w ww. stmar ycs. net Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:40

Transcription

1 From the Principal S t. Mar y Ca tholic School nd Ave G r e eley, CO w ww. stmar ycs. net Mission Statement: Under the protection of Jesus and the Blessed Mother, and guided by the Holy Spirit, St. Mary Catholic School is a faith centered academic community that encourages service to God and others and strives to form the hearts, minds and souls of our students in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Faith. What is Thanksgiving? According to my Google search, Thanksgiving is an expression of gratitude, especially to God. Of course Thanksgiving is also a national holiday that is celebrated as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. I am thankful for the blessings of my family and of our St. Mary family. I pray that each of you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families and friends. May God bless each of you abundantly. Thanksgiving There will be no school on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, November 22nd, 23rd, 24th. This is our Thanksgiving break. In the past we have had a noon release on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. This year we are taking the full day off. Enjoy! Food Drive Thank you to all of you that participated in the 4th grade food drive service project! Mrs. Watson and the 4th graders delivered 120 bags of food to the St. Peter Food Pantry! That s fantastic! What an important service project this is to our community! The 4th graders helped to sort the food and then received a tour of the church and adoration chapel. Preschool and 1st grade worked hard and brought in the most bags of food. They will both receive a popsicle party! Thank you to all of you that participated. It will certainly help many people in our community. Food Drive Continued. I have been told that the food pantry at Our Lady of Peace is in need of support as well. As a continuous project, we will keep a bin in the foyer of the school for you to bring your non-perishable food items throughout the year. The box will be emptied and the food delivered to Our Lady of Peace every Monday. Please continue to help our local parishes with their ministry for those in need. Thank you in advance. Las Posadas The St. Mary School Advisory Council and Parent Teacher Organization is sponsoring an event open to the school and parish called Las Posadas. This is a wonderful Christmas/Advent tradition that translates in English to the inn. Las Posadas symbolizes the biblical journey of Mary and Joseph as they searched for shelter in Bethlehem before the birth of Jesus. During the celebration, we will process around the St. Mary campus until we reach the designated Inn (the parish hall) imitating this advent journey. We will then celebrate in the hall with food (tamales dinner) fellowship and a piñata. Las Posadas will occur on December 9th following the 5:00pm Mass at 6:30pm. Please return the RSVP form found in the Wednesday envelope to the school or parish office or FastDirect Ashley Kerrigan by December 1st so we have a good estimate for how much food will be needed. There is no cost to attend, however we request that you bring non-perishable food to donate to the Our Lady of Peace pantry. November 21, principal@stmarycs.net Visit our Spirit Shop at: com/sale Upcoming Event: November No School Thanksgiving Break November 28 Suicide Prevention Meeting for Parents of Grades 6th, 7th and 8th only December 3 Advent Begins December 4 Advent Prayer Service in School Foyer 8:20am December 5 Ambassadors Meeting 3:45pm Dec. 6 Feast of St. Nicholas December 6 Early Release (1pm) December 6 School Confessions Grades 3rd-8th 9am-11am December 6 St. Mary Parish Confessions 6:30pm December 7 Birthday Spirit Day December 8 Feast of the Immaculate Conception Mass 8:30am and 7pm December 9 Las Posadas 6:30pm Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:40 Penance Services at St. Mary Fr. Goggins and Fr. Stephan from Our Lady of Peace will have a Penance service for our 3rd-8th graders on Wednesday, December 6th beginning at 9:00am. Please help your child to be prepared by completing an Examination of Conscience prior to the confession. The St. Mary Parish Penance service will take place that evening beginning at 6:30pm. December Early Release We will have an early release on Wednesday, December 6th. This means the students will be released at 1:00pm. Lunch will be served and after Care will be available. The teachers and staff will be using the afternoon for an Advent Retreat with Deacon John Volk. We will be off campus for this retreat. If you come to pick up your child after 1:00pm, your child will be in after Care in the Parish Center or in the Library after 4:30pm. No Tuesday Rosary During the Advent season we will not have all school Rosary. We will instead have the Advent Prayer Services each Monday. The all school Rosary will resume after the Christmas break.

2 Page 2 From the Principal Advent Prayer Services The first Sunday of Advent is Sunday, December 3rd. We will continue with our traditional Advent Prayer Services each Monday morning during Advent. We will have our Jesse tree set up in the school foyer and each student will be assigned a character from Jesus ancestors. They will be given an ornament to decorate with symbols of their character. During their assigned week, the children will be asked to hang their ornament on the Jesse tree as we learn about their character together. We will sing O Come O Come Emmanuel together as the children walk back to their classrooms. The weekly Advent Prayer Services will take place each Monday during Advent at 8:20am. All are welcome! Our Lady of Guadalupe Play The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe will be on Tuesday, December 12th. It is a tradition at St. Mary that our 2nd graders reenact the events of St. Juan Diego and his vision of Mary on Tepayec Hill on the outskirts of Mexico City. The 2nd graders will perform the play on Sunday, December 10th during the 12pm Mass at St. Mary Church. They will perform the play again for the school on Tuesday, December 12th after morning announcements (about 8:20am) in the school gym. Everyone is welcome! Christmas Program Mark your calendars! The St. Mary Christmas program will take place on Thursday, December 14th in the school gym. The preschoolers will have their program at 6pm. This will be followed by the 3rd-5th grade vocals as well as the band and strings performance at 6:30pm. There will be a dress rehearsal for all students this same day beginning at 2:30pm in the school gym. All are welcome at any of the performances. Safeway Scrip The Safeway scrip cards have been compromised once again. If you are having any issues please contact the parish or school office. St. Mary Catholic School does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, handicap, color, national or ethnic origin in the administration of educational policies, employment practices, scholarships and loan programs or athletic or other school administered programs.

3 Are You INN? WHAT: Las Posadas is a celebration to remind us of Mary and Joseph s journey to Bethlehem. The evening will include a procession around St. Mary Church and conclude with food (Tamales Dinner), fellowship, and entertainment. WHEN: Saturday, December 9 th following the 5pm Mass WHERE: Church Hall RSVP: Please RSVP in the Church or School office by December 1st and bring a nonperishable food item or money the night of the event for donation to the Our Lady of Peace food pantry.

4 Las Posadas, are you INN? Thank you for your interest in Las Posadas! Please indicate below how many people will be attending so we have an estimate of how much food will be needed at the event. Please also bring canned food to donate the night of the event to the Our Lady of Peace Food Pantry for those in need. Location: St Mary Catholic Church Hall Date: December 9, 2017 following the 5pm Mass (6:30pm) Family Name: Number Attending

5 SCRIP ORDER FORM Please make your selection and return Thursday in the Wednesday envelope. Your oldest student will receive your order on Thursday, unless they did not return their envelope in a timely manner, then it may be the following day. Please make a separate check payable to St. Mary Catholic School for your scrip payment. DO NOT STAPLE YOUR CHECK TO THE SCRIP ORDER FORM Scrip may also be purchased at the Parish Office Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Increments Quantity Amount Groceries King Soopers (reloadable) *** $10.00 Sprouts Restaurants Bonefish Chili's/Macaroni Grill/Maggianos/On the Border Egg & I $10.00 Human Bean $10.00 Old Chicago/Rock Bottom Old Chicago - Pizza Palz *limited time *$11.00 Panera Bread Qdoba Red Lobster/Olive Garden Red Robin Texas Roadhouse Uniform Dennis Uniform $20.00 Department Stores Kohl's Lowe's Total Amount Due Check Number Name of Oldest Student Teacher/Grade *** Credit on this purchase begins once the card is reloaded. PLEASE RECYCLE THIS FORM

6 SCRIP What is it? Scrip fundraising is a no-selling program that enables families to raise money for their nonprofit organization. Scrip is just another way to pay for everyday purchases using gift cards in place of cash, checks and credit cards. How does it work? You purchase your scrip ahead of time. When you go shopping, you pay with the scrip card. If you do not spend your card all at one time, you will have a remaining balance to use the next time you shop. You can purchase Kohl s scrip cards through the school to pay your Kohl s credit card! Purchase your cards and then take it to the store and let them know you are paying your credit card bill either at customer service or at the checkout (you cannot pay online with your scrip cards). Make sure your card says Kohl s Cares on it, as this is the only card accepted through Kohl s to pay your bill. It s definitely a win-win for this business! Does it cost any extra to me? No. When you purchase your scrip, you get dollar for dollar of what you purchase with a rebate going back to the school. For example, if you buy $100 worth of King Soopers you receive $100 to spend there. You have also donated $5 back to St. Mary s by this purchase without doing anything else! The rebate of $5 came from the store, not you. How much do I have to purchase at one time? Increments of the cards are between $10 and $50. Safeway and King Soopers are reloadable at the store. This means you can put money on your card before making your purchase. A good way to do this is to ask the checker to put money on your card before scanning your groceries. After paying to reload your card, have the checker scan your groceries and pay for your items with the card you just reloaded. Who can purchase scrip? Anyone you know can help our school and purchase our scrip. Grandparents, relatives, neighbors, and friends all need groceries and can get the cards through you and going to the Parish Office. You will receive credit through their purchases as long as they give them your family name. How much do I need to purchase? To keep our tuition cost low and to receive the in parish rate, each family must purchase at least $5,000 per year (June-May). If you purchase over $5,000, 5% of that will go towards your fundraising. This amount is easy to reach when you get in the habit of always having scrip in your wallet before you run to the store. It also is easy to achieve when you get your family and friends involved. Remember that it is not an extra cost to you. The only one who pays is the stores. Questions? Please call Thank you for supporting St. Mary Catholic School. If you do not receive your ordered scrip by the following day at the latest, please notify the office immediately! NOTE: You cannot buy gift cards from King Soopers or Safeway with your scrip card.