Dear Mater Christi Families,
It has been a busy and wonderful week at Mater Christi, and it’s certainly beginning to look a lot like Christmas as we have our 5-8 Christmas program tonight starting at 6 pm in the gym. In celebration of our students’ hard work preparing for our Christmas programs, I have declared Friday, December 16th “Jeans Day” at Mater Christi. Students may be out of uniform and wear jeans or other pocketed casual pants. Sweatpants should only be worn by students who have physical education on Friday.
This week our staff was the beneficiary of a very delicious and festive holiday luncheon that was sponsored by our school’s PTO. I want to thank the leadership of our PTO for organizing this wonderful celebration and for the countless families who contributed food, beverages, and gift cards for our staff. Your hospitality, kindness, and generosity are truly appreciated by our entire staff.
I also wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you to our Board of Trustees who sponsored a holiday reception for faculty and staff on Wednesday afternoon. Our staff so appreciates the leadership and guidance of our board, as well as their thoughtfulness and generosity in organizing an enjoyable after-school holiday gathering. Please know how grateful we are to have the support of so many members of our community!
Our school community was very blessed to be featured as the “Cool School” on Local 22 and 44 on Wednesday morning. I want to thank our faculty and staff and most importantly our amazing students (and parents for dropping off children) for coming to school early and representing our school so very positively!
The live feeds from our school featured our resident ambassador Jean Rock, as well as our lunch program, middle school science program, drum line, preschool/pre-kindergarten program, makerspace, as well as a performance by our adorable and talented K-4 students singing “Go Tell It On the Mountain”. Each of these segments can be viewed by following this link: http://www.mychamplainvalley.com/news/cool-school-mater-christi-school/619257153. If you haven’t had a chance to watch any of the segments, please do so and encourage your friends and neighbors to do so, as well so that they can discover the many wonderful aspects of Mater Christi!
This past week we had a snow event that resulted in a number of different schools in our area deciding to delay or cancel school on Monday. Our administrative team was up very early Monday morning consulting one another about the road conditions and snow amounts around the area. As you know, we made the decision to be open on Monday after learning more about road conditions and snow amounts in and around Burlington. Our school community comes for over 25 different local communities, and the weather conditions in this region can vary quite a bit based on your elevation. Making the decision to close school is never taken lightly and is always made with student safety in mind first and foremost. We also have to take into consideration our faculty and staff’s ability to get into school as well. Ultimately, you as parents know the weather and road conditions best in your area and we trust that you will make the best decision for your family.
Finally, I want to thank those families who have made a contribution to this year’s Annual Fund. To date, we have raised slightly over $62,000, but we have a ways to go to reach our overall development goal of $274,000. As you know, our annual fund is critical source of revenue in closing the gap between what tuition covers and the actual cost of educating students at Mater Christi. As you plan your year end giving, I hope that you will consider a gift to our school that directly impacts our students. We are very grateful for every gift we receive!
Finally, next Thursday, December 22 we will dismiss school at 11:30 am for Christmas break. This final day of school prior to Christmas break is traditionally a “dress-up” day for our students. We will have our final advent prayer service at 8:30 am in our gym along with other grade level parties and celebrations. I hope you can join us for this special gathering as we continue our Advent journey in preparation for Christmas. School will resume on Tuesday, January 3, 2017.
On behalf of the entire faculty and staff of Mater Christi, we wish your family a blessed Christmas and a joy-filled new year!
Patrick Lofton, Ed.S
President/Head of School