Greeting,
Today, I would like to take the opportunity to speak to you about a subject I take very seriously, bullying. This month, October is National Bullying Awareness month and a perfect time to focus and raise awareness on bullying and emphasize our policy on bullying. First, what is bullying? Bullying is an unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose. Bullying can also take place through technology, known as cyberbullying. Examples of cyberbullying include mean text messages or emails, rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles.
Bullying can happen anywhere and in any place where children are together such as sports teams, club meetings, neighborhood friends, and schools. First, let me say bullying at
St. Monica-St Michael is very, very minor, but does occasionally take place. My commitment to you concerning bullying is simply that I will not tolerate it in our school. Our students should always feel safe and happy when they are on campus. Please know that as soon as the staff or myself hear of suspected bullying taking place, we address it immediately and quickly put an end to it. My discipline policy on bullying is strong and direct as I will not accept any excuses or reason for a child to be bullying another child. As Parents and guardians, you can help with stopping any bullying. If you suspect your child is being bullied in any capacity or know of another student that is being bullied, then please let a member of our staff or myself know immediately by email, text, or phone call. We will investigate and take immediate and necessary action.
Thank you and God bless,
Mike Alford
August 26, 2022
Dear Parents and Friends,
Happy Friday, Families! This will be my last “Letter from the Principal” as next.
Friday will be the beginning of our weekly newsletter.
Arrival has been moved up to 7:55 am in order to give us a few extra minutes to
set up our morning meeting in front of our school. We expect to allow two
weeks to get everyone used to the new arrival time.
Our new website will be launched on Tuesday morning, August 30th. Please take
a few minutes to review it and see all the new and amazing things we have
added to it.
The Student/Parent Handbook will be on the website. Please read it together with your children to make sure all understand it. A form will be sent home for parents to sign to ensure they have read and understand the handbook. This should be returned back to us as soon as possible.
We have several parents and grandparents who have already volunteered, but
we still need your help. We have several great events scheduled and will need many volunteers to succeed. If you have signed up to volunteer this year, please know that your assistance is valuable and so very appreciated.
I will be enforcing the school policy on dress code.
- Important Dates
a. Labor Day Holiday – September 5 – No School
b. Open House – September 22, 2022 - Parent Teacher Organization
Our PTO is seeking parents and other family members who are
interested in joining our PTO and helping revitalize the organization. All of
our faculty will be members of the PTO this year. The PTO provides
invaluable support to our students and our school. Please consider
joining this important organization. - Help Needed
Please email me at principal@stmonica-stmichael.org if you can
help with clearing the large overgrowth behind our gym area. - Committees
Two Important Committees – We still need volunteers to assist in the
planning of two school fundraisers. The “Christmas Gala” on
December 10 and the “Mardi Gras in May” School Fair is scheduled
for May 15. These are two very important committees, so please
consider helping. If you are interested in helping with either event,
contact me at principal@st.monica-st-michael.org or
caitlinl@cglcpa.com - Teacher Wish List
Some of our teachers have added items they hope to use for the
upcoming year to our wish list. Thank you for considering a contribution.
The wish list can be found at https://www.myregistry.com/organization/st-monica-st-michael-school-barre-vt/2478252/giftlist