Week of March 11

I am very pleased to release the attached building summary of Iowa Test Scores. Parents, I congratulate you as the primary educators of your children! Teachers, I congratulate you for your best practices in instruction! Students, I congratulate you for living out your God given vocation as students! As expected, our average building test scores are outstanding! After very careful item data analysis, review and assessment of our Iowa Test Scores, I can honestly report that every class on average is not only performing on grade level, but above grade level in each subject core area. While we always expect great results from our students, when we expect great results and we get them, we have all the more reason to celebrate. There is proof in our test scores that we are indeed doing that which we proclaim to do in our mission statement; relationship, which promotes, faith formation, academic excellence and personal development.

The building summary report is truly a reflection of the Academic Excellence that is expected and lived up to within our school community. In today’s globally competitive society, what more could we want for our children? Faith formation, academic excellence, and personal development truly give our students what they need in order to be successful in middle school, high school and beyond. Again, Congrats to everyone!

I am in need of parent volunteers to help us, tomorrow, Friday March 12^th and Monday March 15^th to clear out our library and prep it for carpet installation. Thank you to our P.T.O. for purchasing technology items and new carpet for our new library/media center. It is greatly appreciated. If you can help, please show up Friday morning after Mass at 9:00 a.m. We will be working on prepping the library until the end of the school day, until 2:30 p.m.

Also, if you would like to be a parent ambassador for our Open House for Prospective Families on Sunday, March 21^st, 2010, 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. please contact our school office as soon as possible. Don’t forget that our next P.T.O. meeting is scheduled for Wed., March 17^th at 8:00 a.m. inside of the school.

Also on March 17^th is our “Go Green” day. Children are encouraged to wear green on this free dress day, but must pay a dollar to do so. All proceeds will go to our school garden fund. Last, but not least, thank you to our School Committee, PTO, Strategic Planning Team, and Marketing for all of your hard work in preparing for this busy school season.

God Bless,  Mrs. Becker

Week of March 4 –

Happy March! We have an exciting month ahead of us. March 17th is “Go Green” day (free dress) for $1.00. We encourage students to wear as much green as possible. All proceeds will go to our school garden.

March also brings our Princess Ball on the 20^th and our Open House on the 21^st. Our Open House is for prospective families, however if any of you as current school community members would like to sign up as an ambassador for our school and be at the open house that day, please sign your name on the sign up sheet in the office. The sign-up sheet will be posted beginning tomorrow until next Wednesday. Please encourage your friends and family members who may be considering our school to attend our Open House!

Our Lenten activities are going very well. The children have been able to experience Stations of the Cross each Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. We are hoping to have our school enthroned to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by the Sacred Heart Association sometime very soon. The enthronement entails a statue of Our Lady that is brought to the school for a week. During that week the students say the rosary, and then at a Mass celebration, the school is Enthroned to the Sacred Heart of Jesus making Him, King and friend of the school. It also includes a picture of the Sacred Heart to be hung in the school.

Also, Fr. Joe is offering Eucharistic Adoration each Friday. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed from right after the Friday morning 8:00 a.m. school Mass until 12:00 p.m. Fr. Joe will speak to the children about Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, why incense is used at the beginning of it, about kneeling down on two knees before leaving Adoration, and leaving quietly. Parishioners will also be leading a Rosary right after Mass during Adoration. Please join us for these very special opportunities to be with Jesus.

God Bless, Mrs. Becker

Week of February 24 –

Greetings! Mrs. Rexford is in great need of Turkey Fryers for our Fish Fry’s. If you have one or more, and would be willing to loan them to our school, please contact her as soon as possible at 810-679-3245.

Our 5^th graders did a fabulous job representing our school this past Saturday at the Blue Water Catholic School Academic Olympics. Congratulations to all of our 5^th graders that participated. The following students all received participation certificates; Miranda Coombs, Janie Gibbons, Cameron O’Mara, Emily Smith, and Margaret Smith. Many first, second and third place ribbons were also earned by our fifth graders at this annual event. In Forensics, Miranda Coombs and Emily Smith each took first place; Janie Gibbons took a second place. In Problem Solving, our entire Academic Olympic team listed above took a third place. To have placed in the top three places in three out of four competitive areas is quite an accomplishment. Congratulations!

The children have been working hard this winter, in the classroom and on the slopes! They have absolutely loved outdoor winter recesses that include the opportunity to go sledding on our hill behind the Father Hogan Center. I just returned from the pre-school classroom with Holy Water. I was sure to bless Ms. Kinnee and Ms. Weir as they prepared about 20 little ones to go outside sledding! We also blessed the children that God keep them safe on the hill. Snow pants, mittens, new boots, smiles and excited voices in the preschool room are such a great reminder to us of what Jesus teaches us about appreciating the simple things in life. We have to have the best children and sled hill around!

Our first ever Open House for prospective families/children is scheduled for Sunday, March 21 from 12:30 p.m.- 2:30 p.m. This is different from our back to school night, as it is designed to showcase our school to prospective families rather than current school families. I will be contacting current school families and asking/scheduling them for help with set-up, teardown and tours. If you are interested in being here on that day to help our enrollment/recruitment initiatives, please contact Mrs. Becker.

Thank you to our marketing team who worked diligently on the mass mailing and post card that will be mailed out soon inviting prospective families/students to open house. If any of you know of a family that should attend our open house, who does not receive a postcard, please contact me for one right away.

Please remember that our new school calendar is online and can be downloaded to print. Also, please see the quiz for St. Ed parents and the information sheet breaking down what percentage our parish pays for each child’s tuition versus what each family actually pays for tuition. I am sure you will find it very insightful and interesting!

God Bless, Mrs. Becker

January 21, 2010

As I was locking up the Father Hogan Center last night, before our P.T.O meeting, I kept thinking about what a powerful testimony yesterday's set up crew for the rummage sale was. Their work, dedication and sacrifice spoke volumes for the many parents here at St. Ed's and all over the world who go above and beyond with their time, talents and treasures to provide their child/children with a Catholic education. Mothers, Fathers, parishioners, and even volunteers from area non-Catholic churches helped with set-up. Together, they transformed our gymnasium into a very organized rummage sale that will be open to the public this weekend. Thank you again to all of the parents that helped with set-up and who will continue to help throughout this weekend with the rummage sale. As many of you know, the cost to educate one student K-5th grade at St. Ed's is about $6500.00; tuition for one child is only $2450.00. We are blessed with a pastor and parish willing to make a major financial commitment to educate young souls in our Catholic faith, and subsidize the gap between what it really costs to educate a child here and what is charged in tuition. St. Edward-on-the-Lake Parish subsidized our elementary school 47% last year. Thank you to Fr. Joe and our Parish family for the gift you give each of our students. We are working with an in house strategic planning team in conjunction with the "Gentlemen of Notre Dame" ( An Archdiocesan recommended strategic planning consulting team) to strategically plan ways to increase enrollment and funds and decrease this subsidy. The Archdiocese recommends only 30% subsidy and would like to see parishes not have to subsidize more than 40%. Fundraisers, and dedicated parents who work them, are not only necessary, but crucial to the operation of our school. Parents, I commend you for the choice you made and in what you are giving your child/children. A Catholic Education is truly a precious, priceless gift. I look forward to seeing this year’s Rummage Sale a success.

A new school fundraiser this year will be our Lenten Fish Fry's at the Parish Hall. Be sure to read about all of the details in our Laker and Bulletin. Thank you to Mrs. Rexford, Grandma Betty and Rob Reynolds our resident culinary arts chef for taking this on.

Finally, I'd like to clarify calendar dates. We do have school on January 28th, 2010. Originally, we were off school on this date, but due to changes in teachers’ professional development days with our Vicariate, we do have school now on January 28th, 2010. School will still be closed to students on January 29th, 2010. As stated on our Calendar, this is records day for our teachers.   

The dates of parent teacher conferences also had to change. The Bishop's office called and assigned us the date of March 11th for Confirmation. Parent teacher conferences were originally scheduled March 10th and March 11th. Because of Confirmation, we have re-scheduled parent teacher conferences for March 30th and March 31st. March 30th and March 31st will both be 1/2 days of school for the children. As a result, Easter Break will now begin April 1st, on Holy Thursday. No School April 1st, Holy Thursday.

Thank you for your understanding in Calendar date changes. Please call our school office with any questions.

God Bless each of you! Mrs. Becker

January 14, 2010

Excitement and school spirit, surely a work of the Holy Spirit, are ever present in our school building, and in the voices and on the faces of students, parents and teachers alike.

Thank you to Grandpa Wayne Heithoff for hanging the beautiful banners designed by our marketing committee, reminding us what our school community is doing on a daily basis. Be sure to take a walk down the school hallway, read the banners and reflect on their messages. It is important as a school community we stay focused on our school mission statement and the impact our Catholic School has; on our students souls, and in building up our Christian Catholic faith for the overall good of the Body of Christ and our Catholic Church.

I will begin an intensive enrollment and recruitment initiative over this next month. I plan on speaking at neighboring churches without a school and to parents of children in religious education programs to share the good news about St. Edward on-the-Lake Elementary School and invite parents to consider choosing us for a top notch faith based education for their children. Your continued support in being a walking billboard for our school is greatly appreciated. Go tell it on the mountain! Tell everyone you know about our wonderful school and faith community and why they should seriously consider becoming a part of it if they are not already. Be sure to stress our generous tuition assistance, scholarships and SCRIP.

Be sure to read not only about our after school activities for children, scrapbooking and lab rats, but also our new after school activities for adults, open to parishioners

and community members. Adult offerings are our "Biggest Loser" workout program and "Weight Watchers". Every pound lost can earn 14 cents to our local food pantry. Call the school office for details/registration.

Please call Laura Garofalo @ -----if you can volunteer your time to our Rummage Sale February 22 - 24, 2010. Don't forget our pre-sale for school families on Friday, February 22 from 1:30- 3:30 p.m. Thank you to our Rummage Sale committee for all the time and energy you’re giving to make this a successful fundraiser.

God Bless!

December 10, 2009

I am writing this from my office watching the snow fall onto our beautiful property. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow for Christmas! In the event that we would need to close our school due to inclement weather, we will post that our school is closed due to inclement weather on our school website. We will also call Channel 2, 4, 7 and the Port Huron Area Radio Stations "Radio First". We pray to Our Lady of the Highway to keep you and your family safe these next couple of weeks as you prepare for Christmas and the Holiday season.

The children practiced for their Christmas program yesterday in the Church. To clarify, contrary to prior plans, we have decided to hold the Christmas program in the church again this year. The Christmas program will not be in the Father Hogan Center as previously advertised. We were blessed with New Life Christian Academy offering us their risers and portable stage free of charge and Port Huron Northern High School offering scenery, flats and backdrops. However, after actually seeing the scenery PHHS had to offer, we were not quite sure how we would transport it back to our school due to its size! There really is something wonderful about the children being able to perform in the Church, especially when the play they are performing is "The Nativity" and they know that by performing/re-telling the story of "The Nativity" they are truly ministers of God's Word. Just a reminder to save one or both of these dates: Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. and Tuesday, December 14th at 7:00 p.m. for this Christmas Play. Preschool through fifth grade will be putting on this performance! Please join us for a reception with light refreshments in the Father Hogan Center immediately following the performance.

As announced in a memo home yesterday, each of our classroom teachers have designed classroom websites especially for you and your children. You can find direct links to each of our classroom websites at our school website http://www.stedwardonthelakeschool.com . Go to the link titled classroom websites and search for your child's/children's teachers’ classroom website link. The memo that went home yesterday also included the password for your child/children's classroom website. If you need this password, please feel free to call our school office for it. Congratulations and thank you to our teachers for all of their hard work, time and dedication to making this new endeavor a success.

Last but not least, one very important date this month of December that I did not mention in last week's Laker is Friday, December 18th, 2009, the day and date of our Santa Workshop. The Santa Workshop is sponsored by our P.T.O.. Thank you to all of the parents in P.T.O. who have been working so hard on making this special shopping day for our children a success. A schedule of what time each class will attend Santa's Workshop went home, however, as always, please feel free to call us at the school office if you have any questions regarding Santa's Workshop!

God Bless you and your families this second week of Advent,

Mrs. Rachael Becker

December 3, 2009

Where did November go? Hopefully it was full of great family times and a blessed Thanksgiving Weekend! Our students really enjoyed themselves the last day of school before Thanksgiving Break. Our cafeteria was decorated by Mrs. Rexford and her mother and mother-in-law, with very festive Thanksgiving decorations. Mrs. Rexford also made the cutest Turkey cookies for each of our students to enjoy at lunch that day. Our third graders added to the excitement with awesome leaf rubbing placements for our entire school. Thank you to our third graders, Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Rexford, the Rexford Grandma's, and to all of our lunch time volunteers for help helping make that day a very special day in our cafeteria! 

Now that we are in to December, time will move quickly and before we know it we will be beginning Christmas Vacation. There are many important dates to plan for this month of December. This coming Tuesday, December 8, 2009 is a Holy Day of obligation. On this day we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. People all over the world go to church on this day to worship God for giving us Mary, who was pure, holy, and worthy of becoming the Mother of Christ. God gave Mary the special grace to be completely pure- free from any stain of original sin. This is what we mean when we call her Mary of the "Immaculate Conception". "Immaculate" means free from the stain of all sin. Under this title, Mary is patroness of the United States, and so this day is particularly wonderful for all of us here in the United States of America. Please join us for our All School Mass this coming Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

Tomorrow, our kinders, first and third graders will attend a fun filled educational field trip to the Festival of Lights in Port Huron. May God protect our students, teachers and chaperones attending this event and keep them safe in their travels.

Our first family liturgy for 4th and 5th grade students at our school, in our religious education program and in our parish, is this Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Mass.  I am asking all 4th and 5th grade students who can attend to arrive at 9:15 a.m. if they would like a part in hosting the Mass. Please sit in the first two reserved pews. We are still in need of banner holders for procession and symbol bearers. Petition and Communion reflection readers practiced with Mrs. Armstrong, I and Mrs. Grace Varga last night in the church and did a wonderful job. Contact the school office if you can commit to bringing your 4th or 5th grader to take part in this special liturgy especially for them.

Next week, the children will continue to prepare for performing the annual St. Edward on-the-Lake Elementary School Christmas Musical. This year’s performance, "The Nativity" features every grade level singing as our choir with our fifth graders not only singing solo's but also performing the actual theater performance of "The Nativity". Our classrooms are becoming full of lamb head pieces, Wiseman robes and shepherds staff's. Not to mention, the joy of children who understand what Christmas is really all about full of excitement to be able to evangelize and be ministers of God's word by performing the story of the Nativity for our school and parish community. This year’s performances will be held on Monday, December 14th at 1:00 p.m. and Tuesday, December 15th at 7:00 p.m. both in the Father Hogan Center. In addition to the wonderful performance the children will give, there will be a short reception immediately following in the Father Hogan Center Cafeteria where everyone is welcome.

On Thursday, December 17th, we host D.A.R.E. Graduation for our fifth grade students. Fifth graders have been taking weekly D.A.R.E. classes from Officer Bonner, St. Clair County Sheriff. D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. This wonderful program is sponsored by our St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department. At one time, the county funded this program. Due to budget cuts, the County has now left it up to individual police/sheriff departments to fund the program on their own if they wanted to continue it. We are very blessed that the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department believes is in this program enough to fund it for our students. Thank you St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department!

Last but not least, thank you to the Garcia family for your donation of three computer monitors and our first batch of "Today I Chose a Saintly Solution" stickers for our school. The children are excited to be able to wear a sticker at school and then at home when they earn a Saintly Solution Slip.

May God Bless you this first week of Advent. Your families and loved ones are in our prayers as we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and his coming again at the end of time. God Bless!