Crusader Chronicle
St. Ignatius of Antioch Elementary School
God Always Waits for Us
Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, tells us that “God always waits for us, even when we have left God behind! He is never far from us, and if we return to Him, He is ready to embrace us.” During Advent, we hear the Prophets calling us to return to God and experience His mercy. We hear John the Baptist call us to repent and experience God’s mercy. And we anticipate the celebration of God’s greatest act of mercy, the sending of His only Son, Jesus, to be with us.
Joseph Leads Us in Our Last Week of Advent
I mentioned in an earlier Crusader Chronicle that, as a faculty, we prayed Advent Stations of the Cross at our Faculty Retreat on November 23. One of the Advent Stations is St. Joseph's Dream, and St. Joseph's dream is the story in today's Gospel reading for the Fourth Sunday of Advent. This is part of the passage that we used for reflection at our Faculty Retreat:
Wendell Berry said, “Sleep is the prayer the body prays.” Joseph, the carpenter, the one who would raise your Son here on earth - you spoke to him through an angel in a dream. The angel said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary into your home.” The child within her was conceived through the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit who spoke through the prophets, saying, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son.” The angel told Joseph that this child “will save his people from their sins” and “they shall name him Emmanuel.” Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” God came down from heaven to be with us. To remind us that You love us, that You delight in Your children. That You want to be with us. And Joseph woke from his sleep, rested and sure of You. He did as You commanded and took Mary into his home. In his rest, he saw Your truth, that they were placed in a lowly position for a time such as this. Joseph listened and was able to be part of Your story for eternity. As we ponder the mystery of Emmanuel, God with us, may God speak to us in our sleep. May our bodies pray the prayers we cannot speak during the day. May our restless souls rest in God. May we hear God’s words — and listen. May we be certain that God is here with us.
(Written by Shemaiah Gonzalez, Diocese of Rochester, New York)
School News!
A Beautiful Christmas Concert
A huge congratulations to all our students for their wonderful performances at last week's Christmas Concert! All of our students sang and played beautifully, and the 8th grade re-telling of the story of the birth of Jesus was inspiring. Thank you to all of our students!
A special thank you to Mrs. O'Hara for all of her hard work in teaching the music and for rehearsing with our students to prepare for the Christmas Concert!
The Song of God
Therefore in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is sung. And do become a choir, that being harmonious in love, and taking up the song of God in unison, you may with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ. (From the letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians)
Planning for 2023-2024 Registration
We are already planning for registration and class numbers for the 2023-2024 school year.
If you are a current family and are planning to register a new child from your family for the
2023-2024 school year, please contact Mrs. Crozier at hcrozier@sischool.org as soon as possible.
Winter Uniforms
St. Ignatius School Family Directory
Online School Store Fundraiser
Thank you to all the families who have already participated in our SchoolStore fundraiser!
Many of our teachers have received generous gift certificates from their students. If your family has not registered, there is still time, prizes are still available. Click the link below if you want to participate:
https://www.schoolstore.net/cgi/SetSchool?secheck=1&SchoolID=0000120009
School Store News
Important Drop Off and Pick Up Reminders
If you need to pick up your son or daughter prior to regular dismissal time, please be sure to pick up no later than 2:15 pm, in order to keep all of our dismissals flowing smoothly.
Car drop off begins at 8 am. If you do not see a school staff member in the drop off area, please do not drop off your child or children and leave them outside the doors under the blue canopy; please wait until a staff member comes out and opens the doors.
For car drop off, please stay in the drop off line and do not drive around the car in front of you. Wait until the car in front of you pulls forward before you pull forward.
For car drop off, please do your best to make sure your child is ready to exit the car when you pull up and stop. Especially if you are the first car in line, please drive away once your child is out of the car and your car door is closed. This will help with the flow of traffic in the car drop off line.
For car pick up, please wait until the school staff member gives the signal for your line of cars to pull out and drive out of the parking lot before starting to drive away.
For Pre-K drop off and pick up, please follow the procedures, leaving the lanes with cones at the ends empty for parents to drive out once they have walked their Pre-K students to the Pre-K building. Please take extra care as you are driving, parking, and leaving after Pre-K drop off and pick up.
If you have someone dropping off or picking up your child that has not dropped off or picked up at St. Ignatius before, please inform them of the procedures so that there will be no issues.
Home and School Update
The Home and School Association is thankful for all the parent support for all our recent events. Please mark your calendars for our upcoming events! See the flyer below for more information on the Santa Shop!
Volunteer Clearances
As a friendly reminder, any parent or guardian who would like to volunteer at our school and church events, MUST have up-to-date clearances on file with Jayne Marcinowski, the Safe Environment Coordinator, at the church rectory. She can be reached at hr@stignatius.church. The following link will take you to the Church Safe Environment website where you can follow instructions to obtain clearances.
http://www.stignatius.church/safe.html#more
FAMILY DINNER
We are happy to announce that we will hold our annual Home and School Family Dinner again this school year on Saturday, January 28 from 6:30 PM to 9 PM in the Church basement. Please mark your calendars! More details to come later. We are looking for volunteers to help with this event! If you would have interest in helping with this event, please contact Jillian O'Hara at jillian.ohara1883@gmail.com.
Upcoming Dates
Tuesday, December 20, is our next Class Mass. Grade 3A will join the St. Ignatius parishioners at the 9:00 am Mass.
Tuesday, December 20, is the St. Ignatius of Antioch Elementary School Penance Service, in the afternoon. There will be a parish Penance Service in the evening on December 20 as well.
Wednesday, December 21, is the last day of school before Christmas break. All students will have a dress down day on December 21. We will celebrate with classroom Christmas parties in the afternoon!
Other Important Information
For those of you who need to leave medications at school for your children, please complete the forms from the Health Office. Please bring the medication with the completed forms to the Health Office. See the Health Office Aide or the nurse (Wednesdays only) for more information.
Please check the school website (sischool.org) for updated documents (2022-2023 School Handbook, Responsible Use Policy for Technology, etc.) and for accompanying parent and student signature forms. Please return signed forms as soon as possible. Signature forms are attached here as well.
St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish News
Advent Penance Service
St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish Christmas Mass Schedule
Christmas Eve - Saturday, December 24th
4:00PM Vigil in the Church
(4:05pm Auditorium for overflow)
8:00PM Vigil
Christmas Day - Sunday, December 25th
7:30AM, 9:30AM, 11:30AM
A Special Walking With Purpose Event
Save the Date!
Thursday, February 16, 2023 – 7:00pm
Event: Walking with Purpose LIVE with Lisa Brenninkmeyer
Join us for Walking with Purpose LIVE with Founder and Chief Purpose Officer, Lisa Brennkmeyer as she shares her talk Strong Yet Tender: Building Resilience in an Age of Trauma. Are you tired of feeling untethered and overwhelmed? Most of our families are experiencing anxiety, woundedness, and stress. But that does not need to be your story. Come and see how, through God’s help, you can build resilience in an age of trauma. Every woman is welcome!
Presenter: Lisa Brenninkmeyer, Founder and Chief Purpose Officer, Walking with Purpose
Location: St. Joseph Parish, 340 Manor Ave, Downingtown, PA 19335
More info: Registration opens 6 weeks prior to the event; More details at Save the Date!
Thursday, February 16, 2023 – 7:00pm
Event: Walking with Purpose LIVE with Lisa BrenninkmeyerJoin us for Walking with Purpose LIVE with Founder and Chief Purpose Officer, Lisa Brennkmeyer as she shares her talk Strong Yet Tender: Building Resilience in an Age of Trauma. Are you tired of feeling untethered and overwhelmed? Most of our families are experiencing anxiety, woundedness, and stress. But that does not need to be your story. Come and see how, through God’s help, you can build resilience in an age of trauma. Every woman is welcome!
Presenter: Lisa Brenninkmeyer, Founder and Chief Purpose Officer, Walking with Purpose
Location: St. Joseph Parish, 340 Manor Ave, Downingtown, PA 19335
More info: Registration opens 6 weeks prior to the event; More details at https://walkingwithpurpose.com/event/wwp-live-with-lisa-brenninkmeyer-2/