Seton Academy of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

SETON ACADEMY

623 Sixth Avenue

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18018

January 17, 2012

Dear Parents and Guardians,

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK

The faculty and I have finalized our Catholic Schools Week events and have enclosed a Catholic Schools Week schedule. As you can see, we will be having a second Open House. We again need our tour guides to help out with the event. I ask that you encourage your friends and neighbors who may have children in public or private schools to come and check out Seton Academy.

The Bishops Commission on Catholic Schools is starting a Tuition Transfer Grant Program in our parishes for parishioners who have children in public or private schools. Parishioners would be offered a $1000.00 grant for a child entering grades 2 through 7 in a Catholic school this fall. The following year they would be offered a $500.00 grant. By offering the BCCS Tuition Transfer Grants we can increase total tuition revenue which will limit the need to raise your child’s tuition levels in the immediate future and the increase in tuition revenue will help us improve the school facilities with capital investments. However, there is another very important realization in these efforts to increase student enrollment. The more Catholic students that we educate every day in our school, the more children learn our Catholic faith and values. That is our responsibility. Many of us have had the gift of a Catholic school education and we want to make sure it is available long in to the future for our children and for our grandchildren.

CSW Events:

Please return your reservation and order slip for our Pizza Get Together & Workshop for parents and teachers only. A repeat of the form is attached to today’s letter. The faculty and I are planning sessions on various strategies that support your child in learning.

We invite parents, grandparents, and parishioners to Mass with us on Thursday, February 2 at 9:30 AM. The Mass will be concelebrated by Fr. Potts, Fr. Killian, Fr. Mozcydlowski, and Monsignor Baver. They will bless throats at the end of Mass since February 2 is the eve of St. Blasé. After Mass join us for some coffee and Danish to acknowledge the work and support of each of our pastors. Guests can also browse the Book Fair after our “Getting to Know You” session for the students and priests.

We are excited about our Career Day on Tuesday, January 31^st. This will be the start of a monthly event for our students. We want our students to become aware of career possibilities and what goes into preparing for a career, especially how language and writing skills, interpersonal skills, and math skills impact one’s work. For our first Career Day we will have: Mr. Samuel Phillips talking about the military, Dr. Jeannine Wyke talking about dentistry and a medical career, Mrs. Tony Bodony talking about her catering business, and Dr. Mary Coughlin sharing her training and experiences as a veterinarian. We will also have a session on vocations for all the students. Our guests will include Rev. Mr. Hartzell who is a deacon at SS. Simon & Jude Parish, Sr. John Marie Schauber who teaches in the education department of De Sales University and serves in the Discernment Center there, and Msgr. William F. Baver, pastor of SS. Simon & Jude Church.

I ask you to make these monthly career sessions possible by volunteering to present information about your career on any one of the following days: M 2/27, W 3/28, TH 4/26, or T 5/29. We can schedule the sessions early in the day and throughout the morning. Please contact me directly.

Professional Development Day

We enjoyed a very productive day yesterday. Miss Dunlap, our grade six teacher presented information about the SmartBoard and demonstrated some ways the board can be used and what programs are available for the various subjects and grade levels. We are grateful to Dr. Diane King, Associate Professor of Education at Kutztown University, who talked about several literacy strategies we can use from kindergarten through grade 8, which we saw modeled in several video clips. These included: vocabulary building, text comprehension, Readers Theater, Listen-Read-Discuss, Anticipation Guides, and PReP with Listen-Read-Discuss.

Examinations

The weather did not cause a problem with today’s examination schedule but if we have inclement weather postponing school during this time, we will have the examinations for the missed day on the next school day and delay the others by a day. The best preparation for any assessment is sufficient effort and time spent studying and a good night’s sleep and breakfast.

Please make sure the students arrive on time (8:00 AM) to school daily. Exams are starting at 8:15 AM. Of course of there is a delayed opening, there will be an adjustment to the daily schedule.

Programs

We have a couple of programs that are ongoing throughout the year or completed during a particular quarter session. The guidance counselor, Mrs. Lori Skripek, has been visiting various classrooms and participating in a few classroom meetings, talking about the classroom community, friendship, and bullying. Teachers in the primary grades discuss these topics as part of a yearly curriculum called Second Step. This is all in an effort to clarify what bullying is and isn’t and to reinforce the importance of interpersonal skills. Another program about personal safety that will be carried out in the third quarter is Protecting God’s Children and next week we will be sending out those forms to you for your child’s participation.

Planning and Marketing

The Advancement Committee has been busy. We will be advertising Seton Academy on the electronic billboard on Route 378, Hill-to-Hill Bridge starting January 23^rd. The first image will include the date of our Open House on January 31^st. We may get bumped from the Hill-to-Hill site (we get a special rate) but then we will be on Route 22. Two more images about achievement and our teachers will be projected. Watch for our ads!

What the committee and I would like to do is to tap your thoughts about our school and to plan program initiatives and purchases for the school based on your input. Next week a survey will be going home. Please complete the survey and return it to us. Your input is valuable and needed for effective strategic planning.

Thank you for your continued support and involvement in our school.

Sincerely,

Patricia K. Coughlin, Ed.D.

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Please submit by Wednesday, January 18, 2012

PIZZA & WORKSHOP

Tuesday, January 31st

Registration

Names of Participants:                                                                 

1. ________________________________                          
2. ________________________________                          
3. ________________________________                          

Grade Levels of Children at Seton Academy: _______________

Pizza Order

Names of Participants:                                                                  Number of slices requested by each participant

1. ________________________________                           __________
2. ________________________________                           __________
3. ________________________________                           __________

I/We have enclosed $ ____________.