January
28, 2007
Catholic
Schools Week
Convent
Countdown
Still
waiting for a new tenant...tick...tick...tick...)
Bells
Ever since Christmas the sounds of our church bells have been missing.
We need repairs to our bell system and the company that services our
bell system will be giving us an update in the week ahead. Soon we’ll
be tolling the time again.
Financial
Statements
People who have been using envelopes to make their church contributions
will be receiving a statement for tax purposes shortly. This is the
first year we’re issuing the statements ourselves and not paying
a company to do this for us. (We experience substantial savings.) We
don’t expect any difficulties, but if you don’t receive
a statement or if there is some error in the statement, please be sure
to let us know. Contact Robert Cammarata at
(516)334-0021 ext 136. Thanks to all who contribute.
Online
Masses
We are now going to be able to stream masses and other events live over
the internet to homebound folks and to relatives who live in other lands.
If you’re interested in this, in this, click
here.
Away
at College?
Are you or your child away at college? At St. Brigid’s we like
to stay in touch via occasional e-mails as we send photos and news from
“home”. College students wishing to be connected through
our “Letters from home” can sign up online here
or you can mail or
e-mail thecollege names and e-mail addresses to Father Ralph and he’ll
put them on the list.
Census
Continues
Of the approximate 6,000 families we usually send mail to, we’ve
received completed Census booklets from over 4,000. So we’ve got
a ways to go.
Is your booklet in?
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past Columns:
Jan.21:Crying in Church
Jan.14: Love ahead
Jan.7:
So How Was Your Christmas?
Columns
from 2005
Columns
from 2004
Columns from
2003
Columns from 2002
This
week there will be lots of activities to celebrate our wonderful school
-- they’re part of Catholic School Week, which is being observed
throughout the diocese.
Over the past few months we’ve
seen an increase in interest in our school as more parents have visited
the school with their children to see if our school is appropriate for
their children’s growth and development -- not only academically,
but socially and spiritually too. They’ve discovered the solid academic
program in which our children consistently outscore other schools on state
tests, but more importantly, the underlying education is about helping
children understand and learn and our excellent faculty help that to happen
day in and day out.
There are some new developments
which have caused people to consider sending their children to our school.
One is our new
full-day Pre-Kindergarten option. (And there is also an after school program.)
This is very helpful to families whose parents work a nine-to-five shift.
Another welcomed development is the availability of tuition assistance
through the diocesan Tomorrow’s Hope Foundation. In the past I’ve
heard from parents who would really like to send their children for a
Catholic school education but were stopped because of the cost of tuition.
This may no longer be a problem for many because of the financial aid
available. (You can check out the details at
www.tomorrowshopefoundation.org.)
While these are some new developments,
the standard reasons for being part of the St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope
School community remain: we care for our children together as a community
of faith. Children learn in a safe, caring environment -- and we offer
caring support and encouragement for parents too.
The extra-curricular programs,
the exposure to creative arts and science and technology dimension of
education, and a vibrant faith-filled environment which bring children
and their families closer to God are all essential to what our school
offers. For more information on this week’s activities go to the
school’s website: www.stbolh.org
