(Click on a
picture for a larger view)
August 21, 2008
Dear Parents and Guardians,,
It
has been a very busy second week of school. If you look around, you will
notice that the block wall is nearing completion. It certainly does make a
difference in the appearance of our school. The project was made possible
through the generosity of our parents and community. The block for the
wall was donated by Anthony Tapia; he is both a parent of students as St.
Therese School and the spouse of Mrs. Tapia, our fourth grade teacher. He
and his crew have been working diligently to complete the wall. Garvin
Construction donated the rebar that was used, Baca Trees donated the
cement, and Nichole Sanchez & Randy Sena donated the sand that was used to
mix the mortar. Ron Hensley has worked tirelessly to coordinate all of
these efforts. St. Therese School will pay for the cost of labor for the
masons to build the wall. The wall will end up costing about $12,000.00.
This will be money well spent, considering it would normally cost
$40,000.00 to $50,000.00 for a wall that size. We will use fundraising
projects to help cover the cost of this beautiful wall.
Our first fundraiser of the year will be the sale of “Cookie Dough.” Last
year we did fairly well with this fundraiser. Everyone loves cookies!
Please help us to make this a very successful fundraiser. All proceeds
will go towards the cost of the new block wall. The “Cookie Dough”
fundraiser kicks off on August 28 at 2:30 P.M.
Last spring we wrote a grant to put internet in the classrooms for the
teachers to network, communicate with families, and to be more productive.
We will also be updating our server to provide much better programs and
services for our students. We hope to get this project completed by the
end of the month. We have already added over 60 new computers this school
year through donations and small grants. We are indeed moving forward and
ensuring that our students are well prepared for the technology of today
and the future.
Our lunch program is working out very well in the Gym. Parents are welcome
to come and join their children for lunch. Please make sure that you sign
in at the office and have a “Visitor” badge on when you come to lunch. You
may purchase lunch through the office as long as you call it in by 8:30 in
the morning. The cost for parents is $2.75. Please let the office know if
you would like to volunteer during lunch. We can always use another set of
eyes to supervise the children and help where needed.
The first week of school was filled with fun and excitement. Many parents
followed their children into the classrooms and took pictures. Due to laws
that have been set in place, we cannot allow parents to take pictures of
other students without parental permission. We want to honor the privacy
of the families who bring their children to St. Therese School.
One area where we need your help is in the area of the uniforms. As a
Catholic school we use uniforms to “level the playing field”. This means
that no one feels he or she is not as good as anyone else. The word
uniform means “identical clothing worn by members of a group to
distinguish them from the general population.” Please use your parental
power to make sure that your child meets the uniform codes that are listed
in the Parent/Student Handbook. We don’t want to have to start meeting the
students in the morning as they get out of the car to check their uniform.
So, please support us by ensuring your child is properly dressed. Don’t
let them push the limits by wearing pink, orange or unusually colored
shores, or brightly colored shoe strings. Let us be united in this effort
so that we can spend our time on education and not on uniform control.
Encourage your child to wear their uniform with pride!
Roman Garcia, Principal
Donna Illerbrun, Vice Principal
About
Mr. Garcia
Roman Garcia became principal of St.
Therese School at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year. He received his postgraduate
degrees in Educational Leadership from Eastern New Mexico University
at Portales. He and his wife Dorothy have three children. He has
one granddaughter, who is a great singer and very much the joy of his
life. He joined the St. Therese School Community as Development
Coordinator in January 2007.
His goal for the school is to find and establish funding sources that
will generate the funding needed to provide a quality-learning
environment and upgrade the physical plant.
