September 11, 2013
Dear Parents,
While it hardly feels like fall these days with temperatures in the nineties, fall it is! I would like
to thank our Fall Family Festival parent coordinators, Kim Nash and Elizabeth Rosinski for a
wonderful afternoon at the PGC last Friday. The games and activities were a big hit and parents
and children had a wonderful time with their friends. This event is always a great way to kick off
the new school year! We are grateful to all the parent helpers who assisted with Fall Family
Festival.
Thank you also to John Stevenson, Ranee Lindhardt and all the parents who helped coordinate
the New Welcome Picnic and placed "Welcome Signs" in the front yards of our new
families. Your efforts helped to make the start of a new school year an exciting time for our
new students and their families.
Parent Night
Thank you to all the parents who turned out last Thursday at the PGC Parent Night. We hope
you enjoyed meeting your child's teachers and visiting their classrooms. Tonight we will be
holding Parent Night at the UGC from 6 - 8p.m. Parents are asked to go directly to the gym at
6:00 where there will be a welcome to the new school year, an introduction of teachers and an
explanation of the evening. We will be following a new format this year, so we ask that you
please attend the 6p.m. session in the gym for a brief explanation. We look forward to seeing
you tonight!
All School Mass
Tomorrow, September 12th, we will be celebrating our first All School Mass at the
UGC. Students from the PGC, grades 1-3, will travel by bus to the UGC where they will meet
with their buddies to attend Mass at 10:00a.m. at the Church of St. Mary. After Mass, students
will all enjoy pizza lunch with their buddies, before returning by bus to the PGC. Any parents
who would like to join us for Mass are welcome.
PGC Parent Volunteer Sign- Up
All PGC parents are invited to attend a meeting with your child's room parents in order to sign
up for volunteer opportunities (student party helper, field trip chaperone, classroom volunteer,
lunch room volunteer, library volunteer, Gala volunteer, etc.) The PGC Room Parent Sign-up
meeting will be held on Friday, September 13, at 9a.m. at the PGC.
Oakwood Parking Lot-UGC drop off and pick up
Please be considerate of our neighbors, as well as other St. Mary's parents who are trying to
pull into the Oakwood parking lot before and after school. In an effort to make morning drop
off and afternoon pick up as efficient as possible, please pull all the way up as far as you can,
following the cones along the curb during drop off and all the way into a parking spot during
dismissal, thus allowing other parents to access the parking lot and alleviating the traffic and
back up on Oakwood and Illinois. Once you have dropped off your child, or picked up your car
pool after school, please turn RIGHT ONTO OAKWOOD after leaving the parking lot. All cars
should enter the parking lot from Illinois only, turn right into the parking lot, and then exit the
lot from the south, turning right onto Oakwood. This will allow the traffic to flow more quickly
for all. We appreciate your help with this!
Eighth Grade Retreat
Yesterday, September 10, our eighth grade students attended an all-day retreat held at the
Parish Center. The theme of the retreat was "We are all valuable in God's eyes". Students
reflected on how they have been treated, and how they have treated others, participated in
small group discussions, shared stories on how to be a good friend, wrote in their journals, and
attended Mass together. Thank you to Allison Harvey, Brianna Eisen and several faculty and
parent helpers who gave of their time to make this a meaningful event for our eighth graders.
Important Parking Notice
Due to the BMW golf tournament in the area this week, we will be monitoring our UGC parking
lots Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and our PGC parking lot Thursday and Friday.
Homecoming Events
Put on your blue and white and come cheer on our Crusaders at any or all of this year's
Homecoming events!
Friday, September 27, Pep Rally at the PGC at 9:00a.m., Pep Rally at the UGC at 2:30p.m.
Saturday, September 28, Homecoming Football Games, played at LFHS West Campus,
JV White at 3:00p.m., JV Blue at 4:30pm, Varsity at 6:00p.m.
Save the dates
Please be sure to mark your calendars for the upcoming events:
Friday, September 27, 6:00p.m. - 11:00p.m. Annual Parish Oktoberfest
As always, if I can be of assistance to you or your children in any way, please contact me at 847234-0371.
For our children,
Venette Biancalana, Ph.D.
Principal