Sacred Heart School Principal Updates September 18, 2020 Parents, Students had a fun week of dressing silly for the 73rd anniversary of the opening of our school. Thank you for everyone that dressed up! We are working on events for October at this time. Please continue to watch principal updates for more information. Enjoy your weekend! Bridget Martin Office Hours Please remember that our office staff assists in the morning and afternoons with carline. There is no one available in the office to answer phones in the morning between 7:05am and 7:45am or in the afternoon between 2:30pm and 3:15pm. Please remember we cannot do early check-outs after 2:15pm. Outside Food Just a reminder we cannot have outside food brought into the school. Unfortunately, this includes cupcakes and other food items for birthday celebrations. I know how fun and special birthdays are to students. Each morning we have a special blessing for all students on their birthday. If their birthday falls on a weekend, we do their blessing on Friday or Monday. We will work in students with holiday and summer birthdays as well. Protection of Children While we have not been able to host any classes for new families, I do want to remind returning families if you have been through the Protection of Children Training you need to continue to stay up-to-date on your Virtus articles. One day we will return to needing volunteers and hosting activities! www.virtus.org New families we will host an initial training as soon as we are able! From the Mississippi Department of Education regarding the Census of 2020

URGENT: Remind Your School Community to Complete the Census 2020 by September 30 All school and district leaders and urged to remind parents and staff about the dire need to complete the 2020 Census. There are only 15 days left to meet the September 30 deadline to complete the 2020 Census. In 2010, Mississippi’s Census completion rate was 61.3%, and the state lost a congressional seat and millions in federal money. As of today, Mississippi’s completion rate is 59.3%. Mississippi risks losing millions in federal funds if all our citizens are not counted. Student Illness Parents, thank you so much for being vigilant with student illnesses. Please remember to email or call if your child will be out of school. The policy is by 10:00am the day of the absence. I do have to keep a detailed list this year of absences. FACTS Instructions for Updating Information

Many families have asked to make changes to their FACTS account like adding people to their

pickup list and removing people from emails. We are unable to do this to your personal

information but below are the instructions for how you can access all of your information in the

Family Portal.

Log into the Family Portal.

On the far left click on School.

Click Web Forms

Click Family Demographics

From here you can update addresses, emails, contact information, transportation, etc.

Parent-Teacher Organization If you have any questions regarding the fall PTO fundraiser, please email the PTO at Sheartpto@gmail.com Support our fundraiser by spreading the word! Our fundraising goal is $150 per family. If you haven’t done so already, register online today, send 10 email invitations to friends & family to earn the daily prize, and start sharing our fundraising link NOW so we can reach our goal. We need everyone’s help!

The last day to place orders is September 18.

*Shipping…parents if you place one big order for your friends and family you will not have to pay the shipping. You will have to deliver the purchased items to your friends but they will not have to pay shipping. The Week Ahead: Wednesday – Mass will be livestreamed on Facebook at 8:30. We hope you can join in our celebration online! Fr. Greg will be the celebrant. Looking Ahead: Wednesday Mass – 8:30

Special Events October 2 Blessing of the Pets – Parents may bring their family pets through the afternoon carline and Fr. Greg will offer them a blessing. Students in our distant learning program may also drive through the afternoon carline to have their pets blessed. You might ask – Why do we bless our pets? This custom is in remembrance of Saint Francis of Assisi’s love for all creatures. St. Francis’ Feast Day is October 4th. He gave up all of his wealth to live among the poor. As he went from place to place preaching about peace and the love of God, St. Francis learned to appreciate the simple gifts of God’s creation. He realized that all of creation is one. He wrote a Canticle of the Creatures, an ode to God’s living things. October 5-8 Food Drive – In previous years, we have asked each grade to bring in different food items for the annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. This year we will be participating in a different way. Reminders will go out each day October 5-7 about the food drive. We will explain how the food pantries operate for Sacred Heart Southern Mission. Then on Thursday, October 8th we will collect your food donations during the morning and afternoon carlines. Students who are part of our distant learning program may drive thru on October 8 between 8:00am-9:00am to donate their food. You may donate as much or as little as you are able to give. Needed items include: Stuffing mix Green beans Cream of celery/mushroom/chicken soup French fried onions Gravy mix Cranberry sauce Corn Jello or instant pudding, any flavor Corn muffin mix Mac n cheese Chicken broth Sugar Flour Canned fruit or pumpkin Instant potatoes Dessert—cake mix and icing Pie Filling Spices (Cinnamon, nutmeg, onion/garlic, sage, salt, pepper) Any other canned vegetables, rice, rice mixes or beans! October 9-12 Fall Break – No Classes for students October 16

Student-Parent-Teacher-Conferences – This year our conferences will be held through Video Conference. We will use Zoom. Teachers will send out a time sign-up in October. For our new families, these conference days are to let students be a leading part of the discussion on their progress. The conferences are not a parent-teacher conference. These conferences are for students to help explain what they have learned and verbalize where they stand academically. There will be a goal-setting sheet for students to complete as well. Unfortunately, these conferences do have a time limit. Teachers will have to meet with each child in their homeroom. If you think you need a parent-teacher conference, that should be scheduled for a different day and time. October 26-30 Red Ribbon Week – There will be activities planned throughout the week as we join other schools in a national campaign to educate students on anti-bullying strategies and reasons to not abuse medication or use illegal drugs. October 30 Halloween Parties – parties this year will have to be a little different than in the previous years. We are working on activities and a special lunch for students to enjoy in class. We are also working on a trick-or-treat event for the students. Once the details are finalized we will send out a flyer.