Dear St. Rose School Families:

School spirit was in high gear this week. On Monday we kicked off the official Basketball season with an exciting Pep Rally in the gym where all students, from Preschool through 8th grade, raised their voices in support of our cheerleaders and basketball players. Ramsey was on site waving to the crowds and Monsignor led us in a special blessing for the season, reminding us all to be Christ like, good sports on and off the court. At the end of the ceremony all basketball players and cheerleaders signed "The Competitor's Creed", a prayer emphasizing that all of their hard work, wins and losses should be offered to God. You can read the prayer here and it will be hanging in the gym as well.

The fun continued on Wednesday as we all gathered out on the field for the traditional Turkey Bowl, a friendly game of flag football between the 8th grade homerooms. The students demonstrated great sportsmanship from the start since we had to reschedule the original game after the early snowstorm. It was an upbeat afternoon and we were delighted to share the festivities with our school family and guests.

I am pleased to say that I took advantage of some Black Friday deals and purchased one classroom set of graphing calculators and another classroom set of scientific calculators. These will be effective tools as students progress in the math curriculum. According to Mr. Toaso, "while students already know how to use these calculators, having them available for use in the classroom will be a great help with real-life problem solving. You can deal with much larger numbers when using a calculator. Grades 7 and 8 will also use th e graphing feature when doing linear and quadratic equations."

Speaking of math, we received word this week that the Advanced Math Club has won the Silver Medal award from f or the 9 ^th consecutive year by the National Math Club and MATHCOUNTS . This level award is given for the submission of problem solving work a club does over the first three months of the school year. We are very proud of our Mathletes, and are grateful to their faithful leader Ms. Smith. We wish them well in the Gold Level competition which they are working on now for a Spring submission.

Thanks to all who supported us on #Giving Tuesday. Every gift is a blessing and helps us bridge the gap between tuition and the actual cost of educating each student. We are dedicated to delivering a stellar curriculum, quality enrichment programs and innovative technology in a faith filled environment. We cannot do it without your support so I am deeply grateful for your time, talent and treasure!

We are also thankful to all of you who took the time to fill in our parent survey. The results are in and I am happy to report that they are overwhelmingly positive. We are taking time to evaluate the specific feedback and will set goals based on overall themes going forward. To start, the upper grade students will not be bringing back packs to classes as of Monday. Thank you for your thoughtful input. As always, we want to partner with you in meeting the needs of our students.

The calendar turns to December this weekend and the start of Advent. I pray it will be a time of reflection and joyful anticipation for us all. "Prepare the way of the Lord!"

God Bless.

Mr. Bardhyl Gjoka

Principal