January 2007

NEUMANN SCHOLARSHIP AND EITC ACT

As of this date Our Lady of the Angels School families will receive $100,000 in tuition assistance from the Neumann Scholarship. The Educational Improvement Tax Credit Act gives businesses tax credit when they donate money for tuition assistance. Our Lady of the Angels is very fortunate to have this financial support. We thank the following businesses:

Anonymous Donor

Conestoga Title Insurance

Sahd Salvage

Families qualify for this scholarship if their combined income is $50,000 or less plus $10,000 for each dependent. So a family of four will qualify for assistance if their income is $70,000 or less. If there are families that feel they cannot afford to send their children to Our Lady of the Angels School please share this information or have them contact the School office.

CALENDAR CHANGES

There will not be a Deanery Tournament Day on the Monday of Catholic Schools Week
There is not an Open House on Friday February 2^nd. That night there will be “A Celebration of Catholic Family Unity” sponsored by Holy Trinity and St. Peter parishes

MENUS

We ask that you make sure we receive menus before the 1^st of the month. This is very important for planning. If we do not have menus the children will be given the entrée and you will be responsible for paying for that lunch.

THANK YOU

We are grateful to the families of Joe Nobile and Mary Gable for naming Our Lady of the Angels School as the Memorial. They will be in our daily prayers.

LEGOS

If you have any unused legos around the house Angel Care would love to put them to good use. They can be dropped off at either school office.

OUR STUDENTS SHINE

The following students participated in the Our Lady of the Angels Geography Bee on December 21^st:

8^th grade: Jordan Barr

Luke Wolgemuth

Chris Prudhomme

Dan Elliot

7^th grade: Derik Chmiel

David Comfort

Michael Splain

Chris Henkel

6^th Grade: Skyler Munoz

Adam Grove

Kyle Hinnenkamp

Bianca Ricci

And the winners are…

Third Place: Luke Wolgemuth

Second Place: Chris Prudhomme

Dan Elliot will be representing Our Lady of the Angels School at the Diocesan Geography Bee on March 13^th.

Good Luck Dan!

DAFFODILS

We will be participating in the American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days on March 21^st. All proceeds from this sale go directly to the American Cancer Society. An order form is included with this letter.

GOLDEN APPLE

I want to thank the children and parents that took the time to nominate Our Lady of the Angels teachers for this honor. This year there were three teachers nominated:

Mrs. Kathy Barninger

Mrs. Michelle Detz

Mrs. Teri O’Donneell

Only one name could be sent to the Diocese. The committee found this a very difficult task. After careful consideration Mrs. Kathy Barninger was chosen to represent Our Lady of the Angels School at the Diocesan level. Good Luck Mrs. Barninger!

ITBS

Our students did very well on this standardized test. The results were shared at the January Home and School meeting and are in the minutes enclosed with this Family Envelope.

10^THBIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

The birthday committee will be meeting on February 7^th to continue planning for this special year. Our opening family picnic will be on Sunday September 16, 2007 at Fairview Park. At the February meeting we will be selecting a 10^th birthday celebration logo. If you have been given that “creative gene” please

take some time and submit your

creation to the Design a Logo contest.

FAMILY LUNCHEON

These have proven to be a big success. On February 14^th the seventh and eighth grades will have their family luncheon.

TOWN MEETING

The School Board has decided not to have a Town meeting this year. Our goal is to send home registration materials in the February Family Envelope. On Thursday February 22^nd there will be an informational meeting for any families who are considering sending their children to Our Lady of the Angels School. We have learned that our families are our best way to get the word out so please share this meeting information with friends and families. This will be an evening when they will receive more information about Our Lady of the Angels.

SPIRIT SALE

Our Lady of the Angels Spirit items are available in the school offices.

SCHOOL BOARD NOMINATIONS

The form is enclosed and I ask that you give serious consideration to running for a position on the Board. If you have any questions about the position feel free to call or e-mail me. I would also be happy to meet with you to talk about membership on the Board.

LENT

Our students will mark the beginning of Lent by attending Mass and receiving ashes. The children will attend Mass at the respective Churches.

LCHS PLACEMENT TEST

On Monday February 26^th, our 8^th graders will be taking the LCHS placement test. Members of the LCHS faculty will be coming to Our Lady of the Angels to administer the test. All students will be given the test. There is no cost involved.

ABSENTEE NOTES

It has been brought to my attention that many parents are neglecting to send in notes when their children return to school. We are required to have notes on file. The student will have two days to bring in a note and then they will make a phone call to their parents. If the note is not returned on the third day, the child will loose recess until the note is brought to school. I feel strongly that we are accountable and therefore these steps must be taken.

HALL OF FAME INDUCTION AND CELEBRATION

On Saturday January 27^th after the 5PM Mass the new members will be inducted into the Our Lady of the Angels Hall of Fame. This year Cy Greenya and Bill Kloidt will be inducted. We invite you to stop in after Mass for refreshments and to congratulate our inductees. There is no need to stay but just stop by. Students and parents are welcome.

SCIENCE FAIR

This annual event for 7^th and 8^th graders will be January 31st and February 1st. It will be open for the public on Thursday evening from 6PM until 8PM.

TECHNOLOGY SUB SALE

Proceeds from this sale benefit our technology program. The subs are purchased from Brenda’s, which has a very good reputation (same company as the fall sub sale). The sale begins on Thursday March 15th. We look forward to another successful sale.

HOSS’ NIGHT

Monday March 5^th will be Our Lady of the Angels night at Hoss’ in York on Route 462, just a hop, skip and a jump from Columbia. You will get a ticket in the February family envelope and you will hand the ticket to the cashier when you pay your bill. Our Lady of the Angels will receive 20% of the sales. So please mark your calendar and plan an evening meal with your family.

SPRING CONFERENCES

There is a half day scheduled for conferences on March 22^nd. Parents or teachers may request conferences at that time. You will be receiving your child’s second grade report on March 12^th.

WELLNESS POLICY

We have adopted a Wellness Policy. This was required by the government because we have the government funded lunch program. I am grateful to Mrs. Livia Riley, Assistant Superintendent and her committee for taking on this responsibility at the Diocesan level. She has asked that all schools in the Diocese adopt the policy. We all want our children to be fit and healthy and this is our initiative to assist parents with this aspect of their child’s life. The policy is to be adopted over a three year period. During this first year we ask that you think healthy when sending food to school. This is especially essential if you are packing your child’s lunch. One simple guideline is that the first ingredient in any food should not be any of the following:

Brown sugar Invert sugar
Corn Sweetener Lactose*
Corn Syrup Maltose*
Dextrose Malt Syrup
Fructose * Molasses
Glucose* Raw Sugar
Sucrose Sugar
High fructose corn syrup
Honey Syrup

*(naturally occurring will not show up on food ingredient list unless added and will be included as “sugars” listed on the food label)

Let’s try to do what is best for our children.

LIBRARY EVENTS

The Columbia Public Library story times for children ages 3‑8 are Saturdays at 10:00am. Themes for the month of February are: February 3: What Do Odd Expressions Mean? (Such as “pick up your room”) February 10: It's Almost Valentine's Day February 17: Let’s Celebrate George

Washington and Abraham

Lincoln

February 24: Snow

Family Movie Time is Tuesday, February 27 at 6:00pm. Please contact the library for the title.

Bookmarked (the Adult Book Discussion Group) meets on Monday, February 12 at 6:00pm. The book selected for this month is Marley & Me by John Grogan. Please contact the library to register and reserve a copy of this book.

The Make and Take Scrapbook Borders class will meet on Monday, February 19 at 6:00pm. Registration is required by noon on the Saturday preceding the event, a $10 fee will be collected at the beginning of the class.

The Genealogy Workshop will be held on February 26 at 6:00pm.

The Scrapbook Club will meet on Saturday, February 10 from 12:00 to 3:30pm.

Please contact the library for availability of Adult Computer classes. A $5 deposit is required and will be returned at the end of the class if you attend. Classes offered in February will include E-mail 2 on Monday, February 5 at 6:30pm; Resume basics on Tuesday, February 6 at 10:30am; Word 1 on Thursday, February 15 at 10:30am; Excel 1 on Tuesday, February 20 at 6:30pm; and Basic Computers on Wednesday, February 21 at 6:30pm.

Hours are: Monday through Thursday

8:30 am-noon and 3:30-8:00pm

Friday

8:30am-noon and 3:30-6:00pm

Saturday 9:00am-4:00pm

To contact the library, please call 684‑2255.