to campus. The schedule is as follows:
• 10:00 - Arrival time for grandparents
• 10:00 – 10:30 – art show and classroom visits (grandparents accompanied by students)
• 10:30 – 10:45 – return to classroom (grandparents will sign students out for the day from classroom)
• 10:45 – 11:00 – assemble for Mass
• 11:00 - Mass
• 12:00 – dismissal for all

Students who are not able to have grandparents or special friends visit on this day will remain with their homeroom teachers.

Scrip Tip
Good news!! We've received a check for $948.32 from Ralphs for all the families who continue to have their Rewards cards registered and shop there. The bad news is we generally get around $1600. What this means is that many of you have not re-registered your Rewards cards. Remember this must be done every year after September 1st. If you’re not sure, I have a report that you can check to see if you're contributing. You can also look on the bottom of your receipt, and it will tell you if you're making contributions to Incarnation School. If you're not contributing, but have in the past, get on line to the Ralphs Rewards site and follow the steps to indicate you want to contribute to Incarnation School.

General PTO Meeting
Tonight is our 2nd mandatory PTO meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the school auditorium.
We hope to see you there!

2011-2012 Re-Registration
The re-registration period for the 2011-2012 school year will begin the first week of February and will run through the first week of March. Check your home messenger in the next few weeks for important information.

Dennis Uniform Sale
Dennis Uniforms is offering 10% savings on all purchases (phone, mail, Internet, and in-store) during the month of January. Offer excludes marked down items.

From the Business Office
Enclosed with today’s Home Messenger are the January 2011 statements. Please take a moment to review any outstanding balances you may have. Also, please note the December 2010 ASP invoices for regular ASP families has been revised to ½ the monthly rate. The credit will be applied to the January 2011 ASP invoices. If you have any questions please contact Mrs. Fenton.

Volunteer Opportunity in the Library
Thanks to the generosity of the PTO Board, the library has new operating software to check out books and catalog new books. While waiting for this software to be installed, the new books the library purchased at the Scholastic Book Fair, the Barnes and Noble Book Fair, and donated books have been stacking up. In an effort to get the new books to the students quickly, Mrs. Hihn is asking for volunteers to come to the library on Friday, January 22, 2011 during school hours. Jobs include: labels on new books, school stamp on new books, shelving new books, and looking up AR quiz numbers. Please RSVP to nhihn@incaschool.org if you can come on Friday for an hour or two. Looking forward to seeing you in the library!