259 St. George Street
The Halo
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-824-2861
www.thecathedralparishschool.org
The official newsletter of St. Augustine's Catholic Elementary School
Serving students in grades K-8 and a winner of the Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence
W E E K L Y
U P D A T E S
F O R
T H E
W E E K
Monday, March 10:
8:00a.m.-10:15a.m.: ITBS Testing grades 2-8
1:45 p.m. – Dismissal for Girls softball team.
3:30 p.m. - Girls softball game: CPS @ Annunciation.
5:00 p.m. – Boys softball game: CPS @Annunciation.
Tuesday, March 11:
8:00a.m.-10:15a.m.: ITBS Testing grades 2-8
No Mass
No Math Tutoring
3:00 – 3:30 p.m. – Baton
3:15 – 4:30 p.m. – Boys softball practice at Willie Galimore Softball fields
4:30 – 5:45 p.m. – Girls softball practice at Willie Galimore Softball fields
O F
M O N D A Y
M A R C H
1 0 ,
2 0 1 4
Be sure to check out the rest of
this expanded edition of the
Halo!
Wednesday, March 12:
8:00a.m.-10:15a.m.: ITBS Testing grades 2-8
3:15 – 4:30 p.m. – Boys softball practice at Willie Galimore Softball fields
4:30 – 5:45 p.m. – Girls softball practice at Willie Galimore Softball fields
Thursday, March 13:
8:00a.m.-10:15a.m.: ITBS Testing grades 2-8
End of 3rd Quarter
No Math Tutoring
3:15 – 4:30 p.m. – Boys softball practice at Willie Galimore Softball fields
4:30 – 5:30 p.m. – Girls softball practice at Willie Galimore Softball fields
Friday, March 14:
8:00a.m. - 10:15: ITBS Testing grade 2: Make-Ups grades 3-8
1:15 p.m. – Special presentation of the United Statue—Our Lady of Fatima -at the Cathedral
2:15 p.m. - Girls softball team dismissed
3:30 p.m. – Girls softball. San Juan del Rio @ CPS. Homes games played at Treaty Park.
5:00 p.m. – Boys softball. San Juan del Rio @ CPS. Homes games played at Treaty Park.
Monday, March 17:
Diocesan In Service Day: No Classes
3:30 p.m. Girls softball game: CPS at St Joseph’s:11600 Old St Augustine Road Jacksonville FL
5:00 p.m. Boys softball game: CPS at St Joseph’s: 11600 Old St Augustine Road Jacksonville FL
Additional Items
During Lent, all students are requested to participate in Catholic Relief Service Rice Bowl Collection. At the end of
Lent, the money collected should be turned into the school office. It is requested that you convert your change to bills
or checks made payable to Catholic Relief Service. Thank you for your cooperation in converting your change!
Also during lent, join us each Friday afternoon at 1:30pm for Stations of the Cross in the Cathedral. Two exceptions
include this coming Friday (Our Lady of Fatima Statue) and April 11 at 1:00pm, when we will perform a Living Stations
of the Cross in the Plaza outside the Cathedral.
29th Annual Cathedral Festival: Catch the Thrill!
What an incredible Festival weekend! Thank you for your tireless support of Cathedral Parish School! Of course, that didn’t stop a big
group of parents and students from joining us at the Mission Grounds on Monday to dive into the clean-up. We joined a team of Dads
who have quietly been working every day and night for weeks to get things ready. They are the unsung heroes of this event.
The weather cooperated and this year’s
festival was again a success. The proceeds
of the festival pay the mortgage on the
2008 campus renovations and kindergarten addition. Further, it’s helped to support needed security upgrades at both CPS
and the CPEEC.
Not only does the festival support the
budget, but maybe more importantly, it
brings us all together, reminding us that
it’s about our Mission, not money. From
current families and SJA students, to alumni and their parents, everyone is working
together for a common cause: Catholic education. Like any major family event, there
is a ton of planning, a multitude of responsibilities, a handful of challenges, and a
perfect moment when it all comes together and you say, “This is why we are here.” That moment may have come on Saturday night
when the beautifully illuminated Great Cross was joined by a fantastic firework display.
There is a long list of people that deserve a personal thank you and to try to name them all here would be to inevitably miss someone
who was too vital to the process to miss. If I did put together a list I’d start with Kevin Partel, John Maronel, and Deb Yelton. From
there, I’d probably go on for days listing everyone who attended a planning meeting, made a phone call on our behalf, chaired a booth,
shook a hand, posted a sign, sold or bought a ticket, loaded or unloaded a truck, answered a question, offered an idea, made a funnel
cake, shared a smile, picked up a piece of garbage, folded a chair, broke down a tent, wrapped an extension cord, or the myriad of other
things that it took to make this miracle happen.
In the end, I really want to thank every single person who volunteered at the
festival and gave of their time to benefit our Cathedral Parish schools.
Thank you and may God continue to bless the CPS community.
Todd M. DeClemente
Second Grade Unit Plan
Marketing, finance, and manufacturing sound like tough subjects but, our CPS second
graders are making it look easy. These subjects became the focus for Mrs. Sette’s students
while working on their economics unit. Students created a classroom business called Kidz’
Land which manufactures pipe cleaner toys and bookmarks. Students tested their
product’s appeal by conducting surveys to a random sample of students. They concluded
that there was a market for their product, and so a company was born. Students designed
a company logo, wrote an advertising jingle, and applied their math skills to their budget
plan. Like every shrewd entrepreneur our students realized
that they needed an investor. Students pitched their company plan
to our very own financer, Principal DeClemente. Their “loan”
was approved and Kidz’ Land began full production.
With this cross curricular unit,
students applied reading, writing,
math, and problem solving skills
while learning how producers and consumers depend on each other. Students also learned
the importance of teamwork and the division of labor when working on the practical tasks
that go into starting a business. We are very proud of our CPS second graders for their hard
work and dedication, and we believe that their participation during this project has been
an important foundational experience to their future responsibilities as adults.
Third graders can be seen here with
our new Surface Tablets. Students
used a math enrichment app, listened to an interactive story, and
were engaged with a few other educational programs available online.
Thanks to our PTO, teachers can
check out any of our 25 Surface
Tablets for use in the classroom.
PTO MEETING UPDATE
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!
We enjoyed a special presentation by Mary Kryzwick and Julie Creamer, the new directors of the St. Augustine Regional
Office of Catholic Charities. In addition to highlighting some new initiates within the organization, they talked to us about
the incredible impact our Thanksgiving and Catholic Schools Week food drives have on the community.
We also discussed the festival (and plans for a festival volunteer appreciation party), the upcoming ITBS testing, an upcoming survey regarding the school uniform, and a technology committee meeting later this month.
Other important topics can be seen below:
5K success!
208 runners joined us for this great event. It was a fantastic day that included a fun run and prizes. We can’t wait to do it again next year!
PLAYGROUND UPDATE
TIME FOR PHASE 3
In the 2012-2013 we began a three phase process for improving the look and interactivity of our playground. Phase 1 included the addition of more fall cushioning under
the slides, swing, and climbers, the removal of some aging equipment, the installation of our spiral slide, and the purchase of some needed sports equipment. Phase 2
is an ongoing process of upkeep and beautification, which has included replenishing
our mulch, adding our statue of the Blessed Mother, elementary classrooms planted
flowers at the entrance, and we added a stone paver walkway to the east entrance of
the playground. Our recent addition of mulch to the open play areas has dramatically
improved the look of the grounds (we also hope its helped to keep student shirts,
pants and socks in better repair). We also replaced an old water fountain this past
summer.
Now we are working to phase 3, which focuses on a new play structure in the northwest corner (Bridge Street) designed for our younger students. PTO is reviewing some options and we are contacting a playground specialist to offer some additional choices for safe and stimulating
play.
Save the Date: Campus Clean-up day (April 5)
With a spirit of Spring Cleaning, we are organizing a campus clean up day on Saturday
morning, April 5th. We’ll be mulching some flower beds, pulling weeds and old
bushes, and doing some painting in important areas. Make plans to join us for a fun
day of fellowship!
Save these dates, too!
Remember the great rummage sale we had last year to
support the 8th grade… well, it’s coming up again on
April 26 in the gym. After some Spring Cleaning over
Easter Break, bring your goods to school for sale at this
rain or shine event.
Are you getting your golf swing back together as Spring
approaches? Well, make plans to join us for next year’s
CPS Golf tournament at Palencia on Tuesday, October
28, 2014.
ST. JOSEPH ACADEMY
SJA reps were on campus in February to promote
registration. Check out our website for all of their
available summer sports camps.