Principal's Newsletter

"After the verb ‘to love,’ ‘to help’ is the most beautiful verb in the world.” – B. Von Suttner

September 3, 2008

Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn,

       Welcome to our returning students and their families, as well as to all the new families who have joined us this year. As I’m sure you will notice when you attend our Open House this evening (more details below), we are blessed, despite the relatively unhealthy state of the general economy, to have a very healthy enrollment again this year. You may have also already noticed in trying to get on and off campus today that Mount Saint Mary College is bursting at the seams as well, especially in trying to accommodate a record number of freshmen students enrolled this year. There are many “upsides” to the growth at both our school and the college that I will explore in upcoming newsletters. For now, I’ll simply apologize in advance for one of the relatively minor “downsides” of such growth, which mainly involves experiencing the increased difficulty in getting around the campus and finding parking once you do, and in facing the kind of tight quarters that we will share on evenings like tonight when we try to get everyone together in one place at one time. Below are some new tips and old reminders for successfully negotiating the first week of school, along with some information about the start of the school year that wasn’t contained in my note home this summer.

WELCOME NEW STAFF: You may recall that I delayed writing my summer newsletter until mid-August, in part to be able to address any late summer staff changes before the new school year started. Even though I was able to “catch everyone up” (I think) about the hiring of our new 5^th grade instructor, Miss Ellen O’Leary, with an updated website and Email version of the newsletter a few days after the first note was sent, a number of other staff changes were not resolved until the end of the month.  Mrs. Donna Tyrrell, who worked last year in our middle school program, has been assigned to assist Miss O’Leary in the 5^th grade classroom this year.  I am also pleased to report that Miss Elizabeth Damiano, a Bishop Dunn alumnae, who graduated this past May from Marywood University, has been hired as our new middle school teaching assistant. Another new face (and voice) you will become familiar with soon at Bishop Dunn is Mrs. Karen Colombo, who will be taking over our main lobby reception desk duties for Mrs. Fran Lego, so that she can focus more on her growing behind-the-scenes office manager responsibilities. I regret to report that  Mrs. Stephanie DeLuca, who taught Spanish to our 1^st through 6^th graders last year, and Mrs. DeeAnne O’Keefe, who served as our 5^th grade teaching assistant, have resigned from their positions. Mrs. DeLuca’s 6^th grade teaching duties are being taken over by our upper grade Spanish instructor, Mrs. Lisa Johnson.

LIBRARY PICK-UP SHIFT PLANNED: Beginning Monday, ONLY students in our PreK, Kindergarten and 1^st grade classes who don’t have older siblings will get dismissed from the door near our library. Parents of all other students will be directed to park on the blacktop area next to our playground behind the school. Their children will be brought out the back door, where they will be dismissed to cars as they exit from the blacktop area. I will talk more about this change at our Open House tonight.

HALF DAYS CONTINUE: If you are new to the school this year, please be aware that our half-day class schedule continues Thursday and Friday, with dismissal at 11:15 a.m. and no extended care hours until Monday.

NO SPECIALS THIS WEEK: Our specials schedule, including physical education, will not start until Monday. Please make sure that your child wears the approved school uniform (NO GYM CLOTHES) the rest of this week.

PLEASE JOIN US TONIGHT: Finally, I hope everyone has gotten the important message from this summer’s newsletters and our annual  calendar notices that our Open House and Orientation will be held tonight, Sept. 3^rd. Following my opening remarks and school-wide announcements at 7 p.m. Parents will then be asked to go to their children’s classrooms for an orientation about grade level rules, procedures and policies. I hope to see you tonight!

EMAIL NOTES START NEXT WEEK: Today’s newsletter is being sent home with every student because we have not yet updated our Email communications system. Beginning next week, paper copies of the newsletters will only be sent home to those who haven’t supplied an Email address. The newsletters will also be posted on our website www.bdms.org, as will most other school communications.