October 28, 2009

“…We pray for all our priests, who announce the Word of God and celebrate the sacraments…”

REST IN PEACE, MRS. MANTONE God called her home to him shortly before 3:00 this morning and we ask that you keep Mrs. Mantone and her family in your prayers. Those of you who have been at SCS, know Mrs. Mantone as one of our teachers who was unable to return to school after last Christmas’ break for health reasons and suffered more and more since then. It is at times like this that our faith keeps us going. We will share details with you when we learn them. Remember that our counselor Eve is here if any of your children would like to speak with her.

IMPORTANT H1N1 FLU INFORMATION Right after we announced to you that you could include siblings in our vaccination process, we learned that now only SCS students can be included in the count. We are sorry that this is such an up and down situation. It seems like we get one piece of information and it gets changed a few days later. We do know though that the Archdiocese, the state, and the counties are working hard to see that as many people as possible will be vaccinated. In the meantime, we’ll go with the flow, right?

SERIOUS APOLOGIES When we launched our Auto-Reach Phone System last Sunday night, we did it through the pbone rather than the computer and learned after the fact, that using the phone is trickier than launching from the computer. We did not mean to call everyone and their brother to remind them about the vaccine consent forms being due if you wanted your child to be vaccinated. However, the phone launched every list that we have not just the home phone number list. Know that this system is a valuable communication tool and one that will quickly put you in the know so that you will be prepared so please take our mistakes with a grain of salt—and understanding. Thank you!

THERE’S BEEN LOTS GOING AROUND We’ve had a stomach bug, strep throat, and even some regular flu, but so far we’ve had no documented cases of H1N1/Swine flu at school. Again we remind you that, for the well-being of your child and others, anyone with a fever from any germ needs to be fever-free for 24 hours without benefit of fever-reducing medications. Like you, we continue to remind our cherubs that handwashing is one of the most effective ways to keep any kind of germs at bay.

PEDOMETERS ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT? Since we’ve been stressed fitness and wellness, we’ve decided that we can do our part for Halloween by not giving our cherubs even more candy than they’ll gather on Saturday night whether they wear their pedometers with their costumes or not. Instead, we’re giving a different kind of treat. Any student who chooses, may come to school in dress-down mode on Monday, November 2nd. If they forget, oh well! There’s no make-up days for this treat.

OUR HOME AND SCHOOL HAS BEEN BUSY Since you are the members, we hope that you have found a way to help with an activity or two this year. This week has the Halloween party for Pre-K to 5th Grade on Friday, the first Saturday in November is the Spaghetti dinner, then Ladies’ Bingo, the Christmas Bazaar, you get the picture. Just respond to one of their calls for help and you’ll find yourselves enjoying a great group of people.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS Our Swim Team will compete against St. Katherine’s this Sunday at 6 PM at the Nepsca Pool across from Ryan. Good luck, swimmers!
Thomas Quinn (2-5) is really the person who won one of the $100 prizes for bringing in so much for our Triathlon/Spirit Day not Kevin Quinn whose name was given to us by mistake.
Cranaleith is looking for people to help feed the poor. If you can prepare a meal two or three times a year, please call Rita Connelly 215-698-8358.

CRITICAL THINKING 101 Joey DiMascia (5-16) had his correct entry drawn for this week’s $10 Gift Card of Choice certificate. The most outs in a 9 inning game would be 54. For next week, “If you add up the numbers on the shirts of the entire Phillies’ roster of players, what would the total be?”

The St. Christopher Community…called to carry Christ to others.

October 21, 2009

“…and by the power of the Holy Spirit, you provide holy priests for a holy people…”

PROGRESS REPORTS AND CONFERENCES Please be on the lookout tomorrow for your children’s progress reports and then have a good conversation with them about their strengths and challenges and how you can help. It is important, however, to let your children have ownership of their learning. As we told you, conferences are spread out between this point and report card time in December.

STUDENT COUNCIL HOMEROOM REPRESENTATIVES Speeches were made and elections in classrooms from Grades 5-8. We are pleased to announce the following students who were elected: Gr. 5—Patrick Jurgelewicz and Amanda Hearn, Gr. 6-John Wildonger, Vincent Luciano, and Billy Eastburn, Gr. 7- Kate Wildonger, Matt Ruskowski, and Jillian Spicer, and Gr. 8-Charlie Hoyt, Steve LaPergola, and Matt DeTreux. In addition to representing their own homerooms, these students will each be responsible for a homeroom in a lower grade.

TRIATHLON/ SPIRIT DAY FOLLOW-UP Now that you’ve have a chance to see this year’s great tee shirt design, we are proud to announce that it was designed by Alanna Rosado (8-18). Didn’t she do a fantastic job in displaying the theme “Catholic Schools ~ Dividends for Life”? We are also proud of Jessica Sucharski and Collin Wiercinski, 8th Graders, whose essays centering about that theme were selected to be read at Spirit Day. If you didn’t get a chance to hear the life dividends that SCS has provided them, you’ll have another chance at our Catholic School Week opening when they will read their essays at masses that weekend.
Not only does the shirt look great on the front, but it also looks great on the back as it lists all those businesses that sponsor SCS. However, the list is a line short. Missing is MACKLEY INSURANCE, the business at which school parent Eric Jastrzemski is employed.

DO YOU KNOW THAT…. if you need to call the absence line 215-671-8659, you can do it 24/7? You do not need to wait for school to open in the morning. Do you know that it is much better to wait until 8:15 for a “live” call in the morning so that you don’t have to be put on hold while we have school-wide announcements and prayer?

CAN YOU LEND A HAND—LITERALLY ! As we move into flu season, we continue to be on guard against flu germs around school. In addition to what we’re doing at this time, we could use more help in wiping stair railings and door bars and handles down to keep them sanitized. If you have a half hour one morning or afternoon that you could spend here to help in this endeavor, it would be very appreciated. Please call secretary Gina Lombardi at 215-673-5787.
$748.00 PER STUDENT? If you have a child at Archbishop Wood High School or are anticipating that your child might go there in the near future, you might want to attend a meeting which is in the planning with PA Rep. Brendan Boyle and a Septa representative to look for free transportation. Before the meeting is finalized, however, Boyle’s office would like to know that there will be worthwhile attendance. Please contact Legislative Assistant Mark Fabbi as to whether or not you’d attend. He can be reached at either 215-676-0300 or MFabbi@pahouse.com.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS Our Swim Team won their first meet last weekend when they swam against Maternity BVM, Way to go, team!
Mrs. Tremper and I found that our 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk became a 1 Day walk when officials cancelled Friday and Saturday’s walks and camp-outs for medical and safety reasons. So, as you can imagine, walking Sunday from Belmont Plateau circuitously to the Navy Yard was the proverbial piece of cake. As always, we carried your special people in our hearts.

CRITICAL THINKING 101 Congratulations to Allison Ramos (K-35) whose correct entry was drawn for the $10 Gift Card of Choice certificate. The final “cat” words were medication, vacation, copycat (replicate), catacombs, and decathlon. For next week, let’s do some baseball math. In a typical game of 9 innings, what are the most outs there could have been?

The St. Christopher Community…called to carry Christ to others.