Dear Parents,

Happy New Year to all!! I hope that the holiday break was restful and enjoyable for everyone. We return to school this week with a full agenda and much to do!  Second quarter ends this Friday, followed by report cards and <strong>Parent-Teacher Conferences</strong>. We look forward to meeting with you at these critical mid-year conferences. As we prepare for our meetings, please note that Mrs. Gelardi (Speech Therapy) and Mrs. Antonucci (Occupational Therapy) will attend as many conferences as possible for students who receive these therapies. If they do not make it to your child’s conference, please feel free to contact them via phone or email to schedule another time or to have a phone conference. We prefer to provide annual Progress Reports for therapy goals in May because the span of time provides adequate time to measure growth. Please know, however, that the therapists are happy to provide details about interim progress any time.

We are conducting mid-year <strong>Reading, Language Arts and Math Standardized Assessments</strong> this week. This is a continuation of the assessment process that was started in August. The final testing for the year will take place in May. Prior to our final conference time, parents will be provided with an evaluation report that compares growth over the three test sessions. Our experience in working with students with special needs is that many students struggle to perform at their actual level of ability on standardized tests and for these students, the better measure of progress is provided through classroom observations and curriculum-based testing. Just the same, it is necessary to provide a standardized picture of annual growth as well. Teachers will be happy to discuss your child’s progress at conference time or whenever you feel a need to have more detailed information about your child’s performance.

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Have a great week!

Ms.  Moreau
<p align="center"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS</span></strong></p>
<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">REPORT CARDS</span></strong>

Second Quarter report cards will be sent home in next week’s Wednesday Envelope, January 16.

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<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES</span></strong>

Appointment forms for next week’s conferences are enclosed. Please sign and return the confirmation by tomorrow.

School will be dismissed at <strong>12:30</strong> on <strong>Thursday, January 17</strong> and there is no school for students on <strong>Friday, January 18</strong> due to conferences.

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<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">AFTER SCHOOL FIELD TRIP ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 17</span></strong>

An optional field trip to ZOOMERS Amusement Park is planned. The cost is $18 per student and includes 3 hours of unlimited use of the go-carts, amusement rides, mini golf, video games and laser tag. The trip is offered to the entire student body, but it is limited to 40 students. Students registered in the afterschool program and bus riders will have the first available option to attend. Other openings will be filled until the bus is full. Please send in your payment and permission slip as soon as possible. Payments and slips that are received after the trip is full will be returned. <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Please note that this trip is the only option for afterschool care on January 17. For Cape Coral bus riders: Students will arrive at their bus stops at the normal time</span></strong>.

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<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">HOME &amp; SCHOOL MEETING</span></strong>

We are delighted to welcome a very special guest speaker to our <strong>January 24 Home &amp; School Meeting</strong>. Dr. Chris McGinnis will address our school community on the topic of “Seven Steps to Student Success.”  Bonnie Ross and Kelly Amrine will also provide information about post-secondary options and introduce our <strong><em>Navigator Program for Transition Support</em></strong>. Parents of current and future high school students will receive an overview of the services that De LaSalle will provide through this program for students prior to their graduation. Mark your calendar for 6:30 PM on January 24!

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<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">MULTI-MEDIA, NETWORKING &amp; DE LASALLE</span></strong>

Remember that DeLaSalle Academy of Fort Myers has a <strong>Facebook</strong> page that is full of great photos, slideshows, videos and posts about our happenings on campus. If you haven’t already done it, please “like” our page and tell friends and family about it, too!  On the <strong>De LaSalle website</strong>, <a href="http://www.delasallefm.org">www.delasallefm.org</a>, you will also find fabulous videos and photos under the “Gallery” section and on Ms. Urbanska’s teacher page. We are truly grateful to Ms. Urbanska and Ms. Stacie for making it possible for our community to share and network this way.

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<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">BASKETBALL COACH</span>                                     </strong>

We are still looking for a volunteer basketball coach to lead the middle school basketball program beginning in January. If you or someone you know would be interested in volunteering in this capacity, please call Bonnie Ross at 239-245-8212.

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<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">TOY KITCHENS FOR THE DE LASALLE VPK</span></strong>

If your child and someone you know has outgrown his or her plastic children’s toy kitchen, we would welcome the donation to help outfit our VPK classrooms. Please call Bonnie Ross at 239-245-8212.

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<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">RECYCLING ALUMINUM</span></strong>

The Home &amp; School Association is collecting aluminum cans throughout this school year. You can deposit your cans directly in the dumpster located near Appaloosa Lane at the NE end of our property. We encourage you to spread the word to your neighbors, friends, and family to save cans and help us raise money for De LaSalle.

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<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">SPORTS AND CLUB NEWS</span></strong>
<ul>
	<li>The <strong><em>De LaSalle Chorale</em></strong>  meets on Thursdays after school.  Practices resume on <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">January 24.</span></strong></li>
	<li><strong><em>Spring Sports: </em></strong>De LaSalle Academy is proud to announce the following sports programs:  Middle School Boys Basketball, Girls Cheerleading and High School Co-ed Volleyball. We will hold the first meeting for each sport on the following days:</li>
</ul>
<strong>Girls Cheerleading                                         -Monday, January 21 - 3:30 to 4:00 </strong>

<strong>High School Volleyball                                 -Wednesday January 23 - 3:30 to 4:00</strong>

<strong>Middle School Boys Basketball                 -Thursday January 24 - 3:30 to 4:00</strong>

All meetings will be held in the Art Room.  Parent participation is welcome for the initial meeting.  If parents are unable to attend, a flyer with all the information will be sent home with your child.  Some sports may be cancelled if there is not enough student interest.

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<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">CALENDAR REMINDERS</span></strong>

January 11                                           Quarter 2 ends

January 16                                           Report Cards go home

January 17                                           12:30 Dismissal – Parent-Teacher Conferences

January 18                                           No School – Parent-Teacher Conferences

January 21                                           No School – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

January 24                                           6:30 PM Home &amp; School Meeting – Riverside Church<strong></strong>