StJP Principal Newsletter
November 20 & 27, 2015
So Much to Be Thankful For......
Happy Thanksgiving to all of our families
November and December Calendar
- Saturday November 21: Confirmation (St. Luke's) 10:00 AM
- Monday November 23: Field Trip K/1/2
- Tuesday November 24: Royal blue, light blue and white TAG Day/ Prayer Service 10:00 AM/Full day of school
- Wednesday November 25: No School
- Thursday November 26: No School
- Friday November 27: No School
- Monday November 30: Students Return to School
- Friday December 4: 12:00 PM dismissal/ Faculty Meeting/ End of 1st trimester
- Saturday December 5: Confirmation (Immaculate Conception) 10:00 AM
- Monday December 7: Santa Secret Shop
- Tuesday December 8: School Mass Feast of the Immaculate Conception 10:00 AM
- Thursday December 10: Christmas Candlelight 7:00 PM in the Church
- Monday December 14: Band/Chorus Concert 7:00 PM
- Wednesday December 16: Red/Green Tag Day/ Lunch With Santa
- Monday December 21: 8th Grade Brunch
- Wednesday December 23: Prayer Service 10:00 AM/ 12:00 PM dismissal
- Thursday December 24- January 1: NO SCHOOL
- Monday January 4: Classes Resume
Congratulations to our most recent StJP Helping Hands Recipients!
Archdiocean Honor Band
I just wanted to pass on some good news about our band program. Last weekend, some of our StJP band students auditioned for the Achdiocesan Honor Band. The audition was for 6th, 7th and 8th graders. Of the 16 students that auditioned from our school, 13 of them were accepted. 30 plus schools sent children to the audition at Archbishop Carol HS. Of those 30 schools, we had the most children accepted! The highest number that any other school sent was 6.
A lot of our kids placed in the top 3 chairs for their instrument. Congratulations!
We have had the most students accepted every year and now that tradition will continue.
We are very proud of everyone's efforts and courage.
Book are coming!
Thank you for Contributing to our Thanksgiving Collection for our Breathing Room Families
Pen Pals in 6th Grade
Meet our Breathing Room Families
Meet Our
Room 301 - Mrs. Goodwin and Room 6 - Mrs. Phillips
Randi and her husband Stephen have 2 boys in grades 5 and 7. Her husband is a teacher and she is an oncology social worker. Randi has stage 1A breast cancer and is not able to work while in treatment. She is currently receiving 12 weeks of chemo followed by 12 weeks of radiation. Her husband and sons are her biggest support during this challenging time.
Room 302 - Mrs. Geonnotti and Room 5 - Mrs. Dolan
Sara is the lucky mom of Kiera, Desmond and Mannix. Sara is happy to share a photo of her “gorgeous children” who are her “pride and joy”. Kiera is the oldest child who is 8 years old. Desmond is 5 years old and the youngest child is 2 year old Mannix. Sara was diagnosed with glioblastoma (brain cancer) 2 months after the birth of her third child. Treatment has left her with short-term memory loss and anxiety. Her husband Kevin takes good care of their children and Sara as she continues her treatment.
Room 304 - Mr. O’Connell and Room 7 - Miss McLaughlin
Ny’lah is a 3 year old girl who has completed many treatments for leukemia, and is still fighting the disease. Her big sister Jo’Leah is 6 years old. They like to play together and spend time with their Mom, Charliee.
Breathing Room
Room 303 - Mrs. Pio and Room 9 - Mrs. Hector
Sharon has 3 children who are 10, 12 and 16 years old. She is in treatment for breast cancer. Her children are her biggest comfort by helping her with chores around the house.
Room 306 - Mrs. Tursi and Room 8 - Mrs. Gindhart
Sean is a 31 year old father of 3 children. He was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma (brain cancer) on January 5, 2015. His children are ages, 14, 6 and 1. He and his fiancé are currently out of work while he undergoes treatment, so they are struggling financially. The help they receive from the Breathing Room is greatly appreciated.
Room 305 - Mrs. McGeer and Room 4 Miss Guerin
Maryetta is living with her daughter and 3 grandchildren who help her through this difficult time. The littlest baby boy is 6 month old Kaiden. He has 2 big sisters who help take care of him. Jayla is 4 years old and her big sister is 10 year old Destiny. Maryetta was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000. The cancer metastasized to her lymph nodes and to her hip. After 15 years, she is hopeful for a break from cancer and her treatments soon.
Families
Little Joe’s - coordinator is Mary Cate Delia
Emily is just 24 year old and has just finished her treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in August. She just lost her mother recently and has been struggling emotionally. She has 2 boys ages 5 and 7 years old, and just recently found out she is expecting a new baby. Even through her struggles and loss, she still considers herself extremely blessed.
Room 204 - Mrs. Pritz, Room 205 - Mr. Cipolla, and Room 1 - Mrs. Gaynor
Terry and Rochelle live and take care of their 3 grandsons. The boys keep them busy with their school schedule and activities. Jayden is 5 years old, Adonis is 6 and 7 year old Mason is the oldest boy. Their son also lives with them and is struggling with PTSD. Rochelle takes good care of her husband Terry while he undergoes his treatments for stage 4 small cell lung cancer. They are struggling financially and feel blessed to have the Breathing Room in their lives.
Room 201 - Mrs. Ireland, Room 203 - Mrs. Finke, and Room 3 - Mrs. Koch
Brenda was recently diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. She has 3 children who keep her busy. Brooklyn is her 7 year old daughter, 1 year old Jayla, as well as Bentley, who is 3 months old. Bentley was born 3 month premature and has not yet come home from the hospital. He is doing well and will be released to come home soon. Brenda is scheduled for a mastectomy after her rounds of chemo are complete. That will be followed by 5 weeks of radiation. She and her family are currently living with her parents, to help ends meet. She is grateful for any help through these rough times.
Helping Hand's Christmas Collection
Dear Families,
We are entering the most important time of year yet for our Breathing Room families. Each family above has given The Breathing Room a list of Christmas wish list items. We only committed to smaller items on the list, so that it would not be overwhelming to our StJP families that are also preparing for their own children and family at Christmas. Please remember:
- Give only what you can or if you can
- Families can combine efforts and buy a gift together
- There are bigger ticket items, such as bikes and video games, if someone wants to contribute a larger gift please email katestec@aol.com
- You may choose to use Script to buy gift cards
Next week a Sign Up Genius will go out to each homeroom asking to help with their families list. We are doing this prior to Thanksgiving, so that if you like to shop on Black Friday, you may be able to find some really great sales.
Our goal is to have all donations turned in by December 10, so that items can be wrapped and delivered to the Breathing Room by December 12!
This is a very short window for collection, but I know if we pull together as a community we can make it happen. Thank you for your continued help and support of this program.
Many Blessings,
Mrs. Perry and Helping Hand's
The School Book Fair is Still Open Online.....Until November 23rd!
Little Joe's Took a Field Trip to Big Joe's Campus today!
They had a special music class
They enjoyed a delicious snack
They played on the playground
It was an awesome day!
Home and School
Other Events
12/07/15
Santa Secret Shop
12/16/15
Lunch with Santa
Giving Tuesday
On December 1st, StJP will celebrate our first day of giving. You are invited to participate on Giving Tuesday by making a gift online or mailing your donation into school and encouraging others to do the same. Tuition alone does not cover the total cost to educate each child. The Annual Fund helps to bridge that gap and provide the resources for future achievements.
Your participation demonstrates your belief in our school and will help ensure our success for the future. The Administration & Faculty have ALL demonstrated their belief in StJP by participating in the Annual Fund. We are asking you to do the same.
Thank you to those who have donated!
No gift is too small
Congratulations to StJP Fall Art Workshop artists
During this semester, the artists created a number of works including this mural in honor of the 150th anniversary of Immaculate Conception parish. The 8' x 6' mural, featuring images from the church, was designed by StJP graduates Sarah Depman and Aine Playdon (class of 2015).
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput Message
REGARDING EDUCATION TAX CREDITS
Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) are vital programs that assist many thousands of needy children. They do it by enabling Pennsylvania businesses to donate to qualified scholarship organizations. Donor companies then receive a tax credit, within specified limits, against their Pennsylvania tax liability. The resulting scholarships benefit children whose families meet certain low income criteria.
Unfortunately, the Department of Community and Economic Development is currently unwilling to issue authorizations to firms ready to make contributions to qualified scholarship organizations.
The real world result that flows from the refusal to issue contribution authorizations is to prevent companies from gaining the approvals they urgently need in order to make contributions and secure the resulting tax credits required for the current calendar year. This creates a very serious problem. If these contributions are not made, then scholarships will not be available for thousands of students who attend Catholic and many other private schools. In the case of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, this immediately builds pressure for school closures as early as next year, because the EITC and OSTC scholarships are vital to parents’ ability to afford their children’s education.
This situation is time sensitive, because the end of the year rapidly approaches. The administrative details of the programs require authorizations for companies and actual contributions to the scholarship organizations before year end.
I ask Catholics and all persons who support good educational options for the poor to contact Governor Wolf today via this website – https://governor.pa.gov/contact/ -- and to ask for his support in issuing these authorizations.
Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop of Philadelphia
BLOCS
In an unprecedented collaboration between BLOCS, Children's Scholarship Fund, The Independent Mission Schools, Faith in the Future, The Archdiocese of Philadelphia and The Philadelphia School Advocacy Partners, we are planning a rally on Monday at Governor Wolf's regional office at The Bellevue (200 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102) and we NEED parents and students who receive need based scholarships through the EITC and OSTC programs to attend!
Governor Wolf has decided not to release approval letters for companies who have applied for tax credits for donating to approved scholarship organizations in the Commonwealth until a full budget is approved. This act is in violation of the Tax Reform Code of 1971 as these credits are written into law and are not part of the Appropriations process. Governor Wolf's budget even has these credits written into it showing that he has every intention of continuing the programs.
If these approval letters are not released immediately, tens of millions of dollars could be lost in donations this year. The result would be thousands of students not receiving scholarships for the 2016 / 2017 school year in the Philadelphia area. This is a very real danger!
Please plan on joining us Monday afternoon at 3:30pm to let Governor Wolf know that these scholarships are needed by thousands of families in the area and these approval letters must be released immediately!
Please share this event with as many people as you can.