St. Jerome School Weekly Newsletter
January 26th, 2022
“Nothing can make me holy except the presence of God and to me the presence of God is fidelity to small things. Fidelity to small things will lead you to Christ. Infidelity to small things will lead you to sin.”
St. Teresa of Calcutta
From Mr. Merrick
Dear St. Jerome Families,
I hope your week has been going well so far. Catholic Schools Week begins this Sunday; we have a full week planned with events and activities to celebrate our dedication to faith, excellence, and service. The full schedule is below, along with more information about the Scholastic Book Fair.
All of our families are invited to attend the 9:30 AM Mass on Sunday (it will also be live-streamed as well). After the 9:30 AM Mass, the Book Fair will be open in the Library until 12:30 PM; the Catholic Schools Week Raffle Baskets will be on display in the first floor hallway of the Blessed Mother Building until 11:30 AM; and student art work will be on display in the second floor hallway of the St. Joseph Building until 11:30 AM.
On Sunday, after Mass, we will also have an open house for prospective families on the first floor of the St. Joseph Building until 12:30 PM. Please invite your friends, family, and neighbors who may be interested in learning more about our school and taking a tour.
Yesterday, Fr. Reilly celebrated our January School Liturgy with a focus on the respect for all life. Mr. Stevens’s 5th grade class did a great job assisting as our readers, gift bearers, and altar servers.
After the Mass, we also recognized our students of the month for January; these students were chosen by their teachers for living the virtue of fidelity: Logan Doyle, Wyatt Flite, Patrick Rogers, Charlotte Adams, Robert Clarke, III, Kelli Peak, Kaden Wiley, Erin Cannon, Joseph Barnes, Madison Wnek, Jerry Kling, Jessica McLaughlin, Matthew Sokolowski, Hannah Grogan, Christian Reyes, Kerri Everly, Akeem Twegby, Riley Yeager, Joseph Fortino, Emma Parkinson, and Alessandro Damico.
For the month of February, we will be working on the virtue of cheerfulness.
Congratulations to Sarah (7th) and Emily (6B) Harmon, who were baptized by Fr. Reilly this past Sunday.
Progress Reports (1st-8th) will be posted to OptionC tomorrow morning. Please contact your child's teacher if you have any questions about his or her academic progress thus far. We are at the half-way point in the second trimester, which ends on Friday, March 4th.
Please remember that priority registration for current students and new siblings extends through this Friday, January 28th. All that you need to do is return the continuous enrollment form (either on paper or electronically using the link here or below).
Have a great rest of the week; St. Jerome, pray for us!
Registration for 2022-2023
Priority registration for our current St. Jerome families is underway. All that you need to do, for the upcoming school year is return the Continuous Enrollment Form on paper or electronically here by Friday, January 28th; the registration fee will be automatically added to your SMART Tuition account and spread over three months. After January 28th, we will begin open enrollment and can not guarantee seats for next year.
Catholic Schools Week 2022
All are invited to attend, virtually or in-person, the 9:30 AM Mass on Sunday, January 30th, to kick off the week. The Scholastic Book Fair will be open that morning as well.
Please also see below about our Catholic Schools Week Birthday Box Service Project and how you can help.
Scholastic Book Fair
As part of our Catholic Schools Week celebration, we will be holding the Scholastic Book Fair in the school library. Visiting the Book Fair is like going to a bookstore set up in our school. Your child will have time during the school day to select books to purchase. The Book Fair Brochure is in the Wednesday folder. It is only a sampling of the many books that are available at the Book Fair.
On the designated shopping day (see homeroom schedule below), children may bring money to shop and purchase books. They can pay cash, check or Scholastic eWallet (see directions below). Checks should be made payable to “St. Jerome School.” Please remember that 8% sales tax will be added to the total. All cash/checks should be brought to school in an envelope labeled with the child’s name.
eWallet Information: As an alternate form of payment, you can set up an eWallet for your child. eWallet is an account that you create through Scholastic to preload an amount of money for your child to spend at the Book Fair. Please go to our Scholastic homepage at https://www.scholastic.com/bf/stjeromeschool for more information and to set up your child’s eWallet before their designated shopping day.
Give the Gift of Reading! There will be a “Teacher Wish List” on display at the Book Fair. You can purchase a book to be donated to the classroom of your choice.
Family and friends can visit our Book Fair. We will have community shopping hours on Sunday, January 30th from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM and Wednesday, February 2nd from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. (It’s also Winchester Wednesday!) All are welcome!
Our Book Fair is also available online from January 28th through February 10th at: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/stjeromeschool
Thank you for your support and we look forward to a successful Book Fair! Please email Mrs. Carolan with any questions at acarolan@sjsphila.org.
Catholic Schools Week Cash Raffle
CARES Fun Friday
Chick fil A Cookie Grams
Share the love this Valentine’s Day with cookie grams!
Cookies: $2.00 Each
Orders Due: Thursday, February 3, 2022
Cookies will be delivered on Monday, February 14th, 2022 and distributed by grade.
If you have any questions about the ingredients, please visit this link:
https://www.chick-fil-a.com/Menu-Items/Chocolate-Chunk-Cookie
Catholic Schools Week Birthday Boxes Service Project
As one of our Catholic Schools Week service projects, each homeroom is going to assemble 2 birthday boxes --- one for a boy and one for a girl age-appropriate to their grade. We will have 2 bakery boxes to put the items inside, and the outside will be decorated by the students
All the birthday boxes will be donated to the Catholic Social Services Family Service Center. These birthday boxes will allow families in need, who come to Catholic Social Services for food and clothing, to provide for a special birthday for their child, especially in these challenging times.
Please click here for more information and the sign up sheet (you can sign up for multiple items and grades if you would like). Please note that all of the grades are on the sign up sheet, but you need to scroll to the bottom for Pre-K3 and Pre-K4. Please bring in all items by Monday, January 31st, so that we can assemble the boxes and deliver them to Catholic Social Services. If we have any extra items, we will assemble additional boxes. Thank you!
Valentine Paint Kits
Home and School Super Bowl Block Pool
$20 a block
4 winners!
$250- FIRST Quarter
$250- HALF-TIME Score
$250- THIRD Quarter
$250- FINAL Score
Blocks will be sold at the Rectory and through any Home and School Member. There are only 6 block pools to fill so grab your lucky spots! Once block pools are filled, they will be posted to the St. Jerome Home and School Facebook Page!
You can also email us at saintjeromeshomeandschool@gmail.com with your contact information if you would like to purchase a block.
Open House
Archbishop Ryan Musical Theater Grade School Auditions (The Little Mermaid)
Archbishop Ryan Musical Theater is holding auditions for grades 1 through 8 on Wednesday, Jan. 26 starting at 3pm.
The children will be taught a song and should be finished by 4-4:30pm.
Grade schoolers should enter the back of the school at the North Café entrance and someone will be there to take them upstairs. Parents are not permitted to view the auditions.
There will be a participation fee that will be paid later.
As per the Philadelphia Department of Health, there are current masking guidelines for unvaccinated kids.
Ways to Save On Your Tuition
St. Jerome Scrip Program
Support St. Jerome on Amazon Smile:
COVID-19 & Catholic Schools Onward Protocol Reminders
Please continue to monitor your children for any symptoms, and have them stay home if unwell, if he or she tests positive for COVID-19, or was exposed to a person who tested positive for COVID-19. Please let us know so that we can help you determine a return date.
We are also ready to switch our students in K-8th over to virtual learning as quickly as possible. Please let us know, and we will prepare your child's books and lend a Chromebook if you need one. Pre-K teachers will work with families on an individual basis with suggested activities so that your child does not fall too far behind.
If a student or staff member who has been in a classroom tests positive for COVID-19, we will work with the Philadelphia Department of Health to determine close contacts and notify them of the need to quarantine. They will either recommend the quarantine of the whole class, students who sit near the student or staff member who tested positive, or to monitor your child for symptoms. Again, we will let you know their guidance and switch any students who need to quarantine to virtual.
Thank you for your help and support as we work to keep our students and staff safe and healthy while maintaining in-person instruction for our families and providing the best possible spiritual and academic experience for our students.