St. Pius X Catholic School
32 Elm Street, Westerly, RI 02891
P:(401)596-5735 • F:(401)596-5791
News
Please review the following information for January. If you have any questions, please contact the office.
School Year Calendar 2011-2012
Soccer Coaches Needed
If you signed up at the beginning of the year to volunteer as a soccer
coach or if you are interested in becoming a soccer coach or assistant
coach for the St. Pius X School middle school soccer team, please call
the school at your earliest convenience.
We are in need of coaches in order to field a team this year. Please
consider this opportunity if you are available.
Find and Like St. Pius X School on Facebook
Click here to like us on Facebook.
Toiletries For Those in Need- Collection
St. Pius X School Helping Those In Need
Dear St. Pius X School Families,
We will once again be helping those in need during the month of February, beginning on Catholic Schools Week. This year we will be collecting toiletries for two organizations: RI CAN (the Rhode Island Center Assisting Those in Need) and SERVE (Stafford Emergency Relief through Volunteer Efforts). Both organizations are seeking toiletries.
Accordingly, we are assigning one toiletry per homeroom and kindly ask for your help in collecting for the needy and for those who serve our country. There will be a designated box in each homeroom, and the donations requested for each grade are as follows:
Pre K 3 - Body wash (SERVE)
Pre K 4 - Body wash (RICAN)
Kindergarten-Body soap (SERVE)
Grade 1- Shampoo (RICAN)
Grade 2 - Toothpaste (RICAN)
Grade 3- Toothbrushes (RICAN)
Grade 4- Deodorant (RICAN)
Grade 5 - Shaving Cream (RICAN)
Grade 6 - Disposable Razors (RICAN)
Grade 7- Body soap (RICAN)
Grade 8- Toothpaste (SERVE)
Any assistance you could give would be greatly appreciated. Last year, St. Pius X School provided the most toiletries to RICAN out of all the schools involved.
Dinner and Dessert Fundraiser
With the hustle and bustle of life, serve your family and friends an easy gourmet meal and dessert. See attached for the Soul Warming Soup Bag and Otis Spunkmeyer cookie fundraiser. Proceeds go to our school. See the flyer here.
St. Pius X School Teacher gets major national recognition
Dear St. Pius X School Families,
It is with great honor and pleasure that I inform you that Mrs. Heidi Cozzolino, who teaches grade 2 (and Grade 4 German) will be honored in Boston at the National Convention of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) , representing all of the New England states as the awardee of the 2012 NCEA Distinguished Teacher Award. This award is presented annually by the Department of Elementary Schools of NCEA
I nominated Mrs. Cozzolino a few months ago, much against her will. Her humility endears her even more to those who know her. She is one of the recipients nationwide to recieve this award. There will be a special banquet in honor of the "top Catholic school teachers in the country (maximum of twelve)" at the convention in Boston.
We could not be happier about this news. Mrs. Cozzolino will not only be representing our school and diocese, but all of the dioceses in New England. We are truly blessed to have her here at St. Pius X School.
God Bless!
Henry Fiore, Jr.
Family Bowl-A-Thon Fundraiser
One of our St. Pius X School parents asked us to spread the word about a little 3 year old boy who is going to have a heart transplant.
A Family Bowl-A-Thon Fundraiser is being held to help with the expenses. He is in OH but has family members here in RI and CT. He has been in the hospital waiting for the transplant since October 2011. The co-pay alone is $65,000.
Sunday, 2/19/12, 10am at the Holiday Bowl, Groton, CT. $10 for 2 games and a pair of shoes. Lights, prizes and surprises. For tickets or info, contact Jeremy Loiselle at 860-639-8910 or jeremyloisell@sbcglobal.net.
Renew your magazines and support our school
Did you know you could order magazines, books and music and help support our school? If you have subscriptions from last year that ran out, you may renew on the forms or online.
Click on this link to order and 40% of the sale will go to St. Pius X School! Click on "Just Shopping" and then plug in our school number is 1088649. You will be taken to the St. Pius X School page.
Thank you for your support!
Inclement Weather Directives
Winter is upon us and shortly the snow. Please print out a copy of the information you will need concerning school delays, cancellations and early dismissals and bussing.
Dismissal Safety
Dear St. Pius X School Families,
I am writing to ask for your assistance concerning the safety of our children during dismissal.
We had two potential mishaps during dismissal, both of which happened while the students were with parents. We are tightening up the procedure from our end by increasing the supervision outside during parent pick up time.
Safety is our number one priority. We are asking your cooperation with the following:
1) All parents (including Pre-K) are to wait on the street side of the fence during the afternoon K- 8 dismissal. Please do not wait in the playground area or by the building. This is a potential danger to younger siblings as well. We also have phys ed. certain days during that time and noone but students should be on the field during the school operational hours.
2) Please be vigilant with your children once they come to you. Lately, we have witnessed children running on the sidewalk while their parents are otherwise engaged. This is very dangerous, as the busses enter across the sidewalk to get to the bus well. A bus driver complained to us about the lack of supervision of children who are running on the sidewalk after they have been dismissed to their parents.
3) Please do not wait purposely until the traffic clears to pick up your child. Now that the weather is getting colder, any student not picked up by 3:10 (dismissal begins at 2:55) will be sent to extended day and you will be billed accordingly. We are trying to avoid parent pick up during
bus dismissal so the bus well will clear.
4) Once again, I encourage you to use the church parking lot and walk your children back to your car.
I urge you all to PLEASE follow these procedures each and every day to ensure the safety of all of our children.
Thank you, Henry Fiore
Save For America School Savings Program
We will be participating in the Save For America School Savings Program. This program is endorsed by the White House Offices of Policy Development and Consumer Affairs, as well as the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Education. By participating, your child in grades K-5 will learn what a savings account is, the advantages of savings, how to read an account statement, and more. Your child will be able to bank at school through the Westerly Community Credit Union. See the informational letter and application here. $1 will be donated to St. Pius X School for every child enrolled.
Girls Basketball Schedule for 2011-2012
Click here for the 2011-2012 Girls Basketball schedule. Go Panthers!
A Catholic Response to Bullying- by Principal Fiore
Principal Fiore was published once again in Creative Catechist Magazine!
Click here to read his most recent article about a Catholic response to Bullying.
Also, check out his informative article that talks about understanding and working with children with ADHD.
St. Pius X String Ensemble
We are happy to offer the opportunity for another extra-curricular activity at our school. Mr. Carlos Romero, a parishioner of St. Pius X Parish and accomplished musician and instructor has agreed to offer a string instrument ensemble/lessons program for students who are 8 years and up. If you are interested, please see the flyer here and respond accordingly.
Nutrition and Allergy Information For Children
Physical Education teacher, Mrs. DeSarro, receives many inquiries from parents in regards to proper nutrition for children. Here is an article that she felt may be helpful. Please contact her with any questions you may have.
Also, please read the food allergy note from our school nurse, Mrs. Lennon.
Help Make St. Pius X School Affordable For All
Our goal is to provide an excellent education in a spiritual atmosphere and keep the price attainable.
Even though we have turned a corner in a positive direction financially, we still need your support to defray expenses and to provide tuition assistance to those unable to afford a quality Catholic education.
Please consider a donation to our endowment funds that are established for St. Pius X School. Click here for more information.
Catholic School Advocacy Toolkit
Click here to find the Catholic School Advocacy Toolkit about the proposed RI school budget cuts. The Catholic School Office is kindly rquesting that you take a moment to register and use the tool to generate letters of support for our textbook loan program. Thank you.
Save ink cartridges, toners and cell phonesrs
The St. Pius X School Environmental Club Project
Please join us in making our world a little greener by sending us your used laser toners, inkjet cartridges and cell phones (just phones, no accessories) for recycling. When recycled properly, the average cartridge can be reused up to seven times!
o Please save these for us during the entire year including summers.
o Bring them home from your place of work.
o Ask your friends and neighbors to save them for you.
o Look for new collection boxes at church come September or October. Bring them to the school office and mark them to the attention of Mrs. Swain (Environmental club).
We sincerely thank you as this program provides the science program extra funds to buy much needed equipment.
Mrs. Swain
Grade 7
New Volunteer Guidelines and Forms
In accordance with diocesan regulations, all volunteers must read the code of conduct and sign off on the special form. I am urging all parents to read and sign off, as this will cover you for volunteering in the future as well. We will be audited on all of the paperwork, and we have been instructed that only parents who sign off on the attached sheet and return it to the school will be able to volunteer. We thank you in advanace for your cooperation in this matter.
Sign Off Form (please send in your form to the school office)
