Fenwick Features

December 1, 2023

"To reach the heights, aim high!"

Dear Fenwick Family,

As we enter into the liturgical season of Advent, we are reminded that the most significant gifts of all come in small ways or packages.

Jesus comes to us not as a conquering warrior or King, but comes into the world as a newborn baby in a manger. Small but truly significant!

Often in life that which means the most is not wealth or possessions, but small gestures - a smile, a hug, a thank you, love expressed, a helping hand. The birth of Christ reminds us that our humanity is made in the image of God and the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ allow us to encounter the Divine and the Eternal.

Eternal life with God - a very big gift - but one that is experienced in life on this earth in small but meaningful ways.

May God bless us on our Advent journeys!

Yours in Service,

Blane M. Collison

In This Issue:

News and Updates

Ed Choice

Christmas Present Toy Drive

Fenwick Faith Formation

Reconciliation Service
Service Reminders
Upcoming Service Opportunities

Admissions News

Two Remaining Shadow Days

Counseling Connections

Professionals Needed!
Flock Block with the Counselors
Leadership Opportunity: Last Call
PSAT
Testing - Courtesy of LEAP
Class of 2025
Scholarships/Financial Aid
Wellness Tip of the Week
Counselor Information

College Credit Plus

CCP Information Nights

Fenwick Parent Association

Thursday and Friday Flock Block Volunteers

Spirit Shop

Special Hours
Spirit Shop Volunteers

Upcoming Dates

News and Updates

EdChoice

Dear Fenwick Families,

We appreciate your patience as the State of Ohio works to review the remaining EdChoice Scholarships that have been submitted. Once the application and income verification reviews are completed, the State of Ohio will mail you an Award Letter and Acceptance Form. The Acceptance Form needs to be completed and returned to Marla Wagner via email or dropped off at the Main Office during school hours.

Scholarships will be posted to FACTS accounts once the State of Ohio has finalized the scholarship processing.

It is recommended that you check the status of your income verification to make sure there are no issues. If you haven’t completed your income verification or it is in Correction Needed status, your scholarship will not be approved. Please remember that Fenwick staff do not have access to family’s income verification in the parent portal.

If you have any questions, please contact Marla Wagner by email or 513-423-0723 ext. 1250.

Thank you.

Christmas Present Toy Drive

Our Christmas Present Toy Drive ends on Wednesday, December 6. We are collecting toys for Creekview Elementary in Middletown.

Boys will buy for boys and girls will buy for girls.

Freshmen—Fourth and Fifth Grade presents (age 9–11-year-old)
Sophomores— First and Second Grade presents (ages 6–8-year-old)
Juniors—Third Grade presents (ages 9-10 years old) Third and Fourth Grade presents (ages 8-10-year-old)
Seniors—Fourth and Fifth Grade presents (ages 10-11 years old) Kindergarten and First Grade presents (ages 5–7-year-old)

Unwrapped presents should be dropped off in the morning in the Media Center. A Student Council member will be there to collect presents. 

Presents can be up to $15. Please do not purchase toys that require batteries, and please do not wrap the presents.

Toy Ideas: Legos, baby dolls, cars, trucks, footballs, basketballs, Barbie dolls, coloring books, crayons, puzzles, games, bracelet making kit, etc.

Student Council will be wrapping presents on December 7 beginning at 3:00 p.m. All are welcome to come to help wrap presents in the cafeteria after school. You will receive service hours for wrapping presents. Be sure to sign up to wrap presents on the sheet outside of Mrs. Longworth’s classroom after Thanksgiving break (Room 302.)

We will keep track in the main hall by the cafeteria letting everyone know where their grade stands by bringing in the presents. The first grade to reach their goal of bringing in their gifts will receive a special prize. If the entire school reaches their goal of bringing in 460 presents, we will be off school the day after the Super Bowl (Monday, February 12.)

Let’s bring in those presents! The important thing to remember is we will be making a bunch of children very happy at Christmas time.

As of right now, we should be allowed to deliver the presents and spend a couple of hours with the students at Creekview Elementary on December 19th after exams. There will be more information to follow about delivering the presents. Remember, this is the only present a lot of these students will receive this year, so please make sure to buy a present.

Fenwick Faith Formation

Reconciliation Service

On November 30, students had the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation throughout the morning. Over 100 freshman and sophomore students chose to go! Any student who was unable to attend due to time constrictions can access this sign-up to go to Confession next week.

Service Reminders

Please note that service hours for the first semester are due on December 1.

Starting December 15, consequences for incomplete hours will begin. Any student who does not have 10 hours (5 of them must be serving others directly) turned in through x2vol will be unable to participate in Fenwick extracurriculars and have an incomplete grade for their Theology class. If you have concerns or questions, please reach out to Kateri Richardson.

Upcoming Service Opportunities

If you are still in need of service hours, consider joining Ms. Richardson at Hope House Mission on December 7 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Students are responsible for their own rides, but are encouraged to carpool. Although these hours will be completed after they are due, they can count for the first semester if you are still in need! You can sign up here.

Counseling Connections

Professionals Needed!

Counselors are looking for parents and community members to support our

students’ career exploration in one of three ways:

Be willing to answer student questions about your career via email.
Be willing to connect students to volunteer, intern, or job shadow experiences at your company.
Be a career speaker at Fenwick.

Here is the link for more information and to sign up.

Flock Block with the Counselors

Counselors met with their juniors for an in-depth look at the College Search Process. All resources are available in their Class of 2025 Class Notebook.

Leadership Opportunity: Last Call!

Leadership and Ethics Seminar hosted by the West Point Society of Cincinnati.

Friday, February 2, 2024. This one-day event is geared to teach sophomores and juniors leadership and ethics from local West Point graduates. If interested, please email Mrs. Horn.

PSAT

Scores are now available. Juniors and sophomores received information via email/text directly from the College Board on how to access scores.

Testing – Courtesy of LEAP

Get the Stacked Testing advantage: Recommended Dates…Stacked testing means testing in back-to-back test cycles such as the February 10 ACT and the State ACT at your child’s high school or the State ACT coupled with the April 13 ACT.

Students well prepared for stacked test dates often finish testing after only two attempts.
Students who stack test dates in the spring are finished testing before end-of-year exams (including AP testing during the first two weeks of May). What a relief for teens to be finished with all testing during the school year - enjoy your summer!

How should your teen prepare for Stacked Spring Test Dates? Most students enroll in the ACT Prep Essentials Group Course before their first test attempt and enroll in 1:1 Tutoring before their second attempt although some students choose to tutor for both attempts.

But don’t I need test results from the first test attempt before I can prepare for the second test attempt?

Absolutely not! Think of testing as a process and not a one-time attempt. In the process, students improve with each test attempt as they continue to prepare.

Students who take the ACT Prep Essentials Group Course will take a full-length practice test immediately before an official test date.
Students enrolled in 1:1 Tutoring should take a full-length practice test about ¾ of the way through tutoring to gauge progress.
We use data from these practice tests to verify the preparation plan for the second test attempt and don’t have to wait on official ACT scores. This is a win for your student!

What are your next steps?

Register for either the February or April ACT to stack with the state ACT at Fenwick.
Enroll in either LEAP’s ACT Prep Essentials Group Course or 1:1 Tutoring. Call 513-754-2240 for questions or more information.

Upcoming Free Opportunities

12/3/2023 Diagnostic ACT (online from home)
12/3/2023 Diagnostic SAT (online from home)
12/6/2023 ACT - SAT Test Optional Webinar
12/9/2023 Diagnostic ACT (in-person at Hope Church)
12/13/2023 ACT - SAT 101 Webinar

Class of 2025

A special thanks to all our parents who joined us Wednesday evening for The College Search Process 101 presentation! It is time to consider prepping for the upcoming state ACT. TorchPrep is hosting a course at Fenwick in preparation for the March 12 state-funded ACT. Here's a link to the registration page.

Here is some information regarding the different types of “test optional” policies

courtesy of Going Merry.

Scholarships/Financial Aid

Citizens Bank - Click here.

General Electric Credit Union: Webinar Paying For College Wednesday, December 6 from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. Click here.

Hamilton County Scholarship Program – Application opens December 8! Click here.

2024 Charles L. Warren Memorial Heritage Scholarship. For high school seniors who demonstrate high academic achievement, dedication to school and community involvement, and a continued commitment to cultural or intellectual diversity are encouraged to apply. This one-time $1,500 scholarship will be awarded to four Ohio students who plan to attend an Ohio school after graduation. The application deadline is Monday, February 5, 2024 at 11:59 PM. Click here.

Understanding the Different Types of Federal Loans for College - Click here.

Wellness Tip of the Week

Looking for an easy way to beat the winter blues? Come cheer on our winter sport teams! Schedules can be found on the Bishop Fenwick Falcon app or at fenwicksports.org! Our basketball players, swimmers, bowlers, cheerleaders, and pep band members have been working hard and deserve our full support. Positive cheering is just approved yelling and can boost serotonin levels. What a stress-reliever!

Counselor Information

As a reminder, our counselor breakdown is:

Students with the last names A-G: Jean Horn (jhorn@fenwickfalcons.org)
Students with the last names H-N: Sabrina Snyder (ssnyder@fenwickfalcons.org)
Students with the last names O-Z: Vicki Weisbrod (vweisbrod@fenwickfalcons.org)

College Credit Plus

CCP Information Nights

The State of Ohio has a program called College Credit Plus (CCP), that allows students to earn college credit and high school credit while still in high school. Most out-of-state colleges will refer to this as "dual enrollment." It is only called CCP in Ohio.

At Fenwick, it is typically juniors and seniors who are involved in CCP, but by state law, the CCP program is open to everyone at Fenwick. CCP courses taught at Fenwick are only open to juniors and seniors. There is an option for any student at Fenwick to take a CCP course either online or on the college campus.

The first step of learning more or participating in this program for the 2024-25 school year is to attend a mandatory informational/counseling meeting. This is a requirement set by the State of Ohio.

Date of the Informational/Counseling mandatory meeting:

There are two options to attend this mandatory meeting. The two meetings are identical. You only need to attend one meeting.
Sunday, December 10 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in Fenwick Main Gym. Required sign-in will be in the main hallway. Please arrive in time to sign in and get settled in the main gym to start at 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 25 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in Fenwick Main Gym. Required sign-in will be in the main hallway. Please arrive in time to sign in and get settled in the main gym to start at 6:00 p.m.
If the student and a parent do not attend this meeting, the student will not be permitted to participate in the CCP program. There will be no recording of the meeting.
Please plan ahead - students should ask off work from their part-time jobs or volunteer, families should make arrangements to be able to attend this meeting.
Parents and students will be required to sign in at the meeting and submit a signed form stating that they attended the meeting in full.
Parents and students are required to attend even if they have participated in CCP before.