December 12

Strong Catholic Families - 

I hope that you enjoyed our first Family Night.  I loved blessing our Christmas tree. We hope to have another night before or at the beginning of lent. The Diocese of Sioux City has created a website with resources for teachers and families to use.  Please check out this website.  http://www.scdiocese.org/resources 

Merry Christmas!!!

Bonus Blog - December 2

I read this in the Seton newsletter and I thought that it was great!

WHAT ARE THE IOWA CORE STANDARDS?
The Iowa Core standards are statewide expectations for what students should know and be able to do in English, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Stud-ies, and 21st Century Skills, such as financial and civic literacy. The goal of the standards is to make sure students are prepared for college or career training after high school. The standards establish what students need to learn, but not how they should be taught. Local schools and educators continue to set and oversee decisions about classroom instruction.

Many emotions surround the term "Iowa Core".  The state recommends the following site to help parents have accurate information.

https://iowacore.gov/parents-community

November 21

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We have a technology fundraiser coming up on December 5.  You received an email asking for volunteers and donations.  This week I would like to share with you how the technology meals and Cash for Classrooms (Gala) help our students and teachers.

In the past 4 years we have purchased:
48 laptops with two carts for the Garrigan building
11 Chromebooks for the Garrigan building
20 Chromebooks with a cart at Seton
11 Ipads for Seton
Each classroom at Seton has some form of an interactive whiteboard (Mimio or Smartboard)
Each classroom at Seton has a mounted projector
Updated approximately 25 teacher laptops
Added access points making both buildings wireless
7 new printers between the two buildings
This list does not include the yearly maintenance.

We hope to purchase:
Updated technology for the Mrs. Vaske business lab.  (24 laptops and software updates)
20 Chromebooks for grades 2/3
5 Ipads for grades K/1
20 Chromebooks for grades 5/6
Increased bandwidth to 100 mbs

You can come and eat even if you don't attend the game!  Thanks for your support!

November 6

Hello again,
Congratulations to all of the fall activities.  I am so proud of how hard our students work both in school and outside of school.  Did you know that about 95% of BG students participate in an after school activity and over 85% of our students are in more than 2 extra-curricular activities?  Most of the students who are not involved in extra-curricular activities hold jobs or work for their families.  This makes me think twice when I say, "I am SO busy!"

Thank you to all of our students, parents, and community members who make it all work!!!

October 16

Today the administrators are in Irene, South Dakota at a Diocesan Retreat.  Usually we do not have internet access, but this year we are lucky enough to have it...or are we?  This week's blog is inspired by our recent work with Strong Catholic Families, many discussions that I have had with parents, and my struggle with "being unhooked" for two days.

We have the world at our finger tips, but how are we using it?  Are we creating balance in our lives?  Are we creating balance for our children?  I would like to encourage everyone who reads this blog to encourage others to shut down for a little bit each day, but more importantly to help our children have some time without electronics.  I am not writing this from the perspective of a perfect parent, instead quite the opposite.  My children watch too much TV and they are on the Ipad too much.  Let's commit together to help our children learn balance.  Are you aware how much texting your child is doing from 8:00 - 12:00?  Just look sometime and see what happens during those hours.  I would encourage you to take away the phones at night.  Help to give them permission to just tune the world out so they can slow down before another day begins.

Can a push a step further?  Can we challenge ourselves to turn off the TV, put down the electronics and talk about God?  As a parent,  I might need help with this.  One of our goals as a result of the Strong Catholic surveys is to help create a list of resources for parents to use at home.  Hopefully, we can have some ideas put together before Lent.

I am only beginning to experience how hard parenting can be.  It takes a village, but I for one, am glad that my village is BISHOP GARRIGAN!

October 4

Thank you to Erpelding Voigt for donating chocolate shakes on Friday.  What a great way to end the week!

This week the Department of Education and the Diocese of Sioux City will be in our buildings, Seton and Garrigan, for our 5 year accreditation visit.  I am so proud of who we are and I can't wait to share our successes with them.  

What do you want the state to know about Bishop Garrigan?  One question on the list is "Please share what changes you hope your school will achieve in the next five years."  How would you answer that question?  Feel free to post general comments or email me your thoughts.

Friday, September 26

Homecoming..what a great week.  There is nothing better than spreading black and gold pride across Algona.

Please encourage parents to ask questions via the blog.  I know that Mindy tries to answer questions that are posted on Facebook, but she does not always see the questions if BG is not tagged.  The purpose of this blog is to not only to keep parents informed, but also to answer your questions accurately.

Can I wear...?  I have decided that "out of uniform" days can be the most stressful days for our students (and parents).  I will be creating a quick reference page for students, so that they can stop stressing.  I really want them to enjoy these days, not dread them!

Mrs. Roether will be placing another Chromebook order soon.  Contact her tomorrow (Monday) if you would like to place an order.  She will not place another order until November 1.  There are still MANY questions regarding technology, so please post your great questions.

We are officially one week from our Site Visit by the Department of Education and the Diocese of Sioux City.  This visit will allows us to continue to be an accredited school by the state. There is a lot of paperwork, but we will shine in the end!

Enjoy the beautiful weather and remember to BE THE GOOD!