Dear St. Rose School Families:

Splendid colors are a feast for the eyes these Fall days and remind us of God's amazing graces. Like the trees, each of our students colors the world with their unique talents and abilities which are enhanced by the lessons and experiences they are receiving every day at home and in school. It is a privilege to be a part of their learning journey.

We are delighted to welcome the Rivera Family to our St. Rose School community. Max joined Mrs. B's Fourth grade class on Tuesday and it has been a wonderful week as new friendships are formed and discoveries are made.

It has been a productive and exciting week of school. On the health front, Nurse Bonnie did an excellent job bringing in the Lions Club and VNA to perform vision screening tests for students in grades Preschool, Kindergarten 1, 3, 4 and 5; a Flu Clinic was offered and Mrs. Arsenault gave Safe Environment Training to all grades. We conducted a fire drill which went very smoothly and was the best to date. We will continue to conduct safety training drills and procedures throughout the year and would appreciate it if you can reinforce key safety information at home. The protection and care of your children is our highest priority.

In the area of Service, the Coat Drive that our NJHS conducted in conjunction with the Knights of Columbus was extremely successful. A final tally will be reported shortly but we know it is an impressive number. Great job! A school wide Thanksgiving Food Drive will kick off on November 1st and run through November 8th. Please help those in our parish and greater community who are in need by giving canned goods and gift cards. Collections bins will be placed in each classroom. We ask you to be as generous as you can be. Thank you for your support of all of these outreaches!

St. Rose School was on the road this week! Our 8th graders enjoyed a beautiful day of prayer, bonding and reflection at the Holy Family Retreat Center while 7th graders visited Mystic Aquarium and 6th graders spent the day in New York City to see the musical WICKED that included a special song session with one of the cast members. The first graders explored the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport. Oh the places we go to learn and grow!

I am pleased to announce that Mrs. Carlie Meyer started today as the School Counselor. Mrs. Meyer will be here on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays during school hours. Please click here for more information.

Once again, the HSA hit a home run with last week's gathering, Trunk -R- Treat. More than 70 families attended in clever costumes and decked out their car trunks in the most creative ways to make this a tremendously successful family event. A big Thank You to Mrs. Beth Keenan who chaired the committee and to our HSA for its ongoing commitment to building a strong school community.

I would like to share two important housekeeping notes: 1) If you have been sending emails to the school and have not received a response please call the office. We have been experiencing some issues with GMAIL that are being evaluated and we apologize for the inconvenience. 2) The Second Grade Instructional Mass originally scheduled for tomorrow morning has been postponed to Saturday November 3rd at 9:30 a.m. due to predictions for bad weather.

Now it is time to take a breath, step away from the hectic week and unwind with your family. Enjoy!

God Bless.

Mr. Bardhyl Gjoka

Principal