Villa Duchesne Nuts and Bolts | May 23, 2019
We welcome families joining us in the 2019-2020 school year to the last issue of this school year's Nuts and Bolts, a weekly newsletter for Villa Duchesne. New and returning families will receive other communications from the school during the summer with Nuts and Bolts resuming August 22.
ANTICIPATED FEAST OF ST. MADELEINE SOPHIE & PRIZE DAY The Anticipated Feast of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat and Prize Day will be celebrated tomorrow, May 24. Students are to arrive at school by 8:30 am with Mass beginning at 9 am in the Chapel. Prize Day is a Sacred Heart tradition and brings a formal end to the school year. Students will be recognized for their academic achievements and character formation. Parents are welcome to attend. Students should wear dress clothes—no shorts or strapless tops. Please refer to Dress Occasion Days under Uniforms in the Student Handbook for guidelines. School dismisses for the year following prizes at approximately 11 am. We ask that all students are picked up by noon as there will be no afternoon supervision.
SAINTS START-UP | SAVE THE DATE
Saints Start-Up on Sunday, August 18, is the official school-wide celebration of the new academic year and will include an afternoon filled with food, fun, fellowship, and family. We invite students and their parents to:
Schedule of Events | Sunday, August 18
Will your name be in this year's Annual Report? It's not too late to support Cor Unum Annual Giving. Your gift directly impacts the lives of our students—your children! Don't be left off the list, please give today!
Tap cover image to view the list of parents who have donated to annual giving to date. All gifts received prior to May 17, 2019, are reflected in this draft. Gifts received May 17-June 30 will be added in the official Annual Report.
STUDENT COMPUTERS AND TECHNOLOGY
All returning students need to deliver their current school computers to the Tech Department for summer maintenance. This will allow the Tech Department to make necessary updates and fix any hardware and software issues. Each returning student is required to complete the following:
Students will be notified via their school email address when their computers are ready for pick up. Updated computers may be picked up from the Tech Department between 8 am and 3 pm Monday through Thursday. Contact the Tech Department at TechDepartment@vdoh.org if you have any questions.
TEXTBOOK BUYBACK
Students may continue to drop off books for the MBS Direct Buyback Program through 3 pm Tuesday, May 28, in the corridor outside of La Boutique. To determine if your used textbooks are acceptable for buyback, check out MBS Direct's required book conditions.
REPORT CARDS
Report cards will be available beginning Friday, May 31, through the Student and Parent Portals.
CLASS OF 2019 ONLINE ACCOUNTS
Members of the class of 2019 may continue to use their Villa Duchesne email and Google accounts through June 2020. Graduates should be sure to copy contacts, documents, etc. that they wish to maintain after that date to other accounts or servers.
THE NEW PARENTS' ASSOCIATION Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, the Mothers' Club and Fathers' Club will join forces to create the Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School Parents' Association. Come join in the life of our School—we need you and look forward to our work together! Please nominate yourself or another parent in our community to get involved in any of our Parents' Association committees for the 2019-2020 school year. E-mail Dominic A. Key, Manager of Community Engagement, with questions about the Parents' Association and how you can get involved at dkey@vdoh.org.
2019-2020 COURSE SCHEDULES AND TEXTBOOKS
Finalized course schedules for 2019-2020 will be available beginning Friday, July 19, in the My BackPack tab on the Bulletin Board in the Student and Parent Portals (login required). The list of textbooks needed for each class, complete with ISBN numbers, is available now. View the list at Textbooks 7-12 in the Resource Center of the Parent Portal. Families may purchase textbooks from MBS Direct beginning Monday, July 22, with FREE SHIPPING on orders placed by Sunday, July 28, or from another vendor of their choosing.
SUMMER READING
Summer reading requirements for English and Social Studies are posted in the Reference Center of the Student and Parent Portals.
SUMMER OFFICE HOURS
Summer hours for Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School offices are 7:30 am to 3:30 pm Monday through Thursday beginning Thursday, May 30. Though offices are closed on Fridays through August 9, our Passport to Summer programs run Monday through Friday. Summer is a time of resting and renewal for students and teachers, but the campus is never quiet. Improvement projects, big and small, and professional development are already under way for our facilities, programs, and faculty. The administration, faculty, and staff wish Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School students and their families a safe and joyful summer. We look forward to welcoming you back in August!
SUMMER SPORTS CAMPS
Passport to Summer is offering sports camps for students entering grades 9-12 in basketball, soccer, volleyball, tennis, lacrosse, and field hockey. The first of these camps begins May 28, so don't delay in registering. Due to MSHSAA regulations, upper school athletic camps are open only to Villa Duchesne students. Visit Passport to Summer to learn more about each camp and register For more information, visit our webpage or contact Dominic A. Key, Manager of Community Engagement, at dkey@vdoh.org.
PASSPORT TO SUMMER
VIEW OF VILLA: Students entering grades 7 and 9 are strongly encouraged to sign up for the View of Villa from July 29-August 1 where they will meet new friends, tour their new school home, and prepare for the coming school year. They will get ready for the return to school with mornings of study skills and team-building exercises, followed by afternoons of their choice of robotics, media arts, or athletics. They will finish the week with Congé, a Sacred Heart traditional day of fun. ACT BOOTCAMP: Students entering grades 11 and 12 have the opportunity to participate in an ACT Bootcamp June 17-27. This two-week course meets from 10 am to noon, Monday through Thursday. The course is led by Gary Moss Tutoring Services. For more information, visit our webpage or contact Dominic A. Key, Manager of Community Engagement, at dkey@vdoh.org.
TRIP TO SPAIN | SUMMER 2020
Villa Duchesne Spanish students have the opportunity to visit Salamanca, Espana, in June 2020. Senoras Robin Begley and Magda Luchini will be chaperoning the trip offered through World Strides and will be conducting a parent/student informational session in September. Students will have the opportunity to live with local families, take Spanish classes at La Universidad de Salamanca, complete 10 hours of community service, and experience authentic Spanish life. The cost, which includes airfare, university classes, meals unless otherwise indicated, cultural events and much more, is $4,725 if 16 or more students enroll. More details are available in the trip overview below or visit World Strides and enter registration number 178060. Please contact Robin Begley at rbegley@vdoh.org if you have questions.
SOPHIECONNECT | SUMMER COURSES SophieConnect, an online learning provider for the Sacred Heart network of independent schools, is offering courses in reading, writing, math, and test prep this summer. Learn more below and contact Assistant to the Principal Judy Bertucci at jbertucci@vdoh.org if you have questions or wish to enroll.
STUDENT HEALTH RECORDS Parents are reminded that a current physical dated on or after February 1, 2019, is required for the 2019-2020 school year for all students entering grade 7 and grades 9-12 as well as all students new to Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School and those entering junior kindergarten 3, kindergarten, or grade 4. Each student's medical information should be entered or updated in Magnus prior to sports tryouts and the start of school. For a list of all health care requirements, please view Health Care | Magnus Health in the Resource Center of the Parent Portal. You will receive emailed notifications from Magnus about incomplete 2019-2020 health record enrollment until you complete all required items. To get started, log in to Magnus Health using your vdoh.org website username and password. This is the same login information used to view grades, submit permission forms, check your billing status, etc.
FAMILY RECORDS (CONTACT INFO) New for the 2019-20 school year, our printed school directory will include mobile phone numbers. Up to three unique phone numbers can be published for each family. Numbers will be pulled from the Residential Address Block of your My Backpack Profile. To prevent a phone number from being published, you must check the box to the left of it in your profile. We ask each family to ensure their contact information is complete and up-to-date. Under the Bulletin Board on your Parent Portal, expand the MyBackPack window and tap the 'Update Profile' link to get started. Your user name and password will be required to access your profile. Check for:
If information needs to be updated, select "Edit" in the upper-right corner of the page to make changes. Be sure to select "Save" as you go and "Done" when you have made all the changes! Please note: to prevent an address, email, or phone number listed in the Residential Address Block of your profile from being published, you must check the box to the left of it.
SEE YOU IN AUGUST!
This week's newsletter is the last issue of Villa Duchesne Nuts & Bolts until school reconvenes in August. Follow Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School on Facebook and Twitter as well as www.vdoh.org to keep up with news over the summer.
Each Thursday, the Nuts & Bolts newsletters will highlight important information including upcoming school events, student achievements in and outside of school, forms to be completed, and program deadlines. Send your information for students and parents to news@vdoh.org to be included in either the Oak Hill newsletter, the Villa Duchesne newsletter, or both. Please log in frequently to access personalized announcements and calendar items in your portal. Contact your Principal's Office with questions about your online account. For Villa Duchesne, email Judy Bertucci at jbertucci@vdoh.org. For Oak Hill, email Jaime Bergfeld at jbergfeld@vdoh.org.
Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School 801 S.Spoede Road | St. Louis, MO 63131 314.432.2021 | www.vdoh.org | news@vdoh.org |