St. Jerome School Weekly Newsletter
Wednesday, August 31st, 2022
Do small things with great love.
St. Teresa of Calcutta
From Mr. Merrick
Dear St. Jerome Families,
We have been off to a great start, and we appreciate all of the efforts of our families and staff. It has been exciting to see all of our returning students as well as meet our new families and our new friends at St. Lucy School. We are so happy to have our lions back and to welcome our littlest lions tomorrow! Also, it was a pleasure to see so many of you at Monday's social. I know that our families appreciated being able to drop off some of those school supplies early as well as mingle together. We will certainly being doing that again next year.
With the increase in enrollment and our partnership with St. Lucy School the excitement and amazing opportunities come with the need to adjust our procedures in order to provide for a safe, productive, and fun school environment. To that effect, please note the afternoon carline notes below (in bold) for tomorrow with our start of PreK. Pre-K parents should park in the parking lot or the car line (if you have sibling) and pick up your PreK child at the students the stained glass doors on the side of the church (which will be our new visitor's entrance). PreK students will be released starting at 2:30 PM to help relieve congestion. Please note that cars will be stopped from exiting the parking lot while the Welsh Road line is leaving. Fr. Reilly has given us permission to use the handicapped spaces in front of the church as well, during dismissal, since the church is closed at that time.
With all of the arrival and pick-up, we appreciate your patience as we settle into a routine over these first few weeks of school. Things tend to be slow at the beginning, but we appreciate the cooperation and your patience. We will make any necessary adjustments over the next few weeks (as we add our Pre-K and kindergarten classes) to ensure a safe and efficient arrival and dismissal.
Each week, we send our a Wednesday Folder that contains flyers and forms as well as an electronic newsletter. Please be on the lookout for both of these important communications to stay informed about school events and activities. Hot lunch and pretzel order forms were included in this first folder (Pre-K and kindergarten will receive them tomorrow). Our school website Communication page has an archive of newsletters and many of our forms and flyers. The Calendar page has a Google Calendar that is kept up-to-date with school events.
Also, as we got through the school year, please reach out to your child's teacher; each teacher has email, and they will also provide your with information to join their Class Dojo or Remind App. They are here to provide the best experience for your children, so please do not hesitate to reach out so that we can work together to not only have an outstanding year but also work through any issues or concerns. Working as partners in your children's education, we will be able to accomplish so much.
Please remember that there is no school on Friday or Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Classes will resume on Tuesday, September 6th.
We had our Pre-K and kindergarten orientations this week. Back to School Night for 1st-8th grades will be on Thursday, September 15th at 7:00 PM, starting in the Church.
Thursday, September 15th, is also picture day. Picture packets will be sent out next week along with more information.
We have had some issues with obtaining some of the government services that our students are entitled to. I wanted to update you on them as we work with the Office of Catholic Education to resolve them:
- The School District of Philadelphia dropped our 7th & 8th graders from bus transportation and stated that Holme Avenue is a safe street to cross, unaccompanied, as deemed by the state. Our 7th and 8th graders were offered SEPTA bus passes instead. Thanks to outreach by our parents, the Office of Catholic Education, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, Rep. Ed Neilson, and us here at school, things do seem to be moving. We expect an update from Rep. Neilson's office tomorrow. I will pass word along as soon as we do.
- We are without an afternoon crossing guard at Holme Avenue. I would appreciate if our parents could contact the 8th Police District and express the need for a crossing guard: https://www.phillypolice.com/districts/8th/index.html
- Finally, the state was very slow in processing workbook orders this summer. We placed our book orders as soon as the portal opened and did our part (which was three weeks late), and the Pennsylvania Department of Education took three more weeks to process the orders. We have most of our books and will have the rest in the next week or so (thanks to the advocacy by the Office of Catholic Education). We are on the right track for this year, however, if you have a chance, contacting the governor's office and asking that steps are taken to avoid this situation in the future would be greatly appreciated: https://www.governor.pa.gov/
Have a great week; St. Jerome and St. Lucy, pray for us!
Morning Arrival/Drop Off
Car: Beginning at 7:20 AM, cars will be directed to enter through the school yard. This year, there will be two lines in the school yard. Pre-K and Kindergarten will be directed to the left; 1st-8th grade families will be directed to the right. The cars will be stopped and the students will exit their cars and go directly into the buildings. Cars will then be sent out onto Holme Ave. If a child needs to cross, please have your child cross in front of your car. Drop off will continue until 7:35 AM.
Please make sure that your child is able to quickly and safely exit your vehicle to keep the line moving; we do also ask for your patience during the first week as students come to school with their supplies and new family adjust to the routine.
Families with 6th, 7th, & 8th graders may also use the second line for drop off; staff members will help direct the students into the building. Staff members will also help cross any siblings between the buildings. Please see the diagram below.
Walkers: Walkers enter the the doors on Stamford Street to avoid the cars in the school yard. Younger students will be crossed to the St. Joseph Building.
Afternoon Dismissal/Pick Up
Pre-K parents should park in the parking lot or the car line (if you have sibling) and pick up your PreK child at the students the stained glass doors on the side of the church (which will be our new visitor's entrance). PreK students will be released starting at 2:30 PM to help relieve congestion. Please note that cars will be stopped from exiting the parking lot while the Welsh Road line is leaving. Fr. Reilly has given us permission to use the handicapped spaces in front of the church as well, during dismissal, since the church is closed at that time.
Walkers: Walkers will be called to line up in their buildings and proceed on one of our three walk lines:
Welsh Road: Staff will walk the students to the corner of Colfax Street and Welsh Road where the crossing guard will take them across Welsh Road. A teacher will also cross students at Weston Street for any students who live in that part of the neighborhood.
Colfax/Narvon: Staff will walk the students down Stamford Street and cross them at Narvon Street as well as Colfax Street.
Holme Avenue: Staff will walk the students to the corner of Holme Ave and Stamford Street where the crossing guard will take them across Holme Ave.
Bus: Bus riders will be called to the first floor of the Blessed Mother Building where staff members will load the buses.
CARES: Students staying for our extended day program (CARES) will be walked to the CARES Room. CARES will begin the second week of school.
Please make sure that your child and your child's teacher are familiar with your usual dismissal plan. If you need change your plans, please send a note or message to your child's teacher. If something comes up during the school day, you may also call the school office.
St. Jerome Spirit Wear Store
The St. Jerome Apparel Store through Sixsmith Sporting Goods is now available online here. Items include zip-up SJS sweatshirt that may be worn in school, the St. Jerome Festival t-shirt, and sweatpants (not for gym class but may be worn on announced spirit days)
All orders must be placed online by Sunday, September 11th. Orders will be packaged and delivered to school for us to send home.
CARES Information
St. Jerome Festival 2022
Notes From the Nurse: Required Health Exams
All physical exams need to be completed after June 1, 2022 and will be accepted until the end of the 2023 school year.
Kindergarten
Physical Exam
Dental Exam
Completed Immunization records
Third Grade
Dental Exam
Sixth Grade
Physical Exam
Completed Immunization records
Seventh Grade
Dental Exam
Tdap and MCV4 Immunizations
Forms for medications to be administered in school, forms needed to be completed by your doctor and returned to school before medications can be administered. Please contact the school nurse with any questions (bpaciti@sjsphila.org).
Request for Administration of Medication (MED-1)
Assessment tool
All Heath forms can be found on the school website under Admissions Tab
and the Philadelphia School District website under medical forms.