St. Jerome School Weekly Newsletter
March 2nd, 2022
"Prayer is the best armor we have, it is the key which opens the heart of God."
St. Padre Pio
From Mr. Merrick
Dear St. Jerome Families,
Today, we attended the 10:00 AM Mass for Ash Wednesday. We appreciate Mrs. Lerlo's third grade class and their participation as readers and gift bearers. Our parish has an evening Mass at 7:00 PM if you have not had the opportunity to attend Mass and receive ashes. Let's pray for each other as we journey through Lent and anticipate the celebration of Easter.
We congratulate three of our students who received their First Holy Communion at this past Sunday's 9:30 AM Mass: Sarah Harmon (7th), Emily Harmon (6th), and Chidera Odor (6th). At that Mass, Fr. Reilly also blessed our second grade First Communion students as they gave their commitment to receiving the sacrament in May.
Archbishop Perez will be celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation on tomorrow, Thursday, March 3rd at 4:00 PM. Please remember that dismissal tomorrow is at Noon.
This Friday begins Terra Nova testing for 3rd-8th; K-2nd begin next Monday. 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. These tests are an additional measure of your child's achievement, and will be used along-side classroom tests, assignments, and teacher observations for the purposes of curriculum planning and instruction. There is no need for any students to be nervous; they should just try their very best. We will test only one subject per day, and the students will resume their usual class schedule after testing.
Also, the second trimester ends this Friday; report cards will be posted to OptionC on Friday, March 11th.
Have a great rest of the week; St. Jerome, pray for us!
Disciple Maker Index Survey
The link will be on our Facebook page, Instagram, and the church website beginning March 2nd. All responses are confidential and the parish will only receive information about the community as whole. We will share the link with you a bit closer to the launch of the survey.
We are trying to get the highest response rate possible. This information will be invaluable to Fr. Reilly and our various ministries as we plan for the future and strive to be the best disciples we can be. We will receive the results this spring/summer at which time we will share what we have learned with the entire parish.
If you prefer a paper copy you may pick up a paper copy of the survey in the parish office on or after March 2nd. Printable version of the survey will also be available to print from the church website when the survey opens. To submit the completed paper survey, please drop it off at the rectory or in the basket at church.
Thank you for helping with this important project!
Read Across America Week
Luck of the Irish Home and School Raffle
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. With the latest guidelines and mitigation efforts, quarantines of whole classes and classmates are generally not being recommended. 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.