ABSENCES:

If a student cannot attend class, please call the Faith Formation Office at 582-4601 before the student’s class begins.  If you do not notify us of an absence, we will call you. 

We understand that many young people are involved in after-school activities that may cause them to miss class or enter late.  In the past we have worked well with the public schools of Winneconne regarding practice times and other activities being scheduled after 6pm on Wednesday evenings.  As parents, it is your responsibility to set the priorities for Wednesday evenings during the program year.  When doing so, please keep in mind that there are volunteer catechists who have spent several hours planning a session for your children, based on the number of people enrolled in their class.  Coming late to class, or not at all, is disruptive to the management of our program and is not fair to the catechist who gives freely of his/her time to assist you with your child’s Faith Formation.  Please try to realize what we teach our children when we allow them to skip opportunities for spiritual growth. 

ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE:

All students will enter and exit the building through the west door located on 2^nd Avenue.  Every effort will be made to dismiss the classes on time.  We insist that you come inside to pick up your child; particularly for children in grades 1st through 8^th grade.  This is a safety measure for you and your children.  If you choose not to come in a pick your child up after class, you assume responsibility for their safety once they exit the buildings located on parish property. Also, if you allowing someone else to pick your children up after class, we must have written notification of who that person is before we will release your child.  Likewise, if there is someone who does not have permission or rights to pick up your child, we must also be informed of that in writing.

CLASS CANCELLATION:

When the Public School is closed all Faith Formation Programs are also cancelled.  If bad weather conditions develop later in the day, cancellation announcements will be made on WVBO Oldies FM 103.9, WOSH-AM 1490,  and other Oshkosh Radio Stations under the Cumulus Broadcast System.  However, use your own judgment!  If the weather is bad where you are—CALL ME!—IT HELPS ME DECIDE WHAT TO DO. 

On occasion, classes may have to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.  Usually, we try to notify the schools in Winneconne of any program cancellations, so they can get an announcement out before the close of the school day.  So, if your child comes home and says they announced a cancellation for St. Mary’s, we probably did.  If you have any questions, you can call the church and check.

EARLY DISMISSAL:

If a student needs to be excused from classes early, they must have a written and signed note from a parent/guardian; and students in grades 1st through 9^th grade, or those who do not drive, must be picked up from the classroom.    This is a safety measure for your child, you, and also for us. 

PERSONAL OR HEALTH PROBLEMS:

Information about learning disabilities, physical handicaps, allergies, or other medical problems, which may affect your child’s ability to participate, should be reported to the Coordinator of Faith Formation.  This information will be kept confidential and only shared with the catechist, if necessary.  It should be noted that the staff of the Faith Formation Program are not allowed to give any medications to students without parental permission; and are not responsible for administering medications that require the use of injections, inhalers, etc.

COMMUNICATION:

We believe that parents are a vital part of the Faith Formation program; therefore, we will make every effort to let you know what is happening in the program.  Please check with your child for communications which may be sent home with them.  The major avenue of communication is through the church bulletin.  Everything that is going on in the church and the Faith Formation Program is printed, weekly, in the bulletin.  Please take the time to read and save the information.   The other major avenue of communication is via e-mail.  If you have an email address, and you forgot to include it on your registration form, just email me and I will add it to my book.  Feel free to call me, anytime, if you have questions, comments, or suggestions regarding any aspect of the program.  This year we will also be sending a monthly flyer entitled “At Home With Our Faith”. Program activities and Youth Ministry activities for the month may also be included in that mailing.

PROGRESS REPORTS:

Since we are not bound by the same policies as a public school, and since we are in the business of planting seeds of faith and not necessarily the compilation of information, we do not send out progress reports.  However, if you are interested in what your child is doing in our program, you can always stop in and talk to the catechist or program coordinator.  Parents are welcome to visit the classrooms at anytime; however, out of courtesy to the catechists, please let us know in advance if you plan on a classroom visit. 

TEXTBOOKS:

Elementary children should be bringing home a weekly magazine and perhaps some additional activities for the family to participate in together.  Please ask your child to see these magazines.  It is important that you know what your child is learning each week and reinforce that teaching through family discussion and weekly attendance at Mass.

Young people in middle or high school will not have books to bring home every week; and may not even have paper’s, however, you should ask them what their class was about and offer to discuss it with them.  Your involvement and interest in what they are doing in the program is vital to their faith formation and spiritual growth. The goals and objectives of each course are located in this handbook for you to use to facilitate discussions at home.