Week 11 | October 23 - 27, 2023
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Can you believe there are less than 10 days left in October? We are such a busy little school that time seems to fly!
At Sacred Heart Catholic School,
our mission is to love and serve God and our neighbors, to learn to the best of our abilities, to use these skills to be faithful and responsible Catholic Christians, and to shine forth our faith through the power of the Holy Spirit.
When you are at our school, you can feel the love our teachers have for their students, and the love that our students have for them. I see so many hugs every day, and even get a few myself. You can see the ways our school serves God, not only through prayer, religion classes, and the curriculum that encompasses our faith in the daily lessons, but also in how everyone is so willing to help each other when needed. Our students work hard in their classes to learn what their teacher is teaching, and everyday they are becoming more responsible, demonstrating their faith throughout all aspects of their life. One parent who loves our school said it best,
"Sacred Heart is so special because you can see the Holy Spirit at work in the school and through others." It takes everyone with the same mission to make our school the wonderful place it is. Thank you for trusting SHCS with your student.
Book Fair Activities
Our door decorating contest was a success! If you have not had time to stop by and see the doors that our students decorated in the theme of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, I encourage you to do so because they are excellent. Fifth grade's Grimm Gallery won first place in the contest, followed by Mrs. Isbell our Art teacher in second place with her Sleeping Beauty themed door, and Pre-School/Pre-K won 3rd place with their Jack and the Beanstalk door. Honorable Mention was awarded to Miss Chavez's Rosary bulletin board.
- Family Fun Night was a lot of fun on Friday night. Mrs. S had several activities planned in the theme of The Brothers Grimm fairy tales, and all of the students enjoyed them. I'm still not sure that Cinderella's slipper was ever found after the last time it was hidden!
- Mrs. S will keep the book fair open one more day to allow students with money on their eWallet to finish shopping.
7th Grade Service Project
This week, our 7th graders filled the two food baskets in the church with peanut butter crackers and granola bars that were purchased with the money they earned at the Bishop's golf tournament. Taking care of the food baskets is their service project for the year, so if your 7th grader asks for an unusually large quantity of snacks, that's what it is for!
Monday is the 8th Graders' Pizza Sale
The 8th graders will be selling pizza during all three lunches tomorrow Monday, October 23. Each slice of pizza is $2.00 and each student will also get a drink and cookie. The 8th graders are raising money for their Legacy Project. Last time they made $260! Our 8th grade class might be small, but they will leave behind a great legacy!
Tuesday is our Hispanic Heritage Lunch
Please join us Tuesday, October 24 for lunch to recognize Hispanic Heritage Month. Everyone is invited, regardless of ethnicity. The families who ordered a hot lunch will enjoy beef nachos, Spanish rice, and pinto beans. If you did not order a lunch, no worries; just bring your own and eat with your student.
October Birthdays
On Wednesday, October 25, we will celebrate staff and students who have October birthdays during morning prayer. Please join us.
Safety Committee meets at 6:00 PM on Wednesday
We have made a lot of progress towards making our school as safe as it can possibly be. Our safety committee will meet at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, October 25 at the school to discuss what has been done, and what still needs to be done. We will have someone at the front door to let in the safety committee members, and any one who is interested in attending.
Our Color Run is Thursday!
It's finally the week for our Color Run! SHCS Color Run T-shirts that were ordered a few weeks ago will be distributed on Tuesday for students to wear on Thursday. If your student did not order a t-shirt, any white shirt will do, but it will not be white afterwards. We also ordered a few extra in each size. Since Thursday is spirit day, students can wear jeans or shorts if they would like. This is how the Color Run/Walkathon works:
- Students receive financial pledges from family, friends, or anyone interested in promoting fitness and helping our school. Students can use their pledge sheet or share their website link for online pledges.
- The pledge sheets should be turned into the teacher or office by this Wednesday. They will be returned after the Color Run so students can collect money from their donors. The money and pledge sheets are due back to the school by Thursday, November 2.
- After a student completes a lap, a color will be sprayed on them. The more laps students do, the more colorful their shirt is.
- Our goal is to raise $50,000 to meet the financial needs of our school.
- Classes are separated into three groups. Pre-School, Pre-K, Kindergarten, and First grade will leave at 8:15 AM to go to Tibbets. Second, third, and fourth grades will leave school at 9:15 AM, and 5th through 8 grades will leave school at 10:15 AM.
- The class in each group that raises the most money will win an ice cream field trip.
- Medals for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for each group will be awarded to the students with the most laps.
- One student from each group who raises the most money will also receive a prize.
- The student in the school who raises the most money overall will receive a pair of Beats headphones.
Confessions on Thursday
Students in grades 3 - 8 will have the opportunity to go to confession Thursday before they leave for the Color Run.
Knights of Columbus Greenery Sales
The Knights of Columbus are selling beautiful wreaths, swags, garland and other items for Christmas decorating! Their greenery is beautiful and their prices are great. Ms. Carla has an order form in the office, or you can call Joy Nee at 505-801-5380. The Sacred Heart Knights of Columbus have always been a great support to our school, and we are excited to support them in return. Orders and payment are due this Wednesday, October 25. Ms. Carla can take cash, checks, and credit cards.
Trunk or Treat
It's almost Halloween! Plans are as follows:
- Each student should bring a regular sized bag of Halloween candy to their teacher by Monday, October 30.
- Students can bring their Halloween costume to school with them on Tuesday, October 31. Parents are welcome to help their student put on their costume beginning at 1:30 PM.
- At 2:00 PM, we will have a parade in the gym. Students will walk around the gym then parade over to the rectory for a story with Father Tim. After the story, the students will go to trunk or treat in the Family Center parking lot.
All Saints Mass on Wednesday, November 1
We will attend mass on Wednesday, November 1 for All Saints Day. Students are to wear their mass uniform that day. We will be on our Friday schedule. We will follow our Wednesday schedule with PE on Friday, November 3.
Works of Mercy Club
We finally have plans for our first school-wide Works of Mercy project!
- Beginning Monday, November 6 we will collect items to help three local organizations.
- Pre-School, Pre-K, Kindergarten, and First grade will collect baby items for Birthright.
- Second, third, and fourth grades will collect food for PATH.
- 5th through 8 grades will collect warm items, like gloves and socks, for Catholic Charities.
- All items should be brought to your student's teacher by Thursday, November 16.
- On Friday, November 17, which is an early release day at 1:00 PM, all parents, teachers, and staff are invited to deliver the items to the organizations.
Thanks to Ashley Maxwell for making this happen!
Wow! I know this email is even longer than usual. There is just so much to tell you about what we are doing at school! Thank you for taking the time to read it and thank you for your continued support of our school.
❤️,
Kelly
Week 11; October 23 - 27
- Monday, October 23 - 8th Grade Pizza Sale and IA Club meeting to cook coconut shrimp!
- Tuesday, October 24 - Hispanic Heritage lunch and Ukulele practice
- Wednesday, October 25 - October birthdays recognized at morning prayer, choir practice, Knights of Columbus greenery sale orders due, and Safety committee meeting at 6:00 PM
- Thursday, October 26 - Confession for grades 3 and higher and Color Run
Week 12; October 30 - November 3
- Monday, October 30 - IA Club meeting
- Tuesday, October 31 - Costume Parade, story time with Father Tim, and Trunk or Treat
- Wednesday, November 1 - All Saints Mass - Friday schedule
- Friday, November 3 - No mass - Wednesday schedule
Week 13; November 6 - 10
- Monday, November 6 - Begin collecting for Works of Mercy Club; IA Club meeting
- Tuesday, November 7 - Ukulele practice
- Wednesday, November 8 - nothing...yet
- Thursday, November 9 - nothing...yet
- Friday, November 10 - You are invited to lunch with your student in recognition of Veteran's Day
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.
Dear Parents, I hope you and your family have had a wonderful Spring Break, and you are rested for the last nine weeks of this school year. It is going to go by fast! Today is the third Sunday of Lent. We will be celebrating Easter before we know it. During Lent we are called to focus on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. From Bishop Ricken's Living the Faith: Lent is essentially an act of prayer spread out over 40 days. As we pray, we go on a journey, one that hopefully brings us closer to Christ and leaves us changed by the encounter with Him. ...fasting is actually a form of penance, which helps us turn away from sin and toward Christ. Almsgiving...is about reaching out to others and helping them without question as a way of sharing the experience of God's unconditional love. I keep this article hanging in my office all year to remind me to pray more, live as sin-free a life as possible, and to help as many people as I can, not just during Lent but always. Lent is one of the parts of our Catholic faith that I truly love, and I am so blessed to get to work at a school where our faith is taught daily. Thank you for letting me a small part of your child's faith journey. As we go through the accreditation process, one of the tasks is to update our Mission, Vision, and Philosophy statements to make sure they are relevant to the current beliefs of our school. Our new statements are attached. Your feedback is welcome. Thank you for selling your Night to Remember ticket . We will have a Night to Remember meeting this coming Wednesday, March 26, at 6:00 PM in the school library. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. 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. Bonita Schwenk is completing her volunteer hours by creating our school's promotional video to share on social media. Will you please share with her any pictures you have of your student(s)? We have reactivated her SHCS email so you can send any pictures you have to bschwenk@shcsfarmington.org . Thank you! We will have our next local business revenue sharing fundraiser on Wednesday, April 16 at Slim Pickens , beginning at 4:00 PM. Our calendar is packed for the rest of the year. I will go into more detail as needed, but below is a list of everything on our calendar (so far). I am certain there will changes and additions. Please join us for morning prayer when you can and at Mass on Friday. We love having you (and your student) here.
Dear Parents, We have almost made it to Spring Break! Four more days. We should be finishing up our parent/teacher conferences this week. If you have not met with your student's teacher, or do not have a time scheduled for a conference this week, I am sure you will hear from the teacher on Monday to schedule a time. Thank you for taking the time to visit with your student's teacher. Thank you to everyone who attended our First Friday Family Lunch that was hosted by Mrs. Atencio and her first grade students. They did a fabulous job of decorating our gym, welcoming everyone, and singing. Our next First Friday Family Lunch is Friday, April 4 and will be hosted by our Kindergarten classes. Congratulations to our middle schoolers who participated in National History Day and the Regional Science Fair. We had one 8th grader who competed at National History Day, Ben Franchini, and he won first place in Individual Documentary Junior Division. Thanks to Mrs. Head for helping him prepare for competition. We also had one 8th grader and five sixth graders who all won at least one award at the Science Fair. SHCS will be sending four students to compete at the state Science Fair in Socorro next month. Rosa Schwenk, our 8th grader, was the Junior Division Overall Winner again this year! Thanks to Dr. Grandjean for working with our sixth grade girls to get them prepared for the Science Fair. Good luck at state, Girls! Thank you to everyone who was able to go to the Knights of Columbus Fish Fry Friday night. The Knights are a HUGE supporter of our school. The men are cooking every Friday in Lent from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM. Thank you to everyone who was able to eat at Panda Express on Saturday. I was in there twice and it was packed both times. I love how our school can get a little extra money simply by supporting Farmington businesses. Thank you to everyone who sent pictures to Haleigh Bassing at PV. She was able to put together a video for us to remember Catholic Schools Week. Bonita Schwenk is going to create a promotional video for us and needs your pictures from the entire school year. We have reactivated her SHCS email address so will you please send her any pictures you have? Her email address is bschwenk@shcsfarmington.org . Thank you! Thank you to everyone who has reenrolled their students for next year. I am so grateful for you allowing us the opportunity to continue helping your children grow academically and in their faith. Thank you for trusting Sacred Heart Catholic School with your students. Thank you to everyone who sold tickets for our Dream Vacation Raffle . It was a huge success! Our goal was $40,000 and we raised over $42,000! And the winners are: 5th Prize - Outdoor theater package - Alexis Clark, sold by Oliver Cruz 4th Prize - Sky Ute Casino package - Charlene Brown, sold by the Seyfarth family 3rd Prize - Great Wolf Lodge package - David Walsh, sold by Bailey Bean 2nd Prize - Sandia Casino Getaway package - Jackie Golombowski, sold by the Derizotis family 1st Prize - Alaskan cruise - Rita Jaramillo, sold by Jaidyn Tallman Our last and biggest fundraiser of the year, Night to Remember , begins this week. We will be sending home a packet of information that includes all the details for this wonderful 21 and over event. We would love for all our parents to attend. Tickets for an evening of good food, dancing, and some fun competitive auctions is $200.00 for two people. That ticket also includes one raffle ticket for a chance to win the grand prize of $10,000. Every SHCS family is responsible for selling or purchasing one ticket. The ticket can the $200 ticket described above, or a $100 ticket that is only the raffle ticket. Look for your family's packet early this week. Thank you for supporting Sacred Heart Catholic School through this fundraiser. I hope your family has a great week and a wonderful Spring Break. Kelly March 10 - 14, 2025 - Parent/Teacher Conferences Monday, March 10 - IA Club Tuesday, March 11 - No Ukulele Jam Wednesday, March 12 – No Choir practice Thursday, March 13 - End of Quarter 3 Friday, March 14 - No School March 17 - 21, 2025 - Spring Break
Dear Parents, Can you believe it is already March? Soon it will be Spring Break, then Easter Break, and then Summer Break! From the US Conference of Catholic Bishops: Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms ; and we practice self-control through fasting . We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptized into Christ's death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ. SHCS will attend Ash Wednesday Mass and receive ashes at 8:15 AM. Students can wear their regular uniform . We will attend Mass on Friday as usual, then we will meet in the church at 2:25 PM for Stations of the Cross. This will be our Friday schedule through April 11. During Lent, the Knights of Columbus have their annual fish fry every Friday evening from 5:00 - 7:00 PM at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Orchard. This is a wonderful family event with delicious food, and also an opportunity for our students to serve others by helping the Knights. They always need help carrying food for some of the guests and refilling condiments. Please let me know if your student is available to help for one or both hours this Friday. This week we will celebrate March birthdays at morning prayer on Tuesday (instead of Wednesday,) and students in grades 2 through 8 will go to confession on Thursday. On Friday our fabulous first grade will host our First Friday Lunch . Mrs. Atencio and her students have been preparing for a while, so I know it will be wonderful, just like all the other lunches have been this year. Students in Preschool through 1st grade go to lunch at 11:00 AM. Students in grades two through five go to lunch at 11:30 AM, and middle school students go to lunch at noon. We will have the lower doors open for you to enter there. Please join us if you can. We only have two more family lunches remaining after this one! Kindergarten will host on Friday, April 4 and Preschool/PreK will host on Friday, May 2. Don't forget to eat at Panda Express on Saturday, March 8. They will donate 20% of their revenue when guests mention our school and show their flyer. (I will send it out separately before next weekend.) We have received over $1500 this school year simply by supporting local businesses. Also on Friday, March 7, Ben Franchini will be competing at the Regional National History Day in Santa Fe. On Friday and Saturday, March 7 and 8, several of our 6th grade girls will be competing in the Regional Science Fair at San Juan College. Good luck to all of our students as they represent our school. Closing out a very busy week, on Saturday, March 8 our SHCS Choir will provide the music at the 4:30 PM Mass. Our little school sure does a lot! Thank you to everyone who turned in their Dream Vacation Raffle tickets and money on Friday. If you did not turn yours in, will you please do so on Monday? I cannot wait for Mrs. Carla to get everything counted. I know this raffle will be a huge success! The prizes are wonderful, and our families work hard to support our school. Thank you so very, very much. Father Tim will draw the winning tickets after the 11:00 AM Mass on Sunday, March 9, 2025. Enrollment for next year is open for our current SHCS families through Sunday, then we will open it to the public on Monday, March 3. Thank you to all the parents who have re-enrolled their children for next year. Please see the attached flyer about the SHCS Foundation . The foundation has donated $140,000 over the last 14 years. We are extremely grateful for their support. Parent/Teacher Conferences for all students should be complete by the afternoon of Thursday, March 13. Some of our teachers have been meeting with parents during the last few weeks, and many will have conferences during the next two weeks. Our Spring Break starts Friday, March 14. Right on the heels of our Dream Vacation Raffle is our Night to Remember . This year's event is going to be fabulous! There is something for everyone, with new things added to the traditional activities that make our event so special. You can get a sneak peek at the plans for our Night to Remember on the SHCS website. Printed information will be sent home very soon. This year's Night to Remember is Saturday, April 26 at the Farmington Civic Center. I hope you have a wonderful week. Please join us for morning prayer when you can; everyone is welcome.
Dear Parents, Can you believe this is the last week of February? We only have three months of school left. It just doesn't seem possible. Thank you for enrolling your students for next year, if you have already done so. Registration for next school year is open on Gradelink. We will open it up for new students next Monday, March 3. If you are considering not enrolling your student for next year, will you please talk to me? Your perspective and thoughts are very important to me. If there is something I can do differently to help your family stay at SHCS, I will do it! This is the last week for our Dream Vacation Raffle. Will you please turn in your raffle ticket stubs and money to the office by this Friday, February 28? The family obligation for this fundraiser is to sell 12 tickets, or donate $300. Thank you so much for selling these tickets to help the school meet its financial obligations. Our parent meeting is this Wednesday, February 26 at 6:00 PM in the Family Center. We will talk about registration, tuition, our calendar, changes to our handbook, and fundraising including our fabulous Night to Remember. Please join me if possible. Guess what! Our 8th grade Robotics team was invited to Nationals! Mr. and Mrs. Idzerda opened it up to all Robotics students to travel with the 8th graders, so we have six students representing our school this summer. They will be traveling to Daytona Beach, Florida for competition June 24 - 28. Nice job, Junkyard Dogs (their team's name!) Guess what else! Our English Expo students competed yesterday in Albuquerque in 20 events, and they won 14 medals! We even have three state champions! This was the first time our school has participated in English Expo. Mrs. Alysia and Mr. Dylan did a wonderful job of preparing our students and our students did an outstanding job of representing our school. I am so proud to be at Sacred Heart Catholic School. Mrs. Isbell wanted me to let everyone know that we have some SHCS artists featured on the Jack and Jill Magazine Facebook page. You can vote for your favorite picture for their magazine cover through February 28. It is so cool to see our kids' artwork on Facebook! I hope you have a wonderful week. Please join us for morning prayer when you can. It will start your day off nicely.
Dear Parents, I hope you and your family had a nice Valentine's Day and you are enjoying our long weekend. I was fortunate to go to Albuquerque to watch our Robotics teams compete at state. They did great! One team earned a trophy for their innovation project, and we had another team that finished fourth overall! It was exciting to see our students work together under pressure to complete missions with their robot, and I loved seeing their team innovation projects on display. I am so proud of our students for their dedication to their team and for representing our school so well. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Idzerda for starting our Robotics program and for teaching our students all the skills this program provides for our students. English Expo This coming Saturday our English Expo students will be competing in Albuquerque as well. This is the first time our school has participated in English Expo and our students are excited. They have been working with Ms. Alysia in the computer lab on Thursdays and Fridays this year and I know they will do great. This competition is made up of individual events, including photographic essay, storytelling, poetry recitation, and Shakespearean Monologue. I can't wait to see how our students do. Parent Meeting Rescheduled I rescheduled our parent meeting for Wednesday, February 26 at 6:00 PM in the Family Center. I apologize for having to postpone the meeting last Wednesday. I hate doing that because I know everyone has such busy schedules. My six-week-old grandson got sick, and I needed to help my daughter. He's better now, thank God. I hope you can attend the meeting. I am required to share financial information, such as our budget, with families each year. We will also talk about tuition for next year and a few changes. Four Corners Federated Republican Women (FCFRW) Essay Contest Our students have been invited to participate in the FCFRW 6th Annual Essay Contest. The topic is "What the American Flag Means to Me". It is open to students aged 6 - 14. Students submit a paragraph of 100 words or less along with the attached form . The deadline to submit is March 12, 2025. The winner receives a flag that flew over the U. S. Capitol with a certificate of authenticity presented at the FCFRW June meeting. The winning paragraph will appear in the June FCFRW newsletter. Dream Vacation Raffle Thank you for continuing to sell your raffle tickets. Money is due February 28, 2025, and Father Tim will draw the winning tickets after the 11:00 Am Mass on Sunday, March 9, 2025. Enrollment for 2025 - 2026 Enrollment for next year is open for current students through Gradelink. We will open enrollment for new families on March 3, 2025. If you are not planning on your student(s) returning to SHCS next year, do you mind sharing your reasons with me? Your perspective and thoughts are very important to me. If there is something I can do differently to help your family stay at SHCS, I will do it! ACE Scholarship Mrs. Carla has added ACE Scholarship information to Gradelink, including income thresholds. The application process opened February 3, 2025. We encourage everyone to apply for this very generous scholarship that covers half of your student's tuition. Night to Remember Planning for our Night to Remember has begun! There are some exciting new activities mixed in with the traditional activities that make our annual event so special. Ashley Seyfarth and Jennifer Strickler have been working hard to make this year's event special and I hope that all our parents will attend. Yes, this is our biggest fundraiser, but it is also a time for everyone who loves SHCS to come together and enjoy an evening of good food, good music, dancing, and friendship. This year's Night to Remember is Saturday, April 26, 2025, at the Farmington Civic Center. Please save this date and join us for a spectacular evening. Parents, thank you for trusting SHCS with your students and remember to join us for morning prayer when you can. I hope you have a wonderful week.
Dear Parents, We had a great first week of February at SHCS. Things calmed down a little bit after a very fun, and very busy, Catholic Schools Week. The rest of this year is going to fly by...I hope you are ready! New (to us) School Bus Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Hamlin for going to Thoreau to pick up our school bus. Coach Katie has gotten a donation to have our name put on the bus, so we will have our own Sacred Heart Catholic School bus! Mrs. Kristin in the church office is working on getting the bus insured and Father Tim is paying for the cost of the insurance. We are so fortunate to have a parish that takes such good care of our school. Once the bus is insured, I hope it will get used often. Third grade has it reserved for Friday, February 21, our first trip in our very own school bus! February First Friday Family Lunch Huge thanks to Ms. Jackson and her second grade class for a fabulous First Friday lunch. The decorations were beautiful, and the entertainment was wonderful. Thanks to Ms. Gapinski for helping with the three songs the second graders sang, and thank you to all the parents and grandparents who were able to attend our lunch. Next up is Mrs. Atencio and her first graders on Friday, March 7. School Dance On Friday night, we had our first school dance in a pretty long time. Someone said the last time our school had a dance was in the 1980s. The majority of our students in grades five through eight were here, and they seemed to have a great time. We had almost as many parents and many of them joined in the fun as well. Justin Anaya, one of our parents, was the DJ and he was amazing. Each grade created a playlist and Justin played their songs; the students danced to them all! You should have seen our gym. It was beautiful. We kept Ms. Jackson's decorations from the family lunch earlier that day and the parents added to them. I was hesitant to have a dance, but our students were very well-behaved, very thankful, and had such a great time I will happily do it again...just not too soon. Thank you to everyone who made this dance possible for our students. Thank you to all of the chaperones as well, including Mrs. Rita, Ms. Vickers, Mrs. Head, Mr. and Mrs. Idzerda, and Mrs. Troxell. Without the persistence of our students and the planning of our parents, this night would not have happened. First Reconciliation On Saturday, we had several of our second graders make their first confession. I am so proud of their hard work, along with their teachers Miss Alex and Ms. Jackson, in preparing for this important sacrament. We had some nervous students but, they did great and I know they felt God's peace after they made their confession. Congratulations to each one of them. Choir Also on Saturday, our choir lead the music at 4:30 PM Mass. We are so blessed to have a group of students who show their faith through song, under the leadership of Ms. Gapinski. I am very proud of our choir. Art This week, some of our Art students will be attending a presentation about recycling by Waste Management. Our Art classes are creating a huge piece of art out of the recycled bottle caps that many of you have been donating. They could still use some ink and purple lids if you happen to have any. Mrs. Isbell has created a fantastic Art program here at SHCS; we are so fortunate to have her as a teacher at our school. School Board Meeting On Tuesday, we will have a School Board meeting at 6:00 PM in the school workroom. I apologize for the late notice; it was just scheduled this past Monday. Everyone is welcome to attend the meeting and listen to the topics discussed. Parent Meeting On Wednesday, February 12, please join me in the Family Center at 6:00 PM for a parent meeting. I will provide you with information regarding tuition for next year (no change for MOST grades,) our budget, next year's calendar, any changes that we know of for next year, and other topics. It is my responsibility as principal to share information about our school with teachers, staff, and parents, and I love talking about our school. Will you please attend the meeting if at all possible? Gym Closure This week, on Thursday and Friday, the gym will be totally closed to allow for the storage closet and PE equipment to be thoroughly cleaned and the closet painted to get rid of the mold that has been there for a while. On Thursday, Coach Katie will meet her PE classes outside if the weather is nice, or in the Family Center if not, and we will have sack lunches from FMS for the students who do not bring their own lunch. On Friday, we will have pizza for everyone in the Family Center. The gym closet project should be finished on Monday, February 17 when we are not at school. Everything should be back to normal on Tuesday, February 18. Before and after school care will be in the Family Center. President's Day Our school will be closed on Monday, February 17, 2025, in observance of Presidents Day. Robotics On Saturday, February 15 our four Robotics teams will be competing at State in Albuquerque. These middle schoolers have been spending many hours preparing. I know each team will do a great job and a trip to Houston for Regionals is a real possibility this year. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Idzerda for sponsoring this fine group of students and for their parents' support; our robotics teams would not be successful without them. English Expo For the first time, SHCS is sending students to Albuquerque for English Expo. We have eight middle school students who will be competing on Saturday, February 22. Thanks to Ms. Alysia and Mr. Dylan for preparing these students for our first English Expo. Science Fair We currently have six middle school girls who have created projects for Science Fair. The San Juan County Science Fair is March 7 and 8, 2025. All six girls have been preparing under the direction of Dr. Grandjean, and we are excited to see which of the girls will compete. National History Day We also have one middle school student, Ben Franchini, who will be competing at National History Day on Friday, April 11, 2025. From the NHD website: Each year, students around the world discover history through National History Day ® (NHD) by creating historical research projects. Through the process, students develop skills in communication, project management, and historical thinking. Best of luck to all our middle school students who will be competing in Robotics, English Expo, Science Fair, and National History Day! Dream Vacation Raffle Thank you for continuing to sell your raffle tickets. Money is due February 28, 2025. Mr. Brandon Mohon has generously provided the school with a huge order of flyers to distribute at churches, individually, or at local businesses. Please let us know if you would like some flyers to share. Enrollment for 2025 - 2026 Enrollment for next year is open on our website! The web address is https://www.shcsfarmington.org/enrollments . If you are not planning on returning to SHCS next year, do you mind sharing your reasons with me? Your perspective and thoughts are very important to me. If there is something I can do differently to help your family stay at SHCS, I will do it! ACE Scholarship Mrs. Carla has added ACE Scholarship information to Gradelink, including income thresholds. The application process opens tomorrow, Monday, February 3, 2025. We encourage everyone to apply for this very generous scholarship that covers half of your student's tuition. Looking ahead... Parent/Teacher Conferences Parent/Teacher conferences are scheduled for the week of March 10, with no school on Friday, March 14. Spring Break is the next week. Some of our teachers may schedule their conferences outside of this week; they will communicate when they having conferences so you can schedule your child's time. Thank you for taking the time to visit with your student's teacher(s.) Walk and Roll Walk and Roll, where students bring their bike or skates and ride or walk around the block all together before school is Thursday, April 10. Field Day Field Day is Thursday, May 15. 8th Grade Graduation 8th grade graduation is Friday, May 16. Last Day of School We changed the calendar so that the last day of school for the students is Thursday, May 22 at 3:15 PM. We will go to Mass at 2:00 PM, then distribute final report cards, and dismiss students for summer break at 3:15 PM. (I cannot believe we are already talking about the last day of school.) I hope you have a wonderful week. Please join us for morning prayer at 8:00 AM in the gym when you can.