SJW #21, February 4, 2010

 As part of our Catholic Schools Week celebration the student council organized a

paper drive for the Marion Food Pantry, pictured above.

Happy Catholic Schools Week!

Catholic Schools: Dividends for Life

Registration Now Open!

Our registration material has been sent home via US Mail.  If you have not received this information, please call the office.  Additional registration information can be downloaded here.  We respectfully request that you return your registration material as soon as possible.  Our registration deadline is March 1st.  Thank you in advance for your quick attention to this!

ITBS Test Results

St. Joseph Catholic School has a very strong tradition of academic excellence.  I am proud to announce that once again, our standardized test score results have exceeded our expectations.  Our students continue to perform at very high levels and consistently score well above grade level.  Additionally, I am please to announce that we have once again achieved our goals for annual progress as required by No Child Left Behind reporting and reporting requirements to the Iowa Department of Education and the Annual Progress Report.

The graduating class of 2016-2017, current fifth grade, had an average standard score growth of 21 points in the NCLB reporting category totals.  The average growth for fifth grade students is 14 points.  In the area of Punctuation, this cohort group showed a net loss of -8.  As fourth graders, their standard Composite score was 202.  As fifth graders, it was 223.  A typical fifth grader will score around 214 if they were to take the test during the spring of their fifth grade year, therefore according to this data set, this cohort group of students achieves above their expectancy.

Note:  For the purposes of APR reporting, this class was the SJCS cohort group and did meet all achievement goals.

A. During the 2009-2010 academic year, St. Joseph Catholic School will have the 5^th grade class show a minimum of 14-point growth on the ITBS using the Iowa Average Standard Score on the reading comprehension portion of the ITBS.  As 4^th graders, they scored a 204 and as 5^th graders they scored a 225.  This is a 21-point gain, which was greater than expected.

B. During the 2009-2010 academic year, St. Joseph Catholic School will have the 5^th grade class show a minimum 14-point growth on the ITBS using the Iowa Average Standard Score on the math total portion of the ITBS.  As 4^th graders, they scored a 205 and as 5^th graders they scored a 219.  This is a 14-point gain, which is what is expected.

C. During the 2009-2010 academic year, St. Joseph Catholic School will have the 5^th grade class show a minimum 14-point growth on the ITBS using the Iowa Average Standard Score on the science portion of the ITBS.  As 4^th graders, they scored a 200 and as 5^th graders they scored a 228.  This is a 28-point gain, which is greater than expected.

Proficiency charts are included as attachments below along with verification of our annual goals.  To view the complete analysis of ITBS scores, please click here.  Please note, this is a lengthy document and may take a few moments to download.

St. Joseph Catholic Middle School Honor Roll for Fall 2009 Term Announced

Bold denotes 4.0 students

Tax Time

As you make preparations to file your taxes this year, don't forget that you are eligible for a $250 tax credit for the first $1,000 paid in tuition.  To get a copy of the form you need for your tax preparer, click here.  Additionally, you may be eligible for the earned income tax credit.

The Earned Income Tax Credit is the federal government’s largest program benefiting working families and individuals. Help may be there when they file their tax returns in 2010: They may be eligible for tax credits worth as much as $5,657, and they may qualify for credits even if they did not earn enough in 2009 to owe tax. In 2008, 24.6 million eligible families and individuals claimed Earned Income Credits worth $48.7 billion and Child Tax Credit refunds worth over $10 billion. There are millions more eligible workers that did not file for their credits, foregoing millions of dollars they earned.

For more information on the EITC please refer to the attachment below.  Be sure to check with your tax consultant!

I Prayed For Courage Last Night

What an incredible experience last night.  I became a part of a three man team, consisting of an LPN nurse who is an angel to his patients, a funeral director, and a dentist, whose responsibility was for the primary care of patients in the Port du Prince largest hospital’s Critical Care Unit.  A 50-bed ward that was nightmarish to say the best.  If you can imagine operating a critical care unit in a building that has suffered significant earthquake damage, has no electricity, running water, bathroom facilities, and most importantly lacks the basic and advanced medical equipment and supplies needed for the CCU.

 We were working at General Hospital which was hard hit by the earthquake.  Many of the medical staff fear being in the various bldg(s) of the hospital. Thus they do not always show up. Unlike hospital stays in the US it is traditional here for a family member to sleep on the floor next to the bed, and be responsible for obtaining the food, and cleaning the bed and the patient, I am told it is not unusual here for all the nurses and doctors to go home at 9pm and then return around 9 a.m., leaving the patients to fend for themselves.  The bldg we were in has lots of structural damage.  We treated the patients by flashlight. There was no air movement, the air reeked of the smells beyond what you can imagine, and the families of patients slept on the floor.

The first couple of hours were really tough for me as I withered under the oppressive heat.  I finally ripped the sleeves off my shirt in an attempt to cool down.  As we worked in the dark we listened to cries of pain, begs for care, and adults crying for their mothers. I found my self several times trying to control my emotions when providing care.  The small children were reminding me of my own grandchildren.  

We were caring individuals ranging from newborn twins to several very elderly patients in life crisis.  I never imagined I would be giving primary patient care since I have no medical training as a provider.  We did not have the basic needs such as a thermometer, gauze, pain medications, chucks, sheets for the beds, bed pans, and antibiotics.  I went to pick up morphine and IV bags for more than 25 patients.  I was informed they would give me four IV bags.  Decisions had to be made who would be hydrated and who would not be.  I cared for one very elderly woman who will probably die.  She is extremely dehydrated and I found her laying in a large pool of blood from a head wound nobody even tried to suture.

This morning I had to convince a 23 year old man and his family that they needed to authorize us to send him to the medical ship Comfort. If he stays on the ward he will most certainly loose his leg and possibly die.  If he transfers to the Comfort we may be able to save both.  Going to the Comfort meant he would be alone because family members are not allowed on board the hospital ship.  I stayed with them until he was on his way to the Comfort.  It was tough for all involved.

Around 6 a.m., the three care takers sat outside for a few minutes in an attempt to cool off and laugh about the fact that a nurse, a funeral director, and a dentist were doing primary care on a Critical Care Unit.  The break didn’t last long.  A family member of one of our patients came running out of the ward and informed me their father had become extremely ill.  The nurse, funeral director, and dentist raced into the ward to find a patient with a severe gastro intestinal bleeding. The night was not over yet.  I needed more courage.

 Peter Teahen<!--EndFragment-->

How will you know if you are being groomed?
 
You met some new members of the parish neighbors with children the same age as yours. They seem like a very nice family. Later that week you see them at soccer practice. It turns out their seven year old boy is on the same soccer team as your son. Their situation is a bit different from yours because Mom goes to work at an office everyday and dad works from home. His schedule is more flexible than most dads and he apparently played soccer in college. It is soccer season and dad has offered to take the boys to and from practice. How do you tell if the offer is genuine or the beginning of a grooming process?

Read more about this topic in the enclosed attachment from the Office of Protection of Children.

Athletic Task Force

We are in the process of evaluating our athletic programming at St. Joseph Catholic School.  While it may seem like a long way off, we are beginning to look at scheduling for next year.  To help in this process, we must know how many student-athletes we will have for our fall sports in grades 5-8.  You should have received a brief form to fill out and return to Mrs. Mitchel via email.  This information is critical moving forward and is needed from every student.  If you are interested in joining in the conversation please let me know.  Our next meeting will be held on February 18th at 4:00 PM in the library.

Athletic Director

Mr. Gunderson has expressed a strong desire to complete his tenure as Athletic Director at the conclusion of this academic year.  I am seeking a highly organized individual with superior communication skills to assume this duty.  A generalized copy of a job description is attached below.  If you are interested, please send me a brief note of interest.