John A Coleman Catholic High School Respect - Responsibility - Religion

September 2016

John A. Coleman Catholic High School would like to welcome all new students and their families. We are glad you decided to become a part of our family. We would also like to welcome back all former students and their families, and all faculty/staff from their summer vacation. We are looking forward to a great year with you.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRINCIPAL:

The summer break is just about over, and as the first Faculty Meeting is September

1st, the new school year has arrived. This newsletter is full of information for these

first few weeks. Please read it through and if you have any other questions, give us a

call.

You are probably aware that we had some faculty retirements and departures this summer. I want to

wish Mrs. Paisley and Mrs. Hopson all the best in their retirement, they deserve it! They both gave many

years of service to Coleman; we will miss them and hope they return to visit us often. I want to welcome

the following new faculty members to the Coleman family. Mrs. Amy Ryan will be teaching 9th grade

English. Ms. Victoria Howland will teach all 12th grade English classes and will lead the Chorus. She will

also be working with the Theatre program. Ms. Tina Steffanatos will teach the Biology classes. Ms.

Natalie Hopson will be in charge of Theatre. Please see her letter explaining the great things we have

planned for the Theatre program. All the new faculty members come highly recommended and we look

forward to each of them joining our family and working with you.

Please note that while most students carry cell phones they have limited times in which to use them.

Please check the policy and understand that cell phones seen during the day, except at lunchtime, will be

confiscated. This has become a serious issue in many schools and we are no exception. Please reinforce

this policy with your child. We will go over this with the students in the first day assembly. We will also

stress the importance of being in compliance with the dress code. Skin tight pants and revealing

clothing will be cause for a student to be removed from class until properly attired. The Dean and I will

be making the final decision on what is appropriate and what is not. If you or your child has a question

on what is appropriate and what is not, ask first and we will let you know. Again, this will be reviewed on

the first day for everyone to hear.

Fall sports are underway and we look forward to the competition. Many students strive to give their best

efforts on the playing fields and we will expect their best efforts in the classroom as well. I want to thank

all the parents and guardians who have entrusted their children to us this year. We take that trust very

seriously and know that without that trust, there would be no reason for us to be here. I look forward to

seeing as many of you as possible at the Meet the Teacher night on September 14th.

Please continue to pray for all in the Coleman Family.

SCHOOL OPENS:

Tues. Sept 6th 9th and 10th grades ONLY report to school

Wed. Sept. 7th 11th and 12th grades ONLY report to school

Thur. Sept. 8th All grades report to school

EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY BEGIN ON A DIFFERENT DAY. PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR

DISTRICT REGARDING THEIR START DATE AND IF TRANSPORTATION WILL BE

PROVIDED FOR THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL. WE ARE SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE

AND HOPE THAT ALL STUDENTS WILL BE IN SCHOOL.

Reminder: The School Day is from 7:50 a.m. - 2:35 p.m.

SCHOOL SCHEDULE

PERIOD REGULAR 1 HOUR 2 HOUR

SCHEDULE DELAY DELAY

Students to Lockers 7:50-8:00 8:50-9:00 9:50-10:00

HR 8:00-8:10 9:00-9:10 10:00-10:10

A 1 8:10-8:51 9:10-9:44 10:10-10:37

B 2 8:54-9:35 9:47-10:21 10:40-11:07

C 3 9:38-10:19 10:24-10:58 11:10-11:37

D 4 10:22-11:03 11:01-11:35 11:40-12:07

E 5 11:06-11:47 11:38-12:12 12:10-12:37

LUNCH 11:47-12:23 12:12-12:44 12:37-1:05

F 6 12:26-1:07 12:47-1:21 1:08-1:35

G 7 1:10-1:51 1:24-1:58 1:38-2:05

H 8 1:54-2:35 2:01-2:35 2:08-2:35

Locks and Lockers: Students will be issued locks and lockers on the first day of school. Lunch: Our Chef will be serving lunch beginning Tuesday Sept. 6th. Check our website for the lunch menu; it will be posted the night before.

ATTENDANCE POLICY: The school day is from 7:50a.m. - 2:35 p.m. The late bell for homeroom rings at 8:00 a.m. If you are not in homeroom by then you need to sign in at the office (with a note or a phone call from a parent) and get a late pass. The school is open at 7:30 a.m., students are allowed in the cafeteria at that time until the first bell rings at 7:50 a.m. At 7:50 a.m. they are allowed upstairs to go to their lockers and homerooms. If your child will be absent or late to school please call in to the school office to let us know. If we were not notified that they will be absent or late we will be calling you by 10:00 a.m. CELL PHONE POLICY: Student use of the telephone including cell phones is limited to lunch periods and before and after school. Phones out and/or being used at other times will be confiscated and given to the Dean of Students. Parents please don’t text or call your child during class time. DRESS CODE: Please check our website for the dress code policy so that the students will be in dress code every day. Reminder we do have a Land’s End line of apparel available if you are interested. See our website for details. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CALENDAR of EVENTS Thurs. Sept. 1st Faculty Conference Day New Student BBQ, 5:30 p.m. Mon. Sept. 5th NO SCHOOL, Labor Day Tues. Sept. 6th 9th and 10th grades ONLY report to school Footloose Auditions, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. Wed. Sept. 7th 11th and 12th grades ONLY report to school Footloose Auditions, 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. Thurs. Sept. 8th All grades report to school Footloose Callbacks, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Fri. Sept. 9th, 10 a.m. Opening Mass, All are welcome

Catholic Youth Night, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Sat. Sept. 10th Footloose Callbacks, 12:00 - 4:00 p.m. Wed. Sept. 14th, 6:15 p.m. Dessert Social & Meet the Teachers Mon. Sept. 19th, 6:30 p.m. Senior Guidance Meeting Tues. Sept. 20th, 6:30 p.m. Parent Association Meeting Mon. Sept. 26th, 6 p.m. Board Meeting Fri. Sept. 30th Picture Day, Grades 9, 10 & 11

CATHOLIC YOUTH NIGHT: On Friday Sept. 9th from 7 – 9 p.m. there will be a

Catholic Youth Night here at Coleman. All students are welcome – invite a friend! Faith-Fun-Food-Fellowship!!

MEET THE TEACHER NIGHT AND DESSERT SOCIAL: Wednesday, Sept. 14th is an opportunity to meet other Coleman parents, meet the Parent Association and to follow your child’s schedule and meet his/her teachers. The Dessert Social is at 6:15 p.m. and Meet the Teachers begins at 7:00 p.m.

SENIOR GUIDANCE MEETING: On Monday September 19th at 6:30

p.m. there will be an important meeting for all Seniors and their parents. The Guidance Department will be distributing folders to all Seniors with important forms that will need to be completed. They will also be explaining the Ins and Outs of the College Process.

DRIVERS EDUCATION: We will be offering Drivers Ed at Coleman

for the fall session. The program consists of 1½ hrs of lecture (most likely on Thursday right after school) and 1½ hrs. of driving each week (day of the week TBD). Drivers Ed. will begin the week of September 26th. You will be notified by the Drivers Ed company by mail what your schedule will be. Deadline for applications is Sept. 20th. Applications are available now in the school office and on our website. The cost is $545.00.

THEATRE DEPARTMENT NEWS:

Hello students, parents, and Coleman community! I'm Natalie Rose Hopson and I'm honored to be heading Coleman's theatre department this year. Some of you may remember my choreography for recent shows here including Mary Poppins and High School Musical. Former longtime Coleman theatre director, Lisë Hopson, is my mother, who raised me on the Coleman stage. I graduated in 2002 and earned my degree at Fordham, performing and choreographing for a dance company there and going on to perform and choreograph professionally in NYC. I recently moved back to the Hudson Valley and I am thrilled for this opportunity to help expand Coleman's theatre program. I'd like to explore new types of productions, potentially including non-musical plays, one act plays, a Christmas revue, and/or student-written/directed work in a black box theatre setting. I will direct, choreograph, and produce, working with Victoria Howland as our musical director.

We are hoping to mount Footloose as our fall musical. It's a huge show with a heartfelt and true story, many juicy roles, lots of dancing, and a catchy, 1980 pop score. Alumni are invited to audition, giving students the chance to perform alongside adults, many of whom have performed professionally. Students from the Hudson Valley community are welcome to audition and join what will be large cast and crew -- I encourage you all to invite friends to audition and join the Coleman theatre family! Auditions will be Tues. Sept. 6th from 6-9 p.m. and Wed. Sept. 7th from 3-6 p.m. Please prepare part or all of a song from Footloose or another modern musical or a 1980 pop selection. A pianist will accompany auditions; please bring sheet music. Callbacks will be Thurs. Sept. 8th from 7-9 p.m. and Sat. Sept. 10th from 12-4 p.m. and will involve singing from the show, dancing, and scene work. You only need to attend one audition and then, if needed, one callback session. This show needs many strong actors, dancers, and singers, and it comprises a wide range of ability-- even if you only feel confident in one of those areas, I strongly encourage you to audition! Feel free to contact me with any questions. The show dates and times have not yet been finalized. I'm eager to meet you all and I encourage newcomers to get involved onstage or behind the scenes. Students and parents interested in working on set construction and painting, costumes, lighting, sound, advertising, or stage managing, please reach out to me at natalie.hopson@gmail.com. I hope to see you soon-- get ready to cut footloose!

COLEMAN SWEATSHIRTS: Each new student will receive a Coleman sweatshirt at no charge.

They are hunter green and available in a hoodie or a zip up. Anyone else interested in purchasing one may do so through the school office. They are $40.00 each and the due date for orders is Friday Sept. 23rd. Order forms are available in the office and will also be included in the envelope you will receive at either the New Student BBQ and Meet the Teacher Night.

COLEMAN SCHOOL SPIRIT SHIRTS: We will be ordering short sleeve and

long sleeve t-shirts for students, faculty, staff, family and friends. These may be worn by students on Spirit Fridays. The cost will be $11.00 for short sleeve and $15.00 for long sleeve and the due date for orders is Friday Sept. 23rd. They will be available in dark green and white. Order forms are available in the office and will also be included in the envelope you will receive at either the New Student BBQ and Meet the Teacher Night.

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