Weekly School Broadcast Principal's Message
We hope that our families are able to enjoy the last couple weeks of summer with some quality time spent together. One thing we have all had the opportunity to learn over the course of this pandemic is to not take anything for granted and to hopefully enjoy the things in life that really matter. Our preparations for the school year are well under way, with the faculty and staff of St. Pius X School coming back to school next week. Our school office hours will be returning to more consistent daily hours the week of August 23rd, as there are some trainings next week for all staff. Please call ahead if you are planning to come into the school office. We are excited to welcome back the students in our school community on August 30th and 31st and also to welcome several new members to our school. As the school year approaches, please don't hesitate to reach out to me with any questions you might have, via email or phone (507-282-5161) and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Please know of my prayers for all of our families, teachers, and staff as we prepare for another exciting school year.
School News In order to help connect families who have the ability to give rides to other students or families who need help with transporting their children to or from school, please email Mr. Jenson your child(ren)’s grade(s) and your neighborhood, along with if you are willing to help other families or need it yourselves. Our St. Pius X HSA is willing to help facilitate this communication to connect families to help all of our families get the transportation they need. We are excited to have two preschool sections this year! The full day preschool students in Ms. Schmitt’s class will attend a small group session on either August 30th or 31st from 8:15-11:15 a.m. If you have a preference for one of those specific days, please let Mr. Jenson know via email at djenson@rcsmn.org by noon on Monday, August 16th. As we continue to work diligently to offer in-person instruction for our school community, the RCS Admin Team has been completing a Covid-19 Preparedness plan for the upcoming school year. This will be sent out as a stand alone communication, and is subject to change based on local circumstances and school needs. As a clarification of the school mask policy, St. Pius X School will require masks for all students and staff when social distancing is not possible; this includes in the classroom. Our students, parents, and staff did a tremendous job with this last year, and I truly believe that is why we did not have a single case of Covid-19 transmission (nor did we have any classrooms need to quarantine) last school year. Please know that every decision is made with the safety and well-being of your child(ren) as our top priority. We will no longer be sending home folders this year before the start of school, all materials can be uploaded on the SchoolAdmin Parent Portal site. If you have any questions about accessing School Admin, please let Mr. Jenson know at djenson@rcsmn.org and he will assist you. If you have any forms you are unable to upload, please bring them to our Meet the Teacher night. Please dress your child for the weather, as we like to have opportunities for outside play, weather permitting. Students should wear comfortable clothing, and tennis shoes are the best type of footwear. Preschool children do not wear school uniforms. Comfortable, easy to manage clothing works best. Please make sure that your child can get their clothing down by themselves in order to use the bathroom. Preschool can be a messy place so please keep this in mind. We ask you to keep a change of clothes in your child’s backpack in case any accident should arise. We are asking children to bring their own backpack to Preschool each day. Please be sure your child’s backpack is large enough to hold snow pants, an extra set of clothes, and a folder. Please avoid backpacks with wheels. Each child will receive a “take-home” folder. This folder will be used to carry paperwork back and forth from school to home. Please be sure your child brings the take home folder in his/her backpack every day. This folder should be cleaned out before coming to preschool the next day. In the folder is where you can include a note if needed about an upcoming absence or other things. Our school provides healthy meals each day. The United States Department of Agriculture is allowing schools to provide meals for the 2021-22 school year through a provision of the National School Lunch Program called the Seamless Summer Option (SSO). A waiver has been issued in order to support access to nutritious meals while minimizing potential exposure to COVD-19. Our school has chosen to use this waiver and operate the SSO which enables us to provide meals free of charge for all students. No application is required to receive this free meal benefit. Students would need to pay for a single milk if they are bringing their own lunch or would have to pay for a second lunch. Please learn about our K-5 dress code on the RCS website here. If you would like to purchase uniform items from Donald's please click here. We also have some gently used uniforms available in the school office and will have them on display on our Meet the Teacher Night. We will also accept donations of uniform clothing that no longer fits to be passed along to incoming students. The school hours at St. Pius X School this year will be 8:25 a.m. to 3:05 p.m. for Kindergarten through 5th grade, with our first bell ringing at 8:15 a.m. There is no morning busing this year. Our extended care hours begin at 6:30 a.m. and end at 6:00 p.m., with pickup and drop off at Door 5 again. If your child will need extended care, you must register for extended care on the School Admin site. We will have our Meet the Teacher Night for students and parents in grades 1-5 on Thursday, August 26th with an open house style format from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Students and parents will go to their classroom and parents can then come to the cafeteria to meet with Mr. Jenson or to gather with other parents. Our Home & School Association will have a nice treat on the school lawn, with information about joining the HSA. Also, please search for the “St. Pius X School and HSA Activities” group on Facebook for more updates! Mark your calendars for the Kindergarten student and parents ice cream social on Tuesday, August 24th from 5:30-6:30 on the St. Pius X School lawn. We will have cool treats and students can come meet their teacher. Parents will have the opportunity to meet other parents and we will also have members from our Home & School Association available to welcome new families to St. Pius X School. Our Kindergarten students will attend a small group orientation on either August 30th or 31st from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Kindergarten students will begin their full day schedule on September 1st and Kindergarten students may ride the bus home on Wednesday, September 1st. Our Kindergarten teachers Ms. Heydon & Mrs. Wiederholt will have more information to send out about scheduling mid August. Classes for grades 1-5 begin on Monday, August 30th at 8:25 a.m. Students must be in their classrooms for announcements and prayer by 8:25 a.m. or they are considered tardy. Outdoor playground supervision begins at 8:00 a.m. Dismissal is at 3:05 p.m. We ask that students be picked up promptly by 3:05 p.m. when our carline pickup begins. Afternoon busing begins for students in grades 1-5 on August 30th; students wishing to ride the bus home need to have registered with RPS transportation.
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