| | | |  | | 8th grade present the first Advent prayer service | | Dear Parents:
One of the most important seasons in our church calendar, the Season of Advent, began this past Sunday. This season is a time for all of us to prepare for the birth of Jesus on Christmas day. Christians prepare for celebrating the birth of Jesus by remembering the longing of the Jews for a Messiah. In Advent, we're reminded of how much we ourselves also need a Savior, and we look forward to our Savior's second coming even as we prepare to celebrate his first coming at Christmas. God wanted so much for us to be with him that he became one of us. This is the greatest Christmas present – God's presence on earth. In the liturgical calendar the season of Christmas begins on Christmas Eve and lasts through the Feast of the Epiphany on January 4th. Please help your children understand the symbolism of the Advent Wreath and the importance of the true meaning of Christmas. Each Tuesday in December we will begin our school day with an Advent Prayer Service in the gym. Parents and other family members are welcome to join us at 8:10am. | | DECEMBER 7th: We look forward to seeing you all here this Sunday. We will begin the day with a 10:00am Family Mass where we will present all our Confirmation and First Communion Candidates. Following the Mass, the Parents' Club will present a Pancake Breakfast in Carroll Hall. They will also offer pictures with Santa.
Next Monday, December 8th, we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The title of Immaculate Conception recognizes Mary's privilege of coming into the world free from sin. Through the power of Jesus' death and resurrection, every human can be freed from sin at Baptism. Through that same power, Mary was always free of sin, even from the very first moment of her life. | | | | TOY DRIVE: The SF Firefighters toy barrel is now in the office and is awaiting your donations! Please consider donating new, unwrapped toy(s) for kids ages infant to 12 years old. Let's continue to "be the good" to less fortunate kids in our community, especially at this time of the year. We will continue collecting the toys until December 16th.
| | PEANUT BUTTER FRIDAY: As a reminder, we are collecting peanut butter for the St. Vincent de Paul society. If we reach our goal of 500 jars of peanut butter by next Friday, December 12th, the student body will enjoy free dress on Friday, December 19th. Please send a jar (or two!), any kind, any size with your child by Friday, December 12th.
Current count: 334! | | | PARENTS CLUB MEETING/SANTA'S SECRET SHOP PREVIEW: Please consider joining us for our Parents' Club meeting tomorrow night in the library. Also in the gym, from 5:30pm-7:30pm is our Santa's Secret Shop Preview. Come check out the fun gifts and special items available for purchase! Enjoy festive treats and cookies as well as hot chocolate, eggnog, wine and beer. The Athletic Board will also be there to sell bronco gear, sweatshirts, t-shirts, pencils, folders, and license plates.
SANTA'S SECRET SHOP: The Parents' Club present their annual Santa's Secret Shop starting tomorrow, Thursday, December 4th. Over the next two days, all the students will have an opportunity to purchase gifts for parents, friends and relatives. Each student should use the envelope they are receiving today to help them plan their shopping and to keep their money safe. | | | CHRISTMAS PROGRAM: On December 11th, our students will present their Christmas Program and will sing a selection of favorite Christmas Carols. All students will be involved in this production. Students should wear dressy clothes. No t-shirts, jeans or sweats please. The front door of the school will open at 6:00 pm to allow students to enter their classrooms. Students are asked to line up on the sidewalk in an orderly manner until the doors open. Families with preschoolers will enter through the side gate and drop their children in their classroom. All students need to arrive by 6:20 pm at the latest. The yard will be open for parking at 5:45pm. Again this year, we will present the program in the church. We ask that everyone respects the 5:30pm Mass that evening and remain outside the church until Mass is over. School staff will be stationed at the church doors and will let you know when you may enter. Parents may line up at any of the three entrances. We will begin the program promptly at 7:00 pm. We are asking that everyone attending this fun event considers bringing one or two new, unwrapped toys as part of our toy drive for needy children, or a jar or two of peanut butter for our peanut butter drive. We look forward to your attendance for this faith-filled and fun-filled production. Everyone is welcome! | | | | PROGRESS REPORTS: Progress Reports are going home today. All students, fourth grade and up, are receiving such a report. These progress reports show a snapshot of the student's current academic standing with optional comments from their teachers. The grading scale is available here. As a system default, art, PE, music and tech will show P/100% for students who fully participate. Students in the lower grades with behavior and/or academic concerns may also receive a progress report from their child's teacher. These triplicate reports for younger students require a parent's signature. | | AFTER SCHOOL CLASSES/STUDENT SAFETY/EXTENDED CARE: Please note that siblings of students who attend after school classes or clubs must be picked up or checked in to extended care. They are not allowed to sit in the classrooms with their sibling during these classes. Students checking in to the afterschool extended care program must do so at dismissal or directly after their afterschool activity (sport practice, detention, homework club, etc.). Once a student leaves the campus, they are no longer covered under the school's insurance. For the safety of your child, if at anytime you believe you may be running late for pick-up, just call the school office and ask to have your child placed into extended care. Basketball practices have begun so just a reminder that coaches may sign children out from Extended Care but only if they have been authorized by the parents in advance to do so. If you want your child's coach to be authorized to sign him or her out of Extended Care, and have not already specified so on your Extended Care Authorization Form, then please send Mr. Kavanagh an e-mail at JKav@stmsf.org requesting to amend your form to include specified basketball coaches.
Just a reminder that Christmas vacation starts at 12:15/12:30pm on Friday, December 19th. There is no extended care that day, so plan ahead! | | | As we mentioned in the beginning of the year...
UNIFORM VIOLATIONS
Boys: Boys with hair that have tails, stripes, shaved designs, spikes, and longer hair at the top are not permitted. Seventh and eighth grade boys should have a solid navy blue tie at school during the school year. They will be asked to wear them for student liturgies and other special occasions. Seventh and eighth grade students without a tie for these occasions will incur a detention.
Girls: Girls must wear navy blue knee socks. The socks need to come to the bottom of the girls knee, not half way up their shin.
Shoes: Both boys and girls wear black or navy laced non-marking shoes with soft soles and flat heels or black non-marking, leather athletic shoes. Neither boys nor girls may wear tennis shoes, boots, canvas shoes such as Vans or Converse, high top, rubber, plastic or any other extreme style shoe at school. Shoes must not have any logos or markings unless they are in black on black.
Jewelry: As a reminder, jewelry is not permitted for boys or girls. This includes bracelets and chains. Girls with pierced ears may only wear a single small post, one per ear. Boys may not wear earrings.
Please check the Uniform Regulations for further clarification. | | Sincerely,
Marie Fitzpatrick
Principal | | | | | | | |
