November 18, 2009

May each of us be thankful for all the gifts that our loving God bestows on us!

THE SEASONS UNFOLD BEFORE US As you celebrate Thanksgiving with all those special to you, we wish each of you a sense of the blessings that you do have in your lives. Too often we fixate on what we don’t have and overlook all that we have and take for granted.



Then, this coming Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent. There are so many beautiful traditions associated with this season of awaiting the Birth of the Child that help keep us mindful of the season. From Advent wreaths to Advent calendars to cribs and the like, we can make this a true time of waiting for the Christ Child, our Savior. Observing some of these traditions can provide a good balance to lists, shopping, etc.



H1N1 VACCINATIONS We are grateful to our school nurse, Mrs. Coleman-Wira for reviewing the consent forms sent in by parents wanting their children to receive the nasal spray last Thursday. That was a task, but then on Thursday, there were the more immediate tasks of transcribing information to Health Dept. forms and administering the vaccine. A number of parents volunteered to help in these capacities. We thank Mrs. Benz, Mrs. Biles, Mrs. Comas, Mrs. Heston, and Mrs. Zaremski along with Naomi from the Health Department for their hours of work that morning with the forms. Next in the process, we thank nurses Mrs. Branca (grandmother of John and Vincent Luciano), Mrs. Citrigno, Mr. Presutti, Mrs. Reinhart, and Mrs. Zuk for administering the spray to all of our cherubs. Overall the morning flowed very smoothly again in thanks to the good help we had. You may have heard that one of our students was taken to the hospital and, as the nurses here had thought, hospital testing confirmed that it was an anxiety reaction to the idea of the vaccine and not related to the vaccine itself. When we hear about the details for the administration of Round 2 in early December for students needing it, we will share them with you.



TUITION REMINDER For families on the monthly payment plan, a reminder that the November payment is now past due. For families at the stewardship rate of tuition, a reminder that the amount in the offertory collection should be $300 through November 15. For report cards to be issued on Tuesday, December 15th: Stewardship families must have at least $300 in the offertory collection (to be received by 12/7) and monthly payments must be paid through November. Please call Maryann Junod at the parish office with any questions or concerns.



MORNING TIME We thank everyone who observes the routine of bringing your children to school by car. If you are dropping students off, you should follow the carline as far toward the parish center as possible before stopping to let children out. If you are walking your children to a door, you should park in the Trainer Hall lot only. No one should be parking in front of the rectory, parish center, etc.



A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS How do your children look each day leaving for school and the work of getting prepared for their futures? It is wonderful to see that so many of you recognize the connection with appearances and potential. Here at school we wonder when parents let their students come to school looking the way that some of them do. Being dressed according to policy from head to foot is a life skill and is thus reflected on report cards.



PEOPLE AND EVENTS Our SCS Swim Team did it yet again. They won their meet against Calvary last week. This coming Sunday they will be competing against St. Jerome’s at noon. Go, team!



Please be reminded that if you are interested in applying for the Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia, you can go to the website www.csfphiladelphia.org for the application. Although the timeframe is until March, only the first 7,000 applications received will be processed. Don’t miss this opportunity if it’s possible for you.



CRITICAL THINKING 101 What’s a char? It’s an amazing fish, that’s for sure. A char is both a salt water and fresh water fish and is related to both salmon and trout. How’s that for a pedigree? Congratulations to Lauren Hall (4-11) for having her correct answer drawn and to all of the entrants who had a mini-science lesson when they found the answer. Lauren will receive the $10 Gift Card of Choice certificate for this week. For the next drawing, answer the who, what, when, why regarding the establishment of an official Thanksgiving celebration in our nation.

November 11, 2009

God bless our veterans who served so nobly and for our present military who serve so now.

H1N1 UPDATE Our absentee rate has dropped but we are still experiencing a mix of H1N1, a short but serious stomach bug, head colds, and even Fifth disease in Pre-K. Those of you with older children remember it as a fine rash that simply lets you know that your child has it and is no longer contagious.

We ask again that you not get upset about missed work, tests, and the like if your children are out sick for a long period of time. From the sounds of things, children who have the flu are too tired and weak to do anything but let their bodies recover. Teachers will work out plans with students on an individual basis to help them and so when you see information about test dates, etc. on their webpages, know that is for the students in school.

As of now, we do not have the accompanying paperwork for the administration of the nasal vaccine tomorrow and so our parent volunteers will be busy filling out those forms. If they come later today, we can start. Otherwise we’ll have a system in place before we have any students come to receive the vaccine. Please remember that Pre-K parents must be present and any other parents are welcome to be if they so choose. As described to me by our nurse, it is an easy administration—first up one nostril and then the other. Mrs. Wira has administered the vaccine at two public schools and she said that it went very smoothly and was not a bit upsetting for the children.



EVEN WITH OUR WEBSITE IN TRANSITION… you can still find what you need about school, we hope! Just click on Daily Announcements to see what’s most recent and clicking on the Tentative Calendar line shows you the year in review. We think that some people don’t realize that. As always, by going to Teachers on the sidebar, you can open any teacher’s webpage as well as Mrs. Tremper’s and mine. We are looking to have a Student Council link in the future as well. We know from many of you that you have bookmarked certain teacher webpages and made them favorites for yourselves.



WE HOPE THAT IT’S BEEN EASIER FOR YOU Having conferences spread out between progress reports and the first report card seemed like it would be easier for you to meet a teacher before or after school or in the evening depending on the arrangement. Your feedback about how we are doing conferences this year would be welcome.



REMEMBER HOW MUCH FUN YOU HAD AT THE LAST H&S LADIES BINGO? Tomorrow night’s event sounds like it will be even better. The committee has a fun evening arranged for you.

When the Board met this week, they decided to change from Lunch with Santa to a Bunny Brunch this spring and so you can look forward to that event with your young ones. They are still looking for a fun venue to replace the Halloween Party and you can be sure it will be a fun one.



RIPPED CUFFS? When we met with the representative from Flynn and O’Hara yesterday to talk about next year’s uniform specs, we told her about a concern that you have about ripped cuffs and bottom seams on their sweaters. Erin told us without flinching for anyone to be sure to return the sweater to them for a new one if you bought it in the past year. There is a school year warranty in place which they ascertain with your phone number. You don’t even need to know where your receipt is. They will replace your sweater and send the one you returned to the manufacturer so that they can see the problem.



PEOPLE AND EVENTS Congratulations to trumpeter John Birch (8-18) who will be representing SCS in the 2009-2010 Archdiocesan Honors Band. We are very proud of John who is a veteran with the Honors Band.

Our Swim Team won against St. Katherine’s at their last meet and we congratulate them for yet another win. This Sunday, the 15th, they will meet Calvary at 3 PM and we look forward to hearing those results.

Holy Redeemer Hospital is offering a Safe Sitter Course November 21 and 22 from 9-2:30 each day. It is for boys and girls 11 to 13 and registration is required. Please call 1-800-818-4747 or go to holyredeemer.com.



CRITICAL THINKING 101 Pheasant, ant, adder, rat, turtle leech, char, hare, eel, lion, newt, tiger—Ashley Sullivan (4-13) had them all when her correct entry was pulled and she will receive this week’s $10 Gift Card of Choice Certificate. For next week, it’s simple. What is a char?

November 4, 2009

“…for those who are young and those who are old…” Prayer for Priests

H1N1 UPDATE At this time, we have doctors’ notes from five students stating that they have H1N1—some have culture results but others just say HiN1. It also sounds like other doctors have diagnosed some students over the phone depending on their symptoms. We also have a number of doctors’ notes of students cultured for seasonal flu and strep. And then, there’s a stomach bug!

If we continue to be proactive at school and at home, we will have a handle on all this sickness. Know that we will be administering the vaccine to medically-eligible students for whom you sent consent forms on Thursday, November 12th. At this time, we don’t know the timing of the day, but parents are welcome to be on site if you’d like. In fact, Pre-K parents must accompany their children. We have some nurse volunteers who have offered to help and then there is a paperwork process leading up to/and the day of the vaccinations. If you have time, please send me a message and we can make up a schedule. At this time, we may need help on Tuesday or Wednesday pre-filling forms if they arrive in time, but definitely on Thursday. I am sorry to be so up in the air but you know how this has unfolded so far. It’s a new and hopefully one-of-its-kind situation in our lives.

In addition to the sanitizing, handwashing, and other guidelines, that we are following, we have separated desks in classrooms and made sure that pretzels are distributed with a glove rather than just a paper towel. We appreciate the feedback we have received from some of our parents.

As an additional pre-caution, Mrs. Giammaruti has cancelled the November CYO Dance. As we said with the Halloween party, large close groups of young people are discouraged as they are places where germs are spread so easily.



IF YOU SENT IN $$ FOR THE HALLOWEEN PARTY, it is being returned to you through your child. Our H&S decided that it’d be easier just to return your checks/cash now and then start anew when we are able to host this very popular event. That way, if you can’t make the new date when it is determined, everyone is square.



MIX-IT-UP MONDAY This coming Monday, our students will have the opportunity to sit with some students that they do not normally sit with at lunch. They may be from a different homeroom in their grade. The purpose is to meet other people and learn things about them that one wouldn’t know. Two students might find that they share a common hobby, both take ballet or karate, who knows! It’s a way of reaching out to others.



SAFE ENVIRONMENT CLASS A reminder to anyone who works with our children in any capacity—volunteer, coach, etc. that you must take this class to continue doing what you do. It is a safeguard in place and is a worthwhile class in the information it presents. St. Christopher is hosting a session on Sunday evening, November 15th in HFH. The doors will open at 6 PM. Please call Anne Beebie at the Parish Center to register (215-673-5177).



REMINDER ON TUITION For families on the monthly payment plan, October payment is now past due. For families at the stewardship rate, the amount in the offertory collection should be $255 through October 31. For report cards to be issued on Tuesday, December 15: Stewardship families must have $300 in collection (to be received by 12/7), monthly payments must be paid through November, and lastly please call Maryann Junod at the parish office with any questions or concerns



CAR LINE, CAR LINE, CAR LINE! Please be reminded that our AM carline enters from the open driveway closest to the rectory and that cars go as far toward the Parish Center/Trainer Hall as possible before stopping to let children out. On leaving, it is right turn only for the flow of the line and the sake of other drivers. Faculty is on duty from 7:45-8:00 and we ask that you work with them for the safety of our children.



NOVEMBER STUDENTS OF THE MONTH Congratulations go out to the following students on this achievement: PK- Emily Ward; Kindergarten- Patrick Lichtner and Emily Wright; First- Joseph Parker, Colin Joyce, and Bianca Lopez; Second- Megan Shields, Seaona Kovatich, and Victoria Poggio; Third- Kile Higgins and Nick Kuonen; Fourth- Caitlyn Cliggett, Michael Campellone, and Allana Vanin; Fifth- Courtney Trodden and Alexis Benz; Sixth- Connor Green, Matthew Kaminski, and Samantha Young; Seventh- Justin Crudele, Kevin Brown, and Nicole Serrano; Eighth- Marco Cavallo, Kevin Jurgelewicz, Nicole Nitowski, and Clarissa Atkinson.



PEOPLE AND EVENTS This is a good place to share how students in different and the same grades are helping one another out during this time when so many students are so sick by gathering books, bringing home papers, and the like. Much of this has been good neighbor, good friend activity and has been self-motivated.

The Philadelphia Zoo is now accepting applications for the Junior Advisory Council. The application is on their website under Zoo Headlines and will be there until November 30th. 7th Grader Michelle Nocitra has been a member of the Council and finds it to be a great opportunity to meet new people and be involved in decision making.



CRITICAL THINKING 101 Congratulations to Brigid Young (8-26) who had her correct entry drawn for the Phillies’ total shirt numbers of 789. Brigid will receive this week’s $10 Gift Card of Choice Certificate. For next week, find the names of 12 animals in the following. Some of the names might overlap with the name before or after: pheasantadderaturtleechareelionewtiger

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.