Happy Fathers Day! I hope you have a wonderful family day, celebrating all our fathers, grandfathers, and godfathers! I am thankful for the leadership of all our parents — St. Ambrose is truly blessed!

Summer has started for all of you, but we are still wrapping things up at school. I wanted to pass on some more information before you leave for vacation.

First of all, we announced to 2nd grade cheers yesterday that Mrs. Barbara Campbell will be our their teacher in 3rd grade next year. Mrs. Campbell is a practicing attorney with a Master’s degree in Education. She has been a substitute teacher and has worked in our 2nd grade classroom this year, getting to know the students and their strengths. We are delighted to have Mrs. Campbell join our teaching team!

The summer reading lists, math packets, and supply lists are on the school website under the tab STUDENTS. I just checked the links and all are in working order except for the 5th grade reading project. We’ll get that fixed. If you have any trouble accessing this page during the summer, please tell us, as there are often odd things that happen on the web.

PARISH NEWS:

** Tomorrow night there is a town hall meeting for the parish at 7pm in the Parish Activities Building. The architects will present the 5-year Master Plan for the parish. All parishioners are invited. The master plan is the result of a year of study and planning.

** Fr. Stephen Holmes will be moving to St. Mary’s Parish in Fredericksburg on June 26. There will be a farewell Coffee & Donuts after the 10am Mass on Sunday, June 23. Please come!

** Mrs. Laura Mead is the new Director of Religious Education for St. Ambrose Parish. Ms. Simone Rizkallah answered the call to teach high school in Arizona. Mrs. Mead is a familiar face around school, and we are excited about her new position!

** Mrs. Therese Ryan is the new Youth Minister for St. Ambrose! This is the first time we have had a full-time youth minister. Mrs. Ryan  has worked with youth for many years, taught Religion, Religious Education classes, and has taken graduate courses in theology. She is multi-talented and bring great enthusiasm to the position. We will miss her in 2nd grade, but look forward to our youth ministry program thriving! She can still be reached at TRyan@stambroseschool.org.

Our office will be open each weekday. Please call between 9 and noon, or email us if you have any questions. We are still accepting applicants for next school year. Please tell your friends about our school.

SUMMER READING SUGGESTIONS: Every student should be reading this summer. Make memories with your child — visit the library regularly, and let them choose some books from their summer reading list. Some of my favorite children’s books are on these lists. You might enjoy reading the same book so you can discuss it with your child. Make it fun — they will catch your enthusiasm.

Enjoy your summer! I hope to see you at church!

God bless,

Barbara Dalmut

Dear Parents,

How unusual — to be worrying about the weather for the last week of school! I hope you will keep an eye on the weather tomorrow. I am glad we are having an early dismissal! Should we have a severe weather event, we will take shelter in the school and leave a note on the door where to find us. You are welcome to come in to the building to find shelter if you are on the property when something happens. The weather reports are wrong as often as they are right, but we want to be prepared.

Tomorrow is an early dismissal so that the teachers can work on report cards and awards. Extended Day will order pizza for those who order ($3 please).

Friday is our last day of school. We will begin the day with 9:00 Mass, and then have our annual award ceremony at 10. You are all welcome to join us. Dismissal will follow immediately after the awards… around 11am.  There is no Extended Day, and safety patrols may go home with their carpools. Teachers will be on duty to say farewell for the summer.

You will receive your child’s report card and standardized testing scores in the “Wednesday folder” that will go home on the last day of school. Please check your child’s backpack. Also, I am so proud to announce that we had over 50 children in grades 2-7 qualify for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth program. If your child qualified with a 95% on one of the Terra Nova tests, you will  have a letter in your child’s folder. You can log on to http://cty.jhu.edu/ to get details. In order to sign up for enrichment classes, you will need to take their test before June 30, so please check it out right away.

God bless,

Barbara Dalmut

Dear Parents,

The Arlington Diocese was blessed to have 7 young men ordained to the priesthood on Saturday. One of them, Father Brendan Bartlett, will be saying his first Mass at St. Ambrose tomorrow morning at 9am. You are welcome to attend! Fr. Bartlett was here last summer as a deacon, and has just finished his studies in Rome. You may have seen the pictures of him on the diocesan website as he assisted Pope Francis in his first Mass as Pope.

After ordinations, the Bishop announces the assignments of the newly ordained and all the changes in assignments around the diocese. The full list is on the diocesan website: http://arlingtondiocese.org/newsdetails.aspx?Pageid=422&id=5465

Father Stephen Holmes will be moving to St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Fredericksburg on June 26. We will miss Fr. Holmes! We will say a fond farewell to him on Sunday the 23rd. St. Ambrose’s new parochial vicar is Father Chuck Smith, who is currently parochial vicar at St. Veronica’s. There will be a welcome coffee for him soon after he arrives.

Friday’s graduations were beautiful. Congratulations to our graduates and their families! A heartfelt thank you to all those parents and students who helped with the receptions. It is so important to celebrate our students’ accomplishments and show our pride in them.

God bless,

Barbara Dalmut

As we enter the last days of school, I wanted to make sure everyone is clear on the schedule.

Thursday, June 6:

Used Book Sale in the Gym from 3:30- 6:00pm. Buy a bag of books for your summer reading for just $7!

Friday, June 7:

9:00 Mass

10:00 Kindergarten Graduation (last day for Kindergarten students) in the gym. Siblings may attend the ceremony. 8th graders will attend the ceremony and reception so parents can meet their child’s 8th grade Buddy. Kindergartners say farewell at 11am.

11:15 8th graders take their Walk of Honor as they leave St. Ambrose. Grades 1-7 will line the halls to say farewell.

11:30 Grades 1-7 dismiss; Extended Day is available for all students. Please send in $3 for lunch if you would like to order pizza.

7:00pm: 8th grade Graduation Mass and Reception. All are welcome. Choir will be singing at the Mass.

Sunday, June 9

Choir sings at 10am Mass

Monday, June 10

Kindergarten Orientation for 2013-14 parents; 9:00-10:00am

Tuesday, June 11

Field trip for 4th and 5th grades; SUPER Day for grades 2 and 6.

Thursday, June 13

Classroom End-of-Year celebrations; 11:30 dismissal. Extended Day is available.

Friday, June 14

9:00 Mass; 10:00 Awards Assembly; Dismissal immediately afterward — approximately 11am. There is no Extended Day after school.

All fees must be paid by the last day of school. Please arrange to pick up your child’s medicines prior to the last day of school. You may wait until the last day of school to pick up the epipens and inhalers.

The school office will be open almost every morning during the summer months.

The Spring Concerts and Art Show were wonderful! Congratulations to Mrs. Warnock, Mrs. Maskelony, and Ms. Tozzi for bringing out the talent in our wonderful students. Everyone was shining that evening! Thank you to our PTO Board for their dedication and service!

God bless,

Barbara Dalmut

P.S. Here is a reminder about the math camp being held at St. Ambrose this summer:

MathTree® summer math camp will be coming to St. Ambrose School from July 15 – July 26. MathTree has been growing children’s love of math since 1999.  The camps make learning fun for children in a relaxed environment whether you want to reinforce the concepts your child has already learned or get an enriching jump start on the fall. The math camps are geared toward children entering grades 1 through 9, with camps specifically designed for each age group; from Bean Counting 101 for rising first graders to Algebra Appetizers for Adolescents and a range of intermediate options to assure the right level of challenge for your child. Half day and full day options are available.

Check out mathtree.com for a full list of camp courses. MathTree is offered at over two dozen locations in MD, VA, DC and DE, including St. Ambrose School.

While you are giving your child a great benefit, as an added bonus, MathTree will donate $20 to St. Ambrose School for each new family who signs a child up for a MathTree camp. When you create your MathTree online account and come to the question, “How did you hear about MathTree?,” simply insert St. Ambrose School. That’s all there is to it.  Please let your friends know about this exciting opportunity, too!

It has been almost 2 weeks since my last update! So much has happened in those 2 weeks. I will be eternally grateful to Pat Kiernan and Jinny Connell for running the school so professionally while I was in Europe! What a blessing for me!

It was a real joy to share this pilgrimage with my daughters (and 19 other pilgrims). I have to admit that I wondered what we would do for 10 days in Poland, and now I am wondering why we didn’t stay longer! It is a very rich country — rich in history, culture, and spirituality. Our tour guide was from Krakow, and had such a deep pride in every aspect of his homeland. I will share stories with you in a separate email. Thank you for your prayers and your support!

Tonight the newly ordained Deacon Steve Walker will be here at St. Ambrose for his first Mass as Deacon. We are blessed to have him assigned to our parish for the next year.

ART SHOW, SPRING CONCERTS, AND PTO MEETING MONDAY NIGHT!  Be sure to be here when the doors open at 6:30pm. You can save your seats for the performance, and then stroll down the hallways as we turn them into an art gallery. You have to see the 7th graders’ canvas paintings in the foyer, and  the 8th graders’ letter art — they are fabulous!!!

Here is the schedule:

6:30 doors open — Art Show

7:00 Band Concert

7:25 PTO meeting while we have a set change on the stage

7:40 Spring concert — Rock ‘n Roll with the middle school!

(These times are flexible and subject to change:)

Your younger students will see a rehearsal in the morning, and they will be asking you to see it again in the evening, so please make your plans to attend! You will enjoy the talent, enthusiasm, and confidence of our students as they perform some familiar songs. I haven’t seen the rehearsals — so I am eagerly waiting for Monday!

YEARBOOKS: will be distributed on Monday. There are just a few left, so if you didn’t order one, please send in your money on Monday. We will give out the extras in the order their money is received. For those new to our school, our 8th graders work with Mrs. Warnock all year to produce a Shutterfly yearbook. It is beautiful!

PATROL PARTY on Monday afternoon. Thank you to all our Safety Patrols for working so hard all year!

CAREER DAY: If you would like to speak with your child’s class or our middle school students about your career in the STEM fields, and have not contacted us already, please respond to this email. Thank you!

USED BOOK SALE: I hope you are all cleaning out your home library this weekend. The Student Council is collecting gently used or new books of any genre or length to be sold at our Lazy-Days of Summer Book Sale on Thursday. Bring in your donations when you come to the Spring Concert, or send them in with your child on Monday or Tuesday. Come back on Thursday from 3:30-6:00  and fill a bag for $7. Get your summer reading ready!

GRADUATION: Our Kindergartners will graduate at 10am on Friday. In accordance with tradition, their 8th grade Buddies will attend their graduation. The Kindergarten grads will be dismissed immediately after their reception. The 8th graders will return to their classrooms one more time, and then exit  in their “Walk of Honor” — a fond farewell from the teachers and students. They will proceed to the parking lot, and may be dismissed right before the rest of the school leaves at 11:30.

If you have a Kindergarten or 8th grade graduate only, you should park where you will not get blocked in by the carpool line. Please keep the fire lane clear as well.

June 9 — The choir will sing at the 10am Mass.

June 10 — Kindergarten Orientation for the 2013-14 school year. 9:00-10:00am.

June 11 — SUPER DAY for grades 2 and 6 — remember — all play and no work! Thank you to the generous parents who purchased this at the Gala!

June 12 — 9am — Fairfax County Public hearing on the plans for our preschool. Say a prayer that this goes smoothly. We are making progress on our permits!

June 13 — Class parties and early dismissal at 11:30am. Your child may attend Extended Day today — send in $3 for pizza lunch or bring a bag lunch.

June 14 — (drum roll) — last day of School! Please join us for 9am Mass and 10:00 Awards Ceremony. We will dismiss the students at the end of the ceremony — approximately 11am. NO Extended Day after dismissal. Happy Summer!

REPORT CARDS:  will be included in a packet that your child receives on the last day of school. Students in grades 6-8 will have their math placement for next year listed on their report card. You will also receive your standardized testing scores and your summer math packet. Summer reading packets and the 2013-14 School Supply lists will be posted on the school website.

TUITION AND FEES: All fees must be paid immediately. All library books and text books need to be returned before the last day of school. If you are not sure if your account is paid in full, please email Mrs. Ida Smith — ismith@stambroseschool.org.

Where has the school year gone!? We are looking forward to the next school year already — making plans and preparing for another fabulous year. If you are interested in serving on the PTO Board, please contact Sue Bogan, our Volunteer Coordinator, or respond to this email. We would like to have a full slate of officers before our meeting on Monday night.

Thank you for all you do for our children.

God bless,

Barbara Dalmut

Thank you to all those who helped with the Shakespeare Dinner Theater this evening! This is the most special evening of the year for our 8th graders. At 7:00, we will host their parents and the faculty for a dinner in their honor. They will  perform A Comedy of Errors for us at 8pm. Everyone is invited to attend the performance at 8:00. The doors will open a few minutes before 8. The students really enjoyed the performance this afternoon!

Field Day is this Friday! Students should arrive at the regular time and report to their classrooms. Students will be called down to the gym when we are ready to begin. Volunteers should report to the gym by 8am. I see that most of the positions are filled — but we need a few more! Please sign up so Mr. Hechinger can put the finishing touches on his plans.  We look forward to a fun day. Pray for good weather! Dress code for the day: PE uniforms. Please dress for the weather — including sunscreen and bug spray if necessary. Hopefully everyone will be outside all morning!

I leave for Poland in the morning. Mrs. Kiernan will be the Acting Principal while I am gone. Mrs. Jinny Connell, our former principal (1996-2005) will be running the office each morning. Please address all immediate concerns to them. I will catch up on my email as soon as I return on the 31st.

Please be assured of my prayers for each of your families while I am on pilgrimage. The St. Ambrose community has a very special place in my heart. While I will not be emailing, I hope to send greetings from Europe on our Facebook page. I will be very grateful for your prayers — pray for safe travel and that I can keep up with these college students!

God bless,

Barbara Dalmut

Tomorrow is Muffins with Mom day. We are looking forward to welcoming our Kindergarten Moms. Please join us for Mass and our celebration immediately afterward.

SHAKESPEARE DINNER THEATER: This is the month for Shakespeare! Monday night was the most incredible acting performance I have ever seen. Seeing one person convincingly portray the entire cast was an amazing spectacle. I hope we can convince him to return next year. Commander Lemerande was MOST impressed with our students! He could not believe how many plays they knew (and how well behaved they were.) Every  year our 8th graders perform for the entire school, so students graduate with 9 plays under their belts. Very enriching!

The 8th graders will perform A Comedy of Errors Monday evening at 8pm. Prior to the performance, they will have dinner with their parents and the faculty. It is a very special 8th grade event that kicks off their graduation celebration. We are very blessed to share this time with them.

FIELD DAY: Mr. Hechinger is still looking for a few more volunteers. Field Day is a joyous occasion, and a great experience to share with your children. Please go to http://www.signupgenius.com/go/field272 and sign up now. I can’t believe no one has signed up to do Twister! It is great fun! Field Day teams will be a little different this year. Students will be divided into groups based on their Manors. Each manor will be divided into grades K-4 and 5-8. The games will be familiar to the students. Games are user-friendly and the competition is all in good fun — no prizes, but lots of fun! Teams rotate around the field so that they play the other teams in their age group. At 11:15, we will bring all the equipment up the hill  to the blacktop, and gather on the side yard to see the 7th and 8th graders’ Tug-of-War. Be prepared for wild cheering! I hope you can join us for the morning! Students will be dismissed directly to carpool at 11:30, and there will be no Extended Day so that everyone can enjoy their Memorial Day Weekend.

CONGRATULATIONS, CHOIR! Our Choir earned a Superior Rating at the Kings Dominion Festival at Kings Dominion this month! Take a bow!

It is so hard to be thinking about two school years at once, but I think that many of you would like to know what will be happening next year. I would like to share some of our plans with you.

CALENDAR:

the Diocese of Arlington has decided to standardize the calendars for all schools. We will not have as much independence in writing the calendar. I do not expect the following dates to change, even though there is some precedent for having major changes in the schedule (Earthquake 2011).

HOLIDAYS: (No School for Students)

Sept. 2 Labor Day

Oct. 14 Columbus Day

Oct. 25 Professional Development Day

Nov. 11-12 Parent Teacher Conferences

Nov. 27-29 Thanksgiving Holidays

Dec. 23- Jan. 3 Christmas Holidays

Jan. 17 Professional Development Day

Jan. 20 MLK Day

Feb. 17 Presidents’ Day

Mar. 17 St. Patrick’s Day – Professional Development Day April 18-25 Easter Break May 26 Memorial Day

HALF DAYS: Dismissal at 11:30

Aug. 26

Aug.  30

Sept. 27 (Curriculum)

May 5 (Curriculum)

There will be 8 additional half-days. The faculty will collaborate on the schedule and it will be published in early June.

June 17 Last day of school (assuming 3 snow days are used) Graduation dates will be announced later.

ACADEMIC PLANS

We will be wishing farewell to three of our faculty members. We thank Ms. Tozzi, Mrs. Bennett, and Dr. Neubig for their service. We appreciate all their efforts at St. Ambrose. Teaching in a Catholic school requires a great amount of dedication, and we are grateful that they all shared their talents with us. I am currently interviewing for the new members of our faculty.

STEM is the hot topic of the day. We are currently researching new textbooks for our middle school science classes. A STEM sub-committee is investigating opportunities to add hands-on projects to more effectively teach the curriculum and reach our students. Our laptop cart is functioning and students are enjoying having the computers come to them! Mr. Scoffone has been using the laptops and working out all the bugs now so that we will be starting the new year at full speed. So far, so good! We are going to subscribe to several services that will provide additional enrichment for our students.

READING has to be at the forefront of every school’s program. We will be subscribing to Accelerated Reader for the entire school, and purchasing additional leveled readers for the primary grades. The new reading circles have been a great addition to our reading program, and we will continue to build around them.

ESPANOL: We will be purchasing new Spanish textbooks this year. Sra. Cummins serves on the Diocesan World Languages Committee and has developed our Spanish program with great success. Our students are well prepared for Spanish in high school, with the vast majority earning high school credit for their work at St. Ambrose.

BUILDING PLANS: Over the summer we will be moving all the computers out of the Computer Lab and redecorating it for our Preschool classroom. The computers will be installed in the classrooms so that students can access them more readily. We are going to do some other creative rearrangement to make some of our spaces more usable. The preschool playground will be constructed in late summer.

SHOCKING NEWS: I am going on a pilgrimage to Poland on Tuesday! I know I have a well-earned reputation for being a workaholic. My daughter Meg is the Associate Director of Campus Ministry at Marymount University (one of my alma maters) and invited me to join the students on a trip that follows in the footsteps of Blessed Pope John Paul II. My daughter Theresa is able to go, so we are all sharing this wonderful experience together. I am looking forward to it! I  have not been out of the country since I was 15, so I am a little nervous about the travel, but could not pass up this opportunity.

In my absence, Mrs. Kiernan will assume the responsibility of Acting Principal. Mrs. Jinny Connell, who was principal for 9 years at St. Ambrose, will be here to help run the office and keep things running smoothly when Mrs. Kiernan is teaching. I have no doubt that they will keep things on track (and may even clean off my desk while I am gone!) I am very grateful that they will allow me this opportunity. I could not leave without knowing that the school would be in good  hands.

My daughter Meg is the founder and Directress of the Women Youth Apostles. Their ministry is to youth in the campus and parish setting. She is currently in Rome with the Director of the Youth Apostles to seek the counsel of the Pontifical Council for the Laity so that their order can be approved by the Vatican. It is an important step in the growth of their community. Pope Francis recently said to a group of young people, “Dear young people, do not bury your talents, the gifts God has given you! Do not be afraid to dream of great things!” My daughter is not afraid of dreaming. I know she would appreciate your prayers as she continues her work.

Thank you for your prayers. We have had another good  year at St. Ambrose — but we aren’t done yet!!

God bless,

Barbara Dalmut

Today’s performances were a huge success. The children were delighted with Shakespeare! I was very impressed with the presenter, Commander Tyrus Lemerande, a veteran Shakespearean actor who has performed all over the world. Tonight’s performance should be wildly entertaining!

Tickets will be $10 for adults and $5 for students and will be sold at the door. In earlier emails, I have recommended that students be 6th grade and older. This is more for sit-ability (2 hours with no intermission), rather than suitability. Hamlet is a serious play, but very worthwhile. If your children are interested, they are more than welcome to attend!

We have moved the performance to the Parish Hall.  For more information on the theater company, visit knighthorse.org.

Hope you can make it!

Blessings,

Barbara Dalmut

Thank you for joining us and bringing your child’s grandparents and godparents today! Each year we get a better turnout, and it is so wonderful to share our celebrations!

On Monday, May 13th our students will attend presentations by Knighthorse Theater Company. That evening at 7PM the PTO is proud to present Knighthorse Theater Company’s Hamlet. This one-man two-hour show is performed by Commander Tyrus Lemerande, a veteran Shakespearean actor who has performed all over the world. Tickets will be $10 for adults and $5 for students (recommended for 6th grade and older) and will be sold at the door. For more information, visit knighthorse.org. come join us for this one of a kind Shakespearean experience! I hope you can join us!

Career Day will take place on Tuesday, June 4. Please contact your children’s teachers if you would like to visit their classrooms. If you are willing to make a presentation to the middle school students, please reply to this email. The middle school presentation will be at 10am on Tuesday. Thank you for sharing your STEM careers with us!

Tomorrow at 11:00am the 2nd graders will receive their First Holy Communion. All are welcome to attend. Thank you to our 3rd grade and Kindergarten parents who are hosting the reception afterward. It will be a day to remember for us all!

FROM PVI HIGH SCHOOL:

Paul VI Catholic High School 7th Annual Band and Strings Camp @ Paul VI, June 17-21 8:30-noon. Open to Diocesan and public school rising 5th-9th graders, optional jazz unit also offered.  Students prepare light pop, sacred, and classical selections, performance last day in historic Donald Heet Auditorium for family and friends. $80, questions jsiegfried@paulvi.net

And finally, a Happy Mother’s Day to you all! Let’s remember to pray for our mothers, godmothers, and our children.

God bless,

Barbara Dalmut

It’s hard to believe that Lia is finishing up her Kindergarten year and that summer will soon be here!  Where did that time go?

We are starting to plan for next year and we are excited to share some of things that we have in store!

First, in addition to the Gala, we will be having a fall festival that will include a 5K, Family Fun Run, and an Octoberfest celebration.  Plans are underway and if you have an interest in helping us plan, please let me know!  We will be soliciting volunteers shortly!

Second, we want to make it easier for everyone to know important dates and to stay informed.  To that end we will be doing two things.  First, on first day of school at the ice cream social, every family will receive a monthly calendar that will have everything you need to know from important events, to which class is in charge of faculty snacks and different receptions, to holidays and special days.  That same night we will be hosting a volunteer fair where you can learn all about the different volunteer opportunities that are open to you throughout the year.  We are so blessed to have so many gifted families at St. Ambrose and we want to give you a myriad of ways to contribute your talents to our school!

The second item we will be adding next year will be an e-newsletter that will arrive in your inbox at the same time every week.  This will be created through Constant Contact in a format that is easy to read and that will allow you to search for the information that is relevant to your family.

Another program we will be starting next year is a mentoring program for new families.  Just like the buddy system for students, we will be asking for current families to act as mentors to incoming families.  We are hoping that this gives new families a familiar face and someone they can talk with about questions and concerns they may have.

Also, many people have expressed interest in starting a carpool.  We will be working on a way to coordinate that so that families that drive from farther away can reduce the number of trips they have to make to the school.

We have had a terrific year and we are even more excited to see what the 2013-2014 year brings!

God bless!

Krista