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Disciple Dispatch
October 17, 2025
| Life Lessons From the Farm | | | This week our 5th graders spent the week out at the Franciscan Farm learning about different animals, performing chores, making meals and learning outside the classroom. They are fortunate enough to get to spend three weeks during three different seasons out at the farm. Their next week will be this winter when we return from Christmas break. Check out or Facebook or Instagram page for more photos from the farm! | |
Pep Rally Next Friday!
To celebrate the end of the 1st quarter, we will have our first pep rally next Friday, October 24th at 2:15 pm in the gym. Parents are welcome to attend as we cheer on our 8th grade girls vs.boys in an exciting volleyball game followed by a Staff Lip Sync! To support year-end activities of our IHM 8th graders, it will be a $1 non-uniform IHM Spirit Day. Popcorn can also be purchased for $2 a bag. Order forms will go home Monday with students. Return your child's order form with money by Thursday, October 23rd.Popcorn will be delivered (and devoured) at the Pep Rally. A huge shoutout to Celebration Cinema North who is donating the popcorn to us - a $225 value!!!
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Altar Server Training Rescheduled!
Altar server training for NEW servers has been rescheduled for Monday, October 27th at 2:00 pm. Make sure your child has a signed permission slip on file prior to the training. If you have any questions, please reach out to Christy or Paul Brown at christinabrown77@gmail.com or 616-828-3681
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Virtue of the Week
Courtesy is the virtue of treating other people with respect, recognizing that all are made in God's image and likeness.
Courtesy looks like: letting others go ahead of you.
Courtesy sounds like: "You can go head of me in line."
| | | The Youth Ministry Fall Family Fun Festival is NEXT WEEKEND...Sign up today. Everyone is welcome. Middle School and High School students may be dropped off, children in 5th grade and under are required to have a parent present. Contact Mrs. Stacie Byers with questions at youth@ihmparishgr.org. Click below to sign up! | |
Saints & Sweets
On Halloween this year, we will be celebrating "Saints & Sweets" on Friday, October 31st. Grades K-5 have the option to dress up as a saint or the costume of their choice. Grades 6-8 can dress up as a Saint, wear a holiday shirt with uniform bottoms, or wear their uniform. There will be a school-wide saint costume competition! Students can bring their costumes to school to change into before the Halloween parade. Following the parade will be a trunk or treat in the school parking lot brought to you by Home & School Association. See more info below!
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Greetings-
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many of you either in person or on the phone. But for those that may not know me, my name is Jamie LaFleur. I am a counselor and am in the building on Tuesdays to work with students, teachers, and parents. My role is to problem solve with students who may have challenges that interfere with their success while in school. I’m happy to consult with parents and help with additional referrals when necessary. If at any time you’d like to chat/consult, please free to reach
out by calling the office or emailing me at jlafleur60@outlook.com. Due to an unfortunate accident resulting in a couple of fractures, I will be out of the building for another week or two.
Welcome to the “Counselor’s Corner!” I will be periodically sharing tips and topics
that I hope will be helpful as you navigate your parenting journey.
Today’s Topic: Self Esteem
A few tips to remember-
- Praise the effort not the outcome. Instead of “You’re so smart for getting an A” try “I’m so proud of how hard you studied.” Acknowledging hard work and perseverance promotes a growth mind set.
- Embrace mistakes as learning opportunities. We’ve all made them!
- Allow your child to make age appropriate decisions and experience the natural consequences that follow both positive and challenging.
- Avoid comparisons to other siblings and peers
- Model confidence. Demonstrate how you handle challenges and setbacks with resilience and optimism.
In Gratitude,
Jamie LaFleur
Counselor M.A., L.P.C.
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James Caldwell: Mission Effectivness
James and his wife Betsey have four children, including two sons who attend IHM School. A California native who moved to Grand Rapids in 2020, James is excited to serve on the School Board and support IHM’s mission to make disciples first, then diplomas. He works as a home health physical therapist, serving older adults in their homes and assisted living facilities, and also hosts The Manly Catholic podcast with Fr. Dominic Couturier. The family can often be found at IHM events and regularly attends the 8:30 a.m. Sunday Mass.
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Going out of Business Sale!
My Aplus Uniforms on 28th Street - the last brick and mortar store in Grand Rapids for buying uniform clothes - is closing up shop. They are offering 30% in-store and online starting tomorrow! More info below!
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It's that time again! The first IHM Athletic Association Fundraiser of the 2025-26 school year is here. We are a few weeks away from the MSU vs UM football game and we are once again offering squares and a chance to win $$$ and support IHM Athletics. All transactions will be conducted through the IHM Clover site and payouts will be provided from these funds. These opportunities help fund IHM Athletics to keep our kids playing sports for free and provide the necessary equipment, uniforms, and facility standards that make IHM a great place to compete and grow our community.
Your donation gives you a chance to win while also providing $5,000 to the IHM Athletic Association. Same rules as prior events apply with the squares being assigned at random as they are purchased. When all the squares are filled, we will blind draw the numbers 0-9 for each side. (Your squares will be sent to you prior to the game) Then you just match the last digit of the score after each quarter to win! We are adding a rotating squares feature this year to give you fresh numbers each quarter!!! This will offer more chances to win, not being stuck with "bad" #'s, and less of the same score in consecutive quarters.
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Thanks to you, these fundraisers help pay the increasing cost for fall/winter/spring sports. We also use our sponsorships, gate, and concessions to cover the rest of the necessary costs to provide your children the best place to play and best experience. We appreciate all your generosity and support for IHM and the Athletic Association. Please consider participating and feel free to share with friends and family!
We are also looking for more volunteers to become part of the long-standing IHM Athletic Association. Reply back for more info. If you would like to be removed from this distribution list, please let me know!
God Bless and Go Vikings!
-IHM Athletic Association
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New Fundraising Partnership with MINTED!
Believe it or not, it's that time of year again to start thinking about Christmas cards. We have a new partnership with Minted. Use the code FUNDRAISEIHMSGR and you will save 20% off your order and Minted will donate 10% back to IHM. It's a win-win!
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Catholic Central Cougar Gear Store
Listed below are upcoming dates that the Cougar Gear store will be open. They will also be open for playoff games for football & soccer.
- October 23rd JV Football 5:30-7:30pm
- October 24th Varsity Football 6-8pm
In store are 3 full racks of Lululemon, North Face fleece jackets, new styles of beanies and many other new items for sale.
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Looking Ahead...
- 10/23 - Laptime & Open Gym 10:00-11:00 am
- 10/23 - American Heritage Girls 6-7:30 pm
- 10/24 - First Quarter Ends - $1 Jeans Day & Fall Pep Rally at 2:15 pm
- 10/28 - Kindergarten Field Trip to Heidi's Farmstand
- 10/28 - Second grade visit from Grand Rapids Fire Department
- 10/29 - Prayer Partner T-shirt day
- 10/29 - EDGE Middle School Youth Group 7-8:30 pm
- 10/29 - Parent/Teacher Conferences 4-7 pm
- 10/30 - IHM Fall Gathering at Cascade Country Club 6-9 pm
- 10/31 - 8th Grade Social - Campus Cleanup and Lunch
- 10/31 - "Saints & Sweets" trunk or treat in the school parking lot 2 pm
- 11/2 - Dalight Savings
- 10/3 - Winter Dress Code Begins
- 11/4-5 - Hearing & Vision Rescreening
- 11/5 - 8th Grade Confirmation at Cathedral
- 11/6 - Laptime & Open Gym 10:00 - 11:00 am
- 11/6 - Parent/Teacher Conferences 4-7 pm
- 11/7 - Parent/Teacher Conferences 12-3 pm - Half Day of School
- 11/8 - Home & School Pickleball Social 6:15 pm in the gym
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From the Principal's Desk
Hello IHM Families!
We are blessed with 12 new families this year at IHM! I want to thank Meghan Lawrie and Home and School for their support in lining up host families for our new families and for making welcome bags and ensuring our new families feel supported and loved! That's what we are called to do. If you see a new family around school or at church on the weekend, be sure to introduce yourself! We are grateful for our new families!
We are getting closer to our Accreditation visit November 19 & 20 and next week we will have our "Legal Compliance Check" where they make sure we are doing all the things we are legally supposed to do. These are things like, dispensing medicine properly and with proper documentation, checking the fire extinguishers, staff training on Bloodborne pathogens, and various policies in the parent/student handbook and personnel handbook. There are 50 things they are checking. Thank you to our amazing office staff, Laura Dunlap, Karen DeChant and Stefanie Iwan for getting a binder together to make the process easier and to Ken Kuchnicki for supplying some of the documentation too. It takes a village! And I'm so grateful to the village we have here at IHM behind the scenes making everything run so smoothly.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Blessings,
Mrs. Holly Lake
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| | Guided by Mother Mary, our patroness, Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School learns, leads, and serves as disciples of Christ. | | | | | |
