Between the Lions

CALENDAR REMINDERS-  JANUARY
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS – December 22 through January 2nd. School and office closed

Please Note: On Friday, December 19th, the Student Council will host the annual Pep Rally in the gym. All student basketball players, tennis team members, cross country team members and cheerleaders are to wear their sport uniform under their PE warm ups or sweats. The Pep Rally will begin after the 9 o'clock mass.

PRINCIPAL'S CORNER
Dear Parents,

It is with great joy I announce the promotion of Bianca Figueiredo to the position of Preschool Director.  Mrs. Figueiredo has 19 years of experience as an education, 16 successful years of them as lead preschool teacher. Although we will miss Mrs. Kelly tremendously, we know that Blanca will carry on the tradition and success of our preschool program. Please join me in congratulating her on this new position. She will continue to be in the preschool class in the mornings and assume her role as director every afternoon. Mrs. Figueiredo will assume this position, Monday, January 5th, 2009.

In addition, please welcome Amanda Schwenkel who will join Saint Leo's as Assistant Director of the Extended Day, preschool instructional assistant Tuesdays and Thursdays and also teaches Spanish K-3 every afternoon. Amanda comes to us from Long Island, New York. Miss Schwenkel received her BA in Psychology at Villanova and a MA in Education and Human Development from George Washington – please give her a big Saint Leo welcome during this transition.

Additional, I am proud to announce the promotion of Beth Ward to the position of Preschool Lead Teacher for the AM 3's that meet on Tuesday and Thursday.  Mrs. Ward holds a BS degree in Biology with a minor in Education. She has been with our preschool for four years and is well deserving of this promotion.  Beth will continue her morning instructional assistant position with the M-W-F preschool class as well as Extended Day.

In addition, our preschool music teacher, Dana Richardson, has accepted the afternoon instruction assistant position with our four year old preschool class.  Dana has been teaching in the preschool for three years and has been the attendance/receptionist in the front office for the past two years. Mrs. Richardson has a BA from Seattle Pacific University in Music with a minor in General Education and we welcome her additional time and creativity with our children.

Thank you to the students and parents for all the wonderful treats, and surprises for our faculty and staff. May each of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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

Thought for the Day
Words of Encouragement: “Failure is not falling down—Failure is not getting up!”

Children who are afraid of failure are less likely to tackle new challenges.
But those who are encouraged for their efforts focus on what they learn from the experience –no matter how well or poorly they do – and therefore become better problem solvers.

Thanks & Praise

• To Barry Ward and to the fabulous band students of St. Leo's for a wonderful Winter Concert last Sunday. A big thank you to Joanne Khavari for doing all the organizing and coordinating for the band trip to Busch Gardens in May.
• To Mr. Hedderson for coordinating our "School Messenger Emergency Call System." The test last Friday was a huge success. If there are any changes to your cell phone, email address or text messaging, please notify Mr. Hedderson as soon as possible: slsinfo@saintleothegreatschool.org.
• To all the wonderful parents that supplied such a factastic lunch for our faculty and staff last Tuesday. It was very, very much apprcieated!
• To Mrs. Loan Mai for bringing Vietnamese sandwiches to our faculty and staff last week - delicious!
• To Mrs. Muller and Mrs. Ku-DiPietro for coordinating the Christmas ball decorations for Fr. Whitestone and his first Christmas at Saint Leo's.
• To Mrs. LaBarge for coordinating our shut in cards for the holiday season.

PLEASE REMEMBER-
RE-REGISTRATION FEE IS DUE JANUARY 10th, 2009. PLEASE USE THE NEON YELLOW COUPON IN YOUR TUITION BOOKLET WHEN YOU SEND IN THE RE-REGISTRATION FEE. THANKS!

PARENTS PLEASE NOTE:
Letter days for the last two weeks of January have been changed due to the Federal Holidays. Please make adjustments to your daily planners/calendars. Thank you so much.

MOTHERS'PRAYER GROUP
- Please join us for a Mothers' Prayer Group Meeting on Thursday, January 15, right after morning drop off, in the St. Mark's Room (Parish Hall). We will follow readings from the liturgical calendar, reflections from the book "The Better Part" and prayers for our school, teachers and families. We will end praying The Rosary. For questions, please contact Marcia Capizzani at mloureiro2002@aol.com. All are welcome.

OPEN HOUSES
are going to be held at Saint Leo the Great School on the following days:

• Sunday January 25th, 12:45-2:30pm- Principal’s Welcome - gym

• Wednesday, February 18th -10am in the Guadalupe Room with Principal’s Welcome
• Wednesday, March 18th - 10am in the Guadalupe Room with Principal’s Welcome

A tour of the school will follow all presentations. Please call 703-273-1211 x645 for a reservation. Please let your friends and neighbors know our new dates.

COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN/UNITED WAY/AMERICA'S CHARITIES:
Thank you to the many parents who, in the past, designated our school as the recipient of their Combined Federal Campaign/United Way or America's Charities donations. The fall campaign is just getting underway and we would be grateful to receive your donations once again. Our designated number for Combined Federal Campaign is 91500 and for United Way it is 8973.

If your place of employment uses America's Charities, you may designate our school through their campaign by including our school name, address, phone and EIN# 54-0572701. As always…we are so grateful for your support and generosity!

ATTENTION PARENTS:
We are in need of two parents to volunteer on Monday recess duty. You would be sharing with two other parents already doing Mondays. Please email Candy Gritz at Candygritz@cox.net. We need the parents to start January 5, 2009. Thank you for all you do!

COLD WEATHER IS HERE!
Now that the cold weather is definitely here, please ensure that your child wears warm outer clothing to school, appropriate for winter temperatures. We all want them to stay warm when going outside for morning or lunch recess. Thank you!

Save the Date:
Monday, May 11th at 10am for the Saint Leo the Great Annual Golf Outing at Heritage Hunt Golf and Country Club. More details will be coming in the New Year from Mr. Manning and Mrs. Toenshoff.

EXTENDED DAY PAYMENTS
ARE DUE FOR EXTENDED DAY TOMORROW, DECEMBER 19TH AT THE 11:30AM DISMISSAL. LATE FEES WILL BE APPLIED AT THAT TIME. THANK YOU.

PM CARPOOLING PARENTS:
For safety reasons, parents who are parked behind the chain at PM carpool are asked to remain in their cars and wait until the chain is removed before pulling into the carpool lot and picking up your children. Children may be picked up at the gym entrance after initial cars have left the parking lot. Please form one line closest to the gym entrance. Thank you for your cooperation.

For all parents entering and leaving the lot, please follow the directions of the crossing guard. During inclement weather when the skies darken there have been occasions where one of our personnel/crossing guards has been placed in a dangerous situation due to lack of attention on the part of our drivers. Please keep your eyes and ears opened for whistles and the time to move forward.

MAD SCIENCE
GRADES 4 & 5 - The afternoon science club is in need of a parent moderator. This club will meet beginning February 24th through April 21st from 3:15-4:15. If interested, please contact Mr. DiPippa, Ddipippa@saintleothegreatschool.org  as soon as possible.  If we do not have a parent volunteer, the club will have to be cancelled for second semester.

2009 Yearbook
Pictures Needed -- We are in need of pictures from Field Trips and 8th Grade CONFIRMATION, tennis, basketball, cheerleaders. Each grade, preschool through 8th grade, also has a "candid" photo page and we will need pictures for those pages throughout the year. You can put pictures on a cd or email pictures to Joanne McCarty at jmccarty1@cox.net or Katie Blanchard Katie_Blanchard@verizon.net.  Thank you!

Inclement Weather/School Closings
When the Fairfax County Schools are closed because of hazardous road conditions, Saint Leo the Great School is also closed. If Fairfax County makes a change in the opening or closing of school due to weather conditions, Saint Leo the Great does the same. It is the parent/guardian's responsibility to consult the school website, or listen to the radio or T.V. for this information. PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE SCHOOL. In cases of inclement weather, or other non-weather related emergencies, and the cancellation of classes once school is in session, calls from the children to the parents/guardians will be discouraged. Since our school is air-conditioned, we DO NOT FOLLOW Fairfax County School closings due to intense heat.

If Fairfax County Schools are not in session and Saint Leo the Great is in session, consult the school edline website or listen to WMAL 630 AM or WTOP 103.5 FM, channel 4 and channel 7 for any school closings or adjustments in opening times.

Delayed Openings
Kindergarten through Grade 8

• If there is a ONE HOUR DELAYED OPENING ON ANY 11:30AM OR 12:10PM DISMISSAL DAY, classes are dismissed at 12:10PM.

• If there is a TWO HOUR DELAYED OPENING ON ANY 11:30AM, 12:10PM, or 1:40PM EARLY DISMISSAL DAY, classes are dismissed at 3:00PM. Please be sure to send a lunch and drink with your child if it would have been a regular 11:30AM or 12:10PM dismissal day since neither lunch nor milk is provided on those days.)

Extended Day Program
The Extended Day Program always opens one hour before school:

• Delay of one hour: open at 7:50AM

• Delay of two hours: open at 8:50AM

When school closes early all children must be picked up from the Extended Day Program within two hours of dismissal. Parents/guardians are responsible for listening to the radio or T.V. for announcements.

If Fairfax County cancels after school activities, the Extended Day Program will close within two hours of dismissal.

St. Leo's PTO Gives Thanks….
St. Leo's PTO would like to thank the entire St. Leo community for their continued support and assistance.  We are grateful for your generous contributions of volunteer hours - specifically for your help with the vision and hearing screenings, assistance with Family Fun Night, donations of baked goods, and help with the school photographs.  Family volunteer hours should continue to be tracked and will be tallied.  At the start of the new year, notices of total hours volunteered to date will be sent to all families.

We also thank all of our families, teachers and staff, and friends who helped to make our Restaurant Fundraisers so successful! We earned $633 from the Fuddruckers night in September, and we will receive $298 from the Chick-fil-a event last week. The money that St. Leo's PTO earns from fundraisers like these provides money to enhance classroom activities. Some of the purchased made so far this year include:

• Individual Classroom Listening Libraries in K - 3
• A new CD player for a classroom
• A donation of $600 for Mr. Abraham's Aquarium Lab
• Ribbons for Field Day 2009

Please remember to check the PTO Page on the school website for information on upcoming activities, fundraisers, meeting minutes, budget information, and forms.  As always, if you have any suggestions, questions, or an interest in joining one of our committees, please contact any PTO Board Member.AROUND THE COMMUNITY

• Knights of Columbus Fr. Diamond Memorial High School Scholarship for any qualified 8th grade student. Please call 703.273.9436 or email hmslydia@msn.com for an application.
• December 20-31 The Fairfax High School Theatre department
  - "Give your child the gift of creativity this holiday season! Fairfax High School Theatre Department is offering a 3 day winter break Drama Camp for grades 1-8 Mon-Wed Dec 29-31. Campers may sign up for mornings or afternoons ($75 for 3 half day sessions) or both ($165). Newly added activities include musical theatre and puppetry. See www.fxplayers.org for more information and a registration form."