Dear St. Jerome Families,

Happy New Year! I hope that you all had an enjoyable and restful Christmas break. That being said, it has been nice to get back in the routine of school and learning.

Since the summer, Mrs. Schmidt has been working hard on a new middle school science initiative. We are participating in the Pennsylvania Trout in the Classroom Program. We have a 55 gallon aquarium in the STREAM Lab, and soon trout eggs will be arriving. Her middle school science students will work with her to monitor the water quality and see the eggs from hatching to maturity. Once the trout are grown enough, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will come to collect them and release them into a Pennsylvania waterway. Our other grades will also be invited to visit the lab and learn about the program.

Unfortunately, the cold weather around Christmas (as opposed to the warm weather we are having this week) prevented the roofers from replacing the roofs on the two school buildings. However, they are going to work over the next few weekends to be able to finish the job while the buildings are unoccupied.

Catapult Learning has informed us that their Title I Reading Teacher, Ms. Zakrzewski has left Catapult to take another position. They have hired a replacement teacher, Ms. Michelle McDonough, who will be starting on January 18th.

Next week, we will be sending home the Catholic Schools Week schedule in the Wednesday Folder. Catholic Schools Week this year will be January 29th through February 4th. Once again, we will be assembling birthday boxes as our service project. Each homeroom will be given two bakery boxes (one for a boy and one for a girl) that we will fill with items that can be used to throw a birthday party such as cake mix, napkins, frosting, and party hats. The boxes will then be decorated and donated to area food pantries where they will be given to families in need. A sign up sheet will be sent out, starting in this Sunday's reminders, with all of the items that we will need for each class to complete this project.

Have a great rest of the week; St. Jerome and St. Lucy, pray for us!

We want to make sure that we save seats for our current families and new siblings through the end of January 27th when new student registration will begin. Copies of all of this information are also below. You can also return the Continuous Enrollment form electronically here. Registration fees will be added to your tuition account, so there is no need to send anything back, except for the Continuous Enrollment Form (paper or electronic) at this time.

If you are registering a new sibling, please indicate that on the paper or electronic form. Then, an application will be sent home by Mrs. Bacanskas for you to fill out.