A Reflection from the Principal

I, like many of you, have seen the conversations about schools and their winter weather plans, whether that is due to a snow storm, cold weather, or simply unsafe conditions.  At St. Matthew, the decision was made to honor winter weather days for the 2020-2021 school year; I thought it was important for you to know, many factors were considered related to this decision, but the safety of you and your family is our utmost priority.

Ultimately and speaking personally, winter weather days can better be described as a gift from God.  Let's take this year for example, a year where everything is different, students are spaced from one another with limited interactions, there is little opportunity for group work or movement, masks are worn consistently for long periods of time, a day in the life of an elementary student is anything but normal.  Well, maybe there are some things that remain normal, Catholic Schools Week, skating in PE class, amazing lunches, outstanding teachers, and the list could go on.  

Needless to say, I think it is important to understand that I am hopeful these days that are a gift from God can be used together as siblings or maybe even as a family, enjoying the time we have with one another, playing outside (as long as the temps allow), catching up on sleep, enjoying a great book, tackling something at home that requires more time than an evening, and most importantly, leaves all of us feeling energized, provides the mental break students need, with the goal that we are all ready to tackle the day ahead.  It does not get lost on me that winter weather days are oftentimes the things that keep kids going and get them through the long days and weeks of an Iowa winter.

I know not always ideal timing on the part of the weather, your flexibility, patience, and understanding does not go unnoticed.  Above I mention conversations about winter weather, but the reality is I do not hear these conversations from you, the amazing families of St. Matthew, I hear them from others in our community.  Yet, in an effort to continue transparency, I wanted to provide my thoughts and reflections.

Enjoy your gift of time from God today; we are ready to see you all tomorrow.
~Mrs. Conlon

I want to take this opportunity to remind you of an important event that is happening at St. Matthew on Saturday February 13th, Mardi Gras.  While we are saddened that we cannot gather in-person, we are thrilled to come to you live that evening.  During this time we will be auctioning off grade art, as well as a number of other items.

Here is what I want you to know.  At St. Matthew, we do not put out a number of asks for monetary donations throughout the year.  We realize that as a tuition based school, we are already asking a lot of you.  With that being said, our annual Mardi Gras celebration is the one ask we do and that money goes directly to help your student and provides some additional funding to make St. Matthew vibrant and at the fore-front of education.
So as we think of Mardi Gras 2021, I encourage you to have a conversation at home about your ability and willingness to give to this great cause.  No gift is too small; one easy way to give is to purchase a tuition raffle ticket for $XXXX.

Raffle tickets must be purchased by Feb 12th, forms (attached) can be returned via Friday folders, dropped off at the ECC, church or school office.

This is a great way for extended family to support our community as they could choose the $3000 cash option vs. the tuition.  Remember, it is for the kids, all of our Jaguars! 
~Mrs. Conlon