Congratulations to the Varsity Boys' Basketball team, Champions of the Florida West Coast League! The team beat Tampa Prep in the Semi-Finals and Academy of the Holy Names in the League Championship. Great work, Irish!

We welcome all grandparents attending the January 27 Celebration of the Eucharist, ICS student showcase (speeches, songs, and other student performances), refreshments and tours. ICS students will act as hosts for this special day where we honor our heritage, history and ancestry.

Catholic Schools Week 2012 is January 29 - February 4. This year's theme is "Faith. Academics. Service." Similar to last year, ICS will celebrate all that is good about Catholic education at ICS. Please see the packet or our school's website for a tentative list of activities. Please note that Mass for the week of CSW will take place on Thursday February 2 in honor of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

From Mr. Zelenka: As we enter the 2nd semester and pass the 1/2 way point of the 2011 - 2012 school year, please join me in congratulating our teachers and students for their heroic efforts thus far. Teachers have worked hard with unit planning and incorporating higher order thinking skills into their classes. This movement is ahead of the upcoming trend of the State of Florida adopting the Common Core Standards (which will put a greater emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving skills). Our students have embraced our new culture of being self-disciplined and becoming disciples of Jesus. Students have enthusiastically tackled projects such as our school garden, the Science fair, SuperKids (our new Kindergarten reading program) and many other challenging academic projects. On behalf of Fr. Michael Suszynski, I thank our parents for making the sacrifice to invest in their child(ren)'s future by giving them the gift of Catholic Education here at ICS. Thank you.

Report cards for any family in full compliance with tuition and all other fees will be given either at conferences (should you attend) or sent home on Friday January 27.

Tuition rates for the 2012 - 13 school year should be established soon. Please once again expect great rates that offer an outstanding Catholic education at a very affordable (and comparatively low) cost. In this week's packet you will find an enrollment questionnaire. You are asked to fill it out and return it to the main office so that we can begin projecting and planning for next school year.

Even though we offer one of the lowest private school tuitions in the Tampa Bay area, we understand and appreciate that it is still a great sacrifice for our families. Financial aid opportunities such as Step Up for Students and the Diocese of St. Petersburg Tuition Assistance program have deadlines within the next few months.

• Step Up for Students re-enrollment for current SUFS families will open in February. Please be sure to re-enroll early to guarantee a continuation of this scholarship. Enrollment for new families to SUFS will begin March 1.
• DOSP Tuition Assistance Forms are due by March 31.

The FACTS Grant & Aid year 2012/13 began November 1, 2011. For online information about the Grants and Aid please visit: https://www.factstuitionaid.com/facts/gaapp The criteria for the 2012-2013 Catholic Schools Tuition Assistance and the link for FACTS Grant and Aid application has been posted to www.dosp_ocsc.catholicweb.com It is located on the top right hand side of the page.

Our school's upcoming Accreditation is slated for February 8 - 10. On the night of the first day the school will be presenting to our Visiting Team all that is good about ICS. Scheduled to take place in the Church, this community event will be on Wednesday February 8 at 7:00 PM. Immediately after this presentation, our ICS Dads Club will sponsor an Ice Cream Social in St. Michael Hall. Other refreshments will be available free of cost; participation in the Ice Cream Social will cost a nominal fee of $2.00. Please plan to come with your entire family and be a part of this night!

Also, please note that Friday February 10 (the last day of the visit) is a half day of school. We will attend Mass that day. AfterCare will not be available on the 10th so that all teachers and staff can attend the official report given to our school.

The Diocese of St. Petersburg's Catholic Foundation Dinner is 2/11/2012. The Catholic Foundation provides scholarship money to diocesan schools and this night specifically targets Catholic Education. Table sponsorships are $2,500.00, with 20% of that coming directly to ICS. For more information, please visit: http://cf.dosp.org/ or contact Mr. Zelenka. This past year, ICS received $3,500.00 from the Catholic Foundation because of money raised at the 2011 dinner.

We encourage all families to consider attending ICC's Casino Night on Saturday February 18. This event's sole purpose is to generate funds to renovate the Saints' Wing: St. John (Ms. Hand's art room); St. Francis (Mrs. Cummings and Mrs. Bujak's current classrooms); and St. Patrick (Mr. Bowser's music room).This is not a school fundraiser. The Parish is responsible for all aspects of organizing and running this event. But, the school is the primary beneficiary! So, unlike many of our school sponsored events where many of you have to double up on both working and participating, this event is ICS's chance to come solely as guests! Tickets are $35.00 for a night of food, fun, dancing, and prizes! Let us show our appreciation for the outstanding support offered to us by the Parish by supporting this event - we are one Church: Incarnation. HSA representatives will be selling tickets after school next Friday, February 3 in the School Pavilion

The Board is in the process of establishing a Marketing / Development Committee as well as a Diversity Committee. These groups will be lead by School Advisory Board Members and populated by parents of current students and other community members. Please pray for the success of these new initiatives.

Mrs. Rhonda Carrier, Incarnation technology and science teacher, presented at the 2012 Interactive Connections Conference in Orlando this week. This conference was held in conjunction with the Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) Mrs. Carrier presented a workshop on Digital Storytelling and Marketing. The Interactive Conference was welcomed by Bishop John Noonan to the Diocese of Orlando, His welcoming message is posted on a Cyberpilgrim's Blog.