January 20, 2010

JUST CHECKING IN ~ JANUARY 20, 2010

Dear God be with the Haitian people and give them strength and comfort; encourage us to live our mission of carrying Christ to others.

HELPING THE HAITIANS As they know from the news, our students know that the best way we can help the people of Haiti is by donating the money so urgently needed at present. To that end, our Student Council is coordinating a Dress Down Day for this Friday. They ask the usual $1 minimum but are hopeful that students will open their hearts and their banks to contribute more. The funds collected will be joined with those of the parish to be sent to Catholic Relief Services.

FUTURE CITIES COMPETITION takes place this Saturday at the Sheet Metal Workers Union on Delaware Avenue. As our superintendent states, he students involved are definitely engaged in a “total rigor and relevance opportunity.” SCS has named their future city, Novus Genesis which means New Beginning. We are proud of the students involved and grateful to their moderator Ms. Kelso and to the parents who have worked with the students at their evening meetings for a number of months. Stay posted for results next week.

WHAT’S UP? Our Pre-K is graphing weather as well as learning facts about dinosaurs as they do “D” for these amazing creatures. 1st Grade is looking to see how they can give their hearts to others as their joint hallway display clearly shows. Not only are 2nd Graders preparing for 1st Reconciliation in three weeks, they are busy putting their writing skills to use as their New Year’s Resolutions and “If I were a Mitten” displays clearly show. Going to the 3rd Grade means entering into Jim Henson’s world of puppets SCS-style. These cherubs have each created their own puppets and then wrote engaging stories about them which they then shared with their classmates. You can see all the different facets of learning involved. Ask any 4th Grader about the Lenni Lenape, our PA Native American tribe, and you will come away with a head full of information. However, be prepared to go international, if you venture into 5th Grade. They are engaged in their own Olympics competition as different groups of students represent different nations around the world. Who will take home the gold? With Confirmation on the horizon in March, you can be sure that our 6th Grade is hard at work learning what they need to know to have ownership of their faith. Both our 7th and 8th Grades are engaged in literature and finding how so much of their curriculum in other subject areas is related to what they read.

7th GRADE PARENTS PLEASE ASK your student for the information envelope from METC about Terra Nova test prep classes to be held here at SCS beginning in early February in readiness for Terra Nova testing which will take place in early March.

LOOKING AHEAD A reminder that as we prepare for Open Houses and accepting new parent applications, we will need to know that you are committed to SCS for the fall in each grade level. Look for information in next week’s Wednesday Envelope.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS Congratulations to 8th Grade Michael Berry who has been named a Presidential Scholar and will be receiving a $1000 four year academic to Archbishop Ryan.
For the third year in a row, families may send in their old cell phones to be configured so that our military overseas can use them to call home to their families. Please send phones in to the main office from now through the month of February. We are grateful to 8th Grader Tori Matthews for coordinating this effort for us.

CRITICAL THINKING 101 Emily Delgado (8-27) had her correct entry drawn and will receive this week’s $10 Gift Card of Choice certificate. The palindromes were Abba, radar, level, deed, and tenet. For next week, we have a riddle submitted by two of our students: “A guard comes up to a prisoner and tells him he has a visitor. The guard asks who it is. The prisoner replies, ‘Brothers and sisters I have none, but that man’s father is my grandfather’s son.’ Who is the visitor?”