Between the Lions - October 8, 2009

CALENDAR REMINDERS-  OCTOBER

PRINCIPAL'S REFLECTION
Since 1998, schools around the country have been participating in Red Ribbon Week to provide a drug and alcohol-free lifestyle among children and youth. Saint Leo the Great School will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week during the week of October 19-22. Students will be involved in activities in their classes, advisories and homerooms. Students will have the opportunity to sign a pledge to remain drug, alcohol and violence-free. We encourage students to wear Red on Thursday, October 22 to show that they are serious about committing to living a healthy life!

The Soccer Charity Cup planning is going well. Special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Velasquez who have volunteered to coach the 6th grade team. Mr. Scott Allen and Mrs. Kristin Bolster will be coaching the 8th grade team. We are still in need of coaches for the 5th and 7th grade. Please check your schedule for November 7th and see if you can volunteer to help this school service project for Catholic Charities at Paul VI High School. If I don’t hear from any volunteers by the 16th of October, I am afraid I will have to cancel the 5th and 7th grade games. The 5th grade game starts at 8:30am and the 7th grade game begins at 10:30am. I hope that all the grades will be able to participate in this fun activity with Holy Spirit School.

Classroom teachers assign homework on a regular basis because practice is needed before your child fully understands a new skill or concept. By recognizing the value of homework, you will help your child understand why it is important. Below are some tips to make homework easier:

1. Help your child develop a homework schedule. Tell him/her they can decide when to tackle homework within a set time frame – say, between 4pm and dinner. Giving them choices will motivate them to begin.
2. Provide a suitable place for studying. Occasionally change the routine by taking your child to the library or to a park on a sunny afternoon to do his homework.
3. Talk with your child each day about his homework assignments. Ask questions about his homework, check to see that the work is complete, but don’t do his homework for him.
4. While your child works, sit nearby and read or do paperwork. Homework time will be a special time when shared with you!

As Always, for the children,
Mr. David DiPippa, Principal

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Show class, have pride, and display character.
If you do, winning takes care of itself.
--Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant

THANKS & PRAISE

• Isabella Gordon, 5th grade, who spent two days on Capitol Hill as a Junior Ambassador for FAAN.  FAAN is the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. Isabella as a JA spoke to her state legislators to help the passage of Bill H.R. 1378 and S.456 which provides voluntary nationwide school guidelines in dealing with food allergies.  The bill also asks for authorization of additional monies to the NIH for further research and knowledge of food allergies. Isabella has a life threatening allergy to tree nuts.  So this proved to be a very empowering experience for her.  Congratulations!
• Thanks to Mrs. Kathy Johnson for getting the PTO directories to the homes so quickly. Thanks for all your hard work!
• To Mrs. White and the 8th grade class for a very special First Friday Mass last week.
• To Mrs. Sloboda and Mrs. Washington for planning and organizing our SGA induction for our officers and class representatives.
• To Mr. and Mrs. Cronin for volunteering to be our parent moderators for this year’s Chess Club.
• To Mrs. Cate for volunteering to be our parent moderator for this year’s Drama Club. Special thanks to Mrs. Weigand for organizing this fun-filled activity.
• To Mrs. Hebert for volunteering to be our parent moderator for this year’s Mad Science of Washington Club.
• To Mrs. Hartzell for organizing our PTO Innisbrook Fund raiser. It was a great success!
• To Mrs. Schlinder and the PTO Cultural Arts committee for planning our first school assembly “The Marine Brass Band” which all our students enjoyed.

SCHOOL MESSENGER EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SERVICE/VERIFICATION
Arlington Diocese and Saint Leo the Great School

The Arlington Diocese and school use the SchoolMessenger notification service to send important emergency information to families through phone calls, emails, and text messages.

To comply with wireless carrier requirements and protect against unsolicited text messages, you may receive an SMS message to the wireless number that the Diocese/school has on file requesting that you opt in to receive important information from the Diocese/school via SMS text message.

The message you receive will be similar to the following:

“Please OPTIN to receive TXT alerts from <>.Rply OPTIN 2 register, STOP 2 OPTOUT www.schoolmessenger.com/txt Msg&Data Rates May Apply”

So that you can continue to receive these important emergency messages from your student’s school Diocese, we encourage you to reply with “OPTIN” when you receive such a verification message.

To opt out of all text messages from SchoolMessenger, including the verification message, go to http://www.schoolmessenger.com/txtmsg/ or reply STOP to the opt-in message you receive.

Saint Leo the Great School and Arlington Diocese does not pay for text message charges that may be incurred by the user. Check with your wireless carrier for possible charges.

FROM MRS. WASHINGTON:
October 16 begins the winter uniform season. Please refer to page 70 in the school handbook for detailed information. All K-5 students should have the school cardigan sweater everyday. Middle School students are required to wear either the sweater vest or long sleeve sweater everyday. Black Uniform Pants are a new option for K-8 girls and are now available through Flynn & O’Hara. These new pants should be worn with a belt, their white peter pan blouse and cardigan sweater for grades K-5 -- or for grades 6-8, a belt, their white blouse and vest or long sleeve sweater.

All K-8 students should be wearing the PE sweatshirt and sweatpants on every PE day. It is optional to wear the T-shirt and shorts underneath. All K-8 boys wear the school striped tie. All girls may wear tights under the skirt/jumper (see p. 70 for specific colors) and school sweatpants may be worn under the skirt/jumper for arrival, dismissal, and recess times. Students remain in the winter uniform until April 11, 2010. Please remember, girls should not wear nail polish or makeup (including eyeliner & mascara) to school.

SOCCER CHARITY CUP!!!!
Saint Leo’s is planning to schedule Charity Soccer Cup games on November 7th to raise money for Catholic Charities. We have invited Holy Spirit School to participate. The teams are going to be co-ed, games will be held at the PVI HS soccer field from 8:30am-12:30pm (5th grade game at 8:30, 6th grade game at 9:30, 7th grade game at 10:30 and 8th grade game at 11:30) that Saturday. We are in need of four parent/coaches to coach these teams. If interested, please email Mr. DiPippa, at ddipippa@saintleothegreatschool.org. More details will be forthcoming. Thanks for your consideration to help.

CARPOOL PARENTS PLEASE NOTE:
Carpools are not allowed to drop off students at Daniels’ Run Elementary School. Our Crossing Guard has asked the parents to please not continue this practice as it is conflicting with their faculty and staff arriving to school. If this carpooling continues, a police presence will be requested.

ALL PARENTS:
As the weather changes, please remember to have students in a jacket, sweater, etc. for your child. We go outside all year for lunch recess! Also, please be sure that as your middle school student exit their carpool, that they are wearing outer garments. Thank you so much!

PTO DIRECTORIES:
The directories were distributed on Tuesday.  They were sent home through the students.  If you joined the PTO and did not receive a directory, check with your child and if they did not receive one, contact Kathy Johnson at 703-620-0690 or greggkathyjohnson@cox.net.

INNISBROOK FUNDRAISER:
THANK YOU PARENTS for your generous support - you have raised over $11,500 net so far for our PTO!  Believe it or not, we can squeeze in a few more orders if you contact Marian Hartzell tjhartzell@verizon.net, 703-359-8963.  Orders will arrive October 27th.  For large orders, parents may pick up in the gymnasium starting at 11am. Small orders will go home with the students at the end of the day.  Students in K-4 who sold the most items, will be awarded a Burger King limo-lunch on Wednesday, November 4th from 11:30-1:15pm.

COMING SOON.... Family Fun Night hosted by St. Leo's PTO
Saturday, October 24, 2009, 6:30 - 8:30 pm in the Daniel & Lorraine Sprissler Gymnasium. Look for your pre-order form coming home soon! For more information contact Becky Woodword bwoodward6@verizon.net or Kristin Bolster kbolster@saintleothegreatschool.org

EXTENDED DAY:
The bill for September is ready to be picked up from those of you who pick up children in the afternoon from Extended Day. The rest of the bills will go home with your child on Thursday. Please, be sure to ask your child for the bill. Bills can be paid until the 20th of October. After the 20th of each month, a late fee will be assessed.

Children need to be registered in order to attend Extended Day. The registration form contains important information that we can access in case of an emergency. The form must be filled out completely. This form includes complete address (including zip codes), doctor's information, policy numbers, and emergency contacts, etc. Children in our Extended Day program need to bring snack. On 12:10pm or earlier dismissal days, your child will also need to bring lunch. Children can bring a change of clothes, third grade and up need to be responsible for their belongings. To play in the gym, children must wear sneakers. In our schedule there is time for homework if you prefer that your child do his/her homework at home please let us know. Otherwise if a child has homework he/she is required to do it during Extended Day. Homework Club starts at 4:30. Thank you for your cooperation!

If you are not planning on sending your child to Extended Day we urge you fill out a non-registration form. This form gives us the information necessary in case your child needs to come to the Program due to an emergency or if you forgot that it was an early dismissal day. If you need a non registration form please send a note to your child's teacher. Keep in mind that if your child is not registered in the program and comes anyway, the first time you will be charged only for the time your child is with us, the second time you will have to pay the registration fee.

FROM THE LIBRARY
Thank you to Linda Amraen and The National Dairy Council for their donation to the library of "The Fairy in a Dairy" in honor of World School Milk Day.

BOOK FAIR:
Start your Christmas shopping early!! The Fall Bookworm Plantation Book Fair will be held in the school library on Sunday, October 18th (10-1) through Thursday, October 22nd (Monday-Thursday hours are from 8:30 -3:00). Please stop by and support the library!!

FROM GUIDANCE: TJ APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

• Attention 8th Grade Parents - Applications for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology are now available from the Guidance Office. Interested applicants should pick up an application packet from Mrs. Polan in the Guidance office. Applications are due on Wednesday, October 21, 2009. If you have any questions, please contact Ann Polan at 703-273-1211 x694 or apolan@saintleothegreatschool.org.

DRINK POUCH RECYCLING - BY MRS. PERRY AND NJHS
Saint Leo’s will be participating in an “upcycling” program. What is “upcycling”? It is recycling materials to make something new. We will be recycling Capri sun pouches (or any other aluminum pouch) to earn money for our school. For every pouch we turn in, we receive $.02. What do you need to do? Nothing! We will have re-usable grocery bags in every classroom and cafeteria, so if your student does drink any juices in aluminum pouches at school, they can throw them in there. They do not need to be washed out-only the straws removed. If you would like to collect at home, as well, you may. You can then arrange with Kim Perry (703-928-7105) to pick them up from you after school any day. If you would like to learn more about the program and see some of the neat things they make from the drink pouches (including pencil cases and back packs!), please visit: www.terracycle.net. Thank you for your participation and support!

FROM THE BOX TOPS CORNER:
I don't hear the scissors clipping! Come on, we depend on you! We won't be able to reach our goal if you don't ... clip! Thank you to all of you who send coupons this week Your Box Tops Coordinator Mrs. Figueiredo – Preschool.

PLEASE NOTE:
We have been notified that our NEW United Way number from the United Way of the National Capital Area Campaign for 2009-2010 is 91500. If you are searching for our school, please be sure to spell out Saint or it will not come up as a listing.

GIRL SCOUTS – 2nd and 4th grade Parents
The Girl Scouts are still looking for leaders for troops for these grades. Nancy Loftus (Nancy.Loftus9@gmail.com) would like to start up a second grade troop but is need of a co-leader or assistant leader to do so. Please feel free to contact her with any questions or inquiries. The fourth grade has one parent interested in helping part time, but more help is needed to start up a troop. Please contact Beth Ward (Billyjoe@cox.net) with any questions.

PAUL VI YOUTH BASKETBALL COACHING CLINIC:
For all CYO Coaches on October 19/20 from 6:30 - 9:00 at St Leo the Great School Gym in Fairfax VA. Cost is $10 per day. Speakers include Scott Allen Paul VI Girls Basketball Coach, Jeff House (former UVA Assistant/WNBA Assistant Coach) as well as many others. It’s a great way to prepare for your upcoming season!

SCRIP FOOD CARDS:
Sponsored by the Fr. Diamond Knights of Columbus. SCRIP is sold for Giant, Safeway and Shoppers Food Warehouse. Profits go toward Scholarship funds and the ST. Leo’s PTO. Call Larry Novak 703.978.6127 or email ALRN01@aol.com for information. Available at Providence Hall every weekday at 2pm or the school parking lot on early release day and Knights of Columbus Meetings.

• THIS WEEKEND October 12th- Paul VI Columbus Day Basketball Camp for boys & girls in gr. 2 - 8. 9 am - 4 pm at Paul VI High School gym. The cost is $50.00 per player. To register contact Scott Allen at coachsallen@aol.com
• October 15 – 7:30pm Alexandria Band is presenting a free concert (donations accepted), "Movies and More," featuring saxophonist John Kocur.  NOVA Campus, Rachel Schlesinger Hall.
• October 16 – PVI Junior High “Night Under the Lights” The Student Government and Parent Organizations at Paul VI HS extend a special invitation to all 7th and 8th graders and their families. Please join us for Rally in the Alley and the varsity football game. The Rally will begin at 5:30pm with free food, tee shirts and tons of fun, games and prizes for all everyone. The Football game begins at 7:00 PM.  All 7th and 8th graders will receive free passes to the game
• October 17th - The Columbiettes, the Ladies’ Auxiliary for the Fr. Diamond Council Knights of Columbus, is hosting a craft fair at St. Leo’s church on Saturday October 17, 2009. We are now accepting registrations from vendors interested in renting booth space for this fair. Please contact Linda Baringhaus at 703-385-9455 or columbiettes6292@yahoo.com for registration information.
• October 18th - Oakcrest School Open House – 1-3pm, Tour of School.
• October 20th - A 4-session overview of the semester class “Principles of Ethics” is being offered for adults at Pope John Paul the Great HS. Principles of Ethics is the second course of the 4-year Bioethics Curriculum at JP the Great. There is no cost for the seminar, though the text book, “Called to Happiness: Guiding Ethical Principles”, by Sister Terese Auer, will be available for purchase for $10. Please RSVP by calling 703-445-0300, or via email to rsvp@jpthegreat.org
• October 25th - 16th Annual Valvoline Instant Oil Change Goblin Gallop 5K/1K Fun Run. It's an event for the whole family, and many run/walk in costume! Visit http://www.goblingallop.org/ for more information or to register.
• October 25th - Bishop Ireton HS Open House - 1-3pm. Presentation begins at 1pm.
• October 31st - National Autism Walk – at the National Mall, Saturday. For more information, please visit online at www.NationalAutismWalk.org or call 202.955.3111.
• November 1st - Paul VI Fall Open House - for 8th grade parents and students, Sunday from 1-4pm
• November 3rd and 17th – A 4-session overview of the semester class “Principles of Ethics” is being offered for adults at Pope John Paul the Great HS on Tuesdays, October 6 and 20. “Principles of Ethics” is the second course of the 4-year Bioethics Curriculum at JP the Great. There is no cost for the seminar, though the text book, Called to Happiness: Guiding Ethical Principles, by Sister Terese Auer, will be available for purchase for $10. Please RSVP by calling 703-445-0300, or via email to rsvp@jpthegreat.org
• November 8th – Pope John Paul the Great HS - from 2 – 4pm. You’ll learn all about JP the Great programs, meet the faculty, and tour the state-of-the-art campus.