Dear St. Jerome Families,

I hope that your week is going well so far. Yesterday, Fr. Reilly celebrated Mass for the Feast of St. Luke. We appreciate Mrs. Z's 8th grade class serving as our readers and gift bearers.

After school today, I will be attending a meeting of pastors, principals, advancement directors, and business managers for Catholic schools in the Philadelphia. We will be discussing best practices and sharing ideas. Fr. Reilly, Mrs. Carolan, Mrs. Blumenstein will also be in attendance.

Tomorrow, we have a St. Jerome Spirit Wear Day. For a donation, students in 1st-8th grades may wear their gym uniform or any St. Jerome t-shirt (they may also wear the grey spirit wear sweatpants if they have them as well). Students in Pre-K3, Pre-K4, and Kindergarten should follow their teachers' directions. All proceeds raised will go toward a new sound system for the school hall that we can use for school events and assemblies. Donations may be sent in Thursday morning as cash or check or sent via Venmo (@sjsphila).

We were able to schedule three presentations on social media through our Family Connections Counselor, Miss Melissa. Next Tuesday, 1st-4th and 5th-8th grades will have age appropriate presentations from a representative from the state Attorney General's office. Miss Melissa sent home more information in the Wednesday Folder as well as her contact information should you have any questions. She also sent home a paper regarding a virtual parent presentation on Tuesday, November 8th at 4:00 PM. We will send out the link closer to that date.

For Halloween, we will be having an outdoor costume parade at 9:00 AM on Monday, October 31st. Students in PreK-3 to 3rd are welcome to dress in their costumes and parents and other guests are invited to assemble in the school yard. It is a Halloween themed dress down day for all students (no donations necessary). We will be having activities for the students in the afternoon.

As a reminder, winter uniform will begin on Tuesday, November 1st. The uniform requirement handout is available below for reference. Students are welcome to switch to the winter uniform before November 1st, if you prefer.

Please see below for information about applying for Children's Scholarship. I encourage all of our families who meet their requirements to apply early. As of the 2023-2024 school year, no scholarship will be less than $1,200, and the scholarships will continue through 8th grade. http://www.csfphiladelphia.org/scholarship

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

Drawing on 10/21 during Trunk or Treat

$100 worth of PA Lottery Scratch Off Tickets!!

$2.00 per chance or 3 for $5.00

Tickets can be purchased at the Rectory (cash accepted) or Venmo @SaintJerome-HomeAndSchool

(Please make sure you leave name and phone number in the comment section if sending Venmo. Pictures of tickets will be sent via text if paying by Venmo)

Last day to purchase via Venmo will be 10/20/22. Cash will be accepted at Trunk or Treat to purchase tickets.

In the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, Article 12 calls for all dioceses to establish "safe environment" programs at all grade levels. This ongoing education is presented to the students in the parish and regional elementary schools of the Archdiocese as well as in the Parish Religious Education Programs (PREP or CCD) two times during the instructional year. This is a mandated obligation from the Archdiocese with the two lessons provided for our teachers.

St. Jerome School will conduct these lessons on Wednesday, October 26th. If you choose to have your child removed from the lesson, please return the form (sent home in the Wednesday folder as well as posted below) by Monday, October 24th. You only need to return the form if you opt your child(ren) out.

!!!!BASKETBALL REGISTRATION!!!!

If your son or daughter is in 5th through 8th grades OR if your daughter is in high school and is interested in playing basketball, we need to collect information ASAP! Please fill out the Google Form here.

Some Key Notes:

Cost for those in 5th through 8th grades will be $125.00.

Cost for high school girls and high school boys will be $100.00.

The board is working to find any gym time we can so that we can field teams for all who are interested in playing! If you have any gym leads, please send an email to klmoore425@gmail.com ASAP.

Depending on available gym time AND the number of kids who sign up, there *may* be tryouts at all age levels.

No payment is due until teams are finalized.

We expect to field JV and Varsity teams for both boys and girls.

Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia offers partial scholarships to K-8th grade students,

and for the first time ever, scholarships will no longer be restricted to four years. A student

who wins the CSFP scholarship lottery will receive a scholarship all the way through 8th grade

as long as they meet income and qualification requirements!

Eligibility requirements include:

• Philadelphia resident
• At least one child entering K-8th grade in September 2023
• Meet CSFP’s financial requirements

CSFP’s scholarship application is now available for the 2023-2024 school year. If you are

selected this year, funds will be applied towards the 2023-2024 school year tuition. Beginning

next year, no student will receive less than $1,200 in scholarship.

We hope that this information is helpful to you. Should you have any questions, please reach

out to CSFP directly at paperwork@csfphiladelphia.org.

Apply for a scholarship today. Priority deadline to apply is November 15, 2022. You will be

notified if you receive a scholarship via a random lottery in December or March.

www.csfphiladelphia.org/scholarship