Too Important to Miss:

Fri. Mar. 30   Box Tops for Education class competition ends!!
Sun. Apr. 1  PALM SUNDAY
Apr. 2-6  Holy Week – NO CLUBS THIS WEEK BRING YOUR OWN LUNCH!! NO MEALS FROM BSD
Fri. Apr. 6   Good Friday; Noon Dismissal LAST DAY FOR DISCOUNTED REGISTRATION FOR 2012-13
Apr. 9-13  Spring Break
Apr. 24-27  6th grade to Environmental Camp
Thurs. May 3  Science Fair
Fri. May 4  May Crowning
Mon. May 28  Memorial Day (No School)
June 4-6  Cultural Fair
Thurs. June 7 Spring Concert
Wed. June 13 8th grade graduation
Fri. June 15  Last day of school

Dear Our Lady Star of the Sea Families,

Congratulations to our students who brought in “The Green” for “Wearing the Green” last week!  Thanks to their dollars, we raised $151.78 to buy Scrip gas cards to give to St. Vincent de Paul to help out those in need.

Thanks to the many families who have re-registered their students for the 2012-13 school year – don’t forget that the discounted registration fee ends on April 6. (K-8 is $50/student; Preschool is $35/student). 

TUITION PAID IN FULL PRIOR TO 8/15/12 WILL RECEIVE A 5% DISCOUNT

We are now accepting registrations for new students in 2012-13.  If you know of someone who is interested in attending our school next year, please invite them to come in and take a tour of the school.  WE HAVE REGISTRATION PACKETS AVAILABLE IN THE MAIN OFFICE. 

WALDBILLIG SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS DUE APRIL 20!!

Eighth grade students who wish to apply for a Waldbillig Scholarship need to request a letter of recommendation from both the parish (Fr. Lappe) and the school (Mrs. Wolfe) to accompany your application.  Requests for letters must be in no later than Friday, April 6, written by the student.

From The Library

Are you starting to do a little Spring cleaning?  As you’re going through your children’s books, please consider donating gently used books to the school library.  We are in particular need of:

• Religious books for children
• Books for Kindergarten and 1st grade students
• Folk and fairy tales from around the world
• Books from popular series

Our books do get worn out or out of date, and this would be a great help to our book collection!!  Any books that we don’t need would be donated to St. Vincent’s.

Please drop your donations at the school office.

Thank you,

Mrs. Kennedy

PLEASE REMEMBER – BRING YOUR OWN LUNCH NEXT WEEK – NO HOT LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED (Bremerton School District IS ON SPRING BREAK next week.)

Our Transportation Committee is in full swing – we are in the process of locating our bus and determining routes.

Remember that we are going to have a SCIENCE FAIR on May 3!  Our classrooms in grades K-2 will be doing a project as a class; students in grades 3-5 will do partner projects (partners from within the class); and students in grades 6-8 will do individual projects.  Please note – students will do a majority of the work in class, under the guidance of their teacher.

Have a blessed Palm Sunday weekend!
Jeannette Wolfe
jwolfe@starofthesea.net

Palm Sunday

Our sign is a palm branch.
On Palm Sunday we celebrate
Jesus’ being welcomed
by the people in Jerusalem.
We read the story of
Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross.
O Lord, help us always to welcome
Jesus into our hearts.   Amen.

Too Important to Miss:       

Sat. Mar. 17 –  St. Patrick’s Day!!
Mon. Mar. 19 -  BRING THE GREEN TO WEAR THE GREEN!!
Thurs. Mar. 22 –  Junior High NET Retreat at Island Lake Conference Center
Fri. Mar. 23 –  Teacher In-Service  Day – NO SCHOOL
Sat. Mar. 24 –  Mrs. B’s Birthday!
Fri. Mar. 30 -  Box Tops for Education class competition ends!!
Fri. Apr. 6 -  Good Friday; Noon Dismissal
Apr. 9-13 -  Spring Break
Thurs. May 3 -  Science Fair

Dear Our Lady Star of the Sea Families,

We are excited to help St. Vincent de Paul again, with our “Bring the Green to Wear the Green” fundraiser next Monday, March 19.  Students who bring a dollar (or more) to school that day can also have a free dress day, as long as they are wearing some green in their clothing!  Many folks who are visiting St. Vincent’s these days are in need of gas so they can get to their jobs, so we are going to help by purchasing Scrip gas cards with the money we raise, and donating the cards to St. Vincent’s.  Parents, this is not a crazy hair or hat day, just a chance to wear green and help out those in need.

I’d like to point out a calendar item so you have the information early – yes, we are going to have a SCIENCE FAIR on May 3!  Our classrooms in grades K-2 will be doing a project as a class; students in grades 3-5 will  do partner projects (partners from within the class); and students in grades 6-8 will do individual projects.  Please note –  students will do a majority of the work in class, under the guidance of their teacher.

Our students in grades 6-8 will be participating in a great opportunity next Thursday, Mar. 22, at Island Lake Conference Center, from 9-5.  Our Youth Director, Josh Johnson, has arranged for a National Evangelization Team to come to our area to inspire our students (as well as students from St. Cecilia’s and Queen of Angels parishes) to learn more about and be motivated to share our faith.  Please pray for a meaningful day for all of these students! 
 
Please see the attached flyer describing the part time opening our parish currently has for a “Web Content Manager,” and think about those you know that have the qualifications and are looking for part time work!  Our web presence is vital to be able to share the great things happening at our school and parish!! 

We are now accepting registrations for new students in 2012-13.  If you know of someone who is interested in attending our school next year, please invite them to come in and take a tour of the school.  Also, if you have not re-registered, please do that prior to April 6, 2012, to take advantage of the $50/student registration fee!  (Preschool is $35/student). 

TUITION PAID IN FULL PRIOR TO 8/15/12 WILL RECEIVE A 5% DISCOUNT.

Reminder – Our staff will soon be changing to new email addresses.  They will be the same first initial, last name, but the location is now “starofthesea.net.”  Our current emails will continue to forward to this new address until mid-April.  Please take a couple of minutes to change your address book now so you don’t get frustrated in mid-April when the old address will not work!

Have a blessed weekend!
Jeannette Wolfe
jwolfe@starofthesea.net

Our Transportation Committee will have its first meeting on Thursday, March 22, at 9:30 a.m. We will gather in the main office.  Please join us!

JOB OPENINGS AT THE CHANCERY!!

The Accounting Department at the Chancery Offices for The Archdiocese of Seattle is looking to hire temporary personnel for processing the Annual Catholic Appeal fund-raiser. Hiring is occurring for two different areas of temporary employment:

• Mail Sort and Bank Deposit – Duties will include sorting the mail, reconciling parish summary sheets to enclosed pledge cards, categorizing donations, pre-paring batches for deposit, completing deposits to the bank, and other duties as assigned. Approximately 40 hours/week Monday thru Friday from 10am to 6pm.
 
• Data Entry and Filing – Duties include entering gift information into Raisers Edge database, filing completed gift batches, and other miscellaneous duties as assigned. Scheduled hours for data entry positions will be between noon and 8pm Monday thru Friday and may be less than 40/hours week.
 
Projected dates for this temporary employment are May 7, 2012 thru June 15, 2012. Depending on response to the fundraiser these dates could end prior to June 15th or extend beyond June 15th. Employment is contingent on passing a background check. Flexibility regarding number of hours worked each day is helpful as work is dependent on how much mail is received every morning. If interested, please send a completed Chancery application to the Human Resources Department by April 10, 2012. The position being applied for is “Appeal Temp”. Hourly rate ranges from $12 to $15/hour. Training for Raisers Edge and other duties provided by the Archdiocese.

TO FRIENDS OF NAVY BAND NORTHWEST

We would like to invite you to our upcoming

Keyport Concert

 Sunday, March 18, 2012

at 2:00 p.m.

This is the second of three Keyport Concerts of the Spring Season; 

it will feature Navy Band Northwest’s

BRASS QUINTET, “FIVE STAR BRASS,”

under the leadership of MU1 (SW) Justin Strauss.

Performing in the Keyport Naval Undersea Museum’s Auditorium,

“Five Star Brass” will present a concert of music ranging from

classical to modern and jazz styles. 

As always, all navy Band Northwest Concerts are FREE and

open to the public, so we hope you can join us on

March 18 at 2:00 p.m. for some great music!!

Future performance dates include:

April 15, 2012, 2:00 p.m.; Keyport Concert #3; Ceremonial Band

April 21, 2012: Seattle Mariners Armed Forces Appreciation Day at Safeco Field, Seattle; Brass Band performs pregame music; Solo Vocalist will sing “God Bless America” during 7th inning stretch.

May 14-20th, 2012:  Spokane Navy Week; Navy Band Northwest’s Popular Music Group, “Passage”

Dear Our Lady Star of the Sea Families, 

            Now that we have the go-ahead to purchase a bus for our school, I am looking for 5-6 adults to serve on a Transportation Committee.  The initial goals for the group’s work will be: to determine the availability of a bus that will meet our needs, to locate qualified drivers and substitute drivers for the route, to forecast expenses for maintenance and general upkeep, to identify areas of the county where families could most benefit from a bus to transport students to and from school, and to identify potential bus stop areas. Please contact me at 360-373-5162, or jwolfe@starofthesea.net (new email) to let me know if you are interested in helping with this exciting new venture at our school!  I look forward to working with you!

      Our staff will soon be changing to new email addresses.  They will be the same first initial, last name, but the location is now “starofthesea.net.”  Our current emails will continue to forward to this new address until mid-April.  Please take a couple of minutes to change your address book now so you don’t get frustrated in mid-April when the old address will not work! J

            You should have received a white re-registration form last week in your child’s Friday Folder.  Thanks to those of you who have already sent your registration in for next year, and taken advantage of the reduced registration fee ($50 per student if paid prior to April 6)!

 (Preschool registration fee is $35 prior to April 6.)

            When completing the green Tuition Worksheet, you will notice that we have combined the non-refundable Book/Supply/Technology/Class Auction fee into one amount for each child registering.  Registration will not be complete without payment of this fee. 

            TUITION PAID IN FULL PRIOR TO 8/15/12 WILL RECEIVE A 5% DISCOUNT.

Have a blessed weekend!

Jeannette Wolfe

IXL MATH PROGRAM ARRIVES!! 

          Many thanks go to our Parent’s Club, who recently donated funds to purchase the license for an individualized, web-based math program for our students. 

          THE GREAT NEWS IS, STUDENTS CAN SHARPEN THEIR MATH SKILLS BOTH AT HOME AND AT SCHOOL, EVEN OVER THE SUMMER, FOR THE NEXT YEAR!  

          You will soon be receiving information from your child’s teacher about how to access the program from home.  Each child will receive his/her username and password (specific to each child).  After logging in to the system at www.ixl.com, students click on the “Practice” tab, and choose their grade level.  Then they just click on a skill and start practicing math!  Teachers will be able to track each student’s progress with a variety of reports, including how much time is spent at home practicing skills as well as student progress toward mastery of skills.  Each grade level’s skills are aligned with our state standards, allowing teachers to assign practice sessions that meet our learning targets for math.

          Students earn “virtual” prizes after each success, so it’s definitely motivational for them to participate in the program.

          We are very excited about this new addition to our bank of math resources, and look forward to hearing from you about your experiences with it at home. 

CYO Summer Camp Registration
Now Open for 2012 

            ‘Summer Camp is more than just eating s’mores, swimming in the pool, and exploring the woods.  Camp is about transforming lives through programs rooted in Catholic tradition and personal encounters with Jesus Christ.’  So states the introduction to the brochure about this summer’s CYO camp opportunities.

What do students say about their experiences at CYO Summer Camps?

            “I felt closer to Him and more willing to pray.”

            “It made me see how important and prominent God is in my life.”

Visit the website and find out more about the many opportunities for camp available to our youth at www.camping.seattleoyyam.org.  CYO summer Camps is a ministry of the Archdiocese of Seattle.  You can also call them at 206-382-4591, or email them at cyo@seattlearch.org for more information.

Congratulations to our 8^th grade students!
All who applied to Catholic High Schools were accepted for the 2012-13 school year! We are very proud of their accomplishments!

Dear Our Lady Star of the Sea School Families,

Our Spelling Bee results are in and the winner is….seventh grader, Joe M, and our runner-up is fifth grader, Elyse M!! The “Spell-Down” round was competitive, and went back and forth several times – we were praying for them both!  Our other spellers were: Elizabeth H, Blake H, and Thomas M (4^th grade); Karlos C and Julia G (5^th grade); Marian A and Maggie D (6^th grade); Robie R (7^th grade); and Richard L and Janita L (8^th grade).

Many thanks to those of you who were able to attend – I think you will agree that all students did a fantastic job.

Thanks to all who contributed items for our Grandparent’s Day reception today, and to our special visitors for attending.

I would also like to thank our SCOPE Auction Chairwoman, Kathy Albro, and her tremendous team for all the time, treasure and talent she and the team contributed for tonight’s event.  I am overwhelmed at the amount of organization and attention to detail Kathy puts in, and tonight you will see the results of all that hard work!  It will be an amazing evening.

Have a blessed weekend and week!

Jeannette Wolfe

Dear Our Lady Star of the Sea School Families,

Whew!  What a great week we have had this week, celebrating our Catholic School!  Many thanks to all who helped with the Pancake Breakfast last weekend – what a great crowd we had, and the food was delicious!  From there we moved to a fun Slipper Day, and a delightful Winter Concert put on by our entire student body.  Wednesday was a great time for all you sports fans, as the 8^th graders took on the teachers in volleyball.  Teachers won the first game by a comfortable margin, and the 8^th graders gave us a run for our money in the second game, but the teachers ended up with a second win.  I think the fans had as much fun as the players, supporting their teams with banners, “The Wave,” and lots of cheering!!  Thursday brought lots of hats, free dress, and food for the St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank.  We’ll see if my office floor is completely covered by Friday morning – right now it’s Thursday, and we have about 12 sq. ft. of carpet still showing, so I gave the students one more day to bring in donations.  Next week I will be able to tell you about the results of our Spelling Bee, so stay tuned!    

Have a blessed weekend and week!

Jeannette Wolfe

Too Important to Miss:

• Mon. Feb. 6 – Mrs. Sullivan’s Birthday!!
• Tue. Feb. 7 – Bremerton Symphony Youth Concert field trip to BHS 9:45 AM
• Fri. Feb. 10 – Mrs. Cruz’s Birthday!
  Grandparents Day! Visit classrooms after 9:00 Mass; enjoy coffee and treats in the cafeteria downstairs from 10:00-12:00
  DISMISS AT NOON*
  *Fulcrum Applications Due in Main Office*
• Sun. Feb. 12 – Open House 12:30 -3:30 p.m.  Come visit classrooms and invite future students to come as well!
• Mon. Feb. 13– Club Picture Day
• Thur. Feb. 16 – Mr. Carpenter’s Birthday!!
• Feb. 17-20 – No School; President’s Day Weekend
• Wed. Feb. 22 – Ash Wednesday; school mass at 9:00 a.m. 

Fulcrum Tuition Assistance  Application Period for school year 2012-13 Deadline is Fri. Feb. 10!! 

If you haven’t already applied to Fulcrum, it is time to start thinking about next year’s registration process!  The Fulcrum Foundation’s application process is currently open for those who plan on applying for tuition assistance for next school year.

This year all applications need to be completed online by the family applying, or the TAP Coordinator (Mrs. Wolfe) – no handwritten applications will be accepted by the Foundation. 

To submit an online application, go to http://www.fulcrumfoundation.org/tuition 

Select the application for elementary (K-8) on the screen.  Fill in all required fields and click “Submit and Print.”  Submitting the tuition assistance application for online creates a submit ID in the upper left-hand corner of the application printout.  The submit ID includes the date of the submission and a unique 4-digit number.  It verifies that the online application has been received by the Foundation.

The application printout with the submit ID should be attached to required financial documentation in the final submission packet that is mailed to the Foundation by the school.  (Estimation for the online application time is about 5 minutes.)

Required financial information includes IRS forms 1040, 1040A or e-file.  Send only pages 1 and 2.  Do not send other forms or schedules A, E, etc.  For applicants with non-taxable income, copy documents such as 1099, federal or state aid, alimony, or child support.

Applications for assistance from Fulcrum must be submitted to the school office by NOON on Friday, Feb. 10, 2012 for consideration.

Please contact our Office Staff or Mrs. Wolfe if you have any questions about this process.

Dear Our Lady Star of the Sea School Families,

Happy New Year!  I hope and pray that your Advent and Christmas seasons have been valuable times for your family and friends.  Today is not only First Friday, but also the Friday before the Solemnity of the Epiphany.  As Pope Benedict writes, “The Magi set out because of a deep desire which prompted them to leave everything and begin a journey.  It was thought they had always been waiting for that star.”  Especially at the beginning of a new calendar year, I feel a renewed sense of beginning a journey; resolutions are made, and we are refreshed and ready to continue to teach our students.  I expect these next few months to be very fruitful in terms of our students’ learning; not only in the academic area, but also in terms of learning about giving to others – service learning.  We are planning on running a huge canned food drive during Catholic Schools Week to benefit local food banks.  After the holidays, their shelves need to be restocked, and we want to help!  Students will begin collecting food the weekend of Jan. 28-29; you will hear more about the details as we approach the date.  Our staff has set a terrific goal, but I want the kids to hear about it first at next week’s Monday morning assembly!

Have a blessed week!

Too Important to Miss