Living, Loving, and Learning Our Faith

It has been a wonderful week! We are getting ready for the annual Stuff the Bus event! Thank you for bringing in all of the requested items. Your kindness is appreciated. The last day for items is February 4. We will need time to properly stack everything for our new 6-8 grade Student Ambassadors who will assist with loading of the Bus and delivering the items.

We are so very excited about Catholic Schools Week!

Each year, the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) marks the last week of January as the “National Catholic Schools Week.” This designation reminds us to come together to pray and give thanks for the gift of Catholic education in our communities and nation. The NCEA designates themes for each day.

The following are the themes identified to celebrate this beautiful week in the spirit of our Catholic Faith:

Sunday-Celebrating Our Parish
Monday-Celebrating Our Community
Tuesday-Celebrating Your Students
Wednesday-Celebrating Our Nation
Thursday-Celebrating Vocations
Friday-Celebrating Faculty and Staff
Saturday-Celebrating Families

We invite you to join us on Tuesday, Feb. 1 from 5-7pm. You will not be disappointed. If you stop by with one adult friend and a possible future St. Rita student, make sure you visit the RPSA table to receive an OOU pass for your child(ren) to be used the week AFTER Catholic Schools Week. We want to encourage each family to bring a future Rory the Royal student in to see St. Rita's great school community.

In addition, we invite you to browse through all of the classrooms observing the Faith Fair projects. We will have some fun gym display time--let's get active and great in person music sharing by our current students. Please note the gym activities will be between 5-6pm and music runs from 5-7pm on a rotating schedule. I know sounds confusing, but all you really have to do is stop by the gym. We will have some treats available too!

Oh and a favorite, each day, we will be participating in a variety of activities celebrating the themes with OOU days! For more details about the OOU days, please keep scrolling.

Lastly, we do understand the surge of COVID throughout our country and nation. We respectfully understand those that may elect to hold off on any in person gathering. We will have St. Rita video available for all. And, do ask that all those attending in person, please wear a mask.

Thank you for all that you do. It is a joy serving your child(ren) each and every day. They are truly the best gifts from God.

Stay healthy and warm!

Blessings,

Dr. Sue

St. Rita's Mission

Living Loving and Learning Our Faith: Living as members of our Catholic Faith Community; Loving God and all of His creation; Learning for our future on Earth and Heaven.

St. Vincent Depaul's Food Drive

What: Stuff the Bus for Catholic Schools Week

Who: All St. Rita’s staff and community

Where: St. Rita’s School

When: Starts January 10 and ends February 4

Please find the chart below of what your child's class will be collecting.

3K's Wonderful January!

The children are busy learning the alphabet and numbers. We’re very happy that almost all children know their colors and shapes.

Our 3K bulletin board shows everyone’s artistic talent in making snowmen! But it's not all learning, we're having fun outside too!

4K Students are Busy Little Beavers!

This week we are learning, printing, and stamping our last names and learning about letters L, M, N, and O. It’s winter in Wisconsin and is the perfect time to learn about polar animals, snowflakes, and snowmen. Snow in the sensory table showed us how dirty the snow is with bits of grass and dirt when it melts. In Creative Curriculum, we are learning about buildings like our school and home. Can we build a maze in our classroom? Sure we did and we used a duplo base and duplos. We are rolling different balls in our classroom made maze. When we can’t go outside, we dance to give our brains a break! A few of our favorite songs are by Dr. Jean and Jack Hartmann. Finally, we are growing in our faith everyday listening to the Bible story, singing, and praying together. 4K is busy and we are thankful for our friends and the activities we do together.

Act of Kindness

Shout out!

It all starts with one act of kindness.

Katie's family talked about making meals for our community firehouses once a month in honor of a family member who was a Lieutenant Firefighter and First Responder for 21 years at Great Lakes Naval Base.

Katie and her family cooked for the Caledonia Fire Department. Debbie (Katie's mom) and Katie dropped off tacos, nachos, chicken fajitas, snacks, soda, desserts to feed the three stations.

They were so happy that we thought of them and it was extremely healing to the whole Jurkiewicz family.

The department showed Katie all the equipment, how everything works, and she was even able to turn on the lights and siren on the big ladder truck. I believe everyone there was moved by one small act of kindness.

Before and After School Shout Outs

We would like to give Mrs. Campeau, Mrs. Peeper, Ms. Chris and Ms. Ashley a huge shout out for making sure our St Rita Students are taken care of in the Before and After School Care Program. WE LOVE YOU!

Also, to our St. Rita fabulous older students who take the time to read to our younger students.

Third grade learning about Saints! Check out the relics inside St. Rita’s Parish.

This week's Altar Servers were Javier and Fernando.

2022-23 Tuition Contracts Coming Soon!

Tuition contracts for the 2022-23 school year will be available mid-February with a March 5, 2022 deadline. Watch your email for your invitation to sign into Enrollment Management to sign your new contract(s) for the upcoming school year.

If you need help with your login or password, please contact Kory Borek, Director of Admissions &. Financial Aid at either (262) 833-5517 or kborek@sienacatholicschools.org. Para preguntas o ayuda traduciendo a español, por favor contacte a Cintia Sanchez al 262-753-1471.

Siena Catholic Schools Financial Aid Program

Beginning February 1, 2022 all current and prospective families may apply for financial aid for the 2022-23 school year. Your 2021 income information will be needed to apply. Siena Schools covers the $35 application fee for you!

If you have questions or concerns about the financial aid process, contact Kory Borek, Director of Admissions & Financial Aid, by calling (262) 833-5517 or by email at kborek@sienacatholicschools.org.

Racine Parental Choice Program Enrollment - SAVE THE DATE!

The Racine Parental Choice Program re-enrollment for the 2022-23 school year begins Tuesday, February 1, 2022. All families are encouraged to complete the online application process before the February 21st deadline. Please remember that February is the only month that will guarantee your child(ren)’s seat in their current school for the 2022-23 school year.

Questions? Contact your school office or the Siena Financial Aid office at (262) 812-0155. Para preguntas o ayuda traduciendo a español, por favor contacte a Cintia Sanchez al (262) 753-1471.

4K's Amaryllis has bloomed! It's so beautiful on these cold days.

Children’s Liturgy and Family Resources

This week in the story of the wedding at Cana, we have another “epiphany” or manifestation of Jesus' divinity and his mission. Weddings are such wonderful celebrations of family and love. In scripture, they often symbolize the kingdom of God. Jesus’ extravagant answer to the lack of wine foreshadows the abundance of God's kingdom. Mary said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” John 2:5. Those words speak to us today as well. Paul wrote in the second reading that we are each endowed with certain gifts and can use them to do what God asks of us. We each have an important role to play.

Bringing the Gospel Home:

*Mary was attentive to those around her and when she noticed a need, she brought it to Jesus. What needs that you notice in the world can you bring to Jesus? Pray as a family that God may give you eyes to see where you can bring his bountiful love.

*Watch a video of the Gospel story: The Wedding Of Cana

*Read A Hat for Ivan by Max Lucado: A Hat For Ivan by Max Lucado

Boys & Girls Varsity Basketball Pizza Party - Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Event: Boys & Girls Varsity Pizza Party

Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Time: Dinner at 4:45 p.m., Girls Varsity game starts at 5:30 p.m. and the Boys Varsity game is at 7 p.m.

Location: St. Catherine's High School cafeteria & gymnasium - enter school using Door #2

Student Cost: None

Activity Supervisors: Cintia Sanchez, Siena Admissions Coordinator, csanchez@sienacatholicschools.org or (262)753-1471 and Samantha Repischak, Siena Recruitment Coordinator, srepischak@sienacatholicschools.org or (262)833-5515.

Catch some SCHS school spirit! Cheer on the Boys & Girls Varsity Basketball teams as we host The Prairie School! You don’t need to be on a South Shore Athletic League basketball team to attend but if you wear your team jersey you will be entered into a special raffle.

Pizza dinner and free admission to the game will be provided. Each student will get a goody bag and be entered into raffles. Boys and girls are welcome! Open to grades 3-8!

For planning purposes, pre-registration is required. Please RSVP before Monday, January 17, 2022.

All students need to be accompanied by an adult.

Siena Catholic Schools: Inclement Weather Policy

As we approach winter, we wanted to remind you of our procedure for closing schools due to inclement weather. Siena Catholic Schools of Racine follows the decision of RUSD with regard to weather-related closings, delays, and cancellations. When school is canceled, all scheduled athletics/activities and before/after school care are also canceled. All families will receive an email, phone call, and a text message announcing the closing; these announcements will also be posted on all school facebook pages. Depending on the forecast, decisions about closures may be made as early as the afternoon before or as late as the morning of. Please monitor local television/radio/news sites for any announcements.

As far as instruction goes on any snow days, students in grades 3K-8 will have true snow days. While teachers or principals may have a fun activity planned that students can participate in from home, there will be no instruction. Students at St. Catherine’s High School will have one snow day. Should the weather cause school to close more than once, high school students, faculty, and staff will switch to virtual learning. This is due to the hours of instruction required by the State of Wisconsin.

What doe this mean for St. Rita's?

For St. Rita's, no one with the possible exception of maintenance is expected to report to work. Staff will receive an all users communication from Siena/Ms. Kimberly Gardner.

Handbook Language we will follow:

The school will be closed including CARES supervision, on days when Racine Unified School District is closed. Closings are announced over local radio (WISN 1130, WTMJ 620 / 94.5, WRJN 1400), television (FOX 6, TMJ4, CBS58, WISN 12), and their media websites. Parents/Guardians will not hear our school name announced on public media unless there are specific circumstances affecting only our school or only all Catholic schools.

School closings will be announced in the media as Siena Catholic Schools of Racine. Staff will receive an email from Ms. Kimberly Gardner. Rarely used, but if a delayed start is announced for Racine Unified School District, St. Rita will follow the same schedule and delay the start to the day.

Parents may use their own discretion to decide whether to keep their children at home for safety if at anytime a closure is not called and school is in session but believe it is too dangerous or hard to get to school due to the weather circumstances. This absences will be recorded as an excused absence.

PARENTS-It is important to ensure that we have your correct email and cell phone in our system for weather alerts. Please log in to your PowerSchool account and verify.

Need your child during the school day? Picking up for appointments and emergencies or when sick?

Please remember to call Ms. Lopez in the main office at 262-639-3333. We handle all student departures during the school day. THANK YOU!

How to Keep you Chromebook Healthy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H8jGt__rtc

Facebook

Be sure to check out our Facebook page and all the great videos we post! We need you to "LIKE" us!

https://www.facebook.com/stritaschoolracine

Catholic Social Responsibility Guidebook

Please see the newly released Catholic Social Responsibility Guidebook from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee under the direction of Dr. Kathleen Cepelka. It is available at https://www.archmil.org/Education/Catholic-Social-Responsibility.htm.

COVID NOTICE

Hello Siena families,

As we committed to do throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have needed to respond to the changing needs of our students, families, and staff and want to ensure the safety and health of all. Our leadership team recently met in order to reassess Siena’s COVID communication procedures to ensure that families are well informed.

In addition to communicating directly with families who experience a positive case and those who are considered close contacts, a letter will now be shared with the entire school community when we are made aware of a positive case in our building. We hope that this additional layer of information, along with our COVID dashboard, will help families keep a closer eye on any symptoms your child(ren) might be experiencing.

Please regularly monitor your children for COVID symptoms, including fever, cough, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell, fatigue, headaches, diarrhea, etc. If anyone becomes symptomatic, please keep them home and call your healthcare provider to inquire about testing.

Thank you for your partnership in keeping our school communities safe!

Sincerely,

Kimberly Gardner

Chief Advancement Officer

Siena Catholic Schools of Racine

COVID REMINDERS

We do want to ensure that each child that comes to school is healthy and ready to learn.

Please review the following:

If a vaccinated person is a close contact of a positive individual, they do not have to quarantine UNLESS they have symptoms.
Masked individuals who are close contacts of a positive individual who was also masked during interactions will not have to quarantine per the CDC.
Quarantined individuals will be able to get tested six (6) days after exposure and will be allowed to return seven days after exposure with a negative test UNLESS the County Health Department shares something different with the family.
Students who TEST POSITIVE or who are considered close contacts will receive a letter from the school.
Siena Catholic Schools also has a dashboard updated weekly showing where numbers are by school.
IF your child is in quarantine and/or positive, please work with your child's teacher regarding classwork.

Inclement weather on school days

In rainy or subzero weather, students need appropriate outerwear. Students are outdoors several times a day. A hooded sweatshirt for example is not as adequate as a winter jacket. If the outdoor temperature is 10 degrees or below, wind chill factor of “zero” degrees or below, hard rain or blizzard like conditions, recess is most likely to be indoors. The decision is up to the Principal and at times in collaboration with supervisory staff. While outside, if any playground supervisor determines that the weather is too severe for outdoor recess (as our weather changes often), the outdoor supervisor is authorized to bring the students inside.