Joyfully Embracing Our Mission
St. Clare School Family News | 29 February 2020
Come! Live in the Light!
You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.
~ Matthew 5:13-16
Dear St. Clare School Families,
It truly is amazing to witness a community coming together as they did at our One Love Day of Service. Thank you to Michele Cuni, Katy Kerns, Cyndi Banaag, Leana Dalton, Theresa Tinio, Ms. Cherell and the faculty and staff for their hard work to make this day of engaging the school community in acts of kindness. Our One Love Campaign for Human Development this last day of February was truly a leap forward towards a kinder and gentler world, thanks to our St. Clare community!
Our challenge, moving forward, is to use the knowledge gained and the experiences of this past month to fuel our transformation to become better Catholic Christians and humans.
Nonpharmaceutical Interventions from the CDC and Handling the Information Regarding COVID-19
As we continue to be vigilant with nonpharmaceutical intervention measures in dealing with the spread of infectious diseases, we ask that you read this article from the CDC on ways you can help with this effort at home. We especially ask that you keep your child at home until they are fever free without the help of fever reducing medicine for at least 24 hours. To prevent the spread of disease, please make sure students are washing their hands often and for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water.
In addition, please read the article from the American Psychological Association to help with handling the reactions to the increased media coverage of the coronavirus disease.
It is critical to be mindful of our protocols and practice to help those in our community who are more susceptible to contracting infectious diseases. One of the many ways to do this is through immunization, proper hygiene protocols and by staying home when sick.
St. Clare School has the infrastructure to develop programs accessible online through the use of adaptive applications, Google Apps for Education and delivered via Google Classroom and ParentSquare. We continue to work closely with the Santa Clara County Public Health Department and the Diocese of San Jose Department of Catholic Schools to assess the situation on a regular basis. We will continue to keep you posted with any new developments. In the meantime, we appreciate your partnership in keeping our community safe.
Trimester 3 begins Monday, March 2!
The last trimester of the 2020-21 school year begins on Monday. Speak with your children about the ways they experienced success in the second trimester and ask them for ways they would like to elevate their experience for the third trimester. Feel free to conference with teachers to plan ways to work together for the benefit of your student.
Please read weekly posts from your classroom teachers regarding what’s going on in classrooms.
GOOD NEWS!
We received word that Marco is making good progress in his recovery. Thank you for your continued prayers for him, for Carden, for Macda and all in our community who need our prayers. A group of nine parents gathered last Sunday to pray the rosary together. When two or more are gathered in God’s name, there God will be in their midst. Glory and praise for God’s goodness and mercy.
INVITATION TO JOIN ST. CLARE
Ms. Cherell reports that interest in joining our community remains to be predominantly from people that you know and with whom you’ve shared your St. Clare story. This powerful invitation to experience this truly remarkable community is working! We encourage you to continue to bring attention to our school through your own social media channels and through sites like Great Schools, Yelp and others. Share your positive and uplifting stories on Instagram and Facebook, because believe it or not, negative or positive your messages are powerful beyond measure. We appreciate your efforts in sharing what keeps you at St. Clare School.
We thank Ms. Cherell for her dedication to the enrollment health of our school!
MATH CLUB REMAINS ACTIVE IN LEADERSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT
We congratulate Mr. Ishii and Math Club parent leadership (Charlotte Jones, Khoa Hoang and Pauline Phan) for sustaining the engagement of students in math club initiatives. This past week, the students spent time tutoring elementary students during the period after lunch. If you are interested in taking on a role as a parent leader as we “graduate” parents, please contact Khoa Hoang or Pauline Phan.
DIFFERENTIATION IN MIDDLE SCHOOL
We are so very grateful to Joel and Regina Sevilla who spent their “winter break” with our middle school math students. We are also very grateful to Warni and Erik Chee, Pauline Phan and Khoa Hoang and to the seventh and eighth grade parents who make it possible to differentiate learning in the math classroom with Mr. Gallagher.
FOCUS ON TRANSFORMATION FOR LENT
I offer the following for your consideration as you contemplate on the next few weeks of Lent. The Pope reminds us of this opportunity for conversion: to be transformed with love and in love.
- Watch the Pope’s homily for Ash Wednesday
- Read the Pope’s message on holiness for Lent 2020
We pray for our second graders who are preparing to experience the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time on Saturday, March 7. We thank their teachers, Mrs. Vallarta and Mrs. G, as well as Mrs. Paty Rascon and their parents for their formation.
Join our school community for our Lenten Reconciliation Service on Wednesday, March 11 from 9 A.M. until noon.
UNIFORMS AND SUPPLIES
The beginning of the third trimester is a good time to remind the community of uniform policies and to replenish and refresh supplies.
Please check to make sure that uniforms still fit appropriately, that skirt and short lengths are appropriate for a Catholic elementary school and that uniforms worn to school are clean and laundered and do not have holes or tears. As always, our uniform closet is a good place to find gently used uniforms. Please remember that we welcome donations of outgrown uniforms. Our environment benefits when we reuse and repurpose. We thank our uniform closet angels for keeping it organized!
Please make sure students bring a filled reusable water bottle to school. Hydration is important to brain development and cognition.
Free Dress: please check to make sure your students come to school in appropriate free dress. Short shorts and skirts are still not allowed; tops that are too short in a way that shows the midriff is still not allowed. We appreciate your help in making sure your student is appropriately dressed before leaving home.
Our weekly or monthly focus habits are derived from desirable virtues for sustaining a moral life.
“A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good.
It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1803).
Human virtues form the soul with the habits of mind and will that support moral behavior, control passions, and avoid sin. Virtues guide our conduct according to the dictates of faith and reason, leading us toward freedom based on self-control and toward joy in living a good moral life. Compassion, responsibility, a sense of duty, self-discipline and restraint, honesty, loyalty, friendship, courage, and persistence are examples of desirable virtues for sustaining a moral life. Historically, we group the human virtues around what are called the Cardinal Virtues. This term comes from the Latin word cardo meaning “hinge.” All the virtues are related to or hinged to one of the Cardinal Virtues. The four Cardinal Virtues are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.
There are a number of ways in which we acquire human virtues. They are acquired by frequent repetition of virtuous acts that establish a pattern of virtuous behavior. There is a reciprocal relationship between virtue and acts because virtue, as an internal reality, disposes us to act externally in morally good ways. Yet it is through doing good acts in the concrete that the virtue within us is strengthened and grows.
The human virtues are also acquired through seeing them in the good example of others and through education in their value and methods to acquire them. Stories that inspire us to want such virtues help contribute to their growth within us. They are gained by a strong will to achieve such ideals. In addition, God’s grace is offered to us to purify and strengthen our human virtues, for our growth in virtue can be hampered by the reality of sin. Especially through prayer and the Sacraments, we open ourselves to the gifts of the Holy Spirit and God’s grace as another way in which we grow in virtue.
The Theological Virtues of faith, hope, and charity (love) are those virtues that relate directly to God. These are not acquired through human effort but, beginning with Baptism, they are infused within us as gifts from God. They dispose us to live in relationship with the Holy Trinity. Faith, hope, and charity influence human virtues by increasing their stability and strength for our lives.
Each of the Ten Commandments forbids certain sins, but each also points to virtues that will help us avoid such sins. Virtues such as generosity, poverty of spirit, gentleness, purity of heart, temperance, and fortitude assist us in overcoming and avoiding what are called the seven deadly or Capital Sins—pride, avarice or greed, envy, anger, lust, gluttony, and sloth or laziness—which are those sins that engender other sins and vices.
This week’s focus habit is “Practice Integrity”. We encounter many challenges in our daily interactions and one of the ways we are tested is when someone comes to us with information that might be harmful to another. What are we called to do with that information? How do we help the individual reflect on the harm being done by sharing this information?
Have a blessed week!
Mrs. Cecile Mantecon | Principal
Scholastic Book Fair & Ice Cream Social: MARCH 3 - 5
CHANGE OUR HEARTS, O GOD: Our 2020 Lenten Journey
On Ash Wednesday we begin our Lenten journey; a time of prayer, sacrifice, and giving. It’s a time to change our hearts and our way of thinking. During Lent we renew our commitment to follow Christ and to live out the Gospel values. May the Holy Spirit give us the strength to act justly, the courage to love tenderly, and the faith to walk humbly with our God. We pray this Lenten journey changes our lives by leading us ever deeper into the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection!
Our Lenten collections this year will include the Catholic Relief Services rice bowls and our school-wide outreach of the One Love Campaign for Human Development.
Please return the rice bowl (paper money or check) donations by Friday, April 3rd. If submitting checks, please make out to St. Clare School and on the memo line write: rice bowl.
Shout Out To Math Club.
St. Clare School's Inaugural Golf Fundraising Tournament is COMING SOON! Registration is NOW OPEN!
Click HERE to read the original post for more details.
The Yearbook Committee needs your PHOTOS!
I know we all scroll through our phones admiring all the shots we get of our kids and their friends, so take a few moments to put those worth sharing together and send them to the Yearbook Committee. Keep tapping away this month at coming events and send those in too!
SUBMIT ALL PHOTOS BY MARCH 2nd.
SEND ALL PHOTOS TO: yearbook@stclareptg.org
INCLUDE ALL DETAILS: Who (names and grades), when, and where (what event)
Photos needed in the following categories:
- CKZ/CTZ
- Service Events
- Mad Science
- Math Club
- Hidden Talent Art
- Band/Choir
- Safety Patrol
- Jog-a-Thon
- Multicultural Dinner
- VIP Day
- Christmas
- Crab Feed (2/8)
- Lunar New Year (2/25)
- Team Sports Group Pics***
The following are needed from each grade:
- 5th: 6-10 pics
- 6th: 6-10 pics
- 7th: 10-20 pics
- 8th grade year: 15-20 pics
- 8th grade "through the years": 15-20 pics
Fierce Basketball Spring Session Starts March 5th
Mad Science Spring Session Now Registering.
UPCOMING EVENTS and THE SCHOOL CALENDAR
The 2019-2020 St. Clare School is now available for public consumption. You will find the calendar in a number of places. They all sync to the Google Public Calendar for our school, so you can trust that these calendars are current.
To find the calendar in our school website, go to https://www.stclare.school/ and scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "Calendar" icon (third from the left) or visit https://www.stclare.school/calendar.
To find the calendar in ParentSquare, go to your HOME page and look for "EVENTS" and click on "view all".
To subscribe and add the St. Clare School Public Calendar to your calendar app, use this link:
- 3/3 - 3/5 Scholastic Book Fair
- 3/4 Young Authors' Fair and Ice Cream Social 5:30 - 7:30 P.M.
- 3/5 Free Dress for those with PASSES
- 3/20 No School | Local Holiday
- 3/23 No School | Teacher In Service
- 3/27 Sock Hop 6:00 - 8:00 P.M.
- 4/27 St. Clare School Golf Tournament
2020-2021 School Year First Day of School: August 19, 2020 Last Day of School: June 4, 2021
St. Clare School
Email: office@stclareschool.org
Website: https://www.stclare.school
Location: 725 Washington Street, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Phone: 408 246-6797