|
From the Desk of Mrs. Tiezzi
Dear St. Rita Parents/Guardians,
Congratulations to our 5th grade students and very creative teachers as this past Monday they received a very special phone call from the Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center with the following message: “The votes have been tallied and we are happy to announce this year’s People’s Choice Award goes to….St. Rita School of Hamden’s 5th Grade class. Thank you all for participating and hope to see you all next year!” We are ecstatic over the news! The students worked hard on the ornaments, tree skirt, tree topper, and manger! They learned that hard work pays off! Thank you to all the SRS families that visited the center and voted for our tree!
Over the past few weeks I have been noticing that more and more students are either tardy to school in the morning or being dismissed early. Both of these are disruptive to the learning of your child and his/her classmates. Students arriving late often are missing the very beginning of a lesson and by arriving late to class. They are disrupting the learning of others with their unpacking and turning things in, which is normally done during their homeroom period. It is understandable if a child has an early morning doctor or dental appointment on occasion. Our school day begins at 8:15 A.M. for students in kindergarten through 8th grade. Students are marked tardy beginning at 8:20 A.M. Our school day ends at 2:40 P.M. and dismissal takes approximately 10 minutes. On an average day, we have between 8-10 students leaving before dismissal begins. This is disruptive to our administrative staff members who are trying to facilitate a smooth dismissal for the other 350 students in the building. Frequently, we have students and their teachers totally unaware of an early dismissal for a particular student which is once again disrupting the learning of others. Thank you for your cooperation in having your child in school for a full day of learning.
Thank you to everyone who supported our CSW week activities. Based on the feedback from the students and teachers everyone had a fun-filled week. Later this week the pajamas and Legos which were donated for PJ Day will be dropped off at Yale. We are grateful to our second grader, Noah, for his idea to honor his classmate, Addie, and our NJHS for partnering with him to collect the items for the children in Yale’s Children’s Oncology Unit.
Congratulations to our Robotics Team who competed in the Archdiocesan VEX Robotics Meet at East Catholic High School this past Saturday. All three teams did an excellent job competing against other Archdiocesan schools. Out of 82 teams, our three teams ranked as follows: Team A ranked #40 ; Team B ranked #33; and Team C ranked #21 (Team C was one off of qualifying for the finals). Congratulations to all our Crusader Crushers 2024 and thank you parents and teachers for your support!
Lent begins next Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, February 14. There will be a school Mass at 9:00 A.M. at St. Rita Church. Ashes will be distributed during Mass. Parents and relatives of the school students are invited to attend. Class Valentine’s celebrations will be held either the day before or the day after Ash Wednesday. On Thursday, February 15, we will have an early dismissal for teacher professional development. There will be no aftercare. School will be closed on Friday, February 16 and Monday, February 19 for President’s Day Weekend.
Thank you for entrusting your child/ren to our care. Have a great week.
God Bless,
Mrs. Tiezzi
Principal
| 
