St. Damian School

Good Morning,

We want to sincerely thank you for your attentiveness to detail as we finish our first full week of school. Thank you for communicating with us on all fronts. We appreciate and welcome the feedback. This is all new to us, so if something is not working, we want to work together to make it work. We are #inthistogether.

Internet

As in many other schools and communities, we experienced losing our internet connection. We are working to increase our bandwidth and will also be purchasing the equipment to assure that our connection does not drop. The good news is this is occurring because we have added 250 devices and live streaming. The opportunities once the glitches are overcome will be endless for our students both at home and at school.

Absences

Also, we have had quite a few questions this week about if my child is absent, will they be able to dial into the classroom? As a faculty, we have determined that if your child needs to quarantine because they have been exposed, they may join the class as a remote learner. Your child will not be marked absent.

However, if your child is home ill or unable to attend for another reason: funeral, family vacation, doctor's appointment, they will be able to make up their work as we have done in the past. They will be marked absent. We are hopeful making up work for absences will be easier this year as well because we have the online platforms.

Hot Lunch

Our new hot lunch program is thriving. We know that the waffles were a bit hard and that some of the chicken was a bit cold. We have teamed up with Country House and they will be preparing many of the meals on site and have purchased warmers so that this issue has been resolved. You will see the link to order lunch in this newsletter.

Finally, we hope to see you at our "socially distanced" drive in movie night. We are so excited to have an enjoyable back to school night!

Please call us with any questions.

Your Damian Mania tickets will come home today in your Friday folders!

This is your one MANDATORY fundraiser

What is Damian Mania?

In a majority of Catholic Schools across the country, tuition is the primary source of revenue. Tuition does not always cover the cost of educating the whole child. St. Damian School implemented Damian Mania as a way to "bridge the gap." The benefit of Damian Mania is that it also has the opportunity to benefit you in more ways than just helping to provide a quality education for your child.

How does Damian Mania Work?

Grades K- 8:

You will receive 25 $10 raffle tickets. Twenty five tickets are your mandatory amount that we you will be required to sell. You may choose to purchase them yourself or sell them to family members, friends, and neighbors. Once you sell all of the tickets it is very important that you send a check in to pay for the tickets. NO CASH will be accepted.

Pre K:

Students in three half or full days receive 15 tickets, Pre K who attend 4 or 5 days will receive 25 tickets as well. You may choose to purchase them yourself or sell them to family members, friends, and neighbors. Once you sell all of the tickets it is very important that you send a check in to pay for the tickets. NO CASH will be accepted.

What Can I Win?

Beginning on September 9 and running through October 14, 2020, we will draw two weekly winners and they will be awarded $50 cash. These winners' names will go back in the hat, so they have the opportunity to win twice!

The large drawing will be held on Friday, October 23, 2020. More information to follow on this event! The grand prize is $4,000.

Are there other incentives?

If you sell more than 45 tickets, we will credit $100 towards your tuition. Sell 75 tickets and receive a $250 credit. For every ticket you sell over your 25 tickets, you will be deducted $5 on your FACTS ticket account on November 6, 2020.

What if I choose not to participate?

If you do not turn in your money by October 16, 2020, you will be charged $350 towards your tuition.

You should have received an email from My School Account yesterday to set up your child/ren's lunch options! If you did not please email, hotlunch@stdamianschool.org

This link will help to guide you as well.

https://stdamianschoolhotlunch.godaddysites.com/

Please note, now that we have moved to this service and you may order day of, we will no longer be allowing any food delivery from any restaurant or food services such as Uber Eats or Door Dash. We also do not allow any soft drinks of any kind.

Please also adhere to the school approved snack list:

School Daily Snacks

Fruit

Vegetables

Crackers such as Goldfish, Graham, Animal, Cheez Its, Doritos, Jays, Pringles, Rold Gold Pretzels

Skinny Pop Products

Fruit Roll Ups

Cheese

Birthday and Party Treats

Plain Rice Krispie Treats

Oreos

Jell-0

Twizzlers, Starburst, Smarties, Sweet Tarts, Skittles)

Below are the State of Illinois Health Requirements for all children. Please be sure to have this completed before the October deadline.

https://stdamianschool.org/Portals/stdamianschool/CMAdmin/Files/State%20of%20Illinois%20Health%20Requirements.pdf?ver=2020-06-16-131153-830

We appreciate the dedication and the commitment of our entire community. We cannot function without the generosity of our volunteers. Even though, our volunteers will be limited the first part of the school year, we are going to look forward to the future of a time where our halls will be able to once again greet visitors.

In order for you to volunteer in any capacity, we require you to be fully compliant with the steps outlined by the Office for the Protection of Children and Youth.

All documents can be found on our website:

https://stdamianschool.org/Resources/Compliance

We will also be distributing the CANTS form in a folder that you will receive on Wednesday. This is the only form that you are required to complete yearly.

Did you know you can still SHOP with Scrip! You can do it all online. And, this is so easy and convenient, you may just want to continue this option when we are all back in the building.

Just follow this link for more information!

https://www.stdamianchurch.org/s-h-o-p-

Saint Damian School ensures individual students reach their potential through the development of their Catholic faith, character, citizenship and academics.

Email: j_miller@stdamianschool.org
Website: www.stdamianschoool.org
Location: 5300 155th Street, Oak Forest, IL, USA
Phone: (708)687-4230
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stdamianpreschoolacademy
Twitter: @stdamianlancers