What a joy to see and meet so many families at our recent events including the PK/K outdoor evening with Mrs. Berardino and Ms. Keenan, our Feed My Starving Children packing event (the group fed 60 children for a year!), the Glen Lake Block Party (the rain held off!) and our Gina Maria’s Pizza in the park night (what a fabulous turn out!). I enjoyed seeing students playing with one another and parents reconnecting once again. Thank you to everyone who has participated in these events and particularly reached out to talk to or meet me.
We continue to monitor the ever changing COVID situation and, as I stated last week, we are creating our new PPRP plan for the start of school. Our first priority is the safety and health of our students. We know this plan will be very fluid as things will continue to change over the next few days, weeks and months. We would like to share a couple of recent decisions we have made:
We have decided that we will not host our upcoming Back to School night. Given the large number of people who would be indoors together including all of our unvaccinated students, we think it would be safest to cancel this event. Students can bring in supplies with them the first day of school. We will have extra staff at the doors to assist students with carrying their supplies. Hopefully parents will be able to meet teachers on Curriculum night in September.
Third grade (our largest class) will be split into two classes. Mrs. Gross and Mrs. Segar will be teaching the two third grade classes. We will divide students evenly regarding academic preparedness. We will still differentiate students for their academic needs; we will share more details as we get closer to the start of school. The 4th grade students will also still have the opportunity for differentiation; a new learning specialist will be working with Mr. Weeres to deliver those services. Both the first and third grade class lists will be communicated via email during the week of August 23rd.
If your child has a 504 plan, please know I will be contacting you soon to arrange a meeting to discuss any changes or updates to the plan as we enter a new school year.
If you have not yet responded to our Grand Beginnings survey regarding an in person versus virtual event, please do so using the link below.
Lastly, and most importantly, I would like to share our theme for the coming school year: Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus from 1 Thessalonians 5:18. We know that particularly after a challenging last many months that we have so much to be grateful for in our lives. And, most significantly, we know that we are grateful for the gift of God in our lives. God says to Moses in Exodus 3:12 I will be with you and Jesus says in Matthew 28:20 I am with you always. WOW! What an incredible gift! And living gratitude leads to living amazing lives of JOY!
With gratitude and joy in being part of the NDA community,
Dr. Bonita Jungels
Lunch and Educational Benefits Form:
If you think you may be eligible for Free & Reduced lunches, we encourage you to complete the 21-22 Application for Educational Benefits as soon as possible. This program also provides important funding for many student services.
Please complete the Application for Educational Benefits (English or Spanish) found on the NDA website under the Parent Resources tab in the Forms section at the bottom of the page. Applications can also be picked up in the school office. Please turn in completed applications soon by mailing them to school, scanning and emailing them to lflom@nda-mn.org, or dropping them off in the school office.
Fall Sports Grades 4-8
Hello NDA,
After the spring interest form for fall sports went out we registered accordingly with the SSYO. Your interest showed we have enough kids to put together six teams for our school.
1. 4-6 grade boys soccer team
2. 4-6 grade girls soccer team
3. 7-8 grade coed soccer team
4. 5-6 girls volleyball team
5. 7th grade volleyball team
6. 8th grade volleyball team
Protocols have not been set by the league, but hopes are high that athletics will happen. These teams will start as soon as school starts and run into the middle and end of October depending on what sport you play. We are attaching an official registration form and ask that you return this to the office or email it to dtesch@nda-mn.org by Monday, August 23rd to register your child. Fees will be charged to your TADS account in September after the teams have started playing.
Notre Dame Academy is hiring in our aftercare Lion's Lair program!
We are looking for an adult to work from 3:45-6:00 several days/week. This position will plan and supervise after school activities for students in grades K-8. This is a part-time position, and includes an employee discount on tuition for an employee's children or grandchildren. Please contact Bonnie Jungels at bjungels@nda-mn.org if you are interested.
Grand Beginnings Survey
We would like to get your perspective on the format of our Grand Beginnings Gala this year. GB is scheduled for Saturday, November 20. We appreciate your feedback. Please respond to this Google Form by Friday, August 13.
