Rocket Report - February 3, 2012
Catholic Schools Week a Huge Success
Catholic Schools Week 2012 was a huge success. Thank you again for your continued support of our great Catholic school.
Catholic Schools Week 2012 events included Teachers Greet the Students Day, Favorite College Day, Dress Like a Teacher Day, St. Roch Spirit Day, Favorite Football Team Day, and Crazy Sock Day. On Thursday Student Government cooked breakfast for our staff. Friday concluded with an afternoon movie for the entire school. Throughout the week St. Roch hosted a toiletry drive for the needy.
Thanks to Mr. Rush and the entire Catholic Schools Week committee for their hard work and dedication in making Catholic Schools Week 2012 our best ever.
Registration is coming soon!
Registration for the 2012-2013 school year is going to be February 28th and March 1st in the teacher’s lounge. The times for both days will be 3:30 pm until 6:00 pm.
There will again be a $100.00 registration fee per child that is due at the time of registration. Tuition rates will be published in approximately two weeks. Please budget for a slight raise in tuition.
Mark your calendars and more information will be sent home soon.
President’s Day
There will no school on Monday, February 20th in honor of President’s Day.
School will resume on Tuesday, February 21st at its regular time.
ReadingTips for Rochet Families
Our teachers spend many hours each day teaching our kids to become better readers. Kids
learn phonics, sight words, prefixes, suffixes, and word attack strategies. They are also taught
comprehension strategies and a host of other skills to help them become better readers.
Many of our parents help in this process too. We are blessed to have parents who realize the
importance of child literacy. With that in mind, we have decided to provide you with a list of
activities to help your kids improve at reading. Please enjoy the following suggestions!
How Parents Can Help
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Read to your child.
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Listen to your child read.
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Help your child get a library card.
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Write notes to your child.
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Read and discuss your child’s homework.
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Give your child a calendar so he/she can write down special events.
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Let your child help you prepare dinner.
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Subscribe to a children’s magazine.
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Bring books and magazines for your child to read in the car.
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Look up words in the dictionary with your child.
Make a memory game using vocabulary words.
Teens for Jeans Already a Success
St. Roch Catholic School is partnering with Aeropostale and DoSomething.org in support of the 2012 “Teens for Jeans” clothing drive. Lacey Christian, a 2007 graduate of St. Roch Catholic School, is serving as our point of contact during this clothing drive. Lacey is a sales associate with Aeropostale and a freshman at Butler University.
The “Teens for Jeans” clothing drive collects used jeans from students and donates the items to area homeless shelters. Collections in the greater Indianapolis area will go to the Wheeler Mission.
Additionally, there are some benefits to the students that donate jeans. For each pair of jeans brought in, the donator will receive a 25% off coupon(s) for a pair of Aeropostale jeans. Also, if St. Roch Catholic School gathers the most donations we will be placed in a contest to win $5,000, a party for our school, and a free pair of jeans for every student.
Donation bins are set up in our school and to date we have collected over 300 pairs of jeans! Kindergarten through adult sized jeans are being accepted. Please join us in supporting “Teens for Jeans” 2012.
Thank you!
Balanced Calendar in 2012-2013
A hard-copy of our 2012-2013 school calendar was sent home recently. Many area schools have made their 2012-2013 calendars available to their families. After much research, thought, and prayer St. Roch Catholic School adopted a balanced calendar next year.
Nearly all public schools and a large amount of parochial schools are changing from a traditional calendar to a balanced calendar. A balanced calendar shortens the long summer break and redistributes those days throughout the school year. A balanced calendar gives students, staff and families longer breaks in between quarters. Both traditional and balanced calendars feature 180 days of instruction, with the balanced calendar attempting to even the frequency of school days with days on break.
In November a survey was sent to our stakeholders. The response to this survey was impressive, and very helpful in shaping our calendar decision. Nearly 50% favored a balanced calendar while 25% were fine with either choice. The remaining 25% noted a desire to stay with a traditional calendar. It also became evident as we analyzed the results of this survey that honoring the same breaks as Roncalli High School, where the majority of our graduates attended, was important. We believe our new calendar is more balanced than previous calendars, is aligned to the Metropolitan School District of Perry Township’s calendar (where students receive speech, Title I and a variety of other services), and honors Roncalli High School’s breaks.
We are excited about the possibilities this calendar presents and believe its structure is in the best interest of our students, staff and families.
Please contact Mr. Hansen if you have any concerns.
As always, thanks for your continued support of St. Roch Catholic School.
New Computerized Meal Service Program
Effective January 23, 2012 our school will be implementing a new computerized meal service program. Students will be provided with a “Student ID card” which will have a bar code on the front of it, along with their picture. To purchase meals and other items in the cafeteria, students will “swipe” that bar code with a scanner device that will be located at the cashier station. These student ID cards will be distributed to homeroom teachers on January 20.
Like the ticket system currently used, lunches can be bought in advance. The program allows students to “deposit” money into an account and will automatically deduct funds from this account as purchases are made. Students should come to the cafeteria in the morning or before lunch with their money. Account statements will be sent home every Friday to those that have a low or negative balance.
The financial benefits gained from implementing this system will be significant for the school as well as the parents of our students and will afford parents better control and tracking of student’s eating habits. We would like to insure that this transition goes smoothly and efficiently and appreciate your cooperation and assistance. If you have any questions regarding the new system please do not hesitate contact Mary Clements, cafeteria manager.
Literacy Volunteers Needed
St. Roch Catholic School is in search of a few volunteers that would be interested in helping our K-3 students during our morning hours. The state of Indiana requires 90 minute reading blocks and our teachers are looking for volunteers to help with working with our emerging readers.
Example activities would include, but are not limited to: leading small reading groups, doing read-alouds, flash cards, and phonics and sight word reviews.
Even if you can only help one day per week, for a half-an-hour, any time volunteered would be greatly appreciated. Please contact Mr. Hansen at 784-9144 extension 12 if you are interested.
Thanks in advance!
Please make every effort to welcome Mrs. Miller-Hufstedler to the St. Roch team!
Study Hall Opportunity for Middle School
On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:15 to 4:30 St. Roch is offering a free study hall to middle school (6-8) students. Mrs. Angie Schnell will be supervising this study hall.
This study hall gives middle school students the opportunity to go to a quiet, distraction free environment to study. Being at school also give students the opportunity for students to walk to their teacher’s room and ask clarifying questions or get help.
Please contact the middle school teachers if you are interested in your son or daughter attending after school study hall.
“I Love to Read Challenge” Continues
St. Roch Catholic School has agreed to participate in the 2012 “I Love to Read” Challenge sponsored by WISH-TV Channel 8. Miss Amy Hatfield is serving as coordinator.
The challenge started on January 5th and continues through February 29th. Students in grades 1 through 8 will keep a written log of the amount of time they spend reading during the Challenge period. Any student that reads at least 2,500 minutes for grades 4-8 and 1,200 minutes for grades 1-3 will be eligible for prize drawings. In addition to individual prizes, classes with high averages will be eligible to receive a $250 check for classroom supplies.
Please encourage a love of reading and participate in the “I Love to Read Challenge” in 2012!
St. Mark/St. Roch Skating Party Postponed
The Pack 92 Skating Party for St. Mark School and St. Roch School at Southland Skate Center has been postponed. The new date is April 10th. Please mark your calendars!
School Closing Information
In the event of bad weather, school closings will be available on the following T.V. stations: Channel 6 (ABC), Channel 8 (CBS), Channel 13 (NBC) and Channel 59 (FOX).
School closings will also be posted on our website (www.strochindy.org) and sent via Homework Watcher and twitter @strochindy.
Tardy Policy
At St. Roch Catholic school we firmly believe that the first half-hour of student’s day is often the most important. It sets the tone for the day. We also believe that excessive tardies may constitute an obstacle in a child’s ability to make progress.
If a student arrives after the 8:00 a.m. bell, the student must obtain a tardy slip from the office before going to the classroom. This rule applies to all students. Please try to arrive before 7:45 a.m. It makes for a better day.
Students with more than one tardy per quarter will not be eligible for quarterly perfect attendance award.
Please arrive on time!
Marriage Retreat Opportunity
The Benedict Inn Retreat & Conference Center 1402 Southern Avenue in Beech Groveis hosting a couples Marriage Retreat. Come celebrate the sacrament of marriage in this energizing retreat. It takes place on February 11, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. It is designed for couples who want to make their good marriage even better!
Celebrate and strengthen your union at this energizing retreat for couples who want to make a good marriage better. Understand the role/impact of change. Grow in your relationship with God & each other. Improve your communication & sharing.
Cost: $99 per couple, please register by February 8th, after that date, please phone about availability. Visit us at www.benedictinn.org or find us on facebook and twitter.
Auditions for 2012 Summer Conservatory for Youthin Acting and Production
For students ages 8-18
Audition dates: March 6th and 7th from 4-6pm
Acting track students should prepare a 1-2 minute monologue and bring a photo the IRT can keep on file. Production Track students should bring a photo and portfolio or letter of intent.
Call 317.635.5277 to schedule an audition.
The IRT Summer Conservatory for Youth is a full-immersion experience into the creative process of theatre. Young people with a passion for this art form learn about theatre-making from professional actors, administrators, directors, and technicians, as well as their peers.
Dates and Tuition for Summer Conservatory
Ages 8-10: June 18th - July 6th 9:00am-4:00pm | $725
Ages 11-18: June 18th - July 13th 9:00am-4:00pm | $900
Rocket Wrestlers Start the Season Strong
16 St. Roch wrestlers competed in the St. Maria Goretti Invitational and 13 of the boys brought home medals! This is an 81% success rate. The team placed 4th overall and we’ll be adding another trophy to the wrestling collection.
All the coaches and I are so proud of the boys today for showing a lot of guts and toughness. Special recognition goes out to the 7 out of 8 Rockets who won in wrestle backs which provided a major amount of our team points.
Thanks to all of the coaches including 8th graders Nate Eble and Coach Tyler Smith for helping Coach Mark McGuire. Also thanks to all of our wonderfully loud and supportive St. Roch Parents.
Individual Results:
Frank Anderson III & Trent Smith – 1st Place
John Troxel, Dominic Brown & Parker Hipplehauser – 2nd Place
Louis Gattone, Grady Brown, Avery Schaub, David Page, Lewis Geiger, Jac Cecil & Sam Hansen – 3rd Place
Max Togno – 4th Place
Go to Mass
At St. Roch Catholic School it is the expectation that parents will take their children to Mass each weekend. Attending Mass each weekend is an essential part of your child’s faith formation.
Responsibility number one in the St. Roch Handbook is to attend Mass. Families please attend Mass.
Twenty-first Century Scholars
If you are an Indiana seventh or eighth grader who qualifies for the 21st Century Scholars Program, you can get up to four years of undergraduate college tuition to attend an eligible Indiana public or private college or university.
The Indiana General Assembly recently made some changes to Indiana's Twenty-first Century Scholars Program. Changes include:
1. Enrollment is limited to 7th and 8th graders only (6th graders can no longer enroll).
2. Scholars will be informed that they must participate in an academic success program.
3. Scholars entering high school during the fall of 2011 and later (class of 2015 and beyond) must graduate with a high school cumulative GPA of 2.5 or better.
4. To enroll, a student must be a member of a household with an annual income of not more than the amount required for the student to qualify for [federal] free or reduced price lunches, as determined by the immediately preceding tax year for the household.
5. Scholars must use the scholarship within one year instead of two.
To apply or get more information you can visit www.scholars.in.gov
Applications are due by June 30th, 2012. Applications must be submitted by a student’s 8th grade year.
Market Day
Market Day provides an excellent opportunity for you to support the classrooms at St. Roch Catholic School, while purchasing delicious, quality food. Market Day can be purchased at www.marketday.com Mrs. Stacey O’Gara and Mrs. Rosanne Strevels are our Market Day co-chairpersons.
During the month of February Market Day will benefit our 2nd grade.
Please support Market Day and order at least one item online each month.
Scrip News
We have quite a few SCRIP cards for sale in the office. The following cards are available:
Target- $25.00
Starbucks- $10.00
Kohl's -$25.00
JCPenney- $25.00
Chili's- $25.00
Best Buy- $25.00
Applebee's- $25.00
Every SCRIP card that is purchased, makes money for our school. If you have any questions about SCRIP cards, please contact Mrs. DeArmond at 784-9144.
CYO News
Spring sports registrations are due on Friday, February 10th, along with your payment. You must also register your child on the CYO website.
Mass Count
As many of you know, it is the expectation that if you are a student at St. Roch Catholic School, you will attend Mass each weekend. Each Monday, we track Mass attendance.
Here are the results from last week:
Miss Craft 15/16 94%
Mrs. Jordan 16/17 94%
Mrs. Plummer 20/21 95%
Mrs. Feltman 19/20 95%
Mrs. Auger 17/17 100%
Miss Hatfield 14/15 94%
Mr. Rush 17/21 81%
Mr. G. 23/24 96%
Mrs. Wilson 24/24 100%
Mrs. Payne 22/24 92%
Mrs. Bender 24/25 96%
Mr. Watson 21/22 95%
Chamberlin/Tindall 27/30 90%
Here are the weekend Mass times:
Saturday 5:00 p.m
Sunday 8:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m.
Lunch Menu- February 6th-10th, 2012
Monday- Penne pasta with meatballs
Tuesday- Assorted cereals and sausage
Wednesday- Turkey and noodles
Thursday- Beef ravioli
Friday- Cheese pizza
Sandwich of the Week- Turkey wrap
Salad of the Week- Chef Salad
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