From the Office
Dear Parents,
Every day that we at IHM are able to be together (safely!) with our students feels like a blessing. I want to point out to parents that our students have not been in person with a large group of their classmates for almost six months. That’s a long time, truly a significant portion of their young lives! I ask families to have a lot of grace and understanding that the situation may pose a challenge for some students in behavior while relating to classmates. The staff and I promise to give your students that same grace and understanding.
With that in mind, I thought it might be helpful for parents to hear a few tips from our counselor, Mr. Marty Keane, about how to support your students through these challenges. These are Marty’s suggestions:
1. If your child comes home with complaints or challenges about classmates, ask if they want you to just listen, or if they need you to get involved. Often they just need to vent, and listening will be the only thing you need to do. Teachers are fully equipped to handle small disagreements at school without getting parents involved.
2. If your child wants to take action, determine if it’s an issue that they can handle themselves (using their words, telling adults, etc.) or a larger issue that you need to get involved in.
3. It may help to wait 24-hours, to give yourself time to separate your own feelings from your child’s feelings, and to think about what you would like to do and what you would like from the school: either by supporting your child by talking about the actions they can take themselves, or contacting your child’s teacher, Mr. Marty, or myself.
4. Please feel free to contact us if you need our help!
IHM, like all schools, is hurting for substitute teachers at the moment! If you think you would like to help us with that, please see the letter linked below, and let me know if you have any questions!
Picture Day was today! Virtual students (or anyone who missed pictures today) can walk-in to the Capital School Pictures studio in Cottage Grove tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 17th from 8-5. You can order picture packets online at their store here:
https://capitalschoolpictures.square.site/shop/2.
Catholic Schools provide a firm foundation for the growth and development of your child. Pray for a year filled with faith and learning. Let us be a community of service to one another and to our world.
God Bless,
Callie Meiller, Principal
