September, 2012

How great are your works, Lord! How profound your purpose! Psalm 92:6


Principal's Corner

September 2012

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Already we are in September and our fourth week of school. Incredible! I think we have had a good beginning except for some schedule problems. Hopefully, all of that is straightened out by now. Other than that, all classes are running smoothly, and our sports and other after school activities are in full swing.

After two years of planning and hard work, we are happy to announce that OLPH Nature's Place has been certified by the Arbor Day Foundation. I want to thank Mr. Matt Stovall for bringing this project to our attention and for following through with us to the bitter end. I hate to think how many hours he has invested in this. In addition to Matt, there are so many other people who need to be recognized and thanked. Of course, someone had to coordinate and follow through with everyone and everything thank you, Kathy Sumrell. Additional donations of time, labor, and materials were a must to make this happen thank you, Tripp Brown, Jack & Kary Berry, Bob Corte, Donnie Covey, Rob Summitt, and my husband, Larry. I know that I am missing a lot of people who have helped make this a reality, and if you are one of them I apologize. The fact is that Nature's Place would not be if it weren't for donations and volunteers. We have many ideas for the future of this space. Right now, we have a wonderful volunteer who is working with a couple of the grades to incorporate the gardens as part of a pilot wellness/healthy living program.

This is Our Lady of Perpetual Help's 75th anniversary. Although the original date of the beginning of the parish and school was in July, we have saved the month of October for the big celebrations. The Bishop will be here for the parish mass and celebration on Saturday, October 6th. The school will be doing all kinds of activities throughout the year, but particularly in October. On October 5th, we are having "Alumni Day". We are inviting all alumni to join us at mass which will be followed by a light brunch in their honor. We then welcome them to tour the campus and walk into classes. The students would love to hear what OLPH was like during their day. We do realize that the most recent alumni will not be able to join us due to school, work, and other commitments. We are hoping; however, that many of the older ex-Rams will be able to take us up on this.

At the beginning of the school year, it is always important to address the drop-off and pick-up procedures. We are a small elementary school with approximately 260 families and no bus service. This equates to a lot of cars transporting 325 students. Our number one concern is the safety of all. The procedure for the morning is to drop the children off at the pre-school door, kindergarten door, or the ramp outside of the gym. If you do not drive to those areas, then the students should not be walking by themselves across the parking lots and drive ways. If a parent is walking his/her child/children, then the car needs to be parked in a legitimate parking area and walked to the proper building/s. When driving out of the area, the 5 mile an hour needs to be adhered to there has already been a close call with someone speeding through the archway. If you get to school and the red light is on in the office window, then you are late. You need to park the car and walk in with the student to sign him/her in. We will get the student safely to his/her classroom from there. If we know of a traffic problem, we hold off on tardies until a reasonable time. When picking students up, please be patient. We are working on the backup. If you are entering the church parking lot and see that the cars are backed up, please make a loop with the car line so more can fit in. Regardless if you are picking your student/s up in the carline or walking to get them, you need your name plate. This is, again, for the child's protection. I know you have read horror stories about students being released to unauthorized adults. Although we are a small school, not every teacher knows every student and/or his/her parent/guardian/driver. We have several students who have restrictions regarding to whom they are released. Therefore, these name plates are important because we know they have been approved by the legal guardians. In addition, these name plates help expedite the procedure. I do appreciate all your help and support in this. I know that we get into a hurry sometimes, but the safety of our children is much more important than being someplace at a particular time. Also, if we, as adults, don't follow rules and procedures, then how can we expect our children to?

Reminders for September:

• Sept. 5 School Committee Meeting

• Sept. 7 Author visit for grades 5th-8th

• Sept. 10 $1 out of uniform

• Sept. 20 8th grade will be visiting Notre Dame High School

Sept. 21 8th grade students will receive Focus Shirts.

• Sept. 27-28 Teacher In-service. No school for students.

• Football, Volleyball, and Cross Country events will be on-going and the dates can be found in the weekly FanFares.

As always, I appreciate you and your support. Enjoy the month of September.



God Bless,

Jeri McInturff