Hi! I hope you enjoyed your first week of summer vacation. I had the privilege of getting to spend this week with ten of our future sixth graders helping them get acclimated to the idea of middle school. I hope your week was as good as mine was. There are just a few things I wanted to email about, then I will leave you alone for a while. June and July Tuition Payments When we raised tuition for this school year, we offered the opportunity to pay tuition over 12 months, instead of ten. We did that for two reasons. First of all, we wanted to help our families. Adding the two payments over the summer kept the monthly payment the same. Secondly, this ensures we have income over the summer to pay our bills, including payroll. We used what was selected on the contract when your student was registered to split your student's tuition into either ten or 12 payments. If you selected 12 payments but really wish you hadn't, be sure to let us know for next year so you can change your contract to ten payments. Keep in mind that Gradelink assigns a $35.00 late fee on the 5th of each month. Thank you for making you summer payments. All accounts should have a zero balance by July 31, 2025. Uniform Closet To make room for our expanding Robotics program, we had to clean out our uniform closet and stop accepting new donations. However, we were able to find space, so we will continue with our uniform closet. If you would like to donate gently used uniforms, we will accept them when the office reopens in June. We will also have the uniform closet open if you would like to take some items. Thank you for your patience while we figure out places to put things as we grow. Summer Office Hours The office will be open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays beginning June 10 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. I will be working most days through June 20. I am always available by texting or calling my cell at 936-554-8752, and through email. If I can help in any way, please don't hesitate to let me know. Baby, Pet, and House Sitting Alex Burnham, our 2nd grade religion teacher, is available this summer to take care of practically anything you need taking care of. Her number is 505-609-3310. Mrs. Wood's son Junior is also available to help, his number is 505-320-3269. Chipotle Fundraiser Hopefully you will be missing our SHCS families by June 14 and want to see everyone at our Chipotle fundraiser from 4 to 8 PM. Download the flyer here. School Uniforms Dennis Uniforms, the company that has provided our school uniforms for many years, went out of business this year. We have a new supplier called All Basics. They can provide the same girls' jumpers that Dennis did. I am still waiting on them to send me a link to their online store and will send it as soon as I get it. Immunizations With the outbreak of measles getting uncomfortably close to Farmington, will you please make sure your student is up to date on all immunizations prior to returning to school in August? We are required by the health department to follow all immunization requirements. Staff Updates Kami Donald will be teaching Middle School Language Arts. Mr. Idzerda will be expanding our robotics program to all grades. Cindy Morphis will be teaching 5th grade. Nikki Franchini will be coordinating our IXL program. August Our back-to-school picnic is Friday, August 8 from 4:00 - 6:00 PM, and school starts Monday, August 11. I hope you have a wonderful summer.

Dear Parents, Well, it's finally here... the last week of school for the 2024 - 2025 school year. I will do my best to not bug you over the summer unless I feel you really need the information. Thank you to Coach Katie and EVERYONE who made our Field Day great. The kids had a wonderful time, and it is always so nice to see our parents at our school. Beautiful weather, super organization, fun activities, and wonderful adults...the perfect day. On Monday our school will be audited by the Safe environment office beginning at 1:00 PM. That's just FYI. On Tuesday the 6th graders will be going bowling from 10:45 AM to 1:15 PM. On Wednesday, we will have a special morning prayer in the gym. It will be the last time we have prayer on the current gym floor. Since it is the last time our students will have morning prayer with their current teacher, we will also have our moving up ceremony . We will start with 7th grade who will move to the space usually taken by our 8th graders, then sixth grade will go to 7th, and so on. Mrs. Head will be taking the 7th graders to play tennis, and we will have our first PreK graduation at 2:00 PM in the family center. We will not have snack on Thursday , and students will be dismissed at 1:00 PM . Students who purchased a yearbook can stay from 1 - 2 with their parents for a yearbook signing party . We will not have after-school care on Thursday. Teachers will have their grades complete by 3:30 PM on Wednesday. Report Cards will be given out Thursday. New Information Dennis Uniforms, the company that has provided our school uniforms for many years, went out of business this year. We have a new supplier called All Basics. They can provide the same girls' jumpers that Dennis did. I will send the link to our school's store next week when everything is finalized. FHS is having their tennis camp May 27 - 29. Mrs. Carla has a copy of their flyer in the office. FMS is offering Free Meal Delivery for all kids in the community ages 1 - 18. They will deliver meals to your home each day beginning June 2. Call 505-599-8623 to register. There is a free reading program for students that begins in June. Go to Literacy.NM.gov for more information. We also have a flyer for that in the office. With the outbreak of measles getting uncomfortably close to Farmington, will you please make sure your student is up to date on all immunizations prior to returning to school in August? We are required by the health department to follow all immunization requirements. On Saturday, June 14 from 4:00 to 8:00 PM, we will have a fundraiser at Chipotle . This is a great opportunity to see friends from school over the summer. We will send out the flyer as it gets closer to June 14. I want you to know how much I have loved getting to be the principal at our wonderful school for the last two years. I love each one of our students and I love getting to know our families. I cannot wait to see everyone in August at our Back-to-School picnic on Friday, August 8. I hope you have a great last week of school and a great summer.

Dear Parents, Two more weeks of school! And they will go by so fast!! I have to start this week's email with an apology. We have to plan so far in advance that I got ahead of myself by an entire year. As published in our official school calendar, dismissal on the last day of school for this year is at 1:00 PM . (NEXT year we will dismiss at 3:15 PM after a 2:00 PM Mass with Father Tim.) I am so sorry about that and extremely grateful to Mrs. Carla for always keeping this straight for our school. This means that our last Mass together as a school is this Friday, May 16, which is 8th grade graduation. I hope you can join us. Huge thanks to everyone who made our teachers feels so appreciated last week during Teacher Appreciation Week . I saw our sweet students walk in carrying flowers and treats for their teachers, and one family brought a gift for every member of our staff. Gigantic thanks to the parents who covered classes so our teachers could have a nice long lunch on Friday, and to the parents who helped feed the teachers in the family center and the parents who held feed our students in the gym. But the biggest thanks of all go to each parent who supports our school in the most important way, by sending your student to us and praying for our school. Our families, teachers, and staff are the greatest asset of our school, and the biggest blessings. Thank you to each one of you. Ms. Alysia and her yearbook staff have done a fabulous job of getting our yearbook to the printer in time for us to have it before the end of school. Yearbooks are $20 each and your student can give their money to Ms. Alysia in their computer class next week if they want to buy one. From 1:00 - 2:00 on the last day of school, students can get their yearbook signed outside on the playground, if parents would like to stay when they come to pick up their student at 1:00 dismissal. The teachers will not be on duty, but Ms. Alysia, Mr. Dylan and I will be out there to watch our first yearbook signing party . If you drove past the school on Friday and saw two buses, you were not seeing double. We have another bus! This one is a full-size bus and can carry 44 passengers. St. Bonaventure Indian School in Thoreau donated this bus to us, just like they did the other one. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Hamlin for going to Thoreau last Thursday to get the bus for us. This one needs a little more love than the other one so if anyone is looking for a project...let me know. This week, we have lots of exciting things happening: Monday, May 12 - Our 3rd and 5th graders will be going in our smaller bus to the museum in Albuquerque. Please pray for safe travels. Tuesday, May 13 - We will celebrate May birthdays at morning prayer. (We forgot last Wednesday.) Mrs. Benally and her kindergartners will be going to the Bolack Museum, and the 8th graders will be planting their rose garden in front of the middle school as their Legacy Project. The 8th graders will also get to eat lunch with Father Tim. Wednesday, May 14 - We will celebrate June and July birthdays at morning prayer. After morning prayer, Seniors from our local high schools who graduated from 8th grade at SHCS will walk the halls in their caps and gowns. Ms. Beasley's kindergartners will be going to the science museum and our 8th graders will be going on a field trip to Civitan Park with Mrs. Head. Thursday, May 15 - Field Day! Thanks to Coach Katie for organizing the events for field day. After Field Day, we will have our first Student Council meeting for students in grade six and seven who are interested. This informational meeting is open to parents as well. We will meet from 3:15 - 3:45 in the workroom. Finally, at 6:00 PM, we will have our middle school awards celebration in the family center. Friday, May 16 - 8th grade graduation at 8:15 AM Mass Congratulations to our seven 8th graders who will be participating in graduation on Friday: Letysia Chavez Zoilo Chipman Dasan Collins Ben Franchini Jenesis Ortega Rosa Schwenk Rhys Wauneka After graduation, Father Tim will bless the 8th grade shadowbox in the main building, and the 8th grade rose garden in front of the middle school. Everyone is welcome. I hope you have a wonderful week.

Dear Parents, Happy May! In a few short weeks we will start summer break. I honestly cannot believe it. As you saw in Mrs. Carla's email, our 32nd annual Night to Remember fundraiser was a huge success. We raised just over $150,000! We were hesitant to send the amount of profit out, and Mrs. Carla checked things 492 times before we did, because it seemed too good to be true. But, if you think about all the hard work that EVERYONE did, it really is not surprising at all. There is no way for me to thank everyone by name; just please know how extremely grateful our school is to each person who made this year's event so amazing. Thank you to Mr. Burnham for dressing as a hotdog and agreeing to be squirted with ketchup and mustard last Monday. Our teachers and staff made a chaotic event not chaotic at all. Friday's Crowning of Mary was wonderful. Our 8th graders did a nice job of being leaders and all students did a nice job of doing exactly what was expected. Father Tim has said several times how beautiful the crowning was. Thanks also to our third graders and Ms. Gapinski for providing the lovely music. Friday was Lunch Hero Day . Special thanks to Mrs. Rita for always making sure our students are fed. Thanks, also, to Jerilyn and Selecia for helping her at all lunches. Thanks to Mrs. Tso, Mrs. Wood, Miss Simone, and our preschool/preK students for hosting our last family lunch for this year. I wish everyone could have seen the PreK students dressed in their cap and gown welcoming parents outside. So precious. Congratulations to Kairi Szekley for winning the Four Corners Federated Republican Women Essay Contest. Her essay about "What the American Flag Means to Me" won first place! She will receive a flag that has been flown over the U. S. Capitol at a special dinner this summer. Congratulations to Ms. Vickers and her 5th graders for winning the book fair's door decorating contest. Mrs. Peterson said, "The voting for first place was done by random people (students, teachers, and parents) coming up and telling me I needed to go see it! I figured if that many people enjoyed it then it deserved first!" Thanks to Mrs. Peterson for her hard work to help our school have a very successful book fair. Congratulations to our third graders who were confirmed in the church Saturday at the 4:30 PM Mass, and who also received their First Holy Communion. They looked so beautiful and so handsome and so HOLY! Thanks to Ms. Gapinski and the SHCS choir for providing the music. As always, they did a wonderful job. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week . Thank you to everyone who volunteered to cover a class or help serve the teachers and staff on Friday. I still need about five more people to help serve our students from 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM. Also, it would be wonderful if we had some desserts donated for Tuesday's and Wednesday's meals. Our parents continue to do so much that I hate to ask (this is where my husband would say, "Then don't.") but I know how so many of you love to do anything for our school so I'm asking! Thank you in advance for everything you will do for our teachers and staff this week...and every single day of the school year. We will celebrate May birthdays after morning prayer this Wednesday, May 7. Our middle school boys will go on a Boys Retreat this Friday after Mass. They will start their retreat with Father Tim telling them about the priesthood, and then we will visit various businesses, including a medical facility, PV, a working ranch, a construction site, and an auto repair shop. This should be a great day for our boys to learn about many of the options they have for their future. The following week we will celebrate June and July birthdays during morning prayer on Wednesday, May 14; we will have Field Day on Thursday, May 15, and 8th grade graduation on Friday, May 16. Our last day of school is Thursday, May 22. Father Tim will have a special Mass for us at 2:00 PM, then students will be dismissed for summer break at 3:15 PM. I already miss our sweet kiddos. I hope you have a wonderful week. You are always welcome at our school, for morning prayer, Mass, lunch, or just to visit.

Dear Parents, Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our 32nd Annual Night to Remember , and to everyone who contributed in any way to make this year's event a huge success. Special thanks to Ashley Seyfarth and Jennifer Strickler for co-chairing this year, and for their commitment to making sure we continue with the traditions that are unique to our school, while adding their creative new ideas to make last night so great. I heard multiple times how smoothly the evening went, how beautiful the venue was, and how much fun was had. As soon as Amber Valencia and Mrs. Carla can count everything, we will let you know how much money was raised for our school. Again, thank you to each person who made sure last night was one we won't soon forget. This week is our Book Fair ! You should have received information about setting up an eWallet for your student, if that is preferable to sending cash. Students can shop during their class's scheduled library time, at lunch, and after school. Thanks to Mrs. Peterson for organizing the book fair for us. On Monday morning, we will continue celebrating this year's Walk-a-thon great success by giving all students an opportunity to s quirt Mr. Burnham with ketchup or mustard while he is dressed like a hotdog outside in the grass area after prayer. Everyone is welcome. On Wednesday, April 30, at 6:30 PM, Cathy Montoya will have a mandatory practice for Confirmation and First Holy Communion in the church. All students, their sponsor, and a parent are required to attend this practice. On Thursday, May 1 we will have confessions , then on Friday, May 2 we will have the Crowning of Mary at 8:15 AM Mass. Also on Friday, we will have our last First Friday Family Lunch of the year, which will be hosted by Preschool and PreK. For this lunch, we will have the black gate open where you will be greeted by the cutest little 3, 4, and 5 year olds. Friday's lunch will be a graduation party for our PreK students, so be prepared to feel their sweetness in your heart. Preschool through 1st grade students eat at 11:00 AM; 2nd through 5th grade students eat at 11:30 AM; and our middle school students eat at noon.  On Saturday, May 3 our choir will lead the music at the 4:30 PM Mass where our 3rd graders will be confirmed and receive their first Holy Communion .  Next week, May 5 - 9, is Teacher Appreciation Week . We are working on planning something special for the teachers on Friday, May 9. There is no cost to you other than your valuable time. If you would like to know what I'm talking about and how you can help, reply to this message or talk to me when you can. On Wednesday, May 7 we will celebrate May birthdays at morning prayer. The following week, on Wednesday, May 14, we will celebrate June and July birthdays , followed by Field Day on Thursday, May 15, and 8th grade graduation at Mass on Friday, May 16. I hope you have a wonderful week. Remember, you are always welcome at morning prayer.

Dear Parents, I hope you had a wonderful Easter Break. Guess what our next break is? That's right...Summer Break! Can you believe it? Wednesday before break was a lot of fun. Thanks to Miss Elmer for organizing our field trip to see the King of Kings movie Wednesday morning. Our students were very well behaved, and the theater manager was very impressed with how they acted and how quickly they were able to get their snacks and get seated. Thank you to all the parents who drove students to the movie, especially Jessie Keating for driving our school bus for the middle school and for kindergarten. The weather was beautiful for our Egg Drop. Thanks to Mrs. Keating for organizing our Egg Drop, to Coach Katie for helping at the Egg Drop, Spivey Vasquez for dropping the eggs, and to each of you for making the egg drop a success. We had lots of unbroken eggs and some pretty cool contraptions. The last event of the day was our fundraiser at Slim Chickens. Thanks to everyone who was able to eat there. This week is an exciting week for our school. Our middle school girls will attend our first ever girls retreat, hosted by Joy Nee and Terry Dearen, on Wednesday. I am excited for our girls to get to spend a day learning about how much God loves them and all He has planned for their lives. Then on Saturday evening, we have our school's 32nd annual Night to Remember. This night is a celebration of our students, our families, and our school. Thank you to everyone who loves and supports our school. Next week will be busy! On Monday, April 28, Mr. Burnham will be dressed as a hotdog and get squirted with ketchup and mustard after morning prayer to continue our celebration of our Walk-a-thon's great success. We will meet for prayer outside in the grassy area. On Thursday, May 1 we will have confessions, then on Friday, May 2 we will have the Crowning of Mary at 8:15 AM Mass, and our First Friday Family Lunch hosted by Preschool and PreK. On Saturday, May 3 our choir will lead the music at the 4:30 PM Mass where our 3rd graders will be confirmed and receive their first Holy Communion. May 5 - 9 is Teacher Appreciation Week . If there is anything you would like to do for our teachers collectively, please let me know. Our school has several things planned, but this is one week where it is not possible to do too much for our wonderful teachers and staff. Thank you for loving our teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week, and every week. On this Easter Monday, we pause to acknowledge the death of Pope Francis and pray for his soul: Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, And let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.

Dear Parents, Last week was a busy week at our little school. On Wednesday, our middle school students did a fabulous job representing our school at Sycamore Park . Our students painted a wall to get it ready for a mural, and they stuffed ten million Easter eggs. The city representative was so complimentary of our kids and made a very nice post about them and our school on Facebook. On Thursday, we had a great turnout for our 2nd annual Walk and Roll . Thank you to everyone who was able to attend. The kids had a great time, and it was wonderful to see our parents at school. I love when we can all get together like that. We had three students earn awards in state competitions this weekend: Congratulations to Ben Franchinni for earning third place at the State National History Day! Congratulations for Rosa Schwenk for earning second place at the State Science Fair and for winning the New Mexico Vacuum Award! Congratulations to Sofia Chavez for winning the CO2 and Greenhouse Award! This week is Holy Week . From hallow.com :The season of Lent gives way to the celebration of Easter in Holy Week, the most sacred period of the liturgical calendar. Holy Week includes both the Church’s most solemn observances and joyous feasts. Unique, beautiful liturgies fill the period of time that begins on Palm Sunday and culminates with Easter Sunday. Holy Week 2025 is a great time to recommit to prayer and draw close to God. We will only have three days of school this week. Our Easter break starts Thursday with Holy Thursday and goes through Easter Monday. Because of it being Holy Week, there are no after school activities this week, so no IA Club, Ukulele or Choir practice. Monday and Tuesday of this week do not have anything special planned, outside of what our teachers are doing with their classes. Wednesday is a different story. Our kindergarten classes will be going on a field trip to San Juan College Wednesday morning. Miss Elmer has been working with the manager of Allen Theaters to make it possible for our students to go to a 9:30 AM showing of King of Kings , also on Wednesday. The teachers who decide to take their classes will send home a permission form with all the information on Monday. Then at 1:30, we will have our annual Egg Drop . Please click here for all the details. Finally, beginning at 4:00 PM, we have our fundraiser at Slim Chickens . Students can wear spirit wear to school all three days this week. Any Sacred Heart Catholic School shirt or a plain red t-shirt can be worn with jeans or shorts. Night to Remember is less than two weeks away! If you were not able to turn in your family's ticket on Friday, will you please do so on Monday? Please know you are always welcome at our school. Thank you for making it possible for your child(ren) to attend our school.

Dear Parents, Well, we made it to April! I can't believe it is almost the end of Lent, almost May, and so close to the end of the year. Thank you, parents, for allowing our school to be a part of your children's lives. This Friday is our last Stations of the Cross and the Knights of Columbus last fish fry for Lent this year. The weather looks to be nice, so we will have Stations at 2:30 in the lower garden. Please join us if you can. Then, beginning at 5:00, enjoy some delicious catfish, salmon, or cheese pizza at the Knights of Columbus hall on Orchard. The Knights are very generous supporters of our school; it is wonderful when we can support them as well. As we come to the end of Lent, I wanted to share my favorite reminder from Bishop Ricken's Living the Faith : Be patient with yourself. When we're confronted with our own weakness during Lent, the temptation is to get angry and frustrated. "What a bad person I am!" But that is the wrong lesson. God is calling us to be patient and to see ourselves as He does, with unconditional love. I can tell you every time I have messed up this Lent, but I could not list five things I have done correctly. Loving myself unconditionally is near impossible, especially some days, when all I see are my faults. I am so thankful God does not see me the way I see myself! Thanks to our kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Benally and Ms. Beasley, for a super First Friday Family Lunch, and thank you to everyone who was able to attend. The gym was beautiful, and our students did a wonderful job of singing and dancing to "Jesus is my Superhero." Our last family lunch for this year is Friday, May 2, hosted by Preschool and PreK. Will you please purchase or sell your Night to Remember ticket by this Friday, April 11? Oh, how I hope you are buying the dinner ticket and planning to attend! Our co-chairs, Ashley Seyfarth and Jenni Strickler, have done a great job of continuing the traditions that make this event unique to our school, while adding new and exciting activities to make it even more special this year. The food will be great, with new options to match everyone's tastes; the band will be great, with just the right music to get everyone dancing; and the items in the live auction, silent auction, student art silent auction, and dessert auction are abundant and varied, with something for everyone. There is nothing more exciting than the auction of the boards, but there is nothing better than getting so many people together in one room who love and support our school. I sincerely hope all our parents can attend; it will truly be a Night to Remember . Previous Information If you would like to send pictures or videos of your kiddos to Mrs. S, will you please do so ASAP? The link is: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PoD35Fo0iVyqYjX6wFNzlSXIBC-CaFOjor you can send them through email to bschwenk@shcsfarmington.org . She is making a promotional video for our school to be shared on social media, and we would like all our students to be included. We will have our next local business revenue sharing fundraiser on Wednesday, April 16 at Slim Chickens , beginning at 4:00 PM. All you have to do is mention SHCS at the register, and they will give us 15% of your total. No flyer required! With the expansion of our Robotics program, we need more storage space. We will be getting rid of all the clothes in our storage closet, except the girls’ jumpers and communion dresses. If you would like to get some clothes for your kiddos, come get whatever you want by Tuesday, April 8. New Information Father Tim has made it possible for our old tile floor in the gym to be removed this summer. Enviro-Tech will begin work the week after school is out, and our building will have to be closed for at least two weeks. After the old flooring is removed, we will begin the process of having new flooring installed. We have looked into having a summer program for students, but that does not seem to be possible this year because of not having our gym available. On Wednesday, April 16 at 1:00 PM, we will have our third annual Egg Drop . Students will build contraptions that will hopefully keep a raw egg from breaking when dropped from various heights. This is such a fun activity for our school, and it is so cool to see some of the ideas our students come up with and create. Look for more information soon. This Week Students in grades 2 - 8 will be taking the ARK test this week in computer class. On Wednesday, all middle school students will be at Sycamore Park for a service project. On Thursday we have our Walk and Roll , beginning at 7:45 AM. Students can bring their bike, scooter, skateboard, or skate and roll, or just walk, around the block by our school. Parents can park in the Family Center parking lot and meet everyone on Allen Avenue. We will walk or roll for a while then meet in the gym for morning prayer and blueberry muffins. Last year's Walk and Roll was so much fun, and I know it will be this year, too! On Friday, Rosa, Angelina, Sofia, and Moira will be going to Socorro for the State Science Fair . Ben will be going to State National History Day . Good luck to all of them! Next Week We will have school only Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We do not have school Thursday or Friday because of Easter . We also get the following Monday off as well. On Wednesday, April 16 , we will send home Progress Reports with grades for the first three weeks of quarter 4; we will have our Egg Drop at 1:00 PM in the back of the school; and our fundraiser at Slim Chickens will begin at 4:00 PM.  In the last twenty months that I have gotten to be the principal at Sacred Heart Catholic School, I have learned so much about so many things. I can truly say these have been two of the best years of my 39 years in education. One of the biggest things I have learned is how the small size of our school affects relationships between our students, sometimes looking more like sibling relationships than classmate relationships. There are times when our students are best friends, going to each other's houses for playdates and spending as much time together as possible. Other times, they are getting on each other's nerves and fighting like brothers or sisters. Our teachers do an excellent job of managing behavior in the classroom, but even then, they cannot see or hear everything that is done or said. Unfortunately, sometimes some of our sweet, kind, Christian, loving students will say something mean to another student. When our teachers hear it, they will handle it immediately. If it becomes physical or consistent, I will get involved. Please know that as a school, mean behavior by anyone is not accepted and we will do our best to address it every time it occurs. If your kiddo comes home and tells you that another student said or did something that was mean, please tell your student's teacher, or sit down with me in my office and talk to me. Every teacher and staff member at our school cares about your child. We want what is best for every child we get to have attend our school. Our school is filled with humans and not one of us is perfect; however, I know there is no better school anywhere for your child to be at, and no better group of adults to teach your child. Your child is seen. Your child is heard. Your child is loved. Thank you for trusting us with your student. Please join us for morning prayer, Mass, and Stations of the Cross this week if you can.

Dear Parents, I hope you and your student had a good first week back from spring break. We got to enjoy Stations of the Cross outside in the lower garden on Friday. It was wonderful to see our students following along and to hear their voices together as Father Tim led us on the 14 steps Jesus took so long ago. I stood up along the railing above the garden and had a front-row seat to watch our school participate in this Lenten Catholic devotion that commemorates Jesus's passion and death of the cross. I was so proud of our school and smile every time I hear their sweet voices replayed in my head. From Bishop Ricken's Living the Faith: Giving of ourselves in the midst of our suffering and self-denial brings us closer to loving like Christ, who suffered and poured himself out unconditionally on the Cross for all of us. Lent is a journey through the desert to the foot of the Cross on Good Friday, as we seek Him out, ask His help, join in His suffering, and learn to love like Him. Previous Information Thank you to everyone who has re-enrolled your student(s) for next year. If you are planning for your student(s) to return but have not completed the online registration, will you please do so as soon as you can? We use the enrollment numbers for staffing decisions. If you need to wait a few weeks to pay the registration fee, that is no problem at all. Thank you for selling your Night to Remember ticket. I truly hope that all our parents can attend this fun night of dinner and dancing. If you have not sent any pictures or videos to Bonita, will you please do so ASAP? You can send them through email to bschwenk@shcsfarmington.org . She is making a promotional video for our school to be shared on social media, and we would like all our students to be included. We will have our next local business revenue sharing fundraiser on Wednesday, April 16 at Slim Pickens , beginning at 4:00 PM. All you have to do is mention SHCS at the register, and they will give us 15% of your total. No flyer required! New Information Congratulations to Mrs. Lange's 4th graders who published a book titled The Wonders of New Mexico . Each student researched a different topic pertaining to our great state of New Mexico, wrote about it in cursive, and drew a picture to go with their topic. Attached is a proposal for a new grading scale . It would be for all grade levels first through eighth. The proposal also includes a change for Specials, and has already been approved by those teachers. Basically, the new scale would be the same one used for FMS high schools. Currently FMS elementary and middle schools use Standards Based Grading, which is a scale of 1 - 4. The new scale broadens the range for each letter grade to ten points and eliminates grades with a minus. The reasoning behind the requested change is that when our students apply for anything, such as San Juan College High School, our students are at a disadvantage. For example, if a student takes Algebra 1 in 8th grade at an FMS middle school and makes a 92, that grade is transcripted as an A. If a student takes Algebra 1 at our school and makes a 92, his grade is a B+. If you have any concerns with the new grading scale, will you please let me know ASAP? With the expansion of our Robotics program, we need more storage space. We will be getting rid of all the clothes in our storage closet, except the girls’ jumpers and communion dresses. If you would like to get some clothes for your kiddos, come get whatever you want. This Friday, April 4, the clothes that are in good shape will be given away to Catholic Charities, or someplace similar. ARK Testing is the week of April 7 – 11. This Week We will celebrate April birthdays on Tuesday, April 1 at morning prayer. Students receiving confirmation and their First Communion have a retreat with their parents in the church at 5:30 on Wednesday, April 2. Father Tim and Father Jeff will hear confessions on Thursday (Father Tim’s birthday) April 3 after morning prayer. Our two kindergarten classes will host our First Friday Family Lunch on Friday, April 4. We will go to Stations at 2:30. The Knights of Columbus will have their fish fry beginning at 5:00 PM. Our SHCS Choir will lead the music at 4:30 PM Mass on Saturday, April 5. Next Week Students, staff, and teachers will take the ARK test , which measures what they know about our Catholic faith. Students will test in their computer class. On Wednesday, April 9 our middle school students will go to Sycamore Park for a volunteer project. They will paint a wall to help prepare it for a mural, and stuff Easter eggs for the Farmington Easter Egg Hunt. On Thursday, April 10, Coach Katie will host our annual Walk and Roll , beginning at 7:30 AM. Students can bring their bike, scooter, skateboard, or skate and roll, or just walk, around the block by our school. Parents can park in the Family Center parking lot and meet everyone on Allen Avenue. We will walk or roll for a while then meet in the gym for morning prayer and pastries. Last year's Walk and Roll was so much fun and I know it will be this year, too! On Friday, April 11 we will have four girls compete at the State Science Fair in Socorro, and one 8th grader who will compete at State National History Day . Good luck Moira, Angelina, Sofia, Rosa, and Ben! As always, thank you for your continued support of our school. We would not be here without everyone reading this email. You are greatly appreciated. Join us for morning prayer when you can. It will change your life! I hope you have a wonderful week.