St. Jerome School Weekly Newsletter
March 17th, 2021
"I am certain in my heart that all that I am, I have received from God."
St. Patrick
From Mr. Merrick
Dear St. Jerome Families,
This week, we begin the third trimester. It was a little more than a year ago that we felt the impact of the pandemic on our schools as our students and teachers were sent home for what turned out to be the rest of the 2019-2020 school year. While I appreciate our teachers’ heroic switch to virtual learning last spring, I am most proud of what our school has accomplished this year. We have all worked together to turn challenges into opportunities; may this continue in these remaining months of school.
Report Cards will be posted to OptionC this Friday. Mr. Dooley has created a video (please see below) to help you with accessing the report cards. Please contact your child's teacher if you have any questions about grades; Mr. Dooley can also assist with accessing OptionC so that you may check your child's grades in a regular basis.
For Read Across America Week, our students designed bookmarks; one entry per classroom was selected and will be printed for all of the students in the class. We appreciate all of our students who entered, and wish our congratulations to: Paige Crooks, Nicholas Salama, Margaret Hand, Natalie McCann, Aiden Silva, Timothy McGinnis, Miley Handy, Alexandra McCormac, Hannah Grogan, Cole Kelly, Brynn O’Donnell, Emma Parkinson, & William Graham. Thank you to Mrs. Carolan for putting this together.
We had a few generous donors who contributed restricted funds that were directed to be used to start air conditioning the classrooms. We consulted with an HVAC contractor, and it was recommended that we use window units for the classrooms. Taking into consideration the available funds and access to electricity, we are going to start with the 2nd floor of the Blessed Mother Building and keep going as funding allows.
With the addition of two more Chromebook carts, we are now one to one with Chromebooks in 1st-8th grade. Thank you to Mr. Dooley for coordinating the donation from Archbishop Ryan High School and getting them set up. We will be ordering another set of Chromebooks to replace some of the older models over the summer.
Terra Nova testing continues this week. These tests are one measure of our students' progress and are used to help us teach to our students' individual strengths and weaknesses. Together with other types of assessment (classroom tests, assignments, and teacher observations), we also use this data for curriculum planning. Please make sure the students are prepared with #2 pencils. The students should also aim to get a good night's sleep, eat a good breakfast, and be on time for school.
Our 4th & 5th grade cohorts will take their Terra Nova tests next week.
Friday is the Feast of St. Joseph. After the Stations of the Cross, we will pray the monthly Novena to St. Joseph that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has recommended for this Year of St. Joseph.
If you shop at Rite Aid, please remember that you can help support our school with your purchases; click here for the flyer with more information.
There is no school this coming Monday, March 22nd, for a faculty in-service. We have a presentation from CORA about student mental health and responding to crisis situations such as suicide or threats of self-harm. In addition, we will continue working on handbook revisions and our student behavior plans, which we started at our January meeting in order to best support all of our students and allow them to thrive spiritually, academically, and socially.
May Procession will be on Thursday, May 6th at 10:00 AM. Fr. Reilly and I both like the tradition of doing an evening May Procession, but we decided this would not be possible due to the current restrictions. We will provide more details as we get closer.
Please remember to return your Continuous Enrollment Form as soon as possible. Families whose students are fully virtual are welcome to pick a form up in the school office or print it out and scan/email it back to Mrs. Bacanskas. If you have any new siblings enrolling at St. Jerome School, please add them to the continuous enrollment form. We will then send you any addition forms that need to be for new siblings.
Have a great rest of the week; St. Jerome, pray for us!
Accessing Report Cards on OptionC
Home and School March 50/50 Raffle
Lent Family Calendar
Virtue of the Month for March: Mercy
Caring for those who suffer
Uniform Swap & Free Shredding Event
Camp Jerome: Summer 2021
EITC Webinars
St. Jerome Scrip Program
Support St. Jerome on Amazon Smile:
Race for Education
April 2021
We are still taking donations to reach our goal of 20,000; remember that all proceeds will directly benefit the students of St. Jerome School.
Donations
- Here’s how you can help:
- Share the donation link: St. Jerome School Race for Education
- Credit Cards and Paypal: St. Jerome School Race for Education
- Cash or checks: Cash or checks made payable to St. Jerome School can be sent into school with a student, dropped off at the main office, or handed in at the rectory scrip counter.
Student Health Reminders
Our reopening plan calls on every member of the school community to support our values of mutual respect, integrity, willingness to sacrifice for the common good and foster community bonds across generations. Commitment to the policies will assist in protecting the health and welfare of all members of our school community.
In an effort to keep all children safe, we ask that Parents monitor their children’s Health daily. Below are the expectations related to the health monitoring.
I attest to :
Fever of 100.4 or above,
chills,
Cough,
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing,
Fatigue,
Muscle or body aches,
Headache,
New loss of taste or smell,
Sore throat,
Congestion or runny nose,
Nausea or vomiting,
Diarrhea,
My child has not had any contact with anyone with COVID
My child has not traveled a location designated as a “Hot Spot"
I am following all CDC recommended guidelines and limiting my/my child’s exposure to risks such as above
If any of these symptoms present, please keep your child from school and contact the school. If the symptoms are serious please seek immediate medical attention. Always call before visiting your doctor or health facility.
We will keep you informed if the list of symptoms, listed above, changes in any way.