School News & Reminders

7th & 8th Grade Dance Expo: It will be held next Thursday, February 21, at 7:00 pm in the SMM Activity Center. All are invited.
 

Dino-Mite Book Fair: Stomp, Chomp, and Read! Northside Catholic Academy’s Spring Book Fair! Don’t miss the chance to explore new titles and purchase popular reads at NCA’s annual Spring Book Fair. The Dino-Mite Book Fair will be held in the NCA primary campus lunchroom, on Sunday, March 3, after the 10:00, 10:30, and 11:30 masses.

All proceeds benefit NCA’s primary and middle school teachers, classrooms and libraries, so be sure to stop by!

Oh, The Places We Will Go-Wildcat Summer Camp 2019: June 17-August 2nd-  Reduced Early Registration Fee, $50 (by May 1)  $100 (after May 1) Weekly Rates-Same as last year!!  $225 per week (4+ weeks) $260 per week (less than 4 weeks)   Discounted Sibling Rate-Same as last year!!   $160 per week (4+ weeks)  $200 per week (less than 4 weeks)  Registration closes June 1. ECP available AM and PM.  REGISTRATION OPENING SOON! 

St. Margaret Mary Parish-A Celebration of St. Patrick & St. Joseph: Saturday evening, March 9, 2019, in the Activity Center, immediately following the 4:00 pm Mass. Please see attachment for more details.

NCA Bus Registration: Registration is open!! Register for 2019-20 Before/After School Bus Service by April 12, 2019.  Cost remains the same. Spaces are limited so register right away.

Service Hours:  NCA will be invoicing families for unserved hours in a few months.  Every family must complete 20 hours of service, or you will be charged $25 for every unserved hour.  Please make sure you enter your completed hours on the Quick Link on School Speak.  There are quite a few volunteer opportunities on SchoolSpeak now.  Many that do not require VIRTUS training!  Volunteer today.  

Speak Up’s 7-Week Course: How Do We Talk With Our Children About Race? Children are internalizing implicit messages about race every day. Research shows that children adopt society’s harmful racial biases even when their parents and teachers don’t share those biases. Talking with children explicitly about race and racism is the only thing that has been proven to interrupt problematic comprehensive racial learning experiences. In our 7-week workshop series, participants reflect on their own experiences, explore the research on race and children, deepen their analysis of systemic racism, role play meaningful responses to challenging situations, and learn about developmentally appropriate resources for teaching and raising anti-racist children. 

Each session is typically run by two facilitators with a strong professional background in development, education, and anti-racism. Usually, we pair one white facilitator and one person of color facilitator. Facilitators include Megan Brand, MS Ed, NBCT, Michele Herro, M Ed, Brit Holmberg, MSW, LCSW, Marion Malcome, MSW, LCSW, Rahul Sharma, Psy. D., and Christina Woods, M Ed.  

Sundays, 3:30-6:00, beginning 2/24, at Peirce Elementary

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSPbV4icXXalO-axsp8OW9Qb_iMwkrs8duiPpDYOD3H1THww/viewform

For more info, please email antibiaseducator@gmail.com or NCA parent Amy VanStee at amystrass@gmail.com 

Important Change to Guardian Angel Scholarship Application (GASF): For the 2019-2020 academic year, NCA has moved to a new independent review company.  We are moving from Smart Aid to FACTS Grant and Aid Assessment. FACTS maintains a larger client base and possesses greater reporting information which will allow the NCA Scholarship Review Team to better access the family’s needs and make scholarship awards which meet the needs of the families and NCA.  If you believe your family will require financial assistance our FACTS online application will be available as of February 1, 2019.  We estimate that you will receive notice of your tax credit scholarship in the coming weeks.  The attached link will get you to the site to start your application, https://online.factsmgt.com/signin/42B45   The online version allows all documents to be electronically uploaded directly into your application. Please see attachment for more details.  
The deadline for consideration of the Guardian Angel Fund is May 1, 2019

Need for Recess Volunteers: NCA is looking for parents to volunteer and earns service hours to assist our teachers in supervising outdoor and indoor recess for Grades 1 - 4. We have these volunteer times listed on SchoolSpeak. This does require parents to be Virtus trained. I am hopeful we can find parents who are open to assisting us. Thank you.

🎟️Queen of Hearts Raffle 50/50: Q❤️ still hiding! Rollover! Next week we are doing a special drawing at Northside Catholic Academy’s Annual Soiree @ approximately 9:30. $500 to whoever’s ticket is drawn(unless it’s the Q❤️ then you still win 1/2 the pot) The pot is over $30,000!!

Feb 17-22: Random Acts of Kindness Week 

SPONSOR A TEACHER CHALLENGE!!!
 

As your child will tell you when they come home, it’s Random Acts of Kindness week!  In the spirit of that, we have one final 24-hour Sponsor a Teacher challenge!  Here are some stats and how it works:  

# of teachers/staff attending the Soirée = 59

# of teachers/staff currently sponsored through Sponsor a Teacher = 51

# of Sponsor a Teacher tickets needed to reach 100% = 8

If we sell 8 sponsors a teacher tickets in the next 24 hours (so before midnight on Thursday, February 21st), our teachers/staff will be 100% sponsored and we will host a Soirée pep rally complete with sweet treats, music, and fun for all students during their regular lunch periods on Friday, February 22.    

Let's show our teachers some LOVE by clicking on the link below to SPONSOR A TEACHER and help the kids win this challenge!! 

Ncasoiree.com

Our 6th-grade students completed their art project last week. They made colorful nameplates that are now on display at the middle school. 🎨🌈✨💫 

 Spring Sports Registration is NOW CLOSED for Girls Lacrosse, Boys Volleyball, and Boys Lacrosse

Bitty Basketball and Bitty Volleyball registrations will remain open until April

Bitty Volleyball (Co-ed, grades 2-4)
Bitty Volleyball registration for girls and boys in grades 2-4 is open. This is the perfect opportunity to start building volleyball skills before your child starts playing on an NCA team in 4^th/5^th grade. Bitty volleyball is an introduction to volleyball fundamentals. We need all boys and girls interested to sign up and register on or before Monday, April 1. Register on SchoolSpeak under the Athletic Section (scroll down to the bottom of the SchoolSpeak homepage). Our spring session will be 4 weeks and is scheduled as follows. Registration is $40 per child.

Bitty Volleyball will take place in our primary campus gym on the following Fridays:

Fri, April 5

Fri, April 12

Fri, April 26

Fri, May 3

6:15-7: 15 pm in the primary campus gym for all 2^nd – 4^th graders.

Bitty and Junior Basketball (Co-ed, grades K-3)
Bitty and Junior Basketball registration for girls and boys in grades K-3 is open. This is the perfect opportunity to start building basketball skills before your child starts playing on an NCA team in fourth grade! Bitty Basketball is an introduction to basketball fundamentals while Junior Basketball takes it to the next level and readies the players for NCA team competition. We need all boys and girls interested to sign up and register on or before Monday, April 22. Register on SchoolSpeak under the Athletic Section (scroll down to the bottom of the SchoolSpeak homepage). Our spring session will be 4 weeks and is scheduled as follows. Registration is $40 per child.

Bitty Basketball and Junior Basketball will take place in our primary campus gym on the following Saturdays:

Sat, April 27

Sat, May 4

Sat, May 18

Sat, June 1

2^nd - 3^rd grade (Junior Basketball) will be held from 8:30 am – 9:45 am.

K - 1^st grade (Bitty Basketball) will be held from 9:45 am – 11:00 am.

NCA Boys and Girls Basketball
All regular season NCA games are posted on our website at www.northsidecatholic.org (click on Athletics and Athletics Calendar). A packed gym is a fun gym. Come on out and cheer on our NCA Wildcats! You can also view games (by the team) and standings on the CCYL league website at

https://chicagocatholicyouthleague.teamsnapsites.com/basketball-schedule/# (click on Basketball and Schedules).

Playoff schedules will be released soon. Good luck to all our NCA teams!

8th Grade Girls Basketball Rose Ceremony 
Thanks to all the kids, parents, and families who came out to cheer on our 8th-grade girls for their last basketball game at SMM on Tues, Feb 12. Thank you also to Wendy Biety whose 7th-grade girls’ families volunteered to work the gym so the 8th-grade parents could enjoy their daughters’ last game from the stands. Thank you also to Wendy Biety who announced our 8th-grade girls and their parents for our traditional rose ceremony honoring our soon to be 8th-grade graduating girls. Congratulations girls!

9th Annual Hustle & Heart Basketball Clinic to Benefit Danny Did

Date: Monday, February 18th (President's Day)

Venue: Golf View Recreation Center, 7800 N. Caldwell (Niles Park District)

Cost: $25 per participant as the early bird price through February 4th. After Feb. 4th, the fee increases to $30 per person. A t-shirt is included for each camper. Thanks to the generosity of the Golf View Recreation Center, our sponsors and the coaches and counselors involved, all proceeds go to the Danny Did Foundation. 

Registration: Online only at www.events.org/basketball.

Partner Schools: Enjoy your day off from school at this two-hour basketball clinic for boys and girls, hosted by the best basketball programs in the area, including Benet Academy, Notre Dame College Prep, Loyola Academy, DePaul Prep, Regina Dominican, Lane Tech, Taft High School and Truman College. 

Format: Players from each partner school will serve as counselors for the camp. Each session will include basketball skills basics and contests, followed by a counselor dunk contest and information on epilepsy and seizure safety. All ability levels are welcome! New this year, all grades are welcome to register for either session.

• Session I: 9 am – 10:50 am (Kindergarten – 7th Grade)
• Session II: 11 am – 12:50 pm (Kindergarten – 7th Grade)

Flyer: Please invite friends and classmates and help us spread the word all around Chicagoland. CLICK HERE for a flyer to share with friends. 

https://www.dannydid.org/events/9th-annual-hustle--hearts-basketball-clinic-/

Basketball Program at Winnemac Park
The Chicago Park District is hosting a winter basketball program for all 8-10-year-olds at Winnemac Park. Thursdays, 6:00-7: 00 pm, Jan 20-Mar 14. Cost is $37. Please see attachment for details and registration information. 

NCA Spiritwear
Our Spiritwear site formerly known as My Locker is now known as Spiritshop.com. Same company, different name. Click on the link below to access NCA spirit wear items. You can design your own t-shirts, hoodies, hats, shorts, etc. with our NCA logos which are available on the site. Order your spirit wear today and come out to the fields and courts to cheer on your favorite Wildcats! https://www.spiritshop.com/school/illinois/chicago/northside-catholic-academy

Wildcat Photos Needed
for inclusion in our weekly newsletter and on our website.smorrissette@ncaweb.orgCalling all parents! Please forward any athletic pictures from our fall sports programs to Shakira Morrissette at 

Girl Power Yoga Club Mission Propelle’s: Session runs 12 weeks starting 3/5 and ending 5/28. $192 per student 3:15-4:15. Please see the attached flyer for more details.


iCook: Please see the attached flyer for more details.

Warren Park Youth Baseball Little League: Registration is now open! Please click attachment for more details.

Loyola University Ramblers: Please click links below for info and schedules for the LU Mens and Womens Basketball Teams. Come cheer on the Loyola Ramblers with Sr. Jean at the Gentile Arena, and don’t forget to wear your scarves!

https://loyolaramblers.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=159

https://loyolaramblers.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=158

Chicago Market upcoming Info Sessions: