AN OPEN LETTER TO THE ST. ROMUALD INTERPAROCHIAL SCHOOL FAMILY:: PARENTS AND STAKEHOLDERS 2013 – 2014 SCHOOL YEAR
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
Greetings! It is my high honor to welcome our families and friends back for the beginning of the 2013 – 2014 school year. We open this year with the high expectation of excellence in every endeavor and welcome your partnership in this daunting challenge.
This is the first of many communications we will have with our school community and urge you to look forward to the weekly receipt of Parent Lines, which will be posted weekly on Thursday on the school website, stromualdschool.org. (If you are unable to view Parent Lines on the website, contact the school for the front page paper copy and one will be sent each week.) Please review this information carefully and respond as needed in a timely fashion. Communication is one of the keys to success in any venture, and we view it critical to the success of our school. We are also committed to maintaining our website on a timely basis and use it as a means of sharing the incredible accomplishments of our students as they seek to fulfill our mission. SRIS has made a strong financial commitment to the use of technology, both as a classroom teaching tool and as a means of communication, and we urge you to take advantage of these tools (my e-mail address is [email protected] and I will check it daily).
Our enrollment remains strong, but, we will work hard to increase our enrollment with students and families who are committed to our mission and culture at SRIS. Additionally, our pre-school program is at capacity for our four-year old and five-year old classes. Additionally, under the leadership of Gera Jarboe, we hope to grow our three-year old pre-school as this year progresses. Our school is committed to earn the continued trust and confidence placed on us by our families and the community.
SRIS is honored to welcome Mrs. Shannon Loughran as our new middle school English teacher and look forward to her service. We are equally excited that Mrs. Mitzi Mattingly has returned as our middle school Math teacher. These individuals bring a high level of competence, passion, and professionalism to our school. It is my conviction that our faculty and staff, from pre-school through the eighth grade, are a stellar group of servants to the mission and vision of SRIS.
Because of our large enrollment, and the limits we have for parking and traveling by vehicle on our campus, the safety of our kids as they move around our campus remains a primary concern, particularly as Phase II of our gym renovation gets underway in the near future. Please exercise the highest level of caution and alertness as you drop off and pick up children at SRIS. Constantly expect the unexpected and the possibility of a student running out of the gym and classroom buildings. Please be extra patient in dropping off and picking up students and follow the procedures carefully.
The staff in the Newby Kitchen addition will be serving our lunches, and adding a light breakfast, beginning on the opening day of school. The addition is spectacular and will also house the restrooms for the gym and the concession stand for school activities. We plan to begin the renovation on the rest of the gym immediately and will work to cause as little inconvenience as possible to the operation of the school program. Please follow the instructions of the staff in the afternoons as we dismiss students for busses and car pick-ups. We hope that parents will be able to drive around the gym between the middle school and gym to drop off and pick up students from the very beginning of the new year. When picking up and dropping off students, parent vehicles should never attempt to drive toward the gravel parking lot on the north end of the gym using the road between the elementary building and gym, unless specifically instructed by SRIS staff.
SRIS continues to operate on a very tight budget. We commend you for the decision and the investment you have made to entrust your child to our school and we pledge to do everything possible to make this decision sound and highly beneficial to your youngster. Please help us meet our financial responsibilities by making your tuition payments in a timely fashion and communicate with our office if problems arise. Additionally, the fund raisers sponsored by the school and PTO are vital to the operation of our school. Please continue to be generous in your support and participation. With the elimination of the school bingo, we must search for new ways to supplement our school’s resources. Please assist us to the fullest extent of your ability. We must continue to manage our very limited resources carefully. Through frugal management practices, we lessened our expenditures nearly forty thousand dollars during the last fiscal year. We will continue to find ways of diminishing our expenses while assuring that the educational needs of our kids are not compromised. For the first time in a decade, we have raised the tuition of our students, and yet, remain the lowest in the entire diocese. The monies generated by fund-raisers, including magazine and chocolate sales were down considerably last year. These monies go directly to the operation of the school and are critical. We sincerely ask that you help us in increasing these sources of funding, and, if you have a suggestion for a different or additional initiative, please share your thoughts.
The SRIS Scrip program continues to benefit both parents and our school and we urge your participation. Many families are able to pay the majority of their tuition through use of this program and countless others without children in our school assign their rebate to the SRIS Capital Building Program. The SRIS Scrip program combines the essentials of family budgeting with generous rebates from national and local companies to assist our school in a very positive fashion.
The SRIS PTO continues to be a tremendous asset to our school and a generous supporter of our students. The first PTO meeting will be in the gym at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, August 13th and monthly meeting times to be set after the new officers have been installed. Your attendance and participation are strongly encouraged.
Many of our kids ride the Breckinridge County School busses in arriving to or leaving school and the school system has really stressed no food or drink on their busses, and no balloons or flowers that kids occasionally receive to celebrate an event. Please stress these prohibitions to your child and help us in meeting the requirements of the public school district. The county system is requiring EVERY child to complete and return the “Bus Riding Form”. This is being sent home for completion and prompt return.
SRIS will host its annual “Welcome Back to School Cookout and Pool Party” at the Breckinridge County Community Center from 6 – 8 pm on Friday, August 16th. All families, students, and former students are invited to attend for fun and fellowship.
I will continue to teach Middle School Science and will be in class the first four periods prior to lunch each day. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your concerns and suggestions.
Thank you again for your decision to charge SRIS to assist meeting the educational needs of your family. Again, we pledge to do our very best in earning your trust and meeting this responsibility.