Eagle Express Newsletter

From the Office

Dear Parents,

National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated every year from September 15 to October 15! Hispanic and Latino Americans make up almost 20 percent of Catholic school students and 10 percent of Catholic school teachers (NCEA, 2021).  Incorporating multicultural education into the Catholic classroom is an effort that proves fruitful not only for English Language Learners (EL), but for every student. IHM is thrilled to have our Hispanic/Latino students in our family! Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!

Please review the IHM Illness Policy below:  

COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 Communicable Disease/Illness 

Check your student for symptoms daily before school:

• Fever (100° or higher), chills, or shaking chills
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• New loss of taste or smell
• Muscle or body aches
• Cough (not due to other known cause, such as chronic cough)
• Sore throat, when in combination with other symptoms
• Nausea or vomiting, when in combination with other symptoms
• Headache, when in combination with other symptoms
• Fatigue, when in combination with other symptoms
• Nasal congestion or runny nose (not due to other known causes, such as allergies), when in combination with other symptom
  *Vomiting and fever may or may not be associated with COVID-19. If your student is experiencing only one of these symptoms, they may return to school once the symptom has resolved after 24 hours without the use of medications.

If one or more of these symptoms are present, please keep the student home. The CDC  recommends testing for COVID-19 with a PCR test or rapid antigen test (home test or administered at a pharmacy or clinic). Please contact the school to report illness and absence, and test results.

Please also keep students with these symptoms home:

• Fever or chills (without other symptoms):  Check temperature with a thermometer. If the temperature is 100 or higher, keep the student home until their temperature remains lower than 100 for at least 24 hours without giving fever-reducing medication such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen.
• Nausea/Vomiting/Diarrhea (without other symptoms) within the last 24 hours. Keep the student home until they tolerate their regular diet and there is no nausea/vomiting/diarrhea for at least 24 hours.
• A rash or communicable infection (such as pink eye, strep throat, mono etc.) Keep the student home from school and call your health care provider for further medical evaluation.

Students can return to school when their symptoms have cleared, according to the guidelines above.

I wanted to let you know the IHM had a Safety Inspection with the Monona Police Department on Monday of this week, and we passed with flying colors! In many instances, IHM is going above and beyond recommendations for safety! You can help by following policies set by IHM for the safety of our students, including:

• Follow drop-off and pick-up procedures
• Do not drive through lines of traffic cones
• Call or email your child’s teacher or the office if they will not be at school that day

Thanks for your help!

Tuesday, October 4th is the feast of St. Francis! To celebrate, IHM will be offering a  Pet Blessing at pickup that day. Please read the attached flyer for more information.

I am still hunting for a person to help with our Afterschool Program every afternoon from 2:30-5:30. This is a great job for a an at-home parent, as your kids can come with you! If you know of anyone that would be interested, please have them email me at cmeiller@ihm-school.org. 

Catholic schools provide a firm foundation for your child’s growth and development. Pray for a year filled with faith and learning. Let’s be a community of service to each other and to our world. On behalf of Father Chad, Father Bill, Father Mark, and the teachers and staff of Immaculate Heart of Mary School, God bless you for choosing Immaculate Heart of Mary School!

Peace & Blessings,

Callie Meiller, Principal

Office Reminders

Our IHM School 5th Grade Class is collecting gently worn coats, hats, mittens, gloves and snow pants (sizes infant to adults) for Koats for Kids.  You may drop these items off in the barrels in the church or school through Friday October 6th.    Thank you so much for making this winter a little warmer for those in need!

Remember, the FACTS withdrawal date for tuition and fees (including 4K wraparound and ECE tuition) is the 20th or 25th of the month, depending on what you day you chose. All incidental fees (including afterschool, lunches, etc.) are withdrawn on the 25th of the month.

Thank You

 Many thanks to Mrs. Heidi Walters, our amazing chef! She works hard every day to provide a variety of healthy, delicious lunches, as well as spearheading all of our Fish Fries (a GIGANTIC job!) We appreciate Mrs. Walters and all of the extra steps she take to help keep IHM students well fed every day, and the IHM community fed with awesome fish during Lent!  We feel so grateful to have her at IHM!

EdCo (Educational Commission) News

Save the Date!  November 13th-18th will be our annual theater week!  This year’s production will be Rapunzel!

We have a new theater company directing our 3rd-8th grade theater experience this year. Prairie Fire Children’s Theater has dissolved, and “Storybook Theater” has picked up our contract.  We don’t expect much to change in regards to the format of the event, but we will communicate more details later.  If you have a 3rd-8th grader who would like to participate, please plan for rehearsal every evening that week with performances on Friday night and Saturday afternoon, Nov. 17th and 18th.  

There is a NEW email for RaiseRight/SCRIP! Please email raiseright@ihm-school.org instead of scripihm@gmail.com.  We hope to transfer all communication to the new email by the end of October.  

Don’t miss the EdCo General Meeting tomorrow night, September 21, at 6 pm! At least one parent per family is expected to attend, and childcare is available. Please see the flyer linked below for more information.

IHM Volleyball

Friday, Sept. 22

5:00     5/6 Girls WHITE at IHM

6:00     5/6 Girls GREEN at IHM

Sunday, Sept. 24

1:30       5/6 Girls GREEN at St. Francis

2:30     5/6 Girls WHITE at St. Francis

Go Eagles!

This week’s links (at the bottom of the email)

Pet Blessing Flyer

EdCo General Meeting Info

Chess Class Flyer

This week’s hard copies (in your child’s backpack)

 Nothing this week

Did You Know?

Homework Club is our afterschool care for students in Grades 4-8, from 3:05-5:00 (they can attend afterschool from 5:00-5:30 for no extra charge). Students do not need to sign up ahead, they can report to the following classrooms:

Monday – Mrs. KW
Tuesday – Mr. Schnell

Wednesday – Mrs. Veencamp’s Classroom (teacher is our substitue, Mrs. Susie Kurek)
Thursday – Mrs. Derks

Friday- Mrs. Veencamp’s Classroom (teacher is Mrs. Veencamp or Mrs. Esser)

Please come through the back door of the school to pick up your child.