Living, Loving, and Learning Our Faith

We are so excited for Catholic Schools Week. We are looking forward to celebrating our Catholic Identify as a school community. I do want to thank the many individuals for their assistance in planning and preparing for a full week of wonderful events. A personal THANK YOU to all St. Rita's staff, Royal Parent Student Association, individual families for donations, Siena' enrollment team and last but not least our new Royal Ambassadors who under the direction of Ms. Stephanie Folk have been trained to assist with tours and much much more. Please join us Tuesday, Feb. 1 from 5-7PM. (See below for more details)

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. Rita's Open House

St. Rita’s Open House is OPEN for everyone! We would like to invite all current families, families who missed the open house last year (due to COVID) and any new families that are considering a Catholic Education for your child(ren) in the fall of 2022. We will be open from 5-7PM on Tuesday, Feb. 1.

It will be nice to see everyone roam the building looking at all of the students' Faith Fair projects, stopping by the gym for some fun gym activities and music, visiting our middle school science lab, chatting with our Royal Parent Student Association team to see how you can be a parent volunteer, checking in with our Royal Student Ambassadors for a tour (everyone needs to go on a tour) and last but not least touching base with our enrollment specialists! Again, this night is open to all current and any new families considering St. Rita’s! We welcome all and encourage each to bring a new friend.

Face masks are required and for those that are unable to attend, we will have several videos for you to watch showcasing our great Catholic School community of staff and learners.

CELEBRATING CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK!

Any student who attends Mass on January 29 and/or January 30 and serves in some capacity at their parish church will receive an OOU pass for one day following CSW.

In order to receive this OOU, the student is required to:

Email or Dojo picture to their classroom teacher for verification near the Parish sign with their family of their service.

OOU pass will be issued by Ms. Lopez for the following week after CSW.

Georgie Porgies Spirit Night for Our School

4K Takes a Tour of St. Rita's Parish with Father Michael.

Music Class with Mr. Scaffidi

Hello St. Rita families!

In music classes this month and in February will begin performing rhythm and melody patterns.

Students have been practicing rhythm patterns by speaking two and three measure examples. The patterns currently include quarter notes, eighth notes, triplets, and sixteenth notes.

Melody patterns are usually one or two measures and include pitches Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, and La. Students are presented with three similar melodic patterns and given a recording of just one.

Students continue to learn about official state songs, sacred songs, and popular secular grade level songs.

Thank you, and have a great 3rd quarter!

Mr Scaffidi

First Grade

First Grade Students worked really hard in creating their Faith Fair projects. They were very creative.

We had a couple indoor recesses this week because of the cold weather. The students played board games

8th Grade Boys Basketball

St. Rita and St. Joe’s 8th grade boys competed in the St. Mary’s Menomonee Falls ‘A’ Tournament this past.

The team started out Thursday beating previously undefeated St John Vianney 61-57.

On Saturday evening they topped highly regarded St Sebastian's 75-58.

In the Championship game, the team faced another previously unbeaten team, St Robert's of Shorewood, bringing home the title 67-50.

Over the three games, each of the ten players scored points and contributed greatly on defense.

Congratulations to the our student athletes from St. Rita’s and St. Joe’s!

Thursday Mass Altar Servers

This week's Altar Servers were Javier A. (6th Grade) and Liam G. (3rd Grade)

Looking for Gently Used Books

Lent is not far away and the library is starting to collect for our annual Used Book Sale. If you have any gently used books you would like to donate please just drop them off inside the airlock doors at school. If you have a larger donation and would like help, please email or Facebook me. As soon as I have a concrete schedule I will announce it.

Thank you,

Mrs. Schotz

fschotz@sienacatholicschools.org

Girl's Softball Camp!

On Saturday February 26th St. Catherine's will be hosting the Wisconsin Lutheran College Girl's Softball Camp for all Siena girls ages 18 and younger. The camp is only a few hours and completely free! It's an excellent opportunity to get Siena grade school students in our building, interact with our high school students, and see the pathway from Siena grade school, to Siena high school, to college.

The camp will be overseen by myself, my varsity softball team, and led by our own Rachel Vogt (JPII) who coaches at WLC.

Please Clink on the Link to sign up.

Basketball Tournament: Parent Helpers Needed

Mr. Ferguson is asking for parent volunteers to help in the St. Rita Basketball Tournament. If you would like to help out please use the sign up link. 2022 St Rita Basketball Tournament

BASC is looking for DVDs

Our Before and After School Care program is looking for donations of G rated DVD movies.

If you have any DVDs that you can part with, please send them with your child and/or drop them off to the BASC Staff.

Please only DVDs no Blue Rays

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.

Catholic Schools Week Resources from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee

The Catholic Schools Week letters from Archbishop Listecki are now available in Spanish. All the CSW letters, plus resources from NCEA can be found at the following link.

https://schools.archmil.org/schools/Catholic-Schools-Week-Material.htm

Substitute Teachers

Hello Siena Families,

As a community, it is important for us to be able to come together to support each other during trying times. This school year continues to be a challenge, and Siena Catholic Schools remain committed to keeping our students in school and providing what is the best possible education. With COVID-19 cases impacting our students and staff members at a higher level this year, we continue to follow directions from experts to keep everyone in our schools safe.

At this time, we could use your help and support in a different way than we have asked in the past. Like many districts across the nation, we are in need of Substitute Teachers. If you have an interest in supporting our students, a Bachelor's degree, the ability to follow lesson plans, and a calm demeanor, we would like to talk with you. Our Substitute Teachers earn $115 per day and are an important part of our system.

If you have an interest in learning more, please contact Becca Schurman at bschurman@sienacatholicschools.org.

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!

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.