There has been a great need for Catholic-based teaching tools addressing sexual morality, chastity, and moral decision-making for middle school and junior high age students for a very long time. We believe that this program is one that addresses these issues in a sensitive, appropriate manner.  One very important aspect of this curriculum is parent involvement.  The materials we have to share with you are pamphlets and a 38-minute parent/child DVD entitled Know Yourself.  This video is designed as an educational tool to help you teach your children in matters of human sexuality at a time you deem to be appropriate.  The chastity program presents chastity as a moral virtue, and helps students understand how the virtue relates to the Christian vocation of marriage.  Instructors from the Respect Life Education Office will present the program for both parents and students.
 
We encourage you to review this material.  We understand how very busy everyone is but we believe very strongly that this is one of the best programs for our children and know that the only way we will be effective is if we teach about this sensitive topic together.

Dear Parents,
 
Last year we informed you that we had invested in the Saf T AlertNow Rapid Notification Service at Holy Family.  This telephone message delivery system provides the best means possible to communicate with families in the event of non-weather related emergencies. The success of this new emergency system depends on the accurate contact information that has been given to the school.
 
In the event of a non-weather related emergency for which we will have to close school, we will employ the Saf T AlertNow Rapid  Notification Service with instructions for all families.
 
We receive a report indicating if there are any phone numbers that are not in service. We ask that you please notify the school immediately if there are any changes to your phone numbers so that we can keep our data base updated.
 
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the school.

Dear Parents,
 
You are undoubtedly aware that on a very regular basis we conduct fire drills in collaboration with Rockland Fire Department.  Children are instructed on issues regarding their deportment during drills, and we are very pleased at the ease with which they transition.
 
Under the direction of the Rockland Police and Fire Departments, a safety response plan has been created and implemented in our school.   Since the beginning of the school year we have conducted and will continue to conduct additional safety drills for the entire school.  Drills are conducted which call for the evacuation of the building as well as total lock-down of our building. We know that because of the threat of terrorism that grips our country, children may presume the worst; however, it is important to know that we may be forced to evacuate the building for issues related to our water and/or heating systems. Having evacuation drills are in everyone’s best interest.  Please be assured that the drills are conducted in a very low-key manner and our children’s safety is always a priority.
 
As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to call the school.

In the next few weeks our teachers will begin teaching the personal safety and abuse prevention education programs for all children.  These programs are sponsored by the Office of Child Advocacy, the Office of Religion Education, and the Catholic Schools’ Office.

The program for grades kindergarten – grade three, Talking About Touching, teaches children skills that will help them keep safe from dangerous or abusive situations.  Children will learn how to ask for help when they need it.  In the class children learn more about safety and are more likely to follow safety rules when they have multiple opportunities to practice and talk about safety.

Our 4th, 5th and 6th grade classes are using, Keeping Children Safe Abuse Prevention Program, a program designed to address safety issues related to the needs of children in these grades.  The topics will cover issues such as safety while being home alone, babysitting, safety in public places, Internet safety, making responsible choices, and personal safety. The basic objective of the program is to assist students in identifying potential dangers inherent in public places, such as malls, movie theaters and other gathering places.  Students will learn to reduce the risk of danger when in public places, and learn to develop skills for standing up to pressure from other people.

Our classroom teachers will be introducing these lessons in the next weeks.  We ask that you please notify us in writing if you do not want your children to participate in the programs.  Information on the programs is available at the school for your review and we will be happy to answer your questions.

Dear Parents,

Holy Family School is pleased to offer students access to a computer network that enhances teaching and educational discovery.  Through the proper use of the Internet we are teaching our children to value the potential the the World Wide Web has to offer.  We know that technology is a great asset to our children's lives; however, we are also aware of the dangers of unfilterred access to the Internet.  In May 2000 we installed a filtering system that prevents access to any inappropriate sites.  Our filtering system is server based and has the most up to date, sophisticated filtering software available.  We continue to upgrade our computer equipment.  Students have access to the Internet to teacher-directed sites as lesson plans warrant.  Our school Internet policy, as printed in the Holy Family School Handbook states:
              
Access to the Internet will enable students to explore thousands of libraries, databases, and
bulletin boards.  Our intent is to make Internet access available to further educational goals and
objectives.  Access is a privilege, not a right.  Individual users of the school computer networks
are responsible for their behavior and communications over the networks.  All users will
comply with school standards.  During school hours, teachers will guide students toward
appropriate materials.
 
As educators and parents we believe that through the program we have in place at Holy Family, our children will learn how to use the best the Internet can offer, and subsequently more fully explore their educational potential.  We share your concerns about unfiltered access to the Internet and support your efforts to restrict use of the Internet at home.  Students' access to sites such as myspace.com is of grave concern to us, and we encourage you to discuss your child's Internet use with your child.  When discussing this important issue with your child we remind you of the Unauthorized Use of the School Name policy which is incuded in our Handbook.  This policy prohibits use of the school's name for any purpose including, 'posting the school's name on any website'.  In the past we offered an Internet Safety Program for parents.  If there is an interest in offering this program again, we will be happy to do so.

The United States Council of Catholic Bishops has mandated a number of different steps to further insure our children’s safety.  Among the mandated prevention and education programs are annual criminal record checks and training classes.  In order to be in complete compliance with the USCCB we are presenting an education program for all school volunteers. As per Article Two of the Policies and Procedures for the Protection of Children manual:

All clergy, achdiocese personnel and volunteers who minister, work or serve in a capacity involving contact with children under the age eighteen (18) must complete the prevention and education programs mandated by the Archdiocese. These programs seek to assist parents in educating and protecting their children and to assist parishes, schools, and other archdiocesan institutions to cooperate with parents in developing and maintaining safe and secure environments.

We will present a training class on Virtus - Protecting God's Children. This class will assist attendees in recognizing, preventing and reporting suspected or observed child abuse. This program will be required for everyone who is interested in volunteering for events at school. If you have attended the Virtus training at Holy Family or another parish, please submit a letter from the parish stating the date of the training and the location.  Volunteers are expected to attend Virtus only once.  Please know that we have kept on file a list of those people that have verified attendance at Virtus.

It gives me great pleasure to write to you about PACE.  PACE is a service organization committed to securing a strong future for our Catholic schools   PACE is focused on securing resources to support all of our schools through direct lobbying of Beacon Hill, and collaboration with many allied advocacy groups.
 
The overriding goal of PACE has been to advance parental choice in education.  As part of their mission and charter, PACE believes that parents should have the opportunity to send their child (ren) to the school of their choice, regardless of their income.
 The efforts of PACE have been largely responsible for the passage of the special education bills which insure Catholic school students access to publicly funded special education services.  PACE efforts have also secured state funding for Catholic school students in the areas of:

              school nursing,    
              school nutrition,
              school transportation,
              teacher internet discount programs and
              tutorial services for Catholic School students who are out of school for prolonged periods because of serious illness.

 
PACE was responsible for obtaining a favorable ruling by the Massachusetts Office of Child Care services allowing voucher-eligible parents to select Catholic schools for their pre school and after school child care. PACE believes that programs like education tax credits and vouchers would give more families who want to send their children to Catholic high schools that opportunity.  PACE believes that education tax credits and vouchers level the playing field and end the public school education monopoly.  Successes have been realized in other states; however, the Massachusetts constitution must be amended so that Commonwealth families can fully realize that vision.
 

If you are interested in representing Holy Family School at PACE meetings, please call the school.

We have been notified by The New England Association of Schools and Colleges that the Commission has reviewed our Five-Year Interim Evaluation Report and our report has been accepted.  According to the letter dated February 15, 2008, the report….

“…..   was accepted with thanks for a thorough and detailed report.  The Commission encourages the school to continue to be creative in its use of space and community resources to support the curriculum and to continue its commitment to curriculum review.

The Commission commends Holy Family School for the significant gains made in its long-range plan in the area of curriculum review, facility, safety and faculty/staff development and advancement.”

Please join us in celebrating this great accomplishment for our school community.  We have achieved so many wonderful successes during the past decade, one of which was our accreditation by the New England Association.  Now we add our Interim Report to our list of accomplishments.

For over eighteen months a committee chaired by Mrs. O’Brien, Mrs. Bettuchi and Mrs. Flight has worked on our Five-Year Interim Evaluation Report.  Thank you to our faculty for another wonderful recognition. 

Holy Family School is a Spirit-filled Catholic community celebrating Christ as the center of our lives, offering our students a comprehensive education as they are learning to make a difference in an ever-changing society.