Week of October 21st

Week of Monday, October 21st



Show and Tell: Anything that begins with letter E or anything that has to do with Halloween

Due to the short week there will be no Show and Tell the week of Monday, October 28th 

Monday:

Tuesday: Music

Wednesday: Safe Environment Religion lesson.
There are two lessons. One is taught in October and the other in May.The Archdiocese of Philadelphia requires that these lessons be taught to the children. If you would prefer that your child not participate, please call the main office before Wednesday, October 23rd.

Gym 

Thursday:  November/ December pretzel order forms are due / Computers 

Friday: Library 

Trunk or Treat 6:00pm-7:30pm 


-Thank you to the parents who volunteered to help with our trip to Highland Orchards. It was a bit windy but ended up being a fun trip. 

-Thank you to all the parents and volunteers who came out to help and cheer on the children during the Walk-A-Thon. Thank you for all the donations! The money raised will go towards school upgrades and enhancements. 

-Thank you to everyone who brought in peanut butter and jelly for the poor. 

- Please park in the front of school during the day. The back lot needs to be clear for recess. Thank you!

- Please sign up for a conference time. Conferences are being held on Thursday,October 31st. However, I've offered times throughout the week.The link to the sign-up genius is: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080b4ca4ae2baafd0-prek3
If none of the times work for you, please contact me and we can schedule a phone conference. 

- Wednesdays are designated as Mission Day at SSJ. The missions we collect are used to support The Archdiocesan Missionary Childhood Association as well as other worthy causes such as Ronald McDonald House, Catholic Charities, Rice Bowl, hurricane victims, etc. Please be generous. Thank you!

- Please label all clothing, etc. your child comes in with. I have two maroon SSJ sweatshirts that were left here on Friday with no names inside them. Please let me know if your child is missing a sweatshirt.Thank you! 

- As the weather gets cooler, please make sure you child has a sweatshirt or jacket to wear outside. We try to go out everyday. Thank you! 

- As the weather gets cooler some children prefer to wear the long sleeve shirt rather than the sweatshirt. The logo wear store sells youth long sleeve t-shirts for $15. You can access the logo wear store through the school website. If you have any questions, please contact ssjlogowear@gmail.com 

- No School: 10/31 and 11/1. We will have conferences on Thursday, 10/31.

- We’re in need of lunch time volunteers Monday-Friday from 12-1pm. Mrs. Franz, the Pre-K 4 aide will be in the classroom with you as well as a lunch helper on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We especially need parent volunteers on Mondays and Fridays because we don’t have a lunch helper from the cafeteria.The sign-up genius link for October is: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080b4ca4ae2baafd0-october

You must have all your clearances to volunteer. Please contact Candy Savarese in the rectory for more information on obtaining your clearances. Her email is csavarese@simonandjude.org

- Safe Environment lessons will be taught to grades Pre-K 3-8th on Wednesday, October 23rd. There are two lessons. One is taught in October and the other in May. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia requires that these lessons be taught to the children. If you would prefer that your child not participate, please call the main office before Wednesday, October 23rd.

- Regular afternoon carline in the front of school: It seems that we are having an unnecessary back-up issue at afternoon carline dismissal.The carline children are dismissed at 2:53PM. If you are coming too early, you might want to come later. Teachers remain on carline duty until all children have been picked up. We ask all parents/grandparents to form two lines when coming to pick up your children/grandchildren. If you would see a “back-up”, rather than waiting on Rt. 3, please drive into the Church lot. Please remind your child/ren not to "run" to the car when they see you. Teachers will ensure that it is safe (all cars have stopped) and either walk the child to the waiting car or instruct the older children to proceed. We do strive to get all children safely and quickly to their cars. Thank you to all our drivers for your cooperation and patience as we ensure the safety of our children. 

- Tickets are still available for SSJ's Home and School raffles. Please support us!! Any questions? Email Megan DelFra at megandelfra@yahoo.com. 

- SSJ's annual Trunk or Treat will be held Friday, October 25th from 6pm to 7:30pm. Please read the Trunk or Treat flyer. The link to the flyer can be found in the newsletter. There' s also a link to a pizza order form. You must register your car. If you'd like to help with the event, there's a sign-up genius link in the newsletter. 

- Save the date for the Knights of Columbus Italian Night at SSJ! This fun and family-friendly event will be on November 2nd, 6 to 9:30 p.m. in The Meehan Center. The cost is $45 for adults AND kids K- grade 8 are FREE. This includes live entertainment for all, Italian food, wine, beer, and soft drinks.

- Trivia Night returns to SSJ on Friday, November 15th. This is a parent only event. 

- Support SSJ through Giant’s A+ School Rewards Program! Go to the Giant website for more information. https://giantfoodstores.com/school-rewards/. If you already support SSJ, you don’t need to sign up again. Thank you!

- Tuition assistance is available for all Saints Simon and Jude families who qualify or have a short-term financial need. In the 2019-2020 school year, over $160,000 in aid was awarded to SSJ students. We ask families to please submit an application through FACTS prior to applying for aid through SSJ's Catholic Education Fund. More information can be found in the newsletter. 

- Be a Christmas Angel! This upcoming Advent season, you can make a difference to the less fortunate children in our local area. Our SSJ school and parish communities will once again partner with the Delaware Valley Children’s Charity (dvcconline.org) to assist thousands of area children who would have otherwise gone without. Last year SSJ sponsored 334 children! Please see the newsletter for more information.

Recap of the Week :

This week we focused on the letter F. We completed four pages in our letter booklet and sent the rest home. We came up with a list of words beginning with the letter F. Thank you for sending in all the pictures and words beginning with the letter F. We glued them to the back of the list. We practiced writing upper and lowercase F on mini chalkboards using the Handwriting without Tears method of Wet, Dry, Try. The children enjoyed sharing their letter F Show and Tell items. 
In Religion we read about the Blessed Mother's appearance to the three children in Fatima, Portugal. We also read the story of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. We talked about how Jesus loves and takes care of us like a shepherd loves and takes care of his sheep. We discussed ways we can thank the people who love and take care of us. 

In our "Ready for School" unit we talked about the difference between height and length. We compared the objects on the teaching poster using the words: shorter, longer and taller. We also compared objects in the classroom. 

We made ghosts for our bulletin board.The children cut out the ghosts and glued on crumpled tissue paper. Everyone painted a pumpkin at the easel. We'll add a face this week and then each child will vote for their favorite.

Our trip to Highland Orchards on Thursday was windy but fun! The children learned how apple cider was made. They got to try apple cider and an apple cider donut. We worked as a group to make a scarecrow. We took a hayride and picked three varieties of apples. We also picked a class pumpkin. Thank you again to all the parent volunteers! 

This Coming Week:

This week we'll focus on the letter E. We will complete two pages in our E booklet. The other two pages can be completed at home and brought back in for a sticker. Please send in 2-3 clippings of words or pictures beginning with the letter E from magazines, cereal boxes, newspapers, etc. The children should be helping to find and cut out the pictures and words. We will practice writing Letter E in our Handwriting without Tears workbooks.We will read about pumpkins in our Weekly Reader. We'll paint a jack-o-lantern face on our pumpkins at the easel. We'll also make a "5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate" craft. The children will create a gate with Popsicle sticks.They will add 5 pumpkins to the gate and glue a copy of the poem to the top of the page. 

In Religion we'll read the story: "Ming's Furry Puppy". We'll talk about ways we can be kind at home and at school. 

In our "Ready for School" unit we'll read the book: "My Friends". We'll make predictions before reading. After reading, we'll compare our predictions to what actually happened in the story. We will act out the story words: hide and nap.

Important Dates

These Dates are subject to change.

West Chester Halloween Parade- Wednesday, 10/23

Trunk or Treat- 10/25, 6-7:30pm

Halloween Parade- 10/30, 8:30-8:40

Knights of Columbus Italian Night- 11/2, 6-9:30pm

Trivia Night- 11/15

Thanksgiving Celebration- 11/26, 10:00-10:30

Pre-K Christmas Play- 12/16

Gingerbread Houses with 8th Grade in the cafeteria- 12/18

Donuts with Dad- 3/19, 8:45- 9:15/9:30

Muffins with Mom- 5/7, 8:45-9:15/9:30

Pre-K Spirit Day- 5/27, 10:00-10:45

Pre-K Beach Day- 6/4, 11:45 Dismissal

Pre-K Closing Ceremony- 6/5, 9:30am

**You must have all your clearances to volunteer. For more information on obtaining the required clearances, please contact Candy Savarese in the Rectory at csavarese@simonandjude.org

*Reminder: If your child is absent please email myself at mpmauer@simonandjude.org as well as Mrs. Conlon in the main office at mconlon@simonandjude.org

Thank you!

- If your child's dismissal procedure changes, I must be emailed by 1:00pm. If it's past 1:00pm, please call the main office. 

- If you need to pick up early, we must have a written note or email.