Welcome to our new Knight Times, a monthly overview of all that is happening at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School.

The Knight Times

New for 2017 Join us for coffee! Our school President Anne Ceasar will visit with parents at your campus each quarter.

September 2017 Monthly School Newsletter

Dates to remember inside!

St. Bede Campus Conference Room Monday, September 11

Holy Spirit Campus Library

Monday, September 18

Middle School Campus Teacher Workroom Monday, September 25

High School Campus Teacher Workroom

Monday, October 2

St. Bede Campus Conference Room

Coffee Dates:

See

page

2 See

e

Montgomery Catholic is a regional K4-12 school with three campuses. This year Anne Ceasar, our school president, would like to invite our families to join her for

Coffee, Conversation & Concerns

at your campus before school from 7:30-8:15 a.m. If you have specific items you would like Mrs. Ceasar to address you are welcome to email those to aceasar@montgomerycatholic.org. Otherwise,

she is excited to meet with parents and discuss all things Montgomery Catholic with you. Please plan to stop in at your campus for a cup of coffee and community building. We hope you will join us!

September 2017

Coffee Dates:

2

Volunteer This Year! We need you! We encourage our families to invest in their students

and our school community! Please volunteer! Be a

chaperone, help with teacher luncheons and school

events, work in the concession stand - whatever your

gift we would love to have you be a part of our

wonderful school community. Email your PTC

representative or sign up through our website.

St. Bede Campus - Colleen Reardon Holy Spirit Campus - Beth Barranco

Middle School Campus - Amanda Day High School - Campus - Tammy Hayes

Visit our PTC Website @ montgomerycatholic.org/PTC

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities K4-12 Events: Cookie Dough Pick Up Day, October 3

High School Campus: Field Day, October 18

Middle School Campus, Fall Dance, October 20

St. Bede Campus, Cultural Day, October 31

St. Bede Campus, Pastries for Parents, November 9

Dates to Remember

September 1 St. Bede School Photos

September 4 Labor Day No School September 4 Cookie Dough Sale Begins September 5 Lunch Orders Due September 5 Middle School SGA Posters &

Speeches Due September 6 Archbishop Rodi & Ms. Byrd

Visit our St. Bede campus September 8 Middle/High School Pep Rally September 8 Junior Class Ring Information

Distributed to all 11th grade students

September 11 St. Bede Coffee, 7:30AM September 11 Middle School SGA Elections September 11 PeeWee Football & Cheers Photos September 14 7th Grade @ Camp Chandler,

Sept. 14-15 September 14 Junior Class Ring Orders Due

@ 3PM September 15 Cookie Dough Orders Due September 15 Middle/High School Pep Rally September 16 Senior Retreat, Sept. 16-18 September 18 Lunch Orders Due September 18 Holy Spirit Coffee, 7:30AM September 20 Mid-Quarter September 20 High School Letterman Jacket

Orders @ Lunch September 23 SACRED/All athletes, 8:30AM September 25 Middle School Coffee, 7:30AM September 27 Child Protect Training, 7PM September 29 PICE Golf Tournament October 2 Lunch Orders Due

PTC Cookie Dough Sale Our Parent Teacher Council (PTC) will be selling Cookie

Dough to help support their programs throughout the year.

All students in grades K4-12 are asked to help support the

PTC by selling delicious cookie dough and gifts. Please look

for order forms in Friday Folders for our elementary

students. Middle School and High School students will

receive order forms to bring home. Sale Dates

are September 4-15. Thanks for your support! Due 9/15

For details please visit our school calendar at

www.montgomerycatholic.org

3

Holy Spirit Campus

Fall Pictures will be taken on Friday, September 1st.

All students will have their pictures made for the

yearbook. Since this is a Mass day, our students will

be photographed in their Mass day uniforms. Proofs

will be sent home for parents who wish to order.

Please make checks payable to Total Image.

Beanie Babies!!! Remember the craze? Beanie

Babies were all the rage a few years back. Well, they

are still a hot ticket item at St. Bede. If you have an

attic full of them or if you think it is time to tackle

the playroom closet, please keep us in mind. We

would love to take your previously loved Beanie

Babies (and/or Webkinz) to use as prizes for our

school-wide discipline program. Just bring any and

all donations to Mrs. Calandra in the front office.

Thank you in advance!

Elementary Uniform and Dress Code

Reminder

There are many uniform choices and grade-level

determines many of those choices. You can read the

online Student Handbook on the MCPS website to

review what your child is allowed to wear. Students in

Grades 1-6 must wear Mass Day uniforms each week.

No shorts on Mass day please. Girls should wear their

Peter Pan collar shirt, and boys in grades 5 & 6 must

wear a tie. Little girls may wear their gingham dress.

Parents are invited to join us at Mass.

Holy Spirit Campus each Thursday at 8:15 a.m.

St. Bede Campus each Friday at 8:30 a.m.

St. Bede Campus

Altar Servers Students in 3rd- 6th grade have been

invited to be Altar Servers. Their training with Father

Driscoll and Mrs. Burden will be the first week of

September.

Science Olympiad Holy Spirit will join with St. Bede

to form the 2017-2018 Elementary Science Olympiad

Team. Applications will be due the first week of

September. Students who are selected for the team

will practice for five weeks to prepare for the first

competition.

Student Council Elections for the Student Council

Officers and Representatives will be held in

September. Their first duty will be to collect Coke

bottle caps to benefit the Capital Campaign and Box

Tops to benefit the school.

Archbishop Rodi & Ms. Byrd visit St. Bede September 6 Please remember Mass day uniforms. Parents are welcome to join us for Mass at 8:30 a.m. The St. Bede children’s choir will be working hard to prepare for the Archbishop’s visit, and the music and singing will be beautiful. After Mass, the Archbishop will visit all the classrooms, and rumor has it that recess might be extended that day!

4

Middle School Campus

4

We are excited to begin the second year of our

Encounter in the high school advisory and service

program. After a wildly successful program at

Vaughn Road Elementary School last year, we are

moving to an even more in-depth experience at The

Children's Center of Montgomery. This K-12 school

provides services for nearly 100 of our city's most

severely disabled students. Many of the students have

multiple disabilities, are non-verbal, and remain

wheelchair bound. Our students from MCPS will be

present at The Children's Center every Friday through

the Encounter program to offer educational

assistance, comfort through companionship, and

Encounter Christ through these special young

people. Christ will be our message, but we will also

find Christ in the face of all those we encounter.

Update

The campaign successes

come from many prayers

and God’s grace. Please

join us as often as you can with the

campaign prayer.

Awaiting approval for

construction bids from the

Archdiocesan

Finance Council.

YOU COUNT!

Everyone counts no matter the gift amount.

Give what you can and help us grow to

100% participation from ALL families! The

more we give , the less debt we carry.

GIVE NOW

Prayer

Next

The Leader in Me - Seven Habits of Highly

Effective Teens

Our middle school faculty spent the summer revamping

our advisory program and reinvigorating our dedication

and devotion to student engagement and

development. There will be specific time each day

during the advisory period for students to engage with

faculty and their peers in new and meaningful

ways. For instance, there will be an opportunity

each Friday for P.O.P. (Pursue Our Passions). Students

will have an opportunity to pick their own "passion" to

pursue like creative writing, reading, outside play,

chess, and board games to name a few. We will also

build in time for leadership activities and devotionals

each week. This will be a very strategic way to give our

students an opportunity to take ownership of their

educational experience and direct their own path!

High School Campus

No. of Donors

447 Pledges to

Date $3,512,896

What does this mean for your student? MCPS students will only be able to communicate via email with other individuals with Montgomery Catholic issued email addresses. Page 32 & 33 in our handbook.

Student Handbook Changes

Email Policy

Catholic Knights on the Rise. September Sports Update. As the month of September approaches, the Montgomery Catholic Preparatory Knights’ seasons really begin to heat up.

First, let me say how thankful I was walking off the field last Friday night after the Central Coosa game to see all the friendly faces that made the trip to watch the 2017 season get underway. The 51-6 win was a great way to kick off the campaign and, more importantly, every single player dressed out for the game got to see action. The 1-0 varsity Knights will host Prattville Christian Academy September 1st in a “Coaches vs. Cancer Night.” There will be tee shirts available to purchase, and the proceeds will be sent to the organization. It is a special night as many of our families, as well as PCA, have been touched by this disease. This will also be a chance to keep our momentum going from the opening victory moving into our huge clash against Saint James on September 8th. While we would love to see each and every one of you at our games, remember that we will be broadcasting the games on 96.5 FM. Our very own Mr. Justin Castanza and his father Mike are on the call this year. The first night was a rousing success with almost 800 listening online, and countless more tuned in to the radio’s live broadcast over the airwaves. Please remember we have many volunteer spaces available to help us make this the best year ever at MCPS!

The cross-country teams will start regular season action as they run in the Trinity Trailblazer on August 31st. The boys are looking to build on their improved finish last year, and the girls are looking to take the next step and win the team State Championship. The team is very strong again this year, and Amaris Tyynismaa, 3-time defending champion, leads them. The young ladies are looking to build on their 2016-17 Outdoor Track State Championship.

Volleyball starts its season in Auburn before competing in the yearly Mayor’s Cup tournament at the Sportsplex. All of the teams will be in action, and Coach Patterson is looking for the teams to steadily improve as the season progresses. Let’s hope this is the last season in our venerable gymnasium and send it out with a bang!

It is a great time to be a Knight! Come out in support of our student-athletes as they represent Montgomery Catholic.

All volunteers must complete a Child Protection Class. One is offered at Montgomery Catholic’s High School campus on the 4th Wednesday of each month. Click here for a schedule. If you have completed the initial training, you may renew online. Volunteer Drivers must complete a volunteer driver form and provide a copy of insurance and driver’s license.

Free Money: Help MCPS by collecting your Box Tops for Education and Coke Rewards (simply send to your campus office), swipe your MCPS Publix Card to get cash for our school (available in your campus office), buy SCRIP gift cards through our Central Office, and shop through Amazon Smile and designate MCPS as your favorite charity! All easy ways to support our school!

Back to School Reminders

- Daniel Veres ‘93Athletic Director

Free Money