Dear St. Joseph Families:

Greetings! WCEA/WASC news: I’m happy to announce that after months of hard work, many meetings, lots of drafts and rewrites, we have completed the document on our process for school improvement. We sent it off earlier this week to Kathleen Radecke, WCEA commissioner for the Diocese of Oakland. Ms. Radecke will review the document and give us input and suggestions. When she returns it to us, we will make one more round of revisions, and then it will go to our WCEA/WASC visiting team chair. I will continue to keep you advised of our progress.

I am grateful to Mrs. Kaldis, Mrs. Koffler, Mrs Ganci, and members of the school advisory board who have set up a wonderful system for monitoring our parent volunteer program. Within the next few weeks, you will receive a statement advising you of the number of service hours you have completed to date. Please be certain that you have submitted to the office, the number of hours you have served, or they will not be reflected on your statement. Thank you for your dedication to serving our school and our students. Without our parent volunteers, SJES would not be the thriving school that it is.

Thanks to the PTG and our volunteer parents, the Children’s Choice lunch program is going well. We appreciate that so many families have registered and are secure in knowing that their children will have a nutritious lunch each day. Please be aware, that the company provides six “emergency lunches” for students. Unlike the days, of the PTG lunches, extra food is not provided for students. Parents who register on-line and order lunches ahead of time are charged $4.55. If a student requests the “emergency lunch,” the price increases to $5.90. YOU WILL BE BILLED BY CHILDREN’S CHOICE IF YOUR CHILD TAKES AN EMERGENCY LUNCH.

The Website Committee of the School Advisory Board is working on a project to build a new SJES website. They are interested in hearing your feedback and thoughts. The URL link (provided to you in the Family Envelopes and parent email) takes you to a 12 question electronic survey. Thanks to all who have completed the survey so far. A free dress pass will be given to each child whose parent completes the survey by Friday, November 21. Thank you for helping the school as we build our new website!

Please plan on attending the PTG Genral Meeting next Wednesday, November 19, at 7:00 p.m. Parents who attend will receive a free-dress pass for their children.

Looking ahead:

• Thursday, Nov 13—4th grade field trip; 2nd grade field trip.
  SJND presentation of Twelfth Night in learning center at 8:00 p.m.
  Presentation continues through Sunday afternoon
  
• Friday, Nov. 14—Opera a la Carte
  
• Wednesday, Nov 19—8th grade field trip
  7:00 p.m.—PTG General meeting
  
• Friday, Nov 21—3rd grade “Goodies for Good” sale at recess.
  End of First Trimester
  
• Monday, Nov 24—Auction Meeting in learning center at 7:00 p.m.
  
• Tuesday, Nov 25—Extended Care Feast
  
• Wednesday, Nov 26— Friday, Nov 28—Thanksgiving Holidays
  
• Sunday, Nov. 30—First Sunday of Advent
  

Please pray for all our special intentions; for all those who serve and have served in our armed forces; for all who have died and gone before us; for all our families who have lost loved ones this year; for peace in our world.Have a good weekend.

Peace,

Monica O’Callaghan
Principal