St. Ambrose Catholic School Updates

A letter from St. Ambrose School's principal, Mrs. Dalmut:

July 31, 2008

Dear St. Ambrose Families,

I trust that this finds you enjoying your summer! August is knocking on my door, and we still have so much to do to get ready for your return on the 25th!

Announcements

USED UNIFORM SALE - Thursday August 21, 2 p.m. - 6 p.m.

• Volunteers needed for:
  • Set up at 12:30 on Thursday
  • Working at the sale from 2-6
  • Cleanup 5:30-7:00

Please contact Mrs. Gail Carome to volunteer: 703-280-9638

• Please drop off uniforms for the sale in the gym, beginning Tuesday, Aug. 19 until the morning of Aug. 21. All items MUST BE LABELED with the following information. Please attach the labels with safety pins. Do not use "post-its" because they tend to fall off. All uniforms must be in good condition -- items with stains or tears will not be offered for sale.


• Type and size of item
• Your name, address, phone #
• "Keep" or "Return"


• We do not have space to store many unsold uniforms. If you would like to DONATE your unsold items to the PTO, we will keep them. If you want to try to sell them at the next sale, we will return them to you.

(Note from Mrs. Dalmut: When you are purchasing skirts, skorts, or jumpers, please check the length! The dress code requires that they be no shorter than 2 inches above the knee. Thank you for your vigilance!)

SALLY FOSTER GIFT WRAP

• Due to popular demand, Sally Foster is back! You can start purchasing gift wrap and chocolate on sallyfoster.com. Be sure to give credit to St. Ambrose Catholic School. The school receives 50% of your purchase amount! Your packets will be available for pickup in the Back to School packets on Aug. 21.
• Please take a look at the website! We will have a few contests -- the first contest is for the class with the greatest participation in on-line sales by September 1. The winning class will receive an ice cream party on September 2 at the end of lunch. Thank you for your support!

TRACK NEWS: ********AN ANGEL NEEDED*********

Mrs. Dean would like to have a "Girls on the Run" team in the fall and spring, but cannot coach both GOTR and the CYO track team. If we have a volunteer to coach the Track team, then Mrs. Dean would be free to devote her time to the GOTR program. Please give the school office a call. You will be blessed many times for your invaluable support.

SCHOOL UPDATE:

Good news! Ms. Alexis Bloschichak will be joining our middle school staff. She is a recent college graduate, having majored in English Education, and has decided to move to northern Virginia to be a part of our St. Ambrose community. I hope you will join me in welcoming her!

The school is looking fantastic! I have already told you about the new computer lab, which is now networked and ready for students. Thank you to the many volunteers who have come in to help paint the restrooms, reorganize our closets, and decorate our bulletin boards. The clinic has been relocated, painted, and will be finished this week. The new carpet for the library will be installed next week. I hope you all plan to come to the Ice Cream Social and see for yourselves!

Plan to pick up your Back to School Packets on August 21 or 22nd. The school will be open from 8-6 on the 21st and 8-3 on the 22nd.

Some sad news - The Lanzi family will be moving out of the area soon. They have asked us to pass on to you that their house (in Camelot) will be on the market very soon. If you know someone looking for a home, please have them call Robin Lanzi at 703-206-0108, or email her at lanzifamily@hotmail.com.

May God bless you all!

Barbara Dalmut

A letter from St. Ambrose School's new principal, Mrs. Barbara Dalmut:

June, 2008

Dear Parents and Students of Saint Ambrose,

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of the good things happening at our school. As I begin to serve this community as school principal, I will start by counting all of our blessings.

The Catholic faith is truly alive at St. Ambrose! One of the most touching moments of the day is the classroom prayer. After morning announcements and general prayer, each class has its own prayer time. These students have a heartfelt confidence in God's love, and a joy in their faith. We don't just go through the motions at our school; we infuse our faith into every part of our day.

The test of any organization is its end product. After nine years at our school, students demonstrate accomplishment in all areas. The learning environment here produces students who are polite, respectful, confident, and competent. The Class of 2008 celebrated their graduation on June 5. Those of you had the opportunity to attend the graduation or to see their performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, will be able to verify that St. Ambrose graduates are great ambassadors for our school.

Every school needs a support system. We depend on the willing support, both financially and spiritually, from our pastor, our parents, and the parish community. As a result of this combined effort, our students receive many benefits that enhance the spiritual and educational environment of the school. We will be installing two more Activboards next week, thanks to this strong support.

Having been a member of the St. Ambrose faculty for eight years, I can say that our faculty remains a strong team of professional educators. I know you are anxious to know the changes for next year.

• Mrs. Villanasco will be staying home with her two young children. Our computer classes will be taught by Mr. O'Connell (grades 3-8) and Mrs. Warnock (K-2). Both have experience in computers and technology.


• Mrs. Everson will not be returning next year. We will miss her, as she has been on our faculty for many years. Mrs. Warnock's concentration in college was in Art, so she will be teaching Art to grades K-3. We are delighted that she will be able to join us for two days each week, splitting her time between the Art and Computer classes.


• Mrs. DeLuca will be staying home with little Pia Maria, who was born on June 14. Mrs. Sharon Sloane-Hornseth will be joining us as our Music teacher. She currently teaches at St. Andrew the Apostle in Clifton, and will split her time between our school and theirs.


• Mrs. Jill Hall will be teaching 2nd grade. Mrs. Hall taught 2nd grade in the state of Washington before her husband was transferred east with the Navy. Her four children will be joining our school as well!


• Mr. O'Connell will serve as the 6th grade homeroom teacher, and will be teaching the middle school Social Studies classes in addition to his Computer classes.


• Mrs. Pat Kiernan will be returning to our faculty! She has lived in Bangkok for three years, and has been substituting in our school this past spring. Many of you will remember her as our sixth grade teacher. She will be the 8th grade homeroom teacher.


• Mrs. Thomasson will serve as 7th grade homeroom teacher. She and Mrs. Kiernan will teach the middle school Math and Science classes. Mrs. Kazimer will be teaching the Pre-Algebra again, as well as 8th grade Language Arts and Literature. Mrs. Lindstrom will be teaching the 6th and 7th grades Language Arts and Literature. We have ordered a brand new series of textbooks that will integrate the courses and greatly enhance our ability to teach these critical subjects.

Mrs. Ida Smith is the "new" face in our office. Mrs. Smith has been an avid supporter of our school since its very beginning. She and Mrs. Maureen Park will be the administrative team in the office. The Office is so important in making our school run smoothly. They are both dedicated to the success of the school and your students.

Mrs. Connie Frank has agreed to return to as our Playground Supervisor. We welcome back her smiling face and great supervisory skills!

Throughout the summer we will need volunteers to help with various projects. We will be reorganizing storage areas and stocking office supplies. There will be other projects which need help. For example, the school supplies will be arriving in August, and will need to be sorted and delivered to the classrooms. Textbooks will need to be stamped and distributed. Since the 7th and 8th graders need service hours for Confirmation, I would like to offer them this opportunity first. If your student is available for helping in the summer, please email Mrs. Ida Smith at info@stambroseschool.org, and let her know his/her availability. We will contact you when we have specific dates.

Please mark August 25 on your calendars - it's the first day of school. The students will return for a half-day of instruction. All students and their families are invited back that evening for the annual Ice Cream Social. In order to allow all families to participate, we have scheduled it for the first day of school, rather than interrupting your last week of vacation. I hope you will all join in our back to school celebration!

Students, we have a challenge for you! Your teachers have given you a required reading list. (New families will receive their reading lists in the mail soon.) They have made some excellent choices which will help improve your reading and broaden your horizons. I would like to encourage you to read beyond the required books. If the Students of St. Ambrose will read a total of 2000 books over the summer, we will dedicate an entire afternoon to books and the cinema (that means movies, books, games, and fun!) Go to the library and start reading now! These books do not have to be on your summer reading list, but that is a good place to start. On the first day of school, present your teacher with your reading log - all the books you have read. We will announce the results at the Ice Cream Social!

I am honored to be serving as your principal. I have enjoyed the past eight years teaching at St. Ambrose. I have been preparing for this venture all my life. God works in mysterious ways, and the journey has been a very interesting one! My pledge to you is that I will work as hard as I can to make St. Ambrose Catholic School and your children as successful as they can be. God never changes. He will do the rest. We must trust Him together.

May God bless you and keep you,
Mrs. Barbara Dalmut
Principal



School Supplies for the 2008-2009 school year: The list of school supplies that students will need in the fall is posted on the web site at http://www.stambroseschool.org/docs/08-09_St_Ambrose_School_supply_list.pdf. If you would like to order these items from EPI School Supplies, complete the order form at http://www.stambroseschool.org/docs/School_Supply_Ordering_information.pdf and return it to the school office by June 27, or order on line at www.epipacks.com by July 3. St. Ambrose's school ID number is STA423.

If you prefer to buy your child(ren)'s school supplies yourself, use this list so you will know what to get. Be sure to buy folders in the colors that are specified.

The June issue of the PTO newsletter, the Beehive, is on the school web site at http://www.stambroseschool.org/pto/beehive/June_08_Beehive.pdf. Check out our volunteers of the month, letters from Mrs. Yates and Brian Frank, PTO President, and a profile of Mrs. Marybeth Cuccias, our kindergarten teacher.

Lunchroom/Playground: the sign up form for next school year's lunchroom/playground volunteers will be posted on the web site. If you would like to sign up to get your 10 required sessions done early, or if you have limited days that you can work, return the form to the school during the summer, and we will put you on the schedule on a first-come, first-served basis.


Looking Ahead:

Monday, August 25
First day of school for grades 1-8; 11:30 dismissal
Special schedule for kindergarten students
Ice Cream Social for all families 6:30 - 7:30