5/3-5/14 NWEA Testing Grades 1-8
5/12 Top 20 Virtual Parent Session 7:00-8:30pm
5/20 Virtual Kindergarten Round Up 4:30pm
5/24-5/28 8th Grade Finals
5/28 ND yAy Day
5/31 No School Memorial Day
6/2 8th Grade Graduation
6/3 Last Day of School
6/4 No School Teacher Workshop
6/7 Summer Camps Begin
From Our Principal - Dr. Bonita Jungels
Marathon Greetings!
Thank you for your support of our fun spring fundraiser/activity - the MARATHON! Our students all had an opportunity to participate in our modified marathon today - walking around the school for 30 minutes as a class. We received incredible support - with students themselves donating their own money from their “give jar” or their birthday money. We also received generous support from our community. Our GRAND TOTAL today is $44,446.86. That means we achieved all of our incentives!! Fr. John and Fr. Paul will schedule a day to be “SUNDAE-d” ~ created into ice cream sundaes. Additionally, see below for our class and individual participation winners. Thank you so much to the community for your support!
During this week of teacher appreciation, I want to express my gratitude for everything that the staff has done to keep our students learning and growing in person as well as met the needs of distance learners this year. It has not been an easy year, to say the least, but we are one of the only Catholic schools who has not had to close for any length of time because of COVID. Pretty amazing feat! My appreciation to all of those parents as well as the Home and School Committee who helped us celebrate our teachers and staff this week by bringing in a multitude of wonderful treats and gifts. THANK YOU!!
Our Top 20 Parent Session is on Weds, May 12th from 7:00-8:30pm. We are so fortunate to have the Director of Top 20 Training, Paul Bernabei, host a Parent Session entitled Notre Dame Academy: Where Something Incredible is Possible. He will introduce our new Social Emotional Learning curriculum by sharing information about how we most effectively think, learn and communicate.Top 20 has been a transformative program for me both professionally and personally. I hope that you will be able to join us that evening!
Each class will be covering the safe environment lessons over the next few weeks. Please know that we use the Netsmartz curriculum which covers a variety of health and well being topics including internet safety.
Pilgrimage - A quick note to share that I felt so privileged to accompany the 8th grade students on their pilgrimage last week. I had a fabulous time. It was a great blessing to see the students both enjoying one another in a casual, loud and silly 8th grade manner as well as watch them very maturely and prayerfully experience each of the shrines that we visited. They respectfully entered into each environment of prayer such as the Masses, adoration and confession with appropriate reverence. We prayed the rosary together and enjoyed awe-filled wonder and inspiration together. I also appreciated getting to know the chaperones and seeing the 8th graders who didn’t make the trip join us via zoom. Additionally, I am grateful for the leadership of both Mr. Athey and Fr. John as we journeyed through each of our experiences over our three days together.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms in our NDA community!
Dr. Bonita Jungels
A mother is clothed with strength and dignity, laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks her words are wise and she gives instructions with kindness.
Proverbs 31:25-26
Information & Reminders
Virtual Top 20 Parent Session
We invite you to our spring parent session! We all have the power of choice. Join us on May 12 via Zoom to learn more about helping your child make good choices. Our presenter will be, Paul Bernabei, co-founder of Top 20. The Zoom link will be sent next week in a News Note. We will record this session for those that can not join us next Wednesday night.
Virtual Kindergarten Round Up
We are excited to welcome our incoming Kindergarten families! Please save the date for a parent zoom session on May 20, at 4:30pm. We will start the event with a story from Ms. Keenan so your students are now invited to 'meet' her at 4:30pm and then we will transition to adult information. We plan to invite students into the classroom in August, instead of hosting our usual Round Up format given the current Covid protocols.
Teacher Appreciation
We are grateful for the many notes and treats you blessed our teachers and staff with this week! We appreciate our Home and School Committee and the entire parent community for supporting us this week and all year long. Thank you for all that you do for NDA.
Preschool Summer Wow
We have a few openings within our Summer Wow program. If you have not registered for the summer camp here at NDA for your preschooler, please do so via your Procare account.
Mr. Weeres
Mr. Weeres and his wife welcomed their baby daughter, Lily, into the world last weekend. We included a picture below. Congratulations to the Weeres family!
NDA Signs
We are so proud of our families and how we all worked together to manage this incredibly difficult school year. Next week, we will be handing out yard and window signs and hope that you will consider sharing your school pride for NDA! Help us continue to spread the word about NDA so that we can continue to invite new families into our school community.
8th Grade Pilgrimage
Our annual 8th Grade Pilgrimage is an excellent way for our students to wrap up their time here at NDA. To read more about their meaningful trip, please read our latest news story and be sure to view photos from their trip on Facebook and Instagram.
CSCOE May Parent Session: Technology and Social Media
The use of social media and technology is one of the most popular areas of concern for parents of children and adolescents. How much is too much? How do we keep our kids safe online? What about the constant social comparisons? This session will focus on the latest research on use of social media and technology. It will also help us understand the relationship between brain development and what drives the need to feel connected online. Parenting tips will be offered. https://calendly.com/drjulesnolan/parenting-technology-and-social-media
5/18 at 7pm
NDA Summer Camp 2021
Spring has sprung, which means summer is just around the corner! Join us for another summer of fun at NDA Summer Camp 2021! Please see the attached flyer for more information. Access the google form to register for camp! NDA Summer Camp is open to all NDA students entering grades 1 through 8. Incoming Kindergartners are encouraged to register for the preschool Summer WOW program. Once camp begins, we will continue protecting our pods and will unfortunately not be able to accommodate late registrations. Registration is due May 28. If submitted by April 30, the registration fee will be reduced to $25 from $45. Please visit our Summer 2020 blog (Password: NDA) to see the kinds of activities your student will take part in this summer! Contact Mr. Stephens with any questions at lionslair@nda-mn.org! Summer here we come!
Recess Sign Up
May dates are now available, thank you for volunteering to help us with recess duty! NDA Recess Sign Up Genius.
Marathon
We are grateful to our NDA supporters! With your help, we have reached all of our Marathon goals! Thank you for your effort over the past few weeks. We were blessed to have a beautiful sunny day to run and walk outside. Our grand total is $44,446.86!
$10,000 – Chocolate Milk Option at Lunch EVERYDAY ✔
$20,000 – Friday Spirit Wear Days (for the upcoming year) ✔
$30,000 – Ice Cream Truck Visit ✔
$35,000 – A Surprise from Father John and Father Paul ✔
Our class competition winners our grade 3 and 5! These two grades brought in the most donations (based on an average donation per student) will have a choice of the following prizes.
Pizza party for the class
Doughnuts and juice for the class
Popcorn and movie afternoon
Out of uniform for the last week of school
Our participation gift card winners were drawn from a bucket of names for each student who brought in a donation of at least $5. The winners of $150 Target gift cards are Andrew S., James S., Elizabeth J., Ariya T., and Lindsey D. Congratulations and thank you to all who participated!
High School News
Holy Family
Join the summer fun at Holy Family Catholic High School! Our camps provide opportunities to discover new interests and improve skills. Learn more and register for camps at http://www.hfchs.org/firecamps.
Holy Family
Join the Holy Family Dance Team for the 2021-22 season! Tryouts for the team will be held on May 24-25 from 4:00-6:00pm and May 26 from 3:30-6:00pm at Holy Family Catholic. The team is open to students at Notre Dame Academy who are currently in grades 6-8th. A virtual meeting for new athletes & parents will be held on Monday, May 17 at 6:00pm. Email Coach Megan at holyfamilydanceteam@gmail.com for more information about the program, to receive the virtual meeting link or to register for tryouts.
Benilde-St. Margaret's
Summer is right around the corner and so are summer camp opportunities for students! Benilde-St. Margaret’s will be holding a wide variety of summer camps throughout June and July, from drama to French camp, engineering to virtual reality, lacrosse to tennis, and many more. Camp offerings are open to students as young as third grade. Interested families can register today! Learn more: https://www.bsmredknights.org/page/show/6100515-2021-summer-camps.
St. Thomas Academy
Saint Thomas Academy is having a “Splash Sale” in advance of our summer revitalization project to campus. Faculty and staff will have books, art, multimedia, sports equipment and more for sale on Sunday, May 16 from 12:00 – 4:00pm in the Holtz Gym. Saint Thomas Academy is located at 949 Mendota Heights Road, Mendota Heights.
Photos
Parent Prayer
Good and Gentle God, we pray in gratitude for our mothers and for all the women of theory who have joined with you in the wonder of bringing forth new life. You who became human through a woman, grant to all mothers the courage they need to face the uncertain future that life with children always brings.
Give them the strength to live and to be loved in return, not perfectly, but humanly.
Give them the faithful support of husband, family and friends as they care for the physical and spiritual growth of their children.
Give them joy and delight in their children to sustain them through the trials of motherhood. Most of all, give them the wisdom to turn to you for help when they need it most.
- Author Unknown
Contacts & Links
Attendance
Please email the school office
or call (952) 358-3500 any time your child will be absent, late or leaving early.
