Oak Hill Nuts and Bolts | November 19, 2020
A MESSAGE FROM DR. SCHROEDER
This week we celebrated a feast day that is particularly special to us as a school of the Sacred Heart, the feast of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne. A feast day is a celebration of the date that a particular saint died and was united with Christ in heaven. St. Rose Philippine is no doubt very familiar to our students and our community. Most students could tell you the story of how she braved the journey from France to the New World at sea for months and all she endured when she arrived. They could tell you about how she ministered to the Potawatomi, how she worked to establish Sacred Heart education in the United States, or how she was given the nickname "the woman who prays always." We are blessed to have a mission inspired by this great role model of faith and a curriculum that integrates her life so well. This year as part of engaging in our theme of Wonder and Awe, we challenged our students to push past what we know factually about Rose Philippine Duchesne and ask ourselves, what can we take away from her life? How did Rose Philippine Duchesne feel as she persevered through prayer, despite obstacles that came her way? How can we live like her today? From a young age, St. Rose Philippine dreamed of traveling to the New World and becoming a missionary to the Native Americans -- despite not knowing their language or the harrowing journey it would take to get there. Through her faith, she found the confidence and strength to pursue this dream. Our hope is that at Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill, we may cultivate in our students the desire to live boldly and to dream big, and, like Philippine, the faith to accomplish these things for the greater glory of God.
Our students also participated in a virtual prayer service which can be viewed below. I invite you to view this virtual service and continue these conversations at home with your children. In a year of unforeseen challenges, it is extra fitting we rely on the intercession of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, who braved many unforeseen challenges in her own life for the sake of the Gospel.
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, pray for us.
May you and yours have a blessed Thanksgiving.
CHRISTMAS BASKETS
Every year, our school community joyfully prepares baskets of food for those less fortunate in our community. And every year, we commit to provide to local agencies that serve those individuals at least as many baskets as there are families in our School. Each family's participation in this time-honored tradition is essential to fulfill this commitment. Participation is both an honor and a serious responsibility. In addition, we are always in need of drivers to deliver baskets. If your family would like to take part in delivering the baskets on December 18, please email Director of Service Learning Theresa Wiss at twiss@vdoh.org by Monday, December 7. Follow our Christmas Baskets link to learn more about this tradition, preparing your basket, and dropoff times. In the interest of everyone's safety during this pandemic, we will not have a community-wide Christmas Baskets Mass this year. Our seniors, who will be working December 18 to receive and organize baskets, will have the opportunity to celebrate their final Christmas Baskets Mass with a special, socially-distanced Mass. To allow our entire extended Sacred Heart family to participate, we will live stream the Mass on Facebook. More details about the live stream will be provided in Nuts and Bolts prior to December 18. Christmas break for students in grades JK3-11 will begin at afternoon dismissal on Thursday, December 17.
OAK HILL REMOTE LEARNING POLICIES
As the year progresses, we are finding that some families are choosing to stay home and participate via remote learning out of convenience rather than for medical reasons. Attending class remotely can never replace the in-class experience that we have worked so hard to create. Our faculty are committed servant leaders who are doing their best to make class meaningful for everyone, but at times they are expending an incredible amount of extra effort for students learning at home. Please know that remote learning should only be used in cases of medical necessity.
Going forward, here are Oak Hill's Remote Learning Policies:
Acceptable reasons to Zoom:
If a student remains at home for a general sick day, our expectation is that they rest and recuperate in order to join us again in the classroom as soon as possible. If the teacher has classwork/homework to share with the student, it can be picked up by parents at 2:30 pm in the Oak Hill office. If you have questions about the Zoom policy, please contact Dr. Schroeder at 314.810.3552 or pschroeder@vdoh.org.
COVID-19 REMINDERS
We are grateful for all of the effort our families are putting into communicating with us when a situation arises with COVID-19. Open communication is so helpful as we face the pandemic together. We have gotten several questions about testing and quarantine recently. Here are a few notes:
SAVE THE DATE | #GIVINGTUESDAY
We invite you to save the date and join us on Tuesday, December 1, to celebrate #GivingTuesday, a global day with one common purpose – GIVING! Help us kick off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. Your donation ensures that the timeless gift of a Sacred Heart education continues for generations to come. Give from the heart today at www.vdoh.org/give or on Venmo. Find us @VillaDuchesne.
VIRTUAL PROSPECTIVE PARENT COFFEE
Head of School Michael Baber and Oak Hill Principal Pete Schroeder will host a Virtual Prospective Parent Coffee at 10:00 am on Thursday, December 3, for interested families with children entering JK3-grade 6. Prospective parents are encouraged to attend the Zoom session to learn about the value of a Sacred Heart education. Registration is available at www.vdoh.org/schedule-a-visit. Please mention this upcoming opportunity to family and friends interested in a transformative education for their grade school aged children.
MISSION STL TOY DRIVE
Villa's Outreach Club is hosting a toy drive to benefit clients of Mission STL. Mission STL's Affordable Christmas program is a holiday event that allows under-resourced families to provide Christmas for their children. Families can shop for gifts at drastically reduced prices through the virtual store. This year, their goal is to serve 1,000 children from 300 local families. A bin will be available at dropoff through Monday, December 7, to collect toys. Please do not wrap toys in advance. To help you in selecting items to donate, Mission STL has established the following Wish Lists.
If you have questions, Oak Hill parents may contact Irene Buckalew at irenebuckalew@yahoo.com or Clark Young at topchoice@hotmail.com.
COMMITTEE NOMINATIONS
The Board of Trustees is seeking nominations for Standing Committee members. Standing Committees that support our Board of Trustees include Buildings & Grounds, Finance, Strategic Planning, and Community Engagement. Serving on one of these committees is an important first step in the process of serving as a trustee. Your recommendations can help us identify individuals with the expertise we need to advance our mission. This process upholds the National Association of Independent School Principles of Good Practice for Governance (NAIS) and School by-laws. If you or anyone you know has nominations, please submit an online nomination.
YEARBOOK CALL FOR PHOTOS
As you might guess, yearbook 2021 is likely to look a little different. Because we have been unable to hold some of our traditional events this year, we've come up with a couple of ways to fill those pages with images your children will love to share. Our first call for photos is students and their pets. View the updated eShare flier below for more information and instructions on how to submit your photos. Please note that the school code is case sensitive; only the first letter of Acorns should be capitalized. Make your submissions by Friday, December 18, and watch for our next themed call for photos after the first of the year. Please contact Mrs. Lisa Carswell at lcarswell@vdoh.org if you have any questions.
CHRISTMAS EVE MASS
Traditionally, we host Christmas Eve Mass for everyone in our community in our beautiful chapel. This year, we are not offering Christmas Eve Mass in light of COVID-19. We will miss this festive and holy evening that brings our families together, and we look forward to gathering for Christmas Eve Mass next year.
VILLA AND OAK HILL BUMPER STICKERS
We love seeing so many families display the Villa and Oak Hill bumper stickers that we sent in October! Thank you for showing your love for our Sacred Heart community and helping us build visibility for our school. Both versions are for sale in our school store, La Boutique, if you need more! If you would like to make an appointment to shop in La Boutique between 3:00-3:15 pm, contact Ms. Morrow at mmorrow@vdoh.org.
LUNCH ORDERS
Each week, students who wish to order lunch from school should select lunches for the following week using our Lunch Order Form. Place lunch orders by 9 pm each Tuesday for lunch the following week. Order forms will be updated on Wednesdays.
JOIN US IN PRAYER
"The Church is replete with many worthy and time honored devotions, but one among them I think has particular relevance for us in our times and that is the Holy Rosary. The Rosary has been recommended to the faithful for centuries as a prayer of contemplation, a weapon against evil and a source of divine strength and consolation." -- The Most Reverend Carl A. Kemme, Bishop of Wichita
Please join us each Wednesday at 8:00 am in the Front Bowl to pray the Rosary together for our VDOH community. If you have any questions about this or other opportunities to get involved with the Mission Committee, please contact Molly Pollnow Kraeger '92 or Ellen Reis Weis '97 at vdohmission@vdoh.org.
NO SCHOOL | NOVEMBER 25-30
Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School will be closed Wednesday, November 25, through Monday, November 30, for Thanksgiving Break. Classes will resume on Tuesday, December 1.
NEXT NEWSLETTER
Due to the Thanksgiving Break, Nuts and Bolts will not be published on November 26. Watch for our next issue on Thursday, December 3.
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 content 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 |