APPLICANTS
Please note that at this time, the Diocese has awarded all available funds for the 2010-2011 school year. Schools will continue to check and verify their lists of student aid award recipients on a regular basis.  If awards are returned to the Diocese due to the unfortunate withdrawal of some students, aid will then be re-assigned to new applicants with demonstrated need. New applicants and their parents are encouraged to complete the FACTS application when registering. These new applicants will be considered for awards that have been returned.
SCHOOLS
The distribution of financial aid payments to schools will commence once all schools have verified their enrolled recipients. All schools are asked to please email Sue Geoffrey in the Catholic School Office by Friday, September 10, 2010 at sgeoffrey@dioceseofprovidence.org to confirm and verify the enrollment of student aid recipients. Requests for emergency assistance during the year must come to the Catholic School Office directly from school administrators and will be honored only if funding permits. Thank you for your continued help and cooperation in this matter.

All religion teachers at the elementary and secondary levels are expected to fulfill requirements for the Certificate of Religious Education from Providence College. All full time teachers are asked to complete requirements for Faculty Religious Knowledge Formation Certificates. A hard copy list of online C.O.R.E. courses and dates was distributed on Friday, August 27th at the principals’ meeting. This list was on the pink grid sheet inserted in the C.O.R.E. brochure. The first three courses offered for this academic year will run from September 20th until October 25, 2010. Visit the Providence College School of Continuing Education Web pages at www.providence.edu/core. REMINDER: The current tuition plan is based on a mandatory annual subscription fee for all Catholic schools in the Diocese: the fee is $300 for secondary schools and $200 for elementary schools. Please send this fee to the Catholic School Office by September 17th. The subscription fee entitles schools to eight C.O.R.E. registrations at a reduced tuition cost of $40.

An orientation for new school board members will be held on September 23, 2010 at Wannamoisett Country Club. The orientation will begin at 7:00 pm. All new board members are to attend this orientation along with principals who have never attended an orientation. Any other board members or principals who would like a “refresher course” are welcome to attend. Dr. Regina Haney, Executive Director of the National Association of Boards, Commissions and Councils of Catholic Education, will conduct the orientation. Please complete form to register board members and others for orientation.

The Catholic Middle School Youth Conference will be held on Friday, December 3, 2010, from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm, in the lower level of the Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul.  This year’s presenter is Anne Marie Cribbon.  Registration has begun, details here.

The 2011 Rhode Island Science and Engineering Fair will be held at CCRI in Warwick on March 21-27. Meetings for contact teachers are scheduled for late September and early October for participating schools. We encourage anyone who is interested to participate in the fair. For more information about this program, visit the RISEF website at www.risef.org.

Principals are also reminded to complete the registration process for the 2011 National Spelling Bee. Details and registration requirements can be found at www.spellingbee.com.

St. Patrick’s Pastor Father James Ruggieri, Woodlawn Catholic Regional Principal, Veronica Procopio and LaSalle Academy teacher and Catholic school parent Michael Pare participated in a taping of this 10 News Conference Special Assignment:  Catholic Education.  The program focuses on the challenges facing Catholic schools as well as their incredible value to the State of Rhode Island.

A special thanks to Channel 10 for providing permission to post this video on the Catholic Schools website.