April 5, 2018
Dear families,
The gospel at mass this morning was the story of meeting Jesus on the road to Emasas, the disciples were walking along and a stranger comes upon them. Now this story takes place just a few days after the crucifixion of Jesus, but it is just as relevant today as it was over 2000 years ago. This gospel challenges us to look for Jesus within the ordinary. Where do we find Jesus in 2018? Remember that Jesus is everywhere, he is always with us both the good and the bad. He is very clear that he will not make us “orphans”, and if we believe in him we know that to be true. We can find him in a beautiful sunset, we see him in the faces of the people around us, and we even find him in the snow that has blanketed us for the past several weeks! The Easter message is for us to take time to find Jesus and to be Jesus to the people that we encounter each day.

On Tuesday, Gavin Lam from the 5th grade will represent Sacred Heart at the Regional Math Bee at OLBS. Let us all wish him well, as he adds, subtracts, multiplies and divides.

Tuesday, April 17h will be a half day for a faculty meeting and retreat for the faculty. We will have an 11:30 dismissal.
Our first grades moms are very busy preparing for the “Ladies Laugh Out Loud Gala” on Friday April 20th, do not miss out on this great event and all those wonderful raffle baskets…. Get your tickets today! Grand prize raffle tickets have gone home, please consider “inventing’ in a few. Every family who sells a book will get a dress down.

Our April Money calendar is on sale now, for $20.00 you get 30 chances to win. The last few winners for the month of March were Msgr. Tom, Cathy Sorge, the Alvero family, the Furino family, Emily Hagan, and the $200.00 St. Patrick’s Day winner was Trish Jensen!!!! Oh, by the way 3/17 was her birthday- yeah Mrs. Jensen!

On Wednesday the 11th the 4, 6, and 8th graders will participate in the NYS ELA testing program. Unlike our public school counterparts our students do not live or die on the results of these tests. Rather, these assessments are just a snapshot of the student at this point in time. We ask that the children come to school with a few sharpened pencils, have eaten a good breakfast (no one like to hear their tummy rumbling-especially me!) and have gotten a good night’s sleep. The rest is in God’s hands.

Our third graders will be decorating the prayer wall this month, it is such a delight to read their prayer intentions.
It appears that the construction work that we were told would be happening on 38th Ave and 216th Street three weeks ago is happening NOW. We may or may not have use of our school yard this week, I guess we will just have to play it by ear.

I know the calendar says April 5th, and I know that the weather people are predicting more snow, but I also know that spring is right around the corner, and I know that I will really welcome some warm weather.
Peace,
MaryAnne Cooke

March 13, 2018
Dear families,
Well three Nor’easters in 10 days and we did not get a chance to close school- talk about resilient!!! As I look out the window I see a completely different day then when I left for work this morning. I am not sure, but to say that the weather is crazy seems to be an understatement. I am just very grateful that our Sacred Heart family is safe and warm.
Last week, Natalie Huang from the 7th grade represented our section of Queens in the Diocesan Math Bee, held at Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy in Jamaica. There were 20 students from both Queens and Brooklyn at this competition. I am pleased to tell you that Natalie came in 8th in the entire Diocese- YES! 8th place! Congratulations to her, her family and Mrs. Nowak for a job well done. Today was supposed to be the Middle School Regional Math bee, held at OLBS, but it was moved to April 10th. Gavin Lam from the 5th grade will represent us on the regional level. We all join together to wish him luck.
Last week, our 8th graders received their New York City High School acceptances. One student was accepted to Bronx HS of Science, one was accepted to Brooklyn Tech HS, several were accepted to prestigious art programs, as well as many to specialized programs within the city schools. We are a strong academic school and our “proof” is in the success of our students. This strength begins with the lower grades and moves upward. I thank all of the faculty of SHCA for their dedication to Catholic education and to your children.
Our March money calendar is sooooo popular that we are doing another one for April. The cost of one calendar is $20.00 and it gives you 31 chances to win. ( you can buy more than 1) We pull a new winner each day. So far the winners of the March calendar have been: Msgr, Sr. Mariett, Mr. Farrell, Sienna Michalic, the grandmother of Celeste and JP Morarro and Me-yeah!!! The big day is March 17th when the prize is $200.00 to the winner- Good luck to all. If you want to get in on the April prize a flyer will be going home next week. We are also doing a Yankee Candle fundraiser. This is the first time we are trying Yankee Candle and it is looking to be successful. The candles can be used as gifts for Mother’s Day. I was told that since the company is a direct representative of Yankee Candle, if you do not like the scent of what you ordered, you may exchange the scent at the store in Bay Terrace. There is also an online ordering component to this fundraiser, so you can get your family and friends involved as well. Thank you, in advance for your support. As you know our biggest fundraiser of the year is the Ladies Night Out Comedy Gala- aka the old Fashion Show. If you have a business and would like to make a donation to the event, please call the office and we will make arrangements for that. if you have baskets in your closets and would like to donate them, you many leave them in the front hall of the school. As usual, we will be selling Grand Prize raffle tickets in school and outside of church the two weeks prior to the event- April 7-8 and 14-15. Every family that purchase a grand prize raffle, will get a dress down for their children.
I want to thank everyone who participated in, attended or just came to the Installation mass for Msgr. Tom on Saturday evening. It was such a beautiful event, beyond anything that I ever witnessed. We are truly blessed to have Msgr. A part of our parish and the Academy. The children love to see him each and every day. That connection between parish and school and home is priceless. Congrats to our new “lucky number 13” Pastor.
On March 24th Bayside will be hosting its first “annual” St. Patrick’s Day parade. The day will start with mass at Sacred Heart at 8am and then we will line up on Bell to march from 39th Avenue to just before Northern. Sacred heart Catholic Academy will be marching, so put on some green and come out and join us. I am assured that a good time will be had by all. I look forward to a large group of families marching down Bell.
Family Stations of the Cross will be held on Friday, March 23 at 7:30PM. Msgr. Tom will be leading the service. It is a great way for your family to celebrate the “way of the cross” and journey with Jesus. As Catholics, we are an Easter people, we believe in the resurrection, we believe that death is not the end. Stations proves that to us. If you have never experienced the stations, try it you may like it! If you did them as a kid, take your kid! In Baptism you promised to pass on the faith to your children, take this opportunity to do just that.
We will be handing out report cards on Thursday, March 22. I look forward to seeing you all then. In addition, out 7th graders will be attending a Confirmation Retreat on that Thursday. Please continue to pray for all of our students who are preparing for sacraments this year.
Well, we certainly had a lot to talk about this week. Have a great week.
Peace,
MaryAnne Cooke

February 14, 2018
Dear families,
Today is a very interesting day! It is Ash Wednesday which marks that start of lent, a time of fasting, penance and almsgiving and Valentine’s Day which is a day to eat as much candy as possible. Imagine these two very different events on the same day. Well how about this…you cannot spell VaLENTine without LENT…… Truth be told, I did not come up with this all by myself, it was a cartoon in the Tablet this week, but something that I never noticed before-HUMMMMMM
Today we had the regional math bee, I am happy to tell you that Natalie Huang our 7th grader has moved on to the Diocesan Math Bee at the end of the month. Congratulations to her and to Mrs. Nowak.
Please join us this Thursday evening in the Church hall of our school wide science fair. Grades 4-8 will present their projects from 7-8PM. Come down and see the work of our talented scientists.
Yesterday we had a special presentation from the Cradle of Aviation, they came with a mobile planetarium. The children in grades 2-5 had an opportunity to enjoy the stars and the sky in this state of the art planetarium. Students in grades kindergarten and first were treated to a special presentation of living in space. Everyone seemed to enjoy the event.
If anyone is interested, we have five (5) boxes of chocolate covered pretzels left, if you want to purchase a box, just let us know. It will be on a first come first served basis.
I have been totally engaged watching the Olympics these past few days. Yesterday I watched Chole Kim take Gold in the Women’s snowboarding. I have to tell you, I noticed how each participant, regardless of the country they represented were to each other. There seemed to be this great comradery between the athletes. Watching this gives me hope for our world. I am eagerly waiting for the finals of my new favorite sport curling.
On Monday, I received a donation of two bags of trains from one of our kindergarten students, Brady Donnelly. He was not using the trains at home any longer and wanted to send them to us so that other children could enjoy them. What a sweet thing to do. Thank you Brady for sharing your trains with the children of your school, now everyone can have fun!
This vacation could not come fast enough for any of us! It is my hope that each of you will rest and recuperate from the “bug” that has been around. I will be resting from a balcony room on my way to Honduras, Belize and Mexico. I am counting on that sun to make everything better.
Have a wonderful week.
Peace,
Maryann Cooke

January 23, 2018
Dear families
So this morning we had to be inside for prayer and pledge. Over the past few months when we are inside Msgr. Tom leads us in prayer and pledge. This morning he was not here, so I was the default! Anyway, today as the children were leaving school, Msgr. was on the steps of the rectory when one of our 4th graders came up to him to ask “Where were you this morning?” The mom was embarrassed and told her son not to question Msgr, but what a great moment- he was missed. In the few months that he has been here Msgr. Tom has made an impression on the children of our Academy and they look for him to start their day. I feel we are very blessed that he is part of our Academy and that we are part of his Parish. One more reason why Sacred Heart is such a special place.
This Sunday begins a great time in our Academy- Catholic Schools Week. It is a weeklong celebration of our Academy, our students, our faculty and the fact that our faith is being lived each and every day on 38th Avenue. We will begin with the celebration of mass at 9:30 and then head over to the Academy café for refreshments and a tour of the building by our Student Council. For those who will be attending mass on Sunday, please wear your school uniform and you will receive a coupon for a special CSW dress down the following week. Please stop by the Book Fair for the newest read. This year we will have two Open Houses- Monday and Tuesday both from 8:30-10am so you can see our students “in action”. To help with the security concerns that come with the Open House, Mr. Fergueson has asked that you have your id ready to show him as you enter. There is a schedule of events in The Weekly. Students will have dress down on student appreciation day- Wednesday, Thursday is Sports team attire and Friday is Spirit Day with dress down in red and white.
The theme throughout the building is 2018 a STREAM Odyssey, as you journey through our building look for the space reports, the rocket ships the creative writing, etc. that will adorn our halls. Stop by our science classes to see the science fair presentations that the children have been working on, I am sure that you will be impressed by the quality of their work!
This has been a very big week in the life of our 8th graders, they have been hearing back from the High Schools that they wish to attend. I am so proud to tell you that every one of our 8th graders has been accepted to at least one,( some six) Catholic High Schools! Be sure to check out our “wall of pride” in the main hall to see the schools and the scholarships. Public and specialized High Schools will be announced in March, keep checking out that wall.
Last week Ms Bagotta-Nowak held our annual junior high math bee. I am pleased to tell you that after 15 grueling rounds (and some of the best competition in a while) the following students placed:
1st Place and set to represent our Academy at the regional Bee at OLBS in February Natalie Huang 7th grade
2nd Place 6th grader Bridget McLaughlin
3rd Place 8th grader Eamom Jensen
Congrats to ALL of the students who participated, they really did a great job!!!!
There is flyer in this Weekly about a Paint Night that we are holding in the Academy cafe on Feburary 3. It really promises to be a fun filled night out with the girls. Please consider joining us and bring a friend!
Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday
Peace,
MaryAnne Cooke