Dear Parents,
Thank
you to all who joined us for our annual Halloween costume parade today. When you think of Halloween, what
comes to mind? For a lot of people, Halloween has become synonymous with candy,
costumes, scary stuff, and pumpkins. But do you know the religious connection
to the holiday? The
word Halloween itself is a contraction of "Hallowed evening".
Hallowed is an old English word for "holy" — as in "Hallowed be
Thy Name", in the Lord's Prayer. All Saints Day, celebrated on November 1st,
is the day on which Catholics celebrate all the saints, known and unknown. The
vigil or eve of this feast, October 31, is Halloween. The purpose of Halloween
is to prepare us for All Saints Day by remembering and celebrating those saints.
A reminder that tomorrow, All Saints Day is a holy day of
obligation. Celebrating this special feast day by attending Mass is a wonderful
way to honor the saints. Please consider joining us at 8:30am tomorrow,
November 1st for our student body mass honoring all saints.
Congratulations to all who helped with or worked on
last weekend’s Halloween Carnival! What a great effort and great
success. A special thank you to the 2012 carnival co-chairs: John Ali, Ivon Van
Mechelen, Michaela Munda, Roxy Corrales-Olivier, Gladys Duarte and Anarose
Schelstrate. More information will come from the Parents’ Club, but a big thank
you to all for a job well done! Check out your envelope today
Tomorrow we begin
our annual collection of canned goods and other non-perishable items for
the SF Food Bank to provide Thanksgiving meals for those in need. In addition
to the Food Bank, this year we are also collecting peanut
butter and jelly jars for St. Francis Living Room, an organization that helps
to feed seniors in San Francisco. We have barrels and boxes here at school for
your donations. We will continue the collections through Friday, November 19th.
Let us continue to ‘THINK like Jesus’ and help to feed the hungry in our
community this holiday season.
Tomorrow evening,
in Carroll Hall at 7:00pm, the Parents’ Club will have their
first-Thursday-of-the-month meeting. Come with your thoughts, ideas, and
suggestions. See you there!
PARENT-TEACHER
CONFERENCES/REPORT CARDS: Just a reminder
that Monday through Friday next week are all minimum days with
12:15/12:30 dismissal. We will have parent-teacher conferences during that
time. Yes, there is extended care each of those days. Students not signed in to
extended care will not be allowed to remain in the yard during your conference.
2013-2014
APPLICATION FORMS: Those who
requested an application form for the next school year are receiving those in
their envelopes today. Application forms for the 2013-2014 Kindergarten class
will be available in the office and online tomorrow, November 1st.
UPCOMING FIELD TRIPS: Permission slips for the below
mentioned field trip are in your envelopes today. Please pay attention to the
due date to return the form and payment.
· The Kindergarten Students will
enjoy a presentation of Rapunzel at Fort Mason on Wednesday, November 7th.
· Students from 6th
and 8th grades will attend Archbishop Riordan’s
production of A Midsummer
Night’s Dream on Tuesday, November 13th.
· Also on November 13th,
the 7th graders will enjoy various exhibits at the San Jose Tech
Museum.
· On Monday, December 3rd,
the 2nd and 5th graders will visit the Palace of Fine
Arts for a production of The Nutcracker.
· All 3rd through 8th
grade students are receiving a permission slip for the November 29th
performance of A Christmas Carol. This is an optional field trip. Please see
the permission slip for more details.
NOVEMBER CALENDAR: In your Envelope today you are
receiving the Hot Lunch Menu and Calendar
of Events for the month of November. With all the minimum days for
conferences, etc., it will be a helpful reminder throughout the month. Please take note that Tuesday
November 20th will be a minimum day and yes, extended care will be
available that evening until 6pm.
FROM THE ADVISORY BOARD: Thank you to those who have already submitted a new
logo for STM. The deadline for submitting your design
is Friday, November 16th. Please keep in mind that the new logo/crest,
which will be featured on our letterheads, envelopes, business cards and promotional
materials should reflect that we are a Catholic school. The ideal logo/crest size
could be circular or crest shaped and include the school colors, royal blue and
white.
2012 PRESIDENTAL ELECTION
SPECIAL: As part of a social studies project designed by Mrs. Spiegel and
Mr. Kavanagh, the 8th Grade students studied the Electoral College in order to
make a prediction on next Tuesday's election. Each student reported on the
political history and current polling data in their two assigned states (and
Washington D.C.). The predictions are all in and the 8th Grade predicts that
President Obama will win reelection by a count of 305-233 in the Electoral
College. Congrats to our 8th Graders for their hard work!
FROM JOHN KAVANAGH, PM
EXTENDED CARE DIRECTOR: The first payment due date has passed and there were some
irregularities I would like to address in the hopes of avoiding them in the
future. In particular, please wait until you receive a bill before you make a
payment and please pay the amount due. Although I appreciate the
zealousness to meet one's financial obligations, there is no need for payments
before you receive a bill. The bills always will be sent home in the first or
second Wednesday envelope of each month. Early payments make it more likely for
bookkeeping errors to occur. In addition, we received a dozen or so payments
that did not match the amounts due and this also causes bookkeeping headaches.
If you are ever not sure of the exact amount owed because you cannot locate the
invoice, then please feel free to e-mail me at JKav@stmsf.org.
Lastly, please be aware that full payment must be made by the due date each
month to avoid a $25 late charge. Thanks for your cooperation!
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARDS: We
would like to invite everyone to join us at the awards ceremony, next Friday,
November 9th immediately following the 8:30am Mass. Academic
awards will be presented to students in grades 3 through 8 if he/she maintains outstanding grades in the following
subjects: Religion, Mathematics, Reading/Literature, English, Science/Health,
and History/Social Studies. The following criteria will be used to determine
eligibility.
|
First Honors
1. Students must earn a 3.75 GPA or above
2. Behavioral Expectation and Learning Skills of
2 or above
|
Second Honors
1. Students must earn a 3.50 GPA or above
2.
Behavioral Expectation and Learning Skills of 2 or above
|
In
addition to the awards for academic excellence, one student per grade, 3
through 8, will be chosen for a citizenship award. In grades K-2, two students
per grade will receive this award. Below are the criteria on which this award
will be based.
Citizenship
1.
Exemplify exceptional Catholic values
2.
Demonstrates overall good citizenship
3.
Behavioral Expectation and Learning Skills of 2 or above
YARD
DUTY: Thank
you to the many who have already volunteer for yard duty this year. The teachers definitely appreciate your help.
Just a couple of reminders – please arrive on time when volunteering for yard
duty, we do not allow food or beverages in the school yard during yard duty
(this includes coffee/tea drinks), and please refrain from using your cell
phone while on duty.
Happy
Halloween! Happy All Saints Day!
Marie
Fitzpatrick
