Announcements

• Conference Sign up email was sent out 11-12-18
  Remember to sign up for parent teacher conferences on November 29th. We would love to see every parent in grades Preschool- grade 8 attend.
  
• Title Services Teachers
  We are excited to welcome our new Title 1 teacher Mr. Prosper Iwu to St. Valentine. Mr. Prosper will join us each week on Mondays to work with some of our students.
  Mrs. Carol Ahmed is also a Title 1 teacher with us this year. She has been working with some of our students for about a month now. Many of you may know Mrs. Ahmed already has she has been a substitute teacher in our building for a few years now.
  We are blessed to have both of these state certified teachers with us part time to help our students achieve academic excellence and individual growth!
  All students receiving these services must live in a certain school district boundary and have a parent consent on file.
  Welcome Title 1 teachers!
• Basketball practice reminders
  Parents should be sure that a coach is in the gym with the team when dropping of their child.
  Only students registered on the team that is practicing can be in the gym during scheduled practice times. Siblings may not be in the gym during practice.
  Team practice time is only 1 and a half hours- this time is important- please keep it free from distractions (talking parents, other teams coming in) so that the players and coach can make the most of their time.
  Players are ONLY allowed in the hallway immediately outside the gym (before practice) and in the gym.
  Players may not be in any other part of the school. Failure to follow this policy may be cause for removal from the team.
• St. Valentine School Cold Weather Recess policy
  It is St. Valentine School policy that all students go outside for recess. In the event that your child is sick and cannot go outside for recess- a doctor's note indicating the dates needed and/or temperature guidelines is required to be on file in the office.
• Thank you for your generosity!
  Wow! Thank you for your generosity! Together with the Faith Formation program, we were able to send out 116 Boxes of Joy to Cross Catholic Relief Services.
  The virtue of generosity is strong at St. Valentine School. We are blessed. Ask your child about how giving to others made them feel.
• Santa Shop is coming to Town! Dec 3-7, 2018
  We are very excited to provide St. Valentine students with a special shopping experience this year. Items will be priced from $1-$8 for students to be able to purchase something for everyone on their list. All gifts will be wrapped at school to help students keep their gifts for family and friends a surprise! A flyer with class shopping times and shopping envelope will sent in the VIP folder November 28th.
• Send boots, snow pants, hats, and water proof gloves every day
  Every child goes out to recess as evidence has shown that students with outdoor free play do better in the classroom. For this reason we ask for your support in sending full winter gear every day throughout the winter months.
  Even if there is no snow or you think we might not go outside- please send it anyway.
  Students are sad when they are not allowed to play in the snowy fields because they are not properly dressed.
  Students who are cold due to inadequate dress do not want to play and burn off the energy that will make the school day more successful.
  We will do our absolute BEST effort to make sure the items you send to school come home (remember how challenging it is when your child takes off snow gear at home- multiply that times 20 and consider the classroom teacher's challenge).
  Please show us your support during the winter months by sending proper gear and labeling all winter items with your child's name.
  Snow makes children happy. Let it snow!
• Christmas Concert Excitement!!!
  The halls have been ringing with the sounds of the classes preparing for the Christmas concert. We can't wait for our families to see what the students have to present. There will be a special feature from our 7th and 8th grade students as well as songs at every grade level and a grand finale.
  The concert is during the school day, Dec. 21, 2018 at 10:00am.
  It is a half day of school and the last day before Christmas vacation- please plan to join us for mass at 8:30 am followed by the Christmas concert at 10 am and dismissal from the gym at 11:30 for Christmas vacation.
• Volunteer needed- Altar server reminders- easy to do
  We are in need of someone to contact servers on the Thursday or Friday prior to each weekend via email and/or text messaging. This will only take about 10 minutes per week.
  Prior to the new quarter, Alessandra, our scheduler, will send out the new schedule. You will just need to look it over to see if there are any potential problems. If you are familiar with Excel, you can manipulate the final schedule that is sent out so that it only contains your servers, with their contact information. This should only take 15 minutes to a half hour at the most, and only 4 times a year. We will train you so that you will be comfortable in handling this.
  Taking on this job for the year can earn all of your required volunteer hours for the school year.
• Scholastic Book Fair
  The book fair will take place Nov. 26 through Nov. 29th during school hours. Classes will have time to shop during their Library class time. The Book Fair will also be open during conferences on Thursday, Nov. 29th.
  For more information, please contact:
  Mrs. Maureen Kelly
• Winter drop off in the library lot will start Dec. 3
  Beginning on December 3, 2018 morning drop off will be in the little library lot until spring.
  Drive with caution and pull all the way up in line.
  Those wanting to walk their children to the door should park on Dow street in front of the rectory and playground for safety. Please DO NOT walk in the library lot to drop off your child- it is slippery and full of moving vehicles.
• Required Volunteers
  If you have volunteered please turn in a form with your hours to the office. A record of each family's hours is found on the school website protected by the family hot lunch password.
• Dearborn Ham Sale for Christmas
  Order your Dearborn Brand Ham or Turkey from the 7th and 8th grade students. The prices are the same as if you had ordered from the store, but a portion of the profit goes to support our students in their class trip to Louisville, KY and Mammoth Caves.
  Order forms will go home Nov. 14th. All orders are due by Dec. 12, 2018.
  Pick up is December 20th.
  7th and 8th grade families- the profits from all orders that your child sells go directly to pay for your child's trip.
• Cookies and Milk with Santa
  This fun Parent Club sponsored event is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 7th from 6:30-8:00pm. There will be crafts, cookies, and of course visits with Santa. The very popular “Santa Shop” will be open during the Cookies and Milk with Santa event.
• Snow Days and School Closings
  Along with the snow and ice comes the occasional day when school must be closed due to weather or other building issues. St. Valentine School closings are announced on WWJ radio station, and television channels 2, 4, and 7. We will also send a text/email for those who are registered with the school remind.com site. Please be reminded that school occasionally closes due to extremely low temperatures (this year will be -35 degrees wind chill- this may differ from Livonia or Redford Union policy) or power outages- any time there might be a question of weather causing trouble- please check the school website before heading out the door.
  
  NEVER drop your child off at school in the morning if you do not see cones, student safeties, and faculty outside.

Flyers

From the desk of Mrs. Damuth:

St. Valentine School Year Theme 2018-2019:   They will know we are Christians by our love!

Virtue for November: Faith  Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself. By faith "man freely commits his entire self to God." For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God's will. "The righteous shall live by faith." Living faith "works through charity."

Lord, I believe:
I wish to believe in Thee.
Lord, let my faith be full and unreserved,
and let it penetrate my thought,
my way of judging Divine things and human things.
Lord, let my faith be joyful
and give peace and gladness to my spirit,
and dispose it for prayer with God
and conversation with men,
so that the inner bliss of its fortunate possession
may shine forth in sacred and secular conversation.
Lord, let my faith be humble and not presume
to be based on the experience of my thought and of my 
feeling;
but let it surrender to the testimony of the Holy Spirit,
and not have any better guarantee than in docility to 
Tradition
and to the authority of the magisterium of the Holy Church.

Amen.