South Boston Catholic Academy

Dear South Boston Catholic Academy Families,

 
I hope this note finds you enjoying this beautiful summer. We have been very busy at school preparing for the 2010-2011 school year.
 
There have been many exciting upgrades to the building and grounds thanks to a generous supporter of South Boston Catholic Academy. The gym has been freshly painted along with several of our classrooms, the school yard has been resurfaced and new plants will be flourishing by the fall. A new fence and gates will be surrounding the school property.
 
In support of our goal of academic excellence four new interactive whiteboards have been ordered, new books are being delivered weekly and our faculty has been very busy attending professional development workshops.
 
Mark you calendar for:
Tues., Sept. 7 – First day of school K2-Gr. 8 (Noon Dismissal)
Fri., Sept. 9 – School Mass 9 a.m. St. Brigid Church
Mon., Sept. 13 – First day of school PreSchool-K1
Tues., Sept. 14 – School Open House 6:30 p.m.
 
A reminder that students start the year off in their summer uniforms. Please see below for details on the school uniform.
 
The students can look forward to hearing from their new teachers in mid August. The school website and calendar will continue to be updated regularly.
 
Please enjoy the remaining weeks of the summer – be happy, healthy and safe!
 
Sincerely,
Mrs. Nancy D. Carr
 

June, 2010

Dear South Boston Catholic Academy Families and Friends:

Congratulations! As we mark the end of the school year and launch into summer vacation, I take great pride in thanking you for your commitment to our students and our school. You have played a critical role in making the inaugural year of South Boston Catholic Academy a resounding success.

As we cast our sights toward the future, I am eager to share the results of a school-wide report card that will help us plot our course. In recent weeks, many of you took part in our SBCA parent/teacher survey. There were a series of questions; one of the most important related to the quality of the educational experience. I am thrilled to report 81% of you strongly agree that South Boston Catholic Academy has delivered academic excellence. This is a wonderful tribute to the commitment of our faculty and staff.

Please know we also appreciate and encourage your ideas for growing our school’s offerings and infrastructure. This year’s survey found that a number of you hope to see South Boston Catholic Academy grow our technology and roll out new enrichment programs and clubs. These requests will be folded into our summer planning. We will work throughout the summer to deliver on these items in the fall.

Many of our faculty are participating in professional development workshops this summer. These workshops are concentrating on improving the writing ability of all our students and enhancing our math and science curriculum.
The 2010-2011 school year begins on Tuesday, September 7, 2010. Be sure to check our website http://www.sbcatholicacademy.org for updates over the summer. Our summer office hours are Monday-Thursday, 8-12 noon. I encourage you to call or email me with any questions or concerns over the summer months. Enclosed is a copy of the South Boston Catholic Academy uniform policy.

Again, thank you for your support this year. I wish you a happy and healthy summer break.
Sincerely,

Nancy D. Carr, Principal
n.carr@sbcatholicacademy.org

Dear South Boston Catholic Academy Families,

 
I hope this note finds you enjoying this beautiful summer. We have been very busy at school preparing for the 2010-2011 school year.
 
There have been many exciting upgrades to the building and grounds thanks to a generous supporter of South Boston Catholic Academy. The gym has been freshly painted along with several of our classrooms, the school yard has been resurfaced and new plants will be flourishing by the fall. A new fence and gates will be surrounding the school property.
 
In support of our goal of academic excellence four new interactive whiteboards have been ordered, new books are being delivered weekly and our faculty has been very busy attending professional development workshops.
 
Mark you calendar for:
Tues., Sept. 7 – First day of school K2-Gr. 8 (Noon Dismissal)
Wed., Sept. 8 – School Mass 9 a.m. St. Brigid Church
Mon., Sept. 13 – First day of school PreSchool-K1
Tues., Sept. 14 – School Open House 6:30 p.m.
 
A reminder that students start the year off in their summer uniforms. Please see below for details on the school uniform.
 
The students can look forward to hearing from their new teachers in mid August. The school website and calendar will continue to be updated regularly.
 
Please enjoy the remaining weeks of the summer – be happy, healthy and safe!
 
Sincerely,
Mrs. Nancy D. Carr

  All Grandparents or Special Friends of our South Boston Catholic Academy students are invited to join us on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 from 9:30-11 a.m. to share a part of the students’ day.

 9:30 a.m.     Welcome Reception; Coffee & pastry in the cafeteria

  10 a.m.-11 a.m.          A special visit to the classrooms

Home & School Association Minutes

March 4, 2010

present:  14 members including the following officers:

• President: Julie Galgay
• Vice-President: Heather Tinlin

Meeting called to order at 6:41 pm.  Minutes from previous meeting accepted.

Treasurer’s Report: Stacey Tirabassi reported that $19,598 has been raised thus far.  We should also be receiving an additional $2700 from online registration for November’s road race.

Principal’s Report: Mrs. Carr reported on several issues.  The anti-bullying program and the rolling drop off have been positively received.  There are many exciting changes to the curriculum that will be implemented next school year.  The Archdiocese has been very supportive for training and professional development.  The Collins Workshop will be used with grades K2 through 8.  Mrs. Carr and two teachers have already attended training and more staff are scheduled for training in the future.  The K1 classrooms will be implementing The OWL curriculum for next year.  The school’s website is up and running.  Teachers blog regularly.  Please log on frequently as the calendar on the website is kept up to date.  Emails are welcome and should be responded to promptly.  Registration and re-registration is ongoing.  We have well over 300 students for September.  If you haven’t already done so, please send in your registration forms.  It is crucial to have an accurate number in order to plan for classrooms and teachers.  All teachers are on yearly contract.  Teachers are constantly being evaluated.  Plan books are checked monthly, Mrs. Carr does pop-in visits and there is a written evaluation.  Parents’ comments and input are always welcome.

No-Cost Fundraising: Carol O’Connell reported that Box Tops/Shaw’s will be presenting the school with a check for $8000!   Stop & Shop A+ bonus bucks continues and we earned $858 (not including February).  Shaw’s has earned $56.49.  Please spread the word for people to sign up – our code is 49001018364.  Direct TV’s program continues and will give $50 to the school for new and existing customers (call 1-888-388-4724; code is B2543).  Target will donate 1% of all purchases when you use your Target credit card (school code is 8092).  So far $220.12 has been raised.  Continue to save and send in juice pouches, campbell labels, tyson labels and coke rewards, as well as old cell phones and ink cartridges.  No cost fundraising information is available through website  www.orgsites.com and the key word is South Boston.    Use the web search engine www.goodsearch.com (click on sbcatholicacademy and verify) and donation is made to school each time you do a web search – $95.63 raised so far. 

Proposal for 2010/2011 Home & School Association: given by Julie.  Information on election for new officers will be sent out next month.  Positions are for two year terms.  Any present members are invited to stay on in an advisory role.

Walk A Thon : given by Kelly Conroy. Date is May 27th.  The Committee is up and running and any assistance is welcome.  Join the committee!  Rain date is to be determined.  Plan is similar to last year: meet at school and walk around Castle Island, return to school yard for raffles and snacks.  T-shirts will be available for purchase.  It is not yet determined whether children will collect pledges or if there will be a fee to walk.

Golf Tournament: given by Maureen Murray.  The date is to be determined due to issues with the George Wright Golf Course.  More information to follow.

Spring Fundraiser: given by Julie.  Clothing Swap will be cancelled in order to focus energy on other fundraising programs.  Spring Fling is scheduled for April 9th, location to be determined.  Cost of admission to be determined depending on venue.  We will be selling raffle tickets soon for $20 each.  Prize is year’s tuition or $2500 in cash.  Winner will be drawn at the Spring Fling.  Further information will be sent home soon.

Meeting ended at 7:54 pm.  Next meeting will be April 7, 2010.

Submitted by: Heather Tinlin

SBCA Home & School Association Minutes
February 3, 2010

present:  10 members including the following officers:
•    President: Julie Galgay
•    Vice-President: Heather Tinlin
•    Treasurer: Stacey Tirabassi

Meeting called to order by Julie at 6:40 pm.  Minutes from previous meeting accepted.

Treasurer’s Report: given by Stacey.  $18,700 in account at this time.

Principal’s Report: Mrs. Carr did not attend as there are no outstanding issues.

No-Cost Fundraising: given by Carol O’Connell.  Box top earned $1090.  School has registered 190 people for Stop & Shop A+ bonus bucks.  We have raised $620 so far, not including January.  This contest will continue through March 25th. Four families have signed up for Direct TV, raising $200 for the school.  Teracycle pouches brought in $55.  Coke rewards is ongoing and will continue to earn points for gym equipment.  No cost fundraising information is available through website www.orgsites.com and the key word is South Boston. Continue to recycle old cell phones and ink cartridges.  Use the web search engine www.goodsearch.com (click on sbcatholicacademy and verify) and donation is made to school each time you do a web search – $95.63 raised so far.

Catholic Schools Week: given by Julie.  Huge thank you to Patty Donovan who volunteered her time to ensure the week’s events went smoothly.  The teacher appreciation breakfast was a huge success, as was the book sale.  40% of monies raised through book sale goes back to the teachers for classroom materials.

Status Report on Fundraising: given by Julie.  We may not achieve the goal of raising $60,000 this year.  This money is a line item in the school’s budget.  We will continue to work hard to raise as much as we can before the end of the school year.

April Fundraiser: given by Julie.  Spring Fling will be held in the school’s gym on April 9th.  The committee is made up of Julie, Maria Anderson, Heather Tinlin & Jennifer Jackson.  We appreciate any support and assistance from others.   Grey Goose will be supplying the signature drink and there will be a cash bar for wine & beer.  Light hors d’oeuvres will be served (vendor not yet selected).  We will look into having confirmation students act as servers.  Tickets for event will be sold for $25 per person. (price still being discussed).

$20 raffle tickets will be sold through March & April and winning raffle will be picked at Spring Fling.  We will ask that each family sell 5 raffle tickets.  You will need to purchase Spring Fling ticket to attend drawing, but winner need not be present.  Winner of raffle will have choice of free year’s tuition at SBCA or $2500 cash.  We will be looking for volunteers to sell raffle tickets outside of church, bank and at various St. Patrick’s Day events.

Clothing Event: given by Julie.  The event is going to be called Second Time Around and will be held on March 12th.  Details will continue to be worked out and specific information will be sent home to families and advertised in the church bulletin.

Walkathon: scheduled for May 27th @ 5 pm.

Golf Tournament: scheduled for June 28th.

New Officers: present officers’ terms are up this year.  Nomination forms will go out in March or April and vote will occur in May.

Meeting ended at 7:48 pm.  Next meeting will be March 3, 2010.

Submitted by: Heather Tinlin

Open House DVD

MEMO

To:     Julie Galgay and Maria Anderson
From:      Jennifer Jackson
RE:      meeting notes
Date:     January 6, 2010

Summary:
Meeting was called to order about 6:40pm with 7 members present with total of 10 during the meeting.
•    Stacey gave the treasurer’s report – with all fundraising efforts thus far and all invoices paid, we have $14, 800 in account.

•    Mrs. Carr was not present

•    Gift Card fundraiser- raised $193.00   members discussed that it was difficult to think about gift cards so early or that it is so easy to get gift cards at the supermarkets.  Comment was made that it was easy and would do it again- this was a large selection of cards.

•    Carol O’Connell was not present but Stacey filled in on a recent deposit of $200 from Direct TV and Good search.

•    Patty Donovan was not in attendance to discuss Catholic Schools week.  Michelle Hynes mentioned that  Steve Allen – Southie Photo News owes us an ad maybe we can advertise this.

•    Kay and Rose came late to meeting and discussed wreath sale – profit on this was $100.  There was much discussion about the orders this year; it was difficult knowing that we had to cover $17 of the cost before making any profit. There were wreaths left over.  Rose and Kay in the end we happy that we covered the cost of the wreaths.  It was suggested that next year we go back to purchasing and decorating them ourselves.  Also we need signage,  ie. a sandwich board in front of church.

•    April Fundraiser : it was decided to hold off the February event until April to give a break to parents.  Julie spoke with Katherine Hogan and Grey Goose is willing to do it in April.  Members present suggested March event because rest of events will be thumped together towards the end of the school year.  ???
•    Walk a thon- Kelly Conroy.  Is in the planning stages and will form a committee soon.  Will need volunteers.

•    Golf Tournament is scheduled for June 7 –

•    Michelle Hynes has already schedule the next road race for December 4, 2010.  They picked the date already so that it would be published on the Cool Running Calendars for 2010.

Here is a sampling of the Christmas Concert DVD. To order the complete DVD please email Julie Galgay at galgaymg@aol.com. The cost of the DVD is $5.00. Once you have placed your order the DVD will be left under your name in the school office.

Click here to view the DVD

Home & School Association Minutes
December 2, 2009

present: 17 members including the following officers:
• President: Julie Galgay
• Vice-Presidents: Heather Tinlin & Jennifer Jackson

Meeting called to order by Julie at 6:39 pm. Minutes from previous meeting accepted.

Treasurer’s Report: given by Stacey. $19,334.60 raised thus far.

Principal’s Report: Mrs. Carr unavailable due to girls’ first basketball game.

No-Cost Fundraising: given by Carol O’Connell. Box top earned close to $1000. New contest will begin in January. Stop & Shop A+ bonus bucks continues and we earned $190.54 for the month of October. Please spread the word for people to sign up. Reminder to register for Shaw’s (raised $35.68) & Direct TV ($250 raised). No cost fundraising information is available through website www.orgsites.com and the key word is South Boston. Continue to recycle old cell phones and ink cartridges. Need 20 to submit and almost there. Campbell’s Labels – we have almost 23,000 points. Coke Rewards has 6,000 points and will be used for gym equipment. Use the web search engine www.goodsearch.com (click on sbcatholicacademy and verify) and donation is made to school each time you do a web search – $62 raised so far.

Road Race Updates: given by Michelle Hayes. Very good event, but hoping for bigger next year. Had 50 – 60 volunteers. Approximately $3600 raised. Positive feedback from runners on the course. There are red shirts available to purchase for $20. Left over prizes will be passed along for future H & S events. Thank you going in SB Online next week. A huge thank you to Capt. Flaherty & Sgt. Watts. Plan to solicit sponsors earlier next time.

Gift Cards: given by Heather Tinlin. Only 10 families participated so far. Deadline extended.

Holiday Wreaths: given by Kay. 42 wreathes were pre-ordered. Pick-up is Friday. 100 extra ordered to be sold outside of both churches at all masses. Volunteers needed.

PIzza with Santa: given by Katherine Hogan. Event will be Sunday, December 13th with three different times. There will be sing along, photos, pizza and arts & crafts. Families will be given # to avoid long lines at Santa.

January Fundraiser: given by Julie. Proposing new event which has been very successful at other schools – clothing swap. Pay $25 to go. Drop off items and volunteers sort, hang and display clothes. Take full bag worth of stuff for your $25. Bags will have to be uniform in size (maybe Stop & Shop will donate). Decided that event will probably happen in March or April. Details will be continued to worked out at next meeting.

February Fundraiser: given by Julie. Friday, February 5, 2010. Planning to sell $20 – $25 raffle tickets. Prize will be free tuition for following year or cash prize. Drawing will be held at adults only party in Cushing Hall. $20 or $25 for admission to party. Grey Goose will be doing signature cocktails, Valentinis, and there will be a beer/wine bar. Want to improve on atmosphere of hall: rent high tables and better lighting. There will be a silent auction too.

Survey: given by Julie. Constant Contact is able to send out survey(s) in order to get parent’s feedback on events, ideas, etc.

Meeting ended at 7:42 pm. Next meeting will be January 6, 2010.

Submitted by: Heather Tinlin

Home & School Association Minutes
November 4, 2009

present:  11 members including the following officers:
•    Presidents: Julie Galgay & Maria Anderson
•    Vice-Presidents: Heather Tinlin

Meeting called to order by Julie  at 6:36 pm.  Minutes from previous meeting were not submitted at this time and therefore neither accepted nor rejected.

Treasurer’s Report: given by Julie as Stacey was unavailable.  We have approximately $16,000 raised so far.  This reflects the amount left over from last year, the dance, no cost fundraising and Yankee Candle profit.
Principal’s Report: given by Julie as Mrs. Carr was unavailable.  Pizza is discontinued secondary to disruption to office staff and nutritional reasons.  Holiday show plans are underway with dates, times and locations to be determined.

Yankee Candle Report: given by Julie as Stacey was unavailable.  Fundraiser got off to a slow start but in the end it was a huge hit!  We made $9912.57 in profit. 132 families participated.  There is also a possibility of a bonus from the company.

Halloween Dance Report: given by Heather.  We made a profit of approximately $2500 from the door, raffle, pizza and refreshments.  The kids and parents loved the DJ.  In case of another dance, we need more parents to assist ~ especially with the children running in the school yard.

No-Cost Fundraising: given by Carol O’Connell.  Spent a lot of time cutting out box tops but it was worth it as we raised $870. Kudos to Lisa Cox who had almost 1000.  2A and 2B won the contest and the next one will begin in January.  We will be placing boxes in back of both churches to encourage parishioners to deposit box tops.  Stop & Shop A+ bonus bucks has already raised $190 for the month of October alone.  Sent letter home in this week’s communication folder.  Also spoke to Margie re: service club.  For those who don’t have access to computer, Carol will collect their information and enter it for them.  Reminder to register for Shaw’s & Direct TV.  The website is www.orgsites.com and the key word is South Boston.  The Night of Giving has been discontinued.  Continues to recycle old cell phones and ink cartridges.  Need 20 to submit and is almost there.  Campbell’s Labels – we have almost 23,000 points.  Coke Rewards has 3,000 points and will be used for gym equipment.  Use the web search engine www.goodsearch.com (click on sbcatholicacademy and verify) and donation is made to school each time you do a web search.

Road Race Updates: given by Michelle Hayes.  Have 50 prizes so no more are needed, however monetary donations are!  $3200 has been raised so far which includes sponsors and pre-registrations.  We have enough water donations too.  Teams will be accepted, with a minimum of three runners.  Presently have 35 to 40 volunteers but we still need more.  Will be advertising in local newspapers and are registered at Coolrunnings.com.  Looking into possibility of hiring dj to entertain in the gym.  Complaint came from a woman in the community re: logo on t-shirt.

Gift Cards: given by Heather Tinlin.  Flyer to go home in next week’s communication folder.  Orders done on-line.  Payment and copy of order form is to be sent into office.  All submissions are due by December 4th.  Plan is to send cards home by December 18th.  Will need volunteers to help separate and distribute.  Will pick specific date at next meeting.

Holiday Wreaths:  given by Patty Clougherty.  Using a company this year as opposed to last year in which wreaths were purchased, decorated by H & S members and sold.  Company offers choice of two types of wreaths.  Profit on each will be $10 per wreath.  Patty will call company to confirm size.  Parents will pre-order wreaths and pick up arrangements is to be determined.  Shipping is available for an additional $7.  An extra 25 of each type will be ordered and sold at both churches.

Breakfast/PIzza with Santa: given by Katherine Hogan.  Events will be Sunday, December 13th with two different times.  Specifics are still being worked out.  Plan is to send home flyer to parents offering choice of times: 9 – 11 for breakfast and 12 – 2 for pizza.  Cost has not been determined yet – need to gets costs of food and photos.

January Event/Fundraiser: given by Julie.  Planning to sell $20 raffle tickets.  Prize will be free tuition for following year or cash prize.  Drawing will be held at adults only party in Cushing Hall.  Date to be determined.  Grey Goose will be doing signature cocktails and there will be a beer/wine bar.  More discussion will be held at next Home & School meeting.

Meeting ended at 7:52 pm.  Next meeting will be December 2, 2009.

Submitted by: Heather Tinlin