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Principal's Newsletters from the Past
"There’s as much to risk in doing nothing as in doing something.” – Trammell Crow
November 17, 2008
Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn,
A little less than a month ago, I urged parents in my newsletter to contact their state representatives to express their concerns about cuts of more than 12 percent in mandated services funding that were approved last spring. Unfortunately, on Tuesday, Nov. 18th, legislators will be returning to Albany for a special session called by Governor David Paterson and additional cuts in the funding that is so critical to our own operations are now being proposed to address a $1.5 billion shortfall in the current fiscal year’s state budget. Last year, our school received more than $73,000 from the state to reimburse us for a variety of services that we perform that are mandated by the state, including keeping attendance records, and administering the state’s annual assessments in math, language arts, social studies and science, among other things. We are already facing nearly $10,000 in anticipated cuts in state revenues and further cuts will make it extremely difficult for us to meet our own budget this year. As bad as the proposed cuts are, as I have already mentioned in my earlier note, what’s worse is the precedent that eliminating the 100 percent reimbursement mechanism for Mandated Services would set. In the future, it would mean that instead of being able to count on a specific amount of funding set by formula, aid would be subject to the political whim of the governor and the legislature.
Even if you have already expressed your displeasure about the cuts in funding, I can’t emphasize how important it is to contact the governor and our local legislators again before more money is slashed from this critical funding source for all Catholic and private schools. You can do this very easily by going to the website http://www.nyscatholic.org/pages/home/home.asp and clicking on the “Take Action Now” icon. From there you can follow simple step-by-step directions to send an Email or letter that has already been developed to protest the Mandated Services cuts. Please take a few moments to register your complaint. We get very little from the state or the local school districts for the taxes that you pay, and we definitely can’t afford to get less, especially since it is very possible that there won’t be any cuts made for public school funding.
***
RACE RESULTS REPORTED: On a much more positive financial note, while all the pledge money has not yet been collected for our Third Annual Race for Education, it appears that we will at least match the amount that we received last year in this important fund-raiser. While the final revenue numbers aren’t available yet, I am pleased to finally announce the names of the students who completed the most number of laps in the race. The winning “runner” in our Level 1 (K-2nd grade) group was Philip Fabijanowski with 21 laps. Tops in Level 2 (Grs. 3-5) was Jack O’Brien, who completed 25 laps, and J.T. Whritner was our Level 3 (Grs. 6-8) winner with 27 laps completed. Congratulations to the three winners and, once again, to all those who participated.
PICK-UP CAUTION ADVISED: There was an “altercation” between parents in our dismissal line this past week that brought to my attention the potential danger involved in cars driving up on our basketball courts to get ready to pick up their children when there are still students playing outside in the area. I have asked all our classroom teachers not to bring children outside after 2 p.m. for any late-day” recess rewards,” but I also need to remind parents that if we forget and children are outside in the pick-up area after 2 p.m. that they need to be patient while waiting for the students to leave before they drive onto the blacktop area.
CHESS CLUB SET TO START: earlier in the school year, I sent home a survey form seeking information on interest in starting a Chess Club at school. I am pleased to announce that the club will finally have its first meeting this Tuesday, Nov. 18th, at 3:15 p.m. Any students who would like to join the club are invited to attend the first session, even if you did not return an interest form. The club will be led by Chris Herries, a graduate of Bishop Dunn who was a regional chess league champ while participating for John S. Burke High School last year.
IDENT-A-KID PHOTOS PLANNED: Photos will be taken for the Ident-a-Kid child safety identification program on Wednesday, Nov. 19th. Call our main office at 569-3494, if you still need a form to fill out.
SECOND NEWSLETTER PLANNED: There will be a second newsletter on Thursday, Nov. 20th.
"The telephone has too many shortcomings as a means of communication.”
– Western Union (1876)
November 13, 2008
Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn,
In the “good old days” before the communications explosion, it was relatively easy to get in touch with someone during the day. Either you called a home or a work number, and invariably you got a human voice on the other end. Today, I have two work numbers, a home phone and cell phone, all with voice messaging, and three separate Email addresses that I have to remember to check regularly, and I’m sure that most parents in our school have just as many or more possible “contact points.” The problem is that when you really, really need to reach someone (like to tell them that school is closing early for a snow emergency), it’s often hit and miss about which is the right phone number or Email address to use. That’s where the new Archdiocesan-sponsored Immediate Response Information System (IRIS) that I mentioned in a newsletter several weeks ago comes in. I’m still not sure that we will have the system in place when the first snow hits, but we do want to begin getting ready by updating (once again), specifically by asking you to tell us the priority order we should program into the system for the phone numbers and/or Email addresses that you want us to use during the school day. Once the system is up and running, we should be able to instantly (almost) send messages to as many as three phone numbers and two Email address supplied by the more than 200 families in our school. The messages can be sent based on the level of importance from a low “Green Alert” to remind you about an upcoming meeting, for example, that would go out only via an Email address, to a severe “Red Alert” that would be sent to all three phones and both Emails, and would also almost as instantly provide us with a written report indicating which families, if any, did not answer any of the three phone numbers.
This all sounds well and good, but we still have to make sure we have the right numbers…so please fill out the tear-sheet below and return it to us as soon as possible
***
DIRECTORIES AVAILABLE: Speaking of communicating, directories of phone numbers and Email addresses for parents in each class have been sent home with students in PreK through the 4th grade. Directories for other grades will either be mailed home with report cards or available at Parent-Teacher conferences. If you would like a directory of phone numbers and Email addresses for the whole school, contact our main office at 569-3494.
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IMMEDIATE RESPONSE INFORMATION SYSTEM (IRIS) CONTACT NUMBER FORM
(Please complete immediately and return to Mr. DelViscio’s attention)
Student Name(s) ____________________ Grade(s) _______________ Date ______________
Parent/Guardian Name(s) ___________________________
Please list below the telephone numbers you would like us to use in the IRIS system, beginning with the primary daytime telephone number that you would like to be used for calls for all levels of messages from low (Green) to most serious (Red).
Primary daytime phone ___________________ Used mainly by ____________________
Second daytime phone ___________________ Used mainly by ____________________
Third daytime phone _____________________ Used mainly by ____________________
Please list and identify main Email address and identify main user (mother, father, both parents, etc.)
Primary Email address ____________________ Used mainly by ___________________
Second Email address _____________________ Used mainly by ___________________
"If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold onto.” – Tao Te Ching
November 5, 2008
Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn,
One of the best things for me about this just concluded historic presidential election campaign, especially in the months (it seems so long ago) since the summer conventions took place, has been how actively involved and strongly opinionated many of our students have become in the debate over who should lead our country over the next four years. From all that I have read, especially about the tremendous increase in the number of new voter registrants, it has also been a wonderfully energizing introduction to Democracy for just as many other young and previously disenfranchised people around the country. My overwhelming hope and prayer now that all the campaign rhetoric is over, is that the new and old leaders of our country, with the mandate before them of bringing positive change to government, can come together to find just, fair and compassionate solutions to all the problems, including the war against terrorism, the growing health care and energy crisis, and a very troubled economy, that are causing so much suffering here and around the world.
***
GIVE IF YOU CAN: At the risk of sounding “Obamaesk”, I too think that those who have been blessed with good jobs and more money than they might really need to live comfortably, should be happy to share some of their good fortune with those less fortunate than themselves. In a variety of small ways, we will be asking our own fortunate families to help those around us who are most in need of a helping hand over the coming holiday season. I’d like to begin by reinstating our Offertory collection at Mass this coming First Friday, as we did each First Friday last year through the winter and spring. The money collected will be given to St. Mary’s for its ongoing program of distributing food to the needy in the Newburgh area. We are also interested in starting a weekly canned goods collection program to help St. Patrick’s Soup Kitchen, which has been struggling to keep its pantries filled. Our 8th graders help serve lunch every Wednesday at St. Patrick’s as part of their Confirmation preparation community service commitment. Any canned goods that you can send in will be taken by the 8th graders to the soup kitchen on their weekly trips. Look for more giving opportunities to be announced in the coming weeks.
REMEMBER LOVED ONES, HELP OTHERS: For those very fortunate Bishop Dunn Family members who are looking for larger opportunities to help others in need, we ask you to consider purchasing a leaf on our school’s “Remember Me” Tree in our front lobby. Contributions made in purchasing a leaf can be used to provide support for Bishop Dunn’s academic programs, but you can also ask that the money be used to provide financial assistance for another of the growing number of families in the school who are having trouble in these difficult economic times keeping up with tuition payments. For more information about purchasing a leaf, contact our Development Office at 569-3496 or 569-3495.
AUCTION PLANNING UNDER WAY: Believe it or not, while the big day is still more than four months away, planning has already begun for our annual goods and services auction, which is the school’s largest fund-raising project of the year. If you would like to be involved in planning for this major event, you are invited to attend the first meetings of our auction committee. One will take place at school tomorrow, Nov. 6th, at 9 a.m., and if you can’t make that meeting, the group will convene again later in the day at 6:30 p.m.
FIRST GAMES SET: Three of our four basketball teams, with support from two enthusiastic new cheerleading squads, begin their regular season runs, with opening games this Sunday, Nov. 9th, at St. Mary’s gym. Game times for those interested in coming out to cheer the teams on are: Junior Varsity Girls at 1 p.m.; Junior Varsity Boys at 2:30 p.m. and Varsity Boys at 4 p.m.
BAND NEXT MONDAY: Because school will be closed next Tuesday, Nov. 11th, for Veterans Day, band lessons have been moved to Monday, Nov. 10th.
NEXT NEWSLETTER ON WEDNESDAY: Barring any last-minute changes, next week’s newsletter will be sent home on Wednesday, Nov. 12th.
"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.” – Anne Bradstreet
November 3, 2008
Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn,
Yes, it’s only the first week in November, but the foot of snow that fell very close to the Hudson Valley last week reminded me that it’s not too early to be reviewing our emergency closing plans with parents. The problem is that we are in the process of making a major change in the way in which we communicate emergency information, and the new system may not be in place before the first storm hits. All New York Archdiocesan-affiliated schools were recently introduced to a rapid communication system called IRIS (Immediate Response Information System) that will be used, once it is in place, to simultaneously send announcements to all the families in our school over as many as three designated telephone numbers and up to two Email addresses. In the next few weeks, I will be sending more detailed information home about the IRIS system, and will also be asking you to reconfirm telephone numbers and Email addresses. In the meantime, I have included the directions you should follow for finding out about possible school closings – just in case winter doesn’t wait until we are ready with the new system.
. If you wake up to wintry weather in the morning, please check the following sources for school
delays or cancellation information.
- Begin by listening to the radio. The ones that report (or at least are supposed to report) information about our school are: WBNR (1260 AM), WSPK (104.7 FM), WHUD (100.7 FM), WGNY (1040 AM), WKIP (1450 AM), WBWZ (Z93 FM), WRNQ (92.1 FM) WGHQ (920 AM). If the radio stations don’t mention Bishop Dunn specifically then listen for news about Newburgh schools, because we almost always follow their lead since the district has people out much earlier in the morning checking on weather forecasts and road conditions.
- If you don’t want to wait for the next radio round-up, you can get more immediate feedback by checking our website, www.bdms.org and its emergency notification link after 6:30 a.m. After 6:30 a.m., the site is normally updated approximately every 15 minutes.
- As a last resort, you can call our main office number, 569-3494, after 6:30 a.m. to find out about a delayed opening or possible weather-related snow closing. Since we have discovered that the telephone’s message box is only capable of storing a limited number of messages (each call made, even if no message is left, is counted as a recording), we would prefer if you used our website or listened to the radio before you attempt to get school closing information from our message machine.
If bad weather is forecast when you send your child to school in the morning:
- Please keep listening to the radio throughout the morning for reports of early dismissals.
- Look out the window occasionally (I’ve learned not to assume anything in this business).
- Check your cell phone and answering machines regularly for messages from school.
- DO NOT CALL IMMEDIATELY, but wait for a call from our office, if your child normally takes the bus home and you don’t want them sent home because no one is there. Also, check our website, www.bdms.org. where we will have an emergency notification section that will be updated with early dismissal details on days when we are in school when bad weather threatens.
- Call our main number to let us know where we can reach you only if you are not going to be near a phone that we have listed for daytime contacts.
- If you are picking your child up by car, you will be able to pick them up only at the back door or library at the designated closing time, which will be listed on the website emergency notification link.
***
BAND NEXT MONDAY TOO: Because school is closed tomorrow and again next Tuesday, Nov. 11th, band lessons were moved to this Monday and to next Monday, Nov. 10th, as well. Tuesday’s closing has also pushed practice for our choral group to Wednesday, Nov. 5th and to Thursday, Nov. 6th for our Troubadour singers.
"Concentrate on finding your goal, then concentrate on reaching it.” – M. Friedsam
October 29, 2008
Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn,
The ribbons that were handed out to the student “runners” in our Third Annual Race for Education held this past Friday provided a perfect description of the day. They read “Everyone’s a winner!” Not only were the dozens of students in each class who completed 3 or 5 or 12 or 25 laps around the field next to our school winners, but, so were every student and teacher at Bishop Dunn who will benefit from the extra programs and activities that we will be able to offer as a result of all the money collected for each lap run. It was truly impressive to see how focused so many of our students were in completing as many laps as possible in the allotted time. As impressive were the cheers of encouragement offered by those on the sidelines, led by the dozens of parent volunteer race station coordinators. The “winners” with the most laps in each class will be announced in an upcoming newsletter, as will the total money collected, once all the pledges have been sent in. In the meantime, congratulations to all the students who competed, to our Development Director Sister Frances and her assistant, Mrs. Sue Dennis, for successfully organizing the event, and to all their race helpers: Silverio Albano, Traci Bakal, Maria Burke, Danielle Crinieri, Barbara Cuneo, Janine DiVenuto, Monika Fabijanowski, Ellen Fillo Friedrich, Jean Galli, Karolin Gomez, Lynn Hastings, Cheanda James, Priscilla Kennedy, Millie Kissam, Tori Labrenz, the LoBiondo Family, Celine Maxwell, Heather McElduff, Sandra McQuade, Jackie Mongelli, Genalee O’Brien, Lisa Pianka, Carol Schorno, Marguerite Stein, Ramesh Tadayon, Pat Thornton, Wilma and Jack Zupko. Special thanks to Leo’s Pizza for donating the water for our runners. Because there were so many volunteers, we hope we have not omitted any names. Please notify us if we have.
***
DRESS DOWN FOR CHARITY: In all the years I have been principal at Bishop Dunn, I have managed to avoid allowing our students to have a Dress-Down Day on Halloween - mainly because I didn’t want to make one of the craziest days of the school year any crazier. Either I’m weakening in my old age, or finally have come to the realization that Halloween Day at school couldn’t possibly get any crazier than it is, because, if you haven’t already heard it from your children, this Friday, Oct. 31st, will be a Dress-Down Day! I’m also justifying (at least to myself) having a Dress-Down Day Friday, because there are two worthy causes that we will be contributing to with the dollars I am asking students to bring in order to participate. One is the Loaves and Fishes program for needy families in the Newburgh area that I mentioned last week when this Dress-Down Day was originally scheduled. I have also been asked by our students to take up a collection for “The Carly Fund,” which has been created to honor the memory of Carly Sigelbaum, a 9-year-old Newburgh child and friend to a number of students in our school, who died in a car accident last week. The Carly Fund donations will be used for random acts of kindness. As for the Dress-Down Friday, students can wear Halloween-themed shirts, pins or simple accessories, but NO COSTUMES, MASKS, HATS OR ANYTHING THAT HAS VIOLENT OR OTHERWISE INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES. If you are not sure what is appropriate, ask me before Friday.
FORMER STUDENT HONORED: When I reported last week that Michael Dennis, a Bishop Dunn alumni, was being inducted into the Our Lady of Lourdes High School Chapter of the National Honor Society, I made one big mistake. I neglected to check whether any other Bishop Dunn graduates had also made the prestigious list. It didn’t take long for me to be taken to task for the oversight. The next day a copy of the induction program was placed on my desk! My apologies and belated congratulations to Rachel Baum, Jessica DeTorres, Naja Fandal and Reed Ratynski, the other Bishop Dunn graduates who were also honored at Lourdes for achieving National Honor Society distinction this year. Membership in the National Honor Society is based on several criteria, including academic excellence, qualities of leadership, character, and service to the school and community.
SCHOOL CLOSED ON TUESDAY: This is a reminder that Bishop Dunn will be closed this coming Tuesday, Nov. 4th, for Election Day, and also to allow our staff to attend an Archdiocesan-sponsored Retreat in Warwick.
"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” – Helen Keller
October 20, 2008
Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn,
While the full impact of the country’s current financial crisis on the state’s budget for the coming year is hard to predict, one cut in funding that was approved long before the economy turned sour could have a serious adverse impact on our own school’s revenue balance if something is not done. As a result of a 12 percent cut in funding for Mandated Services Aid for Catholic and private schools that was approved by Governor Paterson and the State Legislature in two measures enacted in April and August, Bishop Dunn could lose as much as $10,000 in funding that we were expecting to help balance our budget this year. Mandated Services Aid has, until this year, provided 100 percent reimbursement to private schools for the cost of services that we are required to perform by the state, including collecting daily attendance data, and administering state-mandated exams in Math, English Language Arts, Science and Social Studies. As bad as the proposed cuts are, what’s worse is the precedent that eliminating the 100 percent reimbursement mechanism for Mandated Services would set. In the future, it would mean that instead of being able to count on a specific amount of funding set by formula, aid would be subject to the political whim of the governor and the legislature.
Fortunately, it’s not too late to fight to get the cuts repealed. There are bills before both the Senate and Assembly now that would restore the Mandated Services funding to 100 percent, and the Legislature is scheduled to meet in special session in November (after the elections!!!), to consider these bills and also discuss other possible further cuts. An urgent message has been sent from the New York Archdiocese to encourage all parents to write to their legislators to protest the cuts and call for passage of Senate bill S.8197-a and Assembly bill A.11075. You can do this very easily by the website http://www.nyscatholic.org/pages/home/home.asp and clicking on the “Take Action Now” icon. From there you can follow simple step-by-step directions to send an Email or letter that has already been developed to protest the Mandated Services cuts. Please take a few moments to register your complaint. If we are loud enough, maybe all those legislators who are running for re-election in November will hear us.
***
HELP RAISE ‘RACE’ FUNDS: The threat of reduced state aid is only one reason why we need to make sure we reach or exceed our fund-raising goals this year. While the deadline has passed for filling out sponsor forms for our Third Annual Race for Education, you can still send in donations for the event, which is scheduled to be held this coming Friday, Oct. 24th. Contact our Development Office at 569-3496 for further information or to make a donation.
NEW PROGRESS REPORTS TRIED: A new format for progress reports has been developed in connection with our electronic grading system. The reports, which are being sent home with students in Grades 1 to 5 and mailed home to our upper grade classes, contain specific grade averages in each subject area, for all tests, quizzes, homework and classwork assignments through October 10th. If you have a question about a grade in your child’s report, please indicate your concern, when you return the tear-sheet on the bottom of the form.
FORMER STUDENT HONORED: Finally, congratulations to Michael Dennis, a Bishop Dunn alumni, for being inducted into the Our Lady of Lourdes High School Chapter of the National Honor Society tomorrow, Oct. 21st. Membership in the National Honor Society is based on several criteria, including academic excellence, qualities of leadership, character, and service to the school and community.
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