Do you work over the summer? This is a common question we receive as the school year ends and summer begins. The answer is Yes & No. The teachers run for summer break as fast as they can, while the office staff, custodians and IT director hang around, with a few breaks scattered throughout. The bulk of the work needed to prepare for the new school year happens during the summer months. The end of May and June are spent closing out the previous school year. Once July hits, it’s an uphill sprint to make it all happen by the first day of school.
We started off our summer with a bang when we received the resignation of our principal, Mrs. Rachel Wentling. She has been working hard to finalize her summer duties, the PowerSchool turnover, master schedule, and class lists, while preparing for her new job at Fort Hays State University. While we will miss her leadership dearly, we wish her the best of luck on her new adventure. We will say goodbye to her at the end of July.
We anxiously started the process of hiring a new principal and God blessed us with Mrs. Mandy Meagher. We hired her at the end of June and she has jumped in head first, ready to take over the duties of the principal. We are so happy to have her on board. We know she will make a great addition to our team.
Even while school is out, Mrs. Toni Whitmer, our office manager, has been keeping us organized. She has updated every database and file we own while keeping PowerSchool, our website, and the app up to date. Most importantly, she has been getting us ready for online enrollment and the transition to online payments for the lunch program. All this, while answering daily phone calls and emails.
You will be happy to know that our bills continue to get paid and the summer team has received their paychecks, thanks to our bookkeeper, Mrs. Karla Stecklein. While closing out the 2022-2023 financials, she renewed the lunch program and ordered workbooks for the students & classrooms. And in between her trips to TMP and the bank, she has been preparing for next year's enrollment fees, payment plans, and financial aid.
Mr. Duff Watson has been walking miles a day, up and down the stairs from his room to the ceilings to rewire our entire building. He has attended to individual classroom technology needs and worked to upgrade our old systems in between all the cords laying around.
Every room in the building is getting a 5-star treatment from Mr.Larry Dinkel, Mr. Coy DeWaal, Mr. Ray Wiesner, and Ms. Maggie Conant. They have reassigned, rearranged, and flip-flopped fourteen rooms within our building while working tirelessly to get every surface dusted, vacuumed, shampooed, waxed, and repaired before the first day of school. Repairs have been made to the Activity Center roof and the fire alarm systems have been checked.
And then there is me, Tracy Perrett, administrative assistant, following everyone around with my camera, documenting our summer process. Larry seems to be the most annoyed with me. He knows when I come around the corner and ask him how it’s going, he’s going to be in a photo. Besides chasing my peers with a camera, I have been preparing last year’s yearbook for print, with my parent partner, Amanda Rupp. I’ve also been working with Gone Logo to create new shirts and with Northwestern Printers to create new marketing materials.
Alongside our everyday, ordinary tasks of summer, we’ve been preparing for Holy Family Elementary's 25th-year anniversary. While the summer feels like every other summer, planning events around this celebration has made it feel special and unique. This year’s Back 2 School Bash will honor 25 years of Holy Family Elementary’s existence and will be held on our campus. Yes, on HFE grounds! How cool is that? Thanks to the Back 2 School Bash committee for their vision and commitment to making this event happen. We cordially invite you to join us as we celebrate our history. Information about the Back 2 School Bash/25th-year anniversary celebration will be coming out throughout the month, up until the event, so stay tuned, you don’t want to miss it. You can also head on over to our Facebook Events page for more details.
That’s it, that’s our summer. We love what we do and we do it for our HFE family. If you have any questions about what’s happening behind the scenes, do not hesitate to contact us. We are happy to answer any questions you may have. During the summer, we are open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9-12 & 1-4. Call us at 625-3131 anytime during office hours.