Saint Raphael School Bugle: JUNE 6 , 2008

BUTTERFLY PROJECT – In an effort to commemorate the 1,500,000 innocent children who perished in the Holocaust, the Holocaust Museum in Houston, Texas is collecting butterfly art from schools across the nation. These butterflies will eventually comprise a breathtaking exhibition to memorialize the children. Ms. LaHaise coordinated a butterfly art project within the school so that all of our students could participate in this noble endeavor. Their beautiful contributions have been sent to Houston. We are very grateful to Ms. LaHaise for giving us the opportunity to take part in this exhibit.

“Today, I am a victim. Tomorrow it may be you.” John F. Kennedy

UNIFORM RESALE –
The first sale is Tuesday, June 10th, from 1:00--3:00 PM in the lower parish center.
A second sale is scheduled for Wednesday, June 18th at 11:00.

ARCHDIOCESE NEWS -
We encourage all families to subscribe to a new “Weekly Email from Cardinal Seán.” The email includes special messages from the Cardinal, content from the Cardinal Seán’s Blog, official press releases from the Archdiocese, and links to current stories from “The Pilot,” new programs from Catholic TV, resources for Mass & Prayer, a calendar of upcoming events around the Archdiocese, and other helpful information to deepen Catholic faith life. The Cardinal hopes that every Catholic in the Archdiocese with an email account will sign up for the weekly email. For more information or to signup, please see www.Boston200.org.

EIGHTH GRADE CLASS NIGHT AND GRADUATION
On Monday night, our eighth grade students, their parents, and school faculty and staff celebrated “Class Night” in the Parish Center. The evening included a buffet dinner, award presentations, and the class video. Then the students, chaperoned by the middle school faculty, enjoyed each other’s company as they danced the night away.

Clad in their green gowns, the eighth grade students received their diplomas following a baccalaureate Mass on Wednesday evening. Father Toomey and Fr. Cullen celebrated Mass for the graduates and their families. Congratulations to everyone involved in this wonderful event. Very, very special thanks to Miss Gately and Mrs. Viola for giving endlessly of themselves to make the graduation such a reverent and memorable occasion.

KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION – The Kindergarten students graduated on Friday, June 6th. The graduation ceremony was a very special experience for the children. They sang beautifully and were very well prepared by their teachers for the ceremony. Thank you to the Kindergarten Team, (Mrs. Garrity, Ms. Ostrom, Mrs. Blacquier, Mrs. Walsh, Mrs. Jakimczyk and Mrs. Smith), for all of the effort they expended to help the children practice their graduation songs and learn appropriate conduct and behavior for their graduation celebration.

PRE-K GRADUATION – Please join us in congratulating our 4 year old Pre-K students who graduated on Wednesday, June 4th. The children sang several songs, including “God Bless America,” for all of their families and friends in attendance. Thank you to the amazing Pre-K Team for the creativity, love and care that they have shown our students every day of the year. Thank you to Donna Chisholm for faithfully recording all of Pre-K’s special events and activities throughout the year and for creating a slideshow of her excellent photography that was shown at the graduation party.

LIBRARY BOOKS RETURNED -
All outstanding library books are due back to the library by Wednesday, June 11th.

NEXT WEEK EVENTS

SCHOOL MASS – Our end the year school Mass will be held on Thursday, June12th at 10:15am. We hope that all of you will join us at the liturgy to celebrate the completion of another wonderful school year.

KINDERGARTEN OPEN HOUSE – We will be holding an Open House on Monday, June 9th from 9:00-10:00 AM for all students entering Kindergarten in September, 2008. The Open House will be held in the Kindergarten classrooms. All families who have registered a Kindergarten student should have received an invitation to the event. At this time, parents will have the opportunity to sign up for their child’s kindergarten assessments, which will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, June 10, 11, and 12th. Kindergarten parents are invited to join and meet other Kindergarten parents for coffee in the cafeteria while their children are in the classrooms.

PRE-K OPEN HOUSES – Pre-K Open Houses for registered students enrolled for September 2008 will be held on Tuesday, June 10th. The 4 year old Open House will be from 9:00am – 10:00am and the 3 year olds from 11:00am – 12:00pm. We look forward to seeing all of our new Pre-K children!

TUITION – By July 1st if you have not received a tuition invoice via email, please call the new tuition office phone number at (781) 488-5444 x 7.

SERVICE PROJECT –
The Saint Raphael School mission statement emphasizes the importance of developing in our students both compassion and a willingness to serve those in need. In this spirit, we are closing out the school year with an opportunity for service to desperately poor migrants who will spend the summer working in the fields and factories of the eastern shore of Virginia. We are doing this in conjunction with the Saint Andrew Catholic Migrant Ministry

These men, women and children live in substandard housing and lack basic essentials such as white work socks and toothpaste. They are the “least of our brothers and sisters” whom we, as Christians, are exhorted by Jesus to love and respect. To help these hard working people who labor to provide Americans with many of the fruits and vegetables that we enjoy, we are asking our students to donate one or more of the following items. Please feel free to contribute something that you already have at home. All participating students will bring their item(s) to the end-of-school Mass on Thursday, June 12th where they will be collected and brought to the altar during the offertory. If you wish for your child to bring the item in earlier in the week, he/she will be given it to bring over to Church. If you wish to donate additional items for this project, please drop them off in the school office.

Thank you on behalf of the migrant workers who will benefit from your generosity.

New or gently used sheets (full or twin) and pillowcases
New or gently used towels and facecloths
Toothpaste and toothbrushes
Disposable razors/
Shaving cream
Insect repellent
White work socks

ANOTHER SERVICE OPPORTUNITY-

Our partnership with the Trede Catholic School in Accra, Ghana continues, and the teachers and students there greatly appreciate our generosity and support. We are once again trying to collect new or used middle school books, English dictionaries and solar powered calculators for them. If you would like to participate in this worthy enterprise, please send in your donations to the school, attention Margaret Chisholm, by the last day of school or contact her about dropping off donations during the summer. This is a “win-win” situation: the chance to clear out your overstuffed bookshelves while helping students in a very poor school that lacks most of the resources we take for granted. Thank you for strengthening our relationship with the Trede Catholic School by your support of this project.