St. Stan Star
November 29,2017
From the Principal's desk
Be strong and take heart, all who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:25
Now that Thanksgiving has passed and the Feast of Christ the King has been celebrated, we look toward the beginning of a new liturgical year and the seasons of Advent and Christmas. During our Morning Gathering, students have been learning and reviewing the liturgical calendar and the special feasts dedicated. Students and staff hear the words, “what every good Catholic boy and girl should know” about the liturgical calendar. They are getting very good at knowing the dates for the Feast of Assumption, Immaculate Conception, Ascension, The Blessed Mother’s Birthday, Feast of All Saints, and Solemnity of Mary, Holy Mother of God. As they get more comfortable with these topics, new special feast days will be added.
The Spanish Club is sponsoring a special mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Tuesday, Dec. 12 at 2:00 p.m. All classes are invited to attend. Parishioners and family members are also invited to attend.
Students are also learning about Bishop-elect McKnight who will be ordained in February.
Over the Thanksgiving break, more tire chips were added to the playground in the areas near the climbing equipment. The school is thankful.
Advent and Christmas. The school celebrates this special season of preparation in many ways. Different classes have taken the leadership on planning worthwhile activities. The second grade class will once again act out Los Posadas. The sixth grade class has organized the materials and scripture references for creating a Jesse Tree and is sharing their skills with the whole school. The Leadership Council will be leading classes in daily prayer and “building” the nativity scene one character at a time. Students had the opportunity to receive the sacrament of reconciliation in preparation for Christmas. In addition to all this, classes are also working on different service projects during this season of giving.
All are invited to the 2017 Christmas Program. The first performance will be Friday, Dec. 8 at 1:00 in the school gym. The second performance will be on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 4:00 in the gym. The program should last about an hour. All are invited to attend. Students will be doing the Friday performance in their regular school clothes. After the concert, students will return to their classrooms for regular instruction.
For the Sunday performance, students in Grades K-6 are expected to wear white shirts and school pants. Students are invited to wear red holiday accents like red Santa hats, red scarves, red ribbons, etc. Students who are performing need to be at school in their classrooms by 3:50 at which time the procession to the gym will begin. Teachers will supervise students in the classrooms from 3:30 – 3:50. Students arriving before 3:30 are to be with parents until an announcement is made for them to go to the classroom. Students will have assigned seating in the gym on the bleachers during the performance. Early Childhood students and Kindergarten students will be connected with their parents at the end of their performances.
School will not be in session from Dec. 22, 2017 to Jan. 2, 2018. Classes resume again on Wed. Jan. 3.
Catholic Schools Week. Catholic Schools Week, promoted by the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) will be celebrated Jan. 28 – Feb. 3. A committee of teachers and parents are putting the plans together. This year NCEA is sponsoring a nationwide event called Many Gifts, One Nation: A Day of Giving to Catholic Schools. Each school will have its own independent donation page online. Donors will be able to search for schools by name or location to make a monetary gift directly to the school. It will be available one day only, Jan. 30, 2018. In this way, those who want to honor St. Stanislaus School but do not live in the area can make a contribution. More about this day and other activities regarding Catholic Schools Week will be made available in January.
St. Stanislaus Self Study The self-study process is well underway. School staff and parents met in November to begin work on reviewing the twelve standards. Small committees are currently working to find the strengths and areas of improvement for each of these standards. A final report will be created by the end of January and a Visiting Team will come to St. Stanislaus School in late February to affirm the report.
Opt Out Program The St. Stanislaus School Home and School Association functions as a support for the school. Years ago, like many Home and School Associations, the organization functioned as a fund raising organization. Families were expected to sell magazines, cookie dough, wrapping paper, trash bags, car wash certificates, etc. to raise funds to financially support the school with needs not reflected in the budget: some educational materials (library books, online educational programs), Advent and Lent booklets, Field Day, activities for school families such as the Bullying presentation and materials, Trunk or Treat, Christmas Program, and Catholic Schools Week.
Years ago, the Advisory Board discussed fund raising events because of concerns for child safety in selling door to door and families feeling “nickeled and dimed” too often. In an effort to respond to these concerns, The Board decided that any fundraising would need approval by the board and certain criteria needed to be met before a fund raising effort would move forward. The Home and School Association responded to this concern with the Opt Out program, allowing parents to make a monetary donation in lieu of selling items. This concept has served the school well for these past years relieving families from time consuming fundraising activities.
So far this year, The Home and School Association has received 32% of the “opt out” forms from our families that were due Oct. 31. Thank you to those of you who have already responded. The forms were sent initially as an attachment with the STAR earlier in the school year (Sept. 27). Today we are sending home a paper copy with the intention of making it more convenient for our school families. Depending on the response from our families during this second round, it may become necessary for the school to begin looking for fundraising activities that will allow us to purchase the materials and services that enhance our educational program.
Emergency Drills and Procedures.
Each month the school practices one of four emergency drills: fire, tornado, earthquake, and intruder. The drills are recorded and notes are made regarding the time it took to do the drill. Notes include any corrections or adjustments that need to be made to make the drill safer or timelier. Students and staff respond quickly and immediately during the drills taking them seriously. Each classroom is equipped with an emergency backpack that includes student information, emergency contact numbers and procedures, a flashlight, and a first aid kit. Teachers take this backpack with during the drill. Each classroom also has emergency procedures posted at the door in the classroom.
May the blessings of God our Father and His son Jesus Christ fill you with hope.
Calendar of Events
Thursday, November 30
8:00 am Mass-specials
Reconciliation Grades 6, 7, 8, after mass
Wednesday, December 6
No School Mass
Pro-life T-shirt Day
Thursday, December 7
No School Mass
Friday, December 8
8:00 am Mass 7th grade
Christmas Concert 1;00 pm Gym
- Tri-Cap Wrestling flier
- News Tribune Community Connection (Fall Edition 2017)
- City of Jefferson Program & Facilities Guide
Campbell's Labels for Education
Just a side note about box tops, it is easy to start collecting them and forgetting that they have an expiration date on them. Each of those is worth ten cents. So please, when saving box tops, you may want to just send them in every three months or so. That will decrease the chances of expiration. Also, make sure they expiration does not get clipped off. If it is not on there, they will not accept it.
Once again, thank you so much for the support you show these programs that benefit our school!
Thank you
Spanish Club
The Spanish Club is sponsoring a special mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Tuesday, Dec. 12 at 2:00 p.m.