Newsletter August 2019

Dear Holy Redeemer Families,

Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year! A new year always brings new opportunities for

growth. We pray that this year will bring outstanding achievements and a spirit of communi-

ty all while reaffirming our faith in God.

We have been very busy this summer upgrading and preparing our school for you! We have

had several ongoing projects from painting to landscaping, but our greatest efforts have gone

into upgrading our lighting to energy efficient LED lighting throughout the entire building,

including the church. This project will not only conserve energy, but it is projected to save

the parish and school about $100,000 over the course of the next 10 years.

We have some exciting new additions to our Holy Redeemer family. First, we would like to

welcome Mrs. Alaimo’s new baby girl, Arabella! She was born on August 9, 2019. We wish

Mr. and Mrs. Alaimo the best with their new bundle of joy. Please keep them in your prayers

as they begin this new journey as parents.

Ms. Shindana Crawford will be stepping up as Interim Vice Principal while Mrs. Alaimo

cares for her new baby. Ms. Crawford has been with Holy Redeemer since 2015. In May

2019, Ms. Crawford completed Administration certification by graduating magna cum laude

from Loyola University Maryland with a Master Degree in Educational Leadership. In the

meantime, Mr. Limarzi will instruct her computer classes during this time.

As many of you know, my husband and I are expecting our third daughter this November.

Mrs. Alaimo will be stepping in as Interim Principal while I am on leave and Ms. Crawford

will remain the Interim Vice Principal.

In addition to baby Arabella, we also have two new staff members joining our community.

Mrs. Jill O’Hanlon will be our Art teacher and 1st grade Instructional Aide. Ms. Hannah Ber-

nitt will be our Spanish teacher. I know they will be a wonderful addition to our staff.

As you will come to know, I firmly believe that parents are as instrumental as teachers in

the education of their children. Therefore, it is imperative that we work together as a team to

help each student grow. I am seeking feedback in order to better understand the school and

parent community. Your feedback, opinions, and thoughts are truly important to me. I want

to know more about you and your student. To assist me in eliciting your input I have devel-

oped a School Climate Survey that I would like for you to complete at your earliest conven-

ience. You can use this URL to access the survey, https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/

LP6VFM7. Please feel free to be open and honest as all responses are anonymous.

Thank you for all the support I have already received and the support that is sure to come.

This will be a year of transition and new opportunities, but I am already certain that it will

be a wonderful year. I am looking forward to a great school year full of learning and growing.

Blessings,

Katrina Fernandez

Principal

2019-2020 Faculty and Staff

Reverend Mark L. Smith, Pastor

Principal: Mrs. Katrina Fernandez

Vice Principal: Mrs. Brianna Alaimo

Interim Vice Principal: Ms. Shindana Crawford

Pre-Kindergarten: Mrs. Noreen Keane

Kindergarten: Mrs. Allison Ervin

First Grade: Mrs. Kate Engelhard

Second Grade: Mrs. Kathy Gardenhour

Third Grade: Mr. Blake Le Blanc

Fourth Grade: Mrs. Christina Harrington

Fifth Grade: Mrs. Catherine Opladen

Sixth Grade: Mrs. Melanie Ness

Seventh Grade: Mrs. Marie Popil

Eighth Grade: Ms. Jennifer Eller

Art: Mrs. Jill O’Hanlon

Band: Mr. Johnathon Varrone

Library: Mrs. Maureen Murphy

Math/Science: Mrs. Shirley Martins

Middle School Math/Tech Coordinator:

Mr. Joseph Limarzi

Music: Ms. Shindana Crawford

Physical Education: Mr. Robert Bekas

Religion 4-8/Testing Coordinator:

Mrs. Elizabeth Scribner

Special Education/Resource Teacher:

Mrs. Lauren Wisniewski

Spanish: Ms. Hannah Bernitt

Instructional Assistant:

Mrs. Elizabeth Higgins

Instructional Assistant:

Mrs. Terry Schnurr

Instructional Assistant:

Mrs. Jill O’Hanlon

Secretary to the Principal/ Development/

Director of Extended Care:

Mrs. Michelle Sullivan

Administrative Asst/Registrar:

Ms. Valerie Rosen

Assistant Director of Extended Care:

Mrs. Gaye Houchens

Art Teacher & First Grade Instructional Assistant

Jill O’Hanlon received her BA in English and Theater from the

Pacific Lutheran University, and her

MEd in Secondary English from the Uni-

versity of Maryland. Mrs. O’Hanlon

taught Middle School before staying at

home to care for her two daughters, who

will also attend Holy Redeemer School

this school year. In her free time, Mrs.

O’Hanlon enjoys playing piano, drawing,

painting, knitting and sewing. She has a

passion for the arts in education and is

eager to share it with the students at

HRS.

Welcome to HRS Spanish Teacher

Hannah Bernitt graduated from Pensacola Christian

College with a BS in Secondary Edu-

cation, with a concentration in Span-

ish and Speech. Ms. Bernitt recently

spent two months overseas in Spain

broadening her Spanish language

skills, while expanding her love of the

Spanish culture. Ms. Bernitt is very

excited to share her passion for edu-

cating students in a foreign language.

Extended Care To enroll in Extended Care, please download and complete the forms from the school website (https://school.holy-redeemer.org/extended-care), and then submit them along with the $70 registration fee to the school office. The Ex-tended Care tuition will be billed via TADS. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Sul-livan in the school office.

Rediker AP Notify

We will continue to use the

Rediker AP Notify system

for communication with par-

ents. This will be used for

Thursday Folders, the trans-

mission of the monthly

newsletter and luncheon

forms, as well as emergency

notifications. If you would

like to enroll another person

in our Rediker AP Notify

system, perhaps a grandpar-

ent, relative or someone who

will be transporting your

child to or from school,

please send their cell phone

number and email address

to the school office.

Crisis Preparedness Holy Redeemer School practices many types of drills throughout the school year, which include fire drills, tornado drills, chemical crisis, lockdown drills and emergency evacuations. Teachers receive training in first aid, emergency care and crisis protocol during orientation week, with several follow-ups throughout the year. Seven of our Holy Redeemer staff are certified Medical Technicians, overseen by our Delegating Regis-tered Nurse. With an emergency evacuation, school administration will notify both the Branchville Fire Department and the Prince Georges County Police. Students and staff will evacuate along the bike path toward our meet-ing place at the Branchville Fire Department. In the case of a chemical crisis emergency (shelter in place), the students and staff would remain in the school building for an undetermined amount of time. Occasionally, a lockdown will occur if a neighboring area is experiencing an emergency, and this may cause a change in sched-ule and time of dismissal. Safety of the students is always our number one priority. Holy Redeemer School administration will work closely with the police department and other emergency services to assure the safety of every student prior to alerting parents. PLEASE NOTE: Each individual student is to bring to class three, one-gallon sized zip lock bags, each one filled with a bottle of water and nonperishable snacks that do not require cooking. Please label each bag with your child’s name and grade, and bring to the school no later than September 6, 2019.

Parent Packet Pickup The Parent Packet (White Envelope) will be available for pickup August 20-22 from 9am-12pm in the Art Room. Supplies and School Store items will also be available for pur-chase at that time. The packet con-tains the Parent-Student Handbook, important flyers and information for the start of the school year, includ-ing milk order forms and luncheon order forms. If you are unable to pickup the packet during the week day hours, the packets will be avail-able for pickup after the Masses on Saturday and Sunday (August 24 and 25), though the supplies will not be available for purchase at that time.

HSA 5K Monster Dash/1K Trick-or-Trot On Saturday, October 26, 2019, the Holy Redeemer Home School

Association will host the 2nd Annual 5K Monster Dash and 1K

Trick-or-Trot.

This event will be open to the public, and

will include food, sponsor-hosted booths,

and fall activities, such as pumpkin paint-

ing. Please find more information in the

Parent Packet.

Parent Portal Our student information system,

Rediker, is a great resource for both par-

ents and students to check grades and

missed assignments. For returning par-

ents, your log-in will be the same as last

year. New families will receive an email

in early September prompting them to

log in. The grades portion of the portal is

shut down the week leading up to report

cards, and will be announced via

Rediker AP Notify. For questions re-

garding grades and assignments, please

contact your child’s teacher. For tech-

nical problems and website questions,

please contact Ms. Crawford.

Volunteer Hours

Please note that families

are required to complete

15 service hours by March

31. Families who do not

complete their 15 service

hours by March 31 will be

charged $25 per hour not completed. There

are plenty of opportunities throughout the

school year to complete volunteer hours.

The first such opportunity will be at the

Parent Packet Pickup dates and the New

Parent Orientation. If you would be willing

to volunteer your time to help at these

events, please contact Ms. Rosen in the

school office. Please make sure you enter

your volunteer hours into the volunteer

book (located on the shelf under the giving

tree).

Calendar

The school website calendar (https://

school.holy-redeemer.org/calendar) is

now loaded. You can sync the events

with your personal calendar. Please

make note of the many important events through-

out the school year. Every month, an updated cal-

endar for that current month will be attached.

HRS Giving Tree

Are you looking for a great way to help our school, teachers and stu-

dents? Stop by and “pick a leaf” from our Giving Tree. The tree is lo-

cated outside the school office and contains many wish requests like

classroom supplies and books for our wonderful teachers. You may

purchase and drop off the items at the school office, or you may send

in payment (checks made payable to Holy Redeemer School) and

teachers will purchase the items themselves. You can also shop our

Amazon Wish List!

Home and School Association Meetings

There are three Home and School Association

meetings. These meetings are for all parents and

offer important information about what is happen-

ing at the school and often showcase pertinent

speakers and seminars. At each meeting, parents

are asked to sign in. The class with the most par-

ents in attendance wins a party. Each family

earns a service hour for attending the meeting. At

the end of the school year, the parents who attend

all of the meetings are entered into a drawing for a

free month’s tuition.

Meeting Dates:

September 10 at 6:30pm

November 20 at 6:30pm

March 24 at 6:30pm

PayPal

On our website, please find the link to our

PayPal account. Families have the option to

pay for lunches and field trips via PayPal. In-

structions will be listed on the forms sent

home. You can also share the PayPal link

(www.paypal.me/HolyRedeemerSchool) with

family and friends who would like to make a

donation to Holy Redeemer School.

Holy Redeemer School

2019-2020

Parent Reminders Parent Packet Pick-Up, Orientation Dates and First Week of School Information

Parent Packet (White Envelope) Pick-Up Tuesday, August 20–Thursday, August 22, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM, Art Room

Parents may pick up Parent Packets, purchase school supplies and pay the milk fee.

Saturday, August 24 and Sunday, August 25 After All Scheduled Masses, Mezzanine Parent Packets ONLY (NO school supply sales or milk fee payments available)

Orientation Information Thursday, August 22, 6:00 PM, Used Uniform Sale, Four Seasons Room 6:00-7:00PM Parents may pick up Parent Packets, purchase school supplies and pay the milk fee in the Art Room 6:30 PM, Pre-Kindergarten & Kindergarten Orientation (in their classrooms) 7:00 PM, New Parent Orientation for ALL GRADES (Pre-K – Grade 8) Four Seasons Room (FSR), ADULTS ONLY

First Week of School Information

Tuesday, August 27, First Day of School – 12:30 Dismissal ALL GRADES 8:10 AM-12:30 PM Pre-Kindergarten – Grade 8 Before/After Care is available to those students who are enrolled in the program

Wednesday, August 28- Friday, August 30, 12:30 Dismissal PRE-KINDERGARTEN ONLY

Hours: 8:10 AM -12:30 PM for Pre-Kindergarten Before/After Care is available to those students who are enrolled in the program

Wednesday, August 28- Friday, August 30, FULL DAYS of School, Grades K-8 Hours: 8:10–2:50 PM for Grades K-8 Before/After Care is available to those students who are enrolled in the program

Tuesday, September 3, First FULL DAY of School for Pre-Kindergarten Hours: 8:10–2:50 PM All Grades Before/After Care is available to those students who are enrolled in the program

PLEASE NOTE:

Summer Dress Uniform (Grade 1-Grade 8) to be worn the first week of school – (No PE Uniform)

Tuition- All TADS accounts must be current prior to the start of class on Tuesday, August 27, 2019.