September 7, 2014
Dear St. Raphael School Families and Parishioners,
First, thanks for your patience as we continue working on our online gradebook with Fast Direct. As of this writing, the gradebook is not fully functioning, but we are working closely with Fast Direct to rectify this situation. The teachers and I are extraordinarily frustrated, as I know many of you are, and we greatly appreciate your understanding as we work to make this right.

Over the years our school Library has seen a number of moves about the building, and changes of organization. Our current Library is housed in a cozy space just next to my office, and I get to enjoy the squeals of excitement from our young students as they listen to and check out books and stories. Mrs. Marti Finan has been lending us her library expertise over the summer by sorting through and organizing the collection ? many thanks to Mrs. Finan! She and our devoted librarians, Mrs. Karen Divis and Mrs. Barb Tacchi, are busy making plans for more Library improvements of which I?d like you to be aware.

The most important thing is that we all remain committed to an inviting Library space, where books are special, and reading is fun. As I?ve said before, Reading is the single most important skill necessary for success in school. Having a school Library helps us to be true to that commitment.
Our Library team will be working on some fundraising opportunities so that we can add books to the Library, and replace well-loved books that can no longer be taped back together. They especially would like to add books that are appealing to some of our older students. Look for those donation opportunities to come this school year, including straight out cash donations, as well as a ?Donate-a-Book? program where new books can be donated in honor of your favorite student or teacher.

We would also like to eventually have our Library collection catalogued electronically, sponsor reading programs throughout the school, and update our reference section. I look forward to watching our Library grow and improve over the coming years!
A couple of ?housekeeping? details have come to my attention. First, let me clarify one detail about the parking lot at dismissal. If you park on the parking lot at dismissal, we ask that you park facing the school, and stay on the lot until it is your turn to exit the lot in the line of cars. There are a few cars parking on the back side of the lot, facing away from school, and exiting the lot independently. We have kids walking to their cars, walking to church, walking to intersections, etc. When you do not park facing the school and exit with the other cars, you are putting the safety of our students who are walking across the lot at risk. Please take the time to be considerate and follow the rules.

A completely different issue that must be addressed is that kids are being allowed to play on the stage in the gym during athletic events. Some results of this unsupervised activity include broken PE equipment that is on the stage, ripped stage curtains from kids hanging on them, trash and food left on the stage floor regularly, and a general disregard for the stage space. Please supervise your children at athletic events and DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO PLAY ON THE STAGE. You will be helping us to keep the great assets that we have at SRA in good condition. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
And finally, pease continue to keep our students and teachers in your prayers as we begin our 4 ^th week of school ? can you believe it?!

Peace and Blessings,

Kim Vangel

Principal