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Happy Summer All!

Dear Families,

Welcome back! I hope you are enjoying a wonderful summer. I also hope you are relaxed, recharged and ready to start a new school year. We are blessed that you have chosen St. Elizabeth Catholic School and look forward to our continued partnership as we incorporate our Catholic values and traditions in a faith based, safe, secure, environment giving our children the best opportunities to succeed. I value your positive energy and dedication to Seton and look forward to working with you and your children.

All signs point to another wonderful and productive school year. Our faculty and staff of highly qualified professionals are committed to provide our students many opportunities both inside and outside the classroom. They have been busy preparing for your child(ren). Our administrative and support staff has been busy registering new families, updating records, ordering materials, updating technology needs, assisting families with FACTS and finding new and innovative ways to raise awareness and funds for our school. Our dedicated and hardworking facilities staff has spent the summer thoroughly cleaning and preparing for this new school year.

Again, welcome back, and thank you for your prayers and support. We are excited to see the faith and love of our St. Elizabeth Seton School grow this upcoming school year. See everyone in August!

Blessings,
Maria Niebuhr, M. Ed.
Principal

New Faculty and Staff

Each year brings positive change which includes a few additions to our staff.

Please welcome Mrs. Dana Hilmoe, our new first grade teacher! Mrs. Hilmoe joins us from Hagerstown, Maryland after teaching for many years in her hometown Catholic school. Please see her bio on the Faculty and Staff page.

Dr. Dianne Fabii is our new guidance counselor and Director of Advancement! Dr. Fabii will be on our campus four days per week, Monday through Wednesday and on Fridays. On Thursdays she will serve at Donahue Academy as their guidance counselor. Dr. Fabii joined Seton on June 25th and has been busy getting acclimated. I think you’ll agree that Dr. Fabii is going to be busy here at Seton. Please see her bio on the Faculty and Staff page.

Mrs. Naomi Manning will be our new Media Assistant/Cafeteria Coordinator. Mrs. Manning will be responsible for all things related to the library. When we return to the renovated school Mrs. Manning will manage our school library along with coordinating the operation of the school lunch program and supervising during lunch hours. Until we move back to our building, she will be working with the teachers to provide students with an opportunity to take AR tests, read to students, and check out books.

Mrs. Sumaya Perdomo will be working as an aftercare assistant. We welcome Mrs. Perdoma to our St. Elizabeth Seton Family. Mrs. Perdoma will be supervising our students who participate in our aftercare program. We are happy to have her on board.

Facilities Update

Great progress is being made at the school. New floors, windows, interior and exterior paint, and LED lighting, have been completed or are near completion. The roof on both the elementary building and cafeteria is in progress along with the renovation of the student and faculty bathrooms. Granite countertops and new cabinetry are being replaced in several of the classrooms. The school office is being returned to a classroom but will be used as the school office for the 2018-2019 until a new administrative building is built. The new administrative building will connect the middle and elementary schools to create a more unified campus. We are presently preparing for new blinds on windows, security cameras, and classroom technology to meet the needs of all our learners. We are hopeful to return to the school before the end of the 2018.

In the meantime, our teachers are preparing our temporary classrooms for our students. Grades 1-5 have switched portable locations, so we’ll be sure to place appropriate signage for those classrooms. We have a new parish center classroom where Mrs. Cole will be teaching Spanish to our PK 3, PK4 classes once per week, our K-4 classes, 5 times per week, and our 5-8 grade classes 3 periods per week. Once we return to our renovated and improved building, Mrs. Cole will have her Spanish class upstairs on the south side of the building. We appreciate your time and patience as we get our school up and running.

New Uniforms- Make sure to visit Zavada’s Renegades Sportswear, our new uniform provider in Fort Myers. You may also shop online. Please see attached uniform requirements and details on where and when to shop at Zavada’s Renegades Sportswear.

Lunch Program- Something So Yummy- Feel free to get ready for the new school year and login to the Something So Yummy portal from the school website or Seton App to see what our lunch provider has on the menu in August. We received rave reviews from our students about the taste and quantity of our food and the parents were happy about the price! We look forward to another year of our school lunches being yummy!

School Website- We are busy updating and adding to our website. If you’re experiencing difficulties in accessing our website or don’t see the information you need, we ask for your patience. Once our website is updated we will also update the Seton App.

PK3 and PK4 OPEN HOUSE NEWS – Spread the word! We still have openings for our PK program. On Tuesday, August 14th from 9AM-11AM, Mrs. McFee and Mrs. Banning will be opening up their classrooms to talk about all things Pre-K and answering questions about our program. Please see attached flyer.

HASA Executive Board- We are grateful to our parents who have participated and worked so diligently last school year to build bridges, raise funds, and partner with the school to bring programs such as Trunk-O-Treat, Mother/Son Bowling, and the Father/Daughter Dance to name a few. Thanks to the efforts of HASA new desks were purchased for our 1-5 grade and Spanish classrooms. If you are interested in continuing all the good works our HASA Executive Board needs you! Please contact Dr. Fabii (HASA Advisor) at fabii@seseton.org or by calling the school at 455-2262.

Save the Dates

Parent Orientation Night- Please remember this is a parent only evening. We welcome all parents of students in grades K-8 to attend parent orientation at 6:30 in the gym on Thursday, August 9, 2018. Parents will meet in the gym to review news and information for the upcoming year and then visit their child(ren) classroom. Special Note for PK3 and PK4 parents: Although you are welcome to attend, it is not required to be at the parent orientation. As you know, you and your child(ren) will be meeting personally with your teacher on Monday and Tuesday, August 13, 14. If you haven’t scheduled your “Getting to Know You” meeting please be sure to do so. Parents will have a chance to visit the Uniform Closet for any last minute needs.

Student Open House- Open House is Friday, August 10 from 8AM-Noon. We welcome all students to visit their classrooms, drop off supplies and get prepared for Monday, August 13th!
Parents will have a chance to visit the Uniform Closet for any last minute needs.

Mass with Bishop Dewane: On August 28th at 1PM Bishop Dewane will be celebrating mass with our school. All are welcome to attend. Bishop Dewane will be presenting rosaries previously blessed on July 16th at the Catholic Center in Venice. We are very grateful that Nikki Reinert and Sabrina Vargas were able to participate in the blessing. Thank you Mrs. Reinert graciously answering my call and escorting the girls to Venice.

Blessing of the Rosaries