Dear St. Rose School Families:
Happy New Year! I hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas, a relaxing break and have returned to school refreshed and excited for new adventures and discoveries in 2019.
A heartfelt thank you to all for the overwhelming amount of generous gifts, delicious goodies and precious sentiments you showered on myself and the faculty for Christmas. We are truly humbled and feel blessed by your kindness.
In the past few weeks our St. Rose School family has grown! I am delighted to welcome Colin Andrew Brennan who arrived to parents Amanda and Patrick (SRS Class of 1999) on December 31st at 8 minutes before midnight! Colin's older brother Declan is in our Kindergarten class and the Brennan's two other children, Brian and Aurora, will be joining us when they get to Kindergarten age. May God shower them with many blessings. We also welcome two new families to our Three Year Old Preschool Class -- Cloe Walton and Brek McGrady. We know that they will be embraced by the love and light that fills our Preschool and hope this is their first of many years with us at St. Rose School. And, we are happy to share the good news that former St. Rose student Pablo Necco, whose family moved to Singapore for the past few years, has returned and is now a member of Mrs. Damalas' Fifth grade class. Our garden is filled with many beautiful blooms!
As projected, the infrastructure upgrade project began this week. So far all is going smoothly and we are excited about the many benefits these enhancements will provide to our school.
We are busy making plans for Catholic Schools Week which begins with our OPEN HOUSE on Sunday, January 27th, 1:00-3:00 PM. Please help us spread the word by encouraging family, friends and neighbors to visit the school that day. There are Open House lawn signs in the front vestibule of the school. Please take one and display it on your yard or another key spot in your neck of the woods. There are also flyers in Mrs. Wong's office that we encourage you to take and post around Newtown and the surrounding towns. There will be advertisements running in The Bee and Voices as well as articles in these papers, the Patch, Hamlet Hub and other pertinent sites. Anything you can do to help share the word is most appreciated!
There are many exciting activities being planned for Catholic Schools Week. This is a special time for us to celebrate all that makes our St. Rose School experience so unique and also to reach out to our community and show our thanks. A schedule of events will be forthcoming. In the meantime, please visit the attached links to view or re-view the segments: The Catholic Schools Fit: 1) The Parents' View and 2) The Students' View. If you like what you see SHARE! SHARE! SHARE! Thank you.
https://www.sasncct.org/about/news/please-watch-video-catholic-school-fit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iQqpYGEL18&feature=youtu.be
Students and teachers have returned to school energized. Many projects and lessons are being accomplished in the classrooms and the Middle School students have been focused on Mid Terms this week which I know can be stressful but they are handling it well. My thanks to the teachers and parents for working as a team to ensure they are well rested, fed and prepared.
Finally, I extend my sincere appreciation for your thoughts, prayers and understanding as I travelled to Albania to be with my brother for his surgery. It was a difficult decision but as you know, when it comes to family we must be there to support especially in tough times. I am relieved to say that he made it through surgery and has stabilized to a point where the doctors feel comfortable in sending him to Italy for further treatment. This is an answer to many prayers so
thank you! As it stands right now I will be returning this weekend and plan to be back at school next week. I am grateful to Mrs. Bokuniewicz for handling matters in my absence.
I am sure that you are all tired after the first full week back. Enjoy the weekend and if you are able, come to BINGO tonight in the Gathering Hall. It's a great family activity and I hear there are some terrific raffle prizes. My thanks to the HSA, in particular Mr. Kirkman and his loyal crew for running this every month. It is an important fundraiser so we appreciate your support/attendance!
God Bless,
Mr. Bardhyl Gjoka
Principal
