St. Jerome School Weekly Reminders
Week of February 28th, 2022
"Jesus gives all to those who surrender all."
St. Bernadette Soubirous
Reminders for the Week:
*Click here for the St. Jerome Parish Sunday Bulletin; please join us for Sunday Mass each week: 4:30 PM (Saturday Vigil), 6:30 AM, 8:00 AM, 9:30 AM (Children's Liturgy of the Word), & 11:00 AM. The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) is offered on Saturdays from 3:30 PM to 4:15 PM or by appointment.
*Today, Sunday, is our Liturgical Rite for our second grade candidates for First Holy Communion at the 9:30 AM Mass. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue their sacramental preparations for May.
*The second trimester ends this Friday; report cards will be posted to OptionC on Friday, March 11th.
*This Friday begins Terra Nova testing for 3rd-8th; K-2nd begin next Monday. Please make sure the students are prepared with #2 pencils. The students should also aim to get a good night's sleep, eat a good breakfast, and be on time for school. These tests are an additional measure of your child's achievement, and will be used along-side classroom tests, assignments, and teacher observations for the purposes of curriculum planning and instruction. There is no need for any students to be nervous; they should just try their very best. We will test only one subject per day, and the students will resume their usual class schedule after testing.
*Tickets are on sale for our Home and School Association's Luck of the Irish Raffle. Click here for the flyer with more information.
*CARES Fun Friday forms for March are due by Tuesday, March 1st.
*If you have any blessed palms left over from last year, you are welcome to send them into school by Tuesday. On Tuesday at 12:35 PM, we are going to have a short prayer service where Fr. Reilly will burn the palms from last year to make the ashes that we will receive on Wednesday.
*We will be attending Mass at 10:00 AM for Ash Wednesday. St. Jerome Church also has Ash Wednesday Mass at 6:30 AM, 8:00 AM, and 7:00 PM.
*During Lent, each class (K-8th) will be attending the 8:00 AM Mass once a week. 1st-8th grades will also be attending Stations of the Cross on Fridays at 1:30 PM. Also, Fr. Reilly will offer the opportunity for the students to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation the week before Palm Sunday.
*Dismissal will be at 12:00 PM on Thursday.
*Archbishop Perez will be celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation on Thursday at 4:00 PM.
*Applications for financial assistance from the Children's Scholarship Foundation of Philadelphia are open through March 1st. Please click here for a link to an online form that will help you determine if your family is eligible; if so, it will direct you to an online application.
*Band Lessons are on Wednesday. Please contact our band director, Mr. Morrisette, with any questions: smorrisette@nemusicprograms.com
*Support St. Jerome School while shopping on Amazon; click here to designate St. Jerome as your chosen organization. Then, go to smile.amazon.com when you shop. St. Jerome will earn 0.5% of each purchase (at no cost to you)!
*Please remember to call the office and report your child's absence (215-624-0637); you can leave a message if the office is closed.
*Virtue of the Month for March: Temperance (Enjoying things in a proper, balanced way).
*Our school website's Communication Page contains copies of the flyers that we send home as well as an archive of the school newsletters.
*Our school website's Calendar Page has a listing of all events on a Google Calendar.
*Remember that Box Tops have gone electronic, but you can still use them to support St. Jerome School; click here for more information.
*Have a great week!
COVID-19 & Catholic Schools Onward Protocol Reminders
The Office of Catholic Education has been in contact with the Philadelphia Department of Health, and the guidance for quarantines for students who test positive for COVID-19 is still ten days for K-12 schools. We will be notified if a change is made, and we will let you know as soon as that happens. We are also still following the protocol and precautions for the school day as recommended by the Philadelphia Department of Health and the Office of Catholic Education.
Please continue to monitor your children for any symptoms, and have them stay home if unwell, if he or she tests positive for COVID-19, or was exposed to a person who tested positive for COVID-19. Please let us know so that we can help you determine a return date.
We are also ready to switch our students in K-8th over to virtual learning as quickly as possible. Please let us know, and we will prepare your child's books and lend a Chromebook if you need one. Pre-K teachers will work with families on an individual basis with suggested activities so that your child does not fall too far behind.
If a student or staff member who has been in a classroom tests positive for COVID-19, we will work with the Philadelphia Department of Health to determine close contacts and notify them of the need to quarantine. With the latest guidelines and mitigation efforts, quarantines of whole classes and classmates are generally not being recommended. Again, we will let you know their guidance and switch any students who need to quarantine to virtual.
Thank you for your help and support as we work to keep our students and staff safe and healthy while maintaining in-person instruction for our families and providing the best possible spiritual and academic experience for our students.