To begin this week, I think it is important to squash the rumors that people have already started to spread.

The Parent Association and I knew that we ran the risk of scaring families by announcing this meeting. However, the risks of not getting our community together are far greater. Should we sit back and not take some action now, we would have no one but ourselves to blame. 

The Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday evening is NOT to announce the closing of our school. Part of our reasoning for holding the meeting is to make sure that everyone is working together. Do not let anyone spread these rumors. Spreading such disinformation without a care about the community is unconscionable. Anyone who announces cavalierly that a school is closing just so they can feel important is a poor, lost, attention-seeking soul.

Instead, it is our goal to take serious action within our community so that we can position our school better. By pulling together and being proactive, we can make sure that our current students, and future children, will be able to attend St. Margaret of Cortona School through Graduation. If you want to be a part of that, we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday evening.

On to some more positive news. Our new School Nurse assisted us in filing our application to extend her hours. We are happy to report that our application has been approved. Ms. Weeks will be at the school each day until 6PM. She will be available to help take care of our students during After School should they get hurt or sick.

Ealier this year, our school recieved the designation as a Grief-Sensitive School. As we continue to support our students in their social-emotional development, we also wanted to have a location within the school available to our school where they would feel comfortable sharing their feelings. Therefore, we have established one of our classrooms as a Prayer and Reflection Space. It is a place where students may go to pray, reflect, read and share. The purpose of the room is two-fold. It will also be the location where our Title I Counselor can meet with individuals and groups of students and discuss concerns: academic, social and/or emotional. Our Counselor will be available on Tuesday. The remainder of the week, the room can be used by students, with teacher approval, as a quiet place.

As mentioned in the previous Memo, all of our school events this month will go toward assisting Mrs. Mary Ellen Callahan with her medical expenses. We would like to thank you for the incredible support of our Bake Sale. We have already raised $700 on the Bake Sale.

We have a few more events planned, and we are confident that you will be just as generous. We also ask that you keep her in your prayers on a daily basis.

At the risk of overloading you, I share the following information about another school community member in need of our help.

One of our school community members, Robby (Bobby) Ernau, age 47, a renowned storyteller and enthusiast of life was recently and quite unexpectedly diagnosed with stage IV melanoma.

Robby is a proud native of 204th street, resident of Riverdale and Parishioner of St. Margaret of Cortona parish for the last 15 years. Robby is a devoted father and dedicated husband to his loving wife Carolyn of 20 years. Robby is a Transit employee and proud member of Local 100 of 18 years. He is a lover of history and a graduate of Northern Arizona University.

Anyone who has ever met Robby would attest to his fun-loving nature and hilarious sense of humor. Times are genuinely more fun when he is around.
Robby's strength and competitive spirit will help him in this fight, you can help as well.

Please join us at the American Legion, Bajart Post 1122 at 840 Mclean Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10704 on November 16, 2019 from 6-10pm to show our support for Bobby and his family. There will be a $40 open bar with food and music provided by DJ Bombscare. All proceeds will go towards Bobby's fight against this horrible disease. Raffle Tickets are also being sold for $20 each.

Our 8th Graders sat for their TACHS Exam. This is a big step on their journey toward Secondary School. We are confident that they all did well and we are very proud of them.

Enjoy the Veteran's Day long-weekend. When you can, stop and thank our men and women in uniform. They deserve more than we can provide them. And they have given us more than we can even imagine.

God's Blessing to each of you.

Mr. Hugh M. Keenan, Principal