Chesterton Weekly 10/23/20
“Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.”
― G.K. Chesterton
Please be sure to review our mass attendance policies for immediate families of students. Please note that they have changed as of October 8, 2020. All guests must RSVP using our Signup Genius so that we can keep tabs on how many are joined in one place.
Please be sure to sign up and review our healthy and safety policies for visitors on campus.
In this issue:
Parent-Teacher Conference
Cross Country Champions
All Saints Day
Parking Update
Wednesday Schedule
Gala and Choir Uniform
Virtus Training
Communications Workshop
Election Day and November 4th
Sports Registration
Parent-Teacher (and Student) Conferences
Conferences for parents, their student(s), and teachers will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 27 and 28! In order to keep tabs on our numbers and allow time for all families who want to see teachers to have meetings, we ask you to sign up at this link.
That link will also list which part-time teachers are available on which day since they may only be available on one of those dates. The conferences will be held in the big gym, as usual.
To allow time for as many families as possible to see teachers, families are invited to schedule a phone call with or meet with teachers one-on-one at another time if they need to discuss issues in-depth.
Cross Country Conference Champions
Congratulations to our Lady and Gentleman Saints on a terrific season! Thank you to our spectacular coach, Mrs. Amy Kwilinski, in helping us get the team launched. This is our first year of Cross Country, and it has been a successful season. Both the ladies and gentlemen finished finished first in the Illinois Christian Conference! Congratulations to all our runners. Your hard work and dedication payed off. Our Lady Queen of Victory, pray for us. Go Saints!
Check out our Flickr page for great photos of our runners this season.
All Saints Day
This upcoming Friday, October 30, we will be having our annual All Saints Day Feast! All students are invited to dress up as a saint of their choice, provided that they follow the rules here. Please take a moment to read through the out-of-uniform rules as they still apply. We are excited for a great day!
Overflow Parking Lot Update
The Lisle Park District Schools will soon begin using the parking lot across from the Chesterton campus for pick-up and drop-off of students. For the 2020-21 school year, please do not park across from school at any time, unless you have received specific instruction to do so from our school administration.
Students should use Parking Lot 1 only.
Wednesday Schedule Returns to Regular 8 a.m. Start
Thank you for your patience and willingness to work with us in our late-start Wednesday schedule. Due to a number of factors, including the challenges it poses for family commutes and in the interest of allowing for more time for House Lunches, Wednesdays have gone back to the normal 8 a.m. start as of Wednesday, October 21. Doors will open as usual at 7:30 a.m. and the warning bell will sound at 7:55 a.m., but students will go straight to the gym until they are allowed to go up to their homerooms at around 7:55 a.m.
Gala and Choir Uniforms - Time to Order!
As we draw closer to the Advent season, we ask all families to order their Chesterton choir and Gala uniforms if you do not have one already. Please read over the following document to review the the choir/gala dress requirements and make any orders you need to (information on where and how to order is there, as well).
Though our Advent Lessons & Carols and Fleur-de-Lis Gala might like really different this year, we will continue the traditions and that means that students will be required to participate in their formal dress attire. We are excited to hear the students sing and perform soon!
If your uniform needs alterations, we have two highly recommended seamstresses: Harriet Wrobel 773-317-8247 and school parent, Julie Schaefer 630-308-9721. Prices are reasonable. Please consider using them for your alterations.
VIRTUS Program - Protecting God's Children
All parents that volunteer at Chesterton, as required by the Diocese of Joliet, must take the course "Protecting God's Children". If you are already Virtus-certified, please disregard this message. For those who still need certification, we are pleased to announce that the Diocese of Joliet is temporarily allowing people to take the course online. Please visit Virtus online for more information.
Communications Workshop Nov. 9-13
BOOST YOUR PUBLIC SPEAKING SKILLS WITH OUR RESIDENT SPEECH EXPERT!
For the past 4 years, Mrs. Colleen Billing has been teaching a public speaking/interpersonal communications workshop at Chesterton. Mrs. Billing will be offering this workshop once again for all Chesterton students who have not yet taken her class. Freshmen and transfer students are highly encouraged to take her class. Class size will be limited and spots will fill up quickly—it has always sold out! So please register here as soon as possible.
The cost is $55 per student. Students are highly encouraged to attend all 5 days of the workshop.
The courses take place at November 9 to 13 at 3:30 p.m. on campus.
Jill (CATHF ‘19), gave an inspirational speech at our 2018 Fleur-de-Lis Gala. She went on to win a prestigious scholarship thanks to the presentation skills she learned.
October Spiritual Resources
Check out the great spiritual resources and events for the month of October here. Each month we will be posting a spiritual resource page for our families. Be sure to keep this page handy as we will be updating it as needed. We have added a few items that you won’t want to miss out on!
Our wonderful Cross Country coach, Amy Kwilinski, has organized a Chesterton mothers rosary group dedicated to prayers for the school. They will be meeting to pray together on Thursdays at 3:10, at the playground on campus, weather permitting. Please direct any questions to Amy. What an incredible community we have! The family that prays together, stays together. If you would like to join them, feel free to park in the parking lot #2 so that we do not cause any traffic to block Kingston Avenue.
Election Day and November 4
As indicated on our calendar, Election Day will be an in-service day for teachers and staff and therefore it is a day off for students. On Wednesday, November 4, we will have an online learning day via Zoom to help students and teachers practice with our new Zoom classroom system. On that day, Teachers will lead their classes from campus through Zoom, and students will participate in classes through Zoom at home. We will send you instructions and tips on how to make the most of online learning before November 4.
As we approach the winter months and flu season, more students may need to stay at home with colds and flus or even self-quarantine for prolonged periods of time. We want all students to learn the system and protocols for our online schooling so that all are prepared in the event that they must do a few school days at home. As a reminder: this system is not meant for students whose families who choose to go on vacations or college visits during school days; it is meant to aid students who are staying home for personal or public health reasons but are well enough to participate in classes.
Sports Sign Ups
FLAT FEE ($200) TO PLAY MOST SPORTS IN 2020-21
If you have already signed up your student to play a sport and would like to add on additional seasons, please send a JupiterEd message to Mrs. Ryan indicating which sport you have already registered for, and which sport you would like to add on.
As you may have heard, the IHSA, Illinois' largest high school sports organization, is taking the preventive measure of pushing back the start of many fall sports. So, if you have signed a child up for Men's Soccer or Women's Volleyball, please know those sports will be pushed back to the spring (though we may be able to scrimmage in the fall to keep our skills up!).
Because of the uncertainty surrounding sports, we are allowing students to play most sports this year for one fee of $200! We hope this encourages more students to get involved with sports, regardless of skill level or past experience. Simply sign up for the sport of your choice below, and if you would like to play a second (or third) sport, please list those seasons in the form included in your online sports registration.
REGISTER FOR SAINTS ATHLETICS
Click here for Men's Soccer and Women's Volleyball (formerly fall sports). Join soccer and volleyball by November 1, 2020.
Click here for Men's Basketball and Women's Basketball. The season’s practices starts on November 16!
Thank you for your understanding in these times of great unknown.