The O'Reilly Minute

Dear Parents,

This coming Friday we will be celebrating our eighth grade students to honor their hard work, leadership and commitment to our school community. Next week, I will share pictures and details of our unique yet special graduation events.  

As we look towards the closing of the 2019-2020 school year, we would like to celebrate the hard work of our school community and also share virtually some of our treasured year-end traditions.

In preparation for the weekend, our teachers, led by Coach Kreber, have put together a virtual Family Field Day. We thought offering these optional field day ideas might be a fun outdoor activity for the long Memorial Day weekend.  

On the evening of May 28th, we are planning a special closing of school event for all families. Please save the date! The event will take place in the early evening in order to allow as many people as possible to attend. This event will of course incorporate all of our Safe Ohio guidelines, including social distancing. I will send out more information about this soon. Thursday, May 28th will also be the last day of formal classwork.

Our traditional Leadership Mass will take place on Friday, May 29th at Noon. I would like to invite as many families as possible to virtually join together to pray at their own homes during the Leadership Mass and Watch Party. Of course, if this is not possible, it will be posted on our YouTube and Facebook pages for viewing at a later time. I would also like to ask you to invite as many alumni as possible to join together for our Leadership Mass and Watch Party. Traditionally, we welcome home our alums at this Mass, and we would like to do so this year. We will include many elements of our traditional Mass, including our 7th graders virtually accepting the light of leadership from our 8th graders, and recognizing our teachers for their years of service. To make this day extra special, I would like to invite you to prepare a special brunch to have before Mass or a fun family lunch (perhaps a picnic….if no rain!!) or ice cream treat following Mass to celebrate the last day of school.  

I would like to take a moment to thank our parents, students, and teachers for giving us feedback through our surveys. This feedback is providing great data for our Task Force to use this summer. The information will be used when planning our learning experiences for the 2020-21 school year. We are currently formulating a few additional survey questions that we will send out next week.  I must say that I am particularly impressed by the thoughtful and insightful comments of our students. Their ability to articulate what worked for them and what didn’t work, and also sharing about their learning styles, was not only impressive, but will be the MOST valuable feedback we will collect. This data will give our planning the authenticity required to meet the needs of our students.  

Here are a few other notes as we begin to close the year. You will be receiving information for a three-prong approach to summer learning. Our teachers are preparing offerings for summer review and practice for reading and math. Additionally, they are going to include faith-based learning options, creative activities, social studies, and STEM options. This information will be distributed electronically to all families in the near future. For families looking for more intensive one-on-one tutoring for the summer, our tutor list is available in today’s newsletter. Additionally, we hope to offer optional digital and/or on-site “Wolfhound Summer Learning Camp” opportunities beginning in July. The details of this program are not ready to be released at this time, but will be based on the current guidance and orders from the State of Ohio.  

School supplies for next year is also a current hot topic. We have purposefully decided to wait to publish a school supply list or to host a school supply sale. Our hope is to base our list on the needs of the learning platforms that will be offered for the coming year. Home and School will also host some type of school supply sale again based on the type of supplies that are needed.

Please continue to pray and to take care of each other,

Kathy O'Reilly

Virutal Field Day: Coming Soon!

Click the video link below to learn about a Virtual Field Day coming soon!

Details will be included in Ms. O'Reilly's morning prayers on Friday, as well as emailed out by Coach Kreber and posted on the e-learning webpage this Friday, May 22.

Summer Tutoring

As we do at the end of each school year, we are sharing a summer tutoring list with you. In the world of COVID-19, we don't know whether or not 1:1 tutoring sessions will be allowed to happen in person. But, we thought we would share this in case things begin to open up and you would like to consider extra supports for your child.

Staff can be contacted via email or by calling the school office and leaving a message.

Home & School Meetings

Please note there will not be any more Home & Sschool meetings this year – the Home & School committee appreciates all of your help this year and is looking forward to hopefully seeing everyone in the fall!

Bishop's Appreciation Video from Our Catholic Schools

Thank you to the many that sent photos and notes to the Diocesan Office of Catholic Schools for the Bishop and clergy's appreciation video.

P.E.R.C. Virtual Parent Workshops

P.E.R.C. is partnering with Syntero to offer free, virtual parent workshops. Topics are listed below.

Please register using this form at least 24 hours in advance of each workshop. The link for each workshop will be e-mailed out once your registration has been submitted. Questions? Contact Melissa Rotblatt, Syntero School-Based Prevention Coordinator, at [email protected].

The first round of topics will be:

1. Coping with Grief, Loss and Change (open to all, intended audience is parents of middle school and high school students): Many high school students, especially graduating seniors, are mourning the loss of a "traditional" senior year and recognition opportunities. Participants will learn about teens' understanding of loss, signs of grief and mourning, and how to support teens in working through loss and change. (May 21st - 1-2PM and 7-8PM)

2. Healthy Coping Skills and Self-Regulation Strategies (open to all): Participants will increase their understanding of common sources of stress and stress reactions in children/teens. Participants will also learn about ways they can support their children/teens in increasing use of healthy coping skills and self-regulation strategies at home. (May 28th - 10-11AM and 1-2PM)

3. Managing Worry and Anxiety (open to all, intended audience is parents of elementary students): Participants will learn to recognize worry and anxiety in children. Participants will also develop strategies to support children with worry and anxiety at home. (June 4th - 10-11AM and 7-8PM)

Parent & Student Surveys

As we get closer to the end of our remote learning, we would like to gain insights from parents and students about the experience.

Parents, please complete a survey for each child.  Students in grades 3-8, please complete one survey.

We will also be surveying our staff, and we plan to use all of the results to prepare for our fall programming, as well as our possible summer experiences.

Survey information is due by May 20.

Thank you for sharing your experience !

New Updates: E-Learning Resources

We have added many new virtual learning resources and activities to the E-Learning webpage. To view the items newly added this week, look for the red NEW icon.

Items newly added this week include:

Officer Buckle & Gloria - Police Memorial Week Reading by Mr. McKenna

In honor of Police Memorial Week last week, Bruce McKenna, campus safety & security at St. Brigid of Kildare and a retired City of Dublin Police Officer, recorded a reading for students of the book Officer Buckle and Gloria.

FACTS Re-Enrollment Agreement for 2020-2021 Distributed Via Email On Wednesday, May 13

We are confident that school will open on schedule in the fall and we will be prepared to teach your children using best teaching and safety practices as determined by government and Diocesan officials. With that in mind, we are asking for your commitment to re-enroll your children for the 2020-2021 school year.

Traditionally, we send a FACTS Re-enrollment Agreement home with your child and ask you to sign and return within 7 days. This year, we are sending agreements electronically via email. If you agree with everything on the agreement, you do not need to respond and your child will be enrolled for 2020-2021 automatically. Note that your decision is not binding until contracts are finalized June 1.

It is extremely important that you review the following information and notify us via email if you DO NOT wish to re-enroll or if you want to change from your current payment plan or Peace of Mind agreement:

1) Contact information, especially email address, to ensure that you receive all critical communication.  No agreements or information will be mailed this year.  

2) In addition to existing payment plans, several options have been added in response to the COVID crisis. You may now elect to pay-in-full in September, pay semi-annually in September and February, pay quarterly in September, December, March and June, or start the 10 monthly payment plan in September (September-June). The 12 month plan remains the same (July-June). If you want to make a change, please email Jackie Mack the changes at [email protected]. You do not need to create a new agreement -- just email Jackie the change you'd like to make.

3) Peace of Mind Option, you can elect ($20 fee) or decline this option.

All changes, including the decision to NOT re-enroll, must be communicated to Jackie Mack by Friday, May 22, at 5:00 pm at [email protected]. Note that your decision is not binding until contracts are finalized June 1.

Barn Bash Save the Date!

Friday, October 23, 2020

The annual Barn Bash at Leed's Farm in Ostrander will be held on Friday, October 23.

Save the date for the fun family event!

Let's Stay Connected: Share Your Learning!

During this complicated time when we can't be together physically, let's lift each other's spirits and stay connected virtually!

We would love to see your photos of your children continuing their learning and creativity while social distancing.

Please share your photos and a short description via emailing them to Allie Wing at [email protected] and they will be featured in the Wolfhound Wednesday as well as on our Facebook page. Feel free to also upload to social media and tag our Facebook page at facebook.com/stbrigidschool!

Schoolbelles & Educational Apparel Uniform Ordering Info & Sales 20-21

Educational Apparel is having a 30% off Back to Business Sale May 10-31st.

Click here for details and offer codes.

Schoolbelles wants to make uniform shopping convenient for the families at St. Brigid Of Kildare and stress free for the administration! Below is a URL that will directly link your school’s website to the Schoolbelles "St. Brigid Of Kildare" shopping page. Purchases made under your school number s2649 helps you earn more towards your School Rebate.

http://www.schoolbelles.com/myschool/M37/s2649

Also, click here for a PDF copy of our school's Buying Guide.

NEW! Schoolbelles would like all customers to take this survey regarding summer ordering.