REMINDERS:  

• Please check the December calendar for all important dates.  
  
  
• Re-Registration for 2017-2018 School Year
  Early Registration is off to a great start and we will continue to offer our discounted registration fee of $50 until December 22nd.
  
  ***Please Note: In order to be officially registered for the 2017-2018 school year, the registration fee must be handed in along with the re-registration form. If you have any questions please contact our Advancement Director, Ms. Smarr. 
   
  
• Christmas Program
  The SJRS Christmas Program entitled "The Children's Nativity Story" will be held on December 14 at 10 AM in St. John XXIII Church.  We invite you to join us as we celebrate the miracle of Christmas. All students in grades K-8 will participate in the program. 
  
  
• Santa’s Secret Shop
  Students in grades 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8 can shop on Monday, December 5th.
  Students in grades K, 1, 5 and 6 can shop on Tuesday, December 6th. 
  All items will be $2.00 or less. Students should have money in an envelope. Please indicate how much they can spend for each family member.
  
  
• Due to Santa’s Secret Shop, students will be permitted to wear Christmas Clothing or Red/Green dress down clothing on both days. 
  
  
• PSP will also be at school for pictures with Santa on December 5th from 2:00PM-4:30PM.
  
  
• Picture re-take day is also on December 5th.  Students who are having their pictures taken are permitted to dress down.  
  ,
• Gertrude Hawk pick-up is Wednesday, December 7th from 2:00-4:00 PM
  
  
• Early dismissals:
  December 9th at 1:00pm 
  December 22 at 12:00pm – There will be no lunch on this day.
  
  
• Christmas vacation – December 23rd- January 2nd School reopens January 3rd.

Some of the highlights during the month of November are listed below:

• Many thanks for your tremendous support of our Veteran’s Day Mission Project.  Because of your generosity we were able to send many needed items to Paul’s House in support of our veterans. A special thank you to Mrs. LeClair for making us aware of Paul’s House and delivering all the items to the Veterans.  
  
  
• Thank you so much to everyone for their generous donations during the month of November! We had a dress down day to support Wreaths Across America. Wreaths Across America, honors our nation's heroes by laying wreaths at veteran’s cemeteries throughout the United States.  With the donations we were able to purchase 16.8 wreaths for our veterans!! A special thank you to Angelo Greek (5th grade) for his encouragement to give to this great cause.  
  
  
• On Monday we had our second annual step up day! The students had a great time stepping up to their future classrooms.  Also on Monday, our 8th grade students visited Marian High School.  
  
  
• Thank you to the Tamaqua Community Art Center for coming to our school in November and letting us be a part of the Tamaqua has Heart Project! All our students had the chance to be artists and leave their mark on our town's big heart.  A special thank you to our amazing art teacher Mrs. Odorizzi!
  
  
• The 1st Trimester ended today, November 22nd.  Report Cards will be sent home on December 7th. 
  
  
• SJRS was recognized by the Diocese of Allentown and was the recipient of the 2016 Bishop’s Enrollment Award.  Bishop Barres, John Bakey, Chancellor of Catholic Education, and Dr. Phil Fromuth, Superintendent, celebrated the best signs of success in our schools. The 2016 Bishop’s Enrollment Awards recognize Pastors, principals, staff and faculty who have grown their school and added students. These are critical successes and we are so thrilled to celebrate them.  Our critical job is to pass healthy viable schools on to the next generation. These Awards come with a prayer that each year we will learn more, work smarter, and grow enrollment in every school. 

The Christian of the Month for Kindergarten Gold is Carly Green .  Carly is a very bright, kind, and helpful student, who loves to read and write stories. She likes helping her classmates.  She enjoys playing soccer and tee ball. Carly also likes learning Karate, USA Martial Arts, and has earned an orange stripe belt.      

The Christian of the month for Kindergarten Blue is JoElle Currie. JoElle is a very hard worker, always doing her best. She enjoys participating in all class activities.  JoElle is also a good friend to the other children in the class.  After school, JoElle plays soccer and softball. At home (and in school ) she is always drawing, coloring and working on interesting projects. Congratulations, JoElle!

JaeLynn Browdy was selected to be Christian of the Month in second grade.  She was chosen because she is kind and respectful to her teachers and classmates. JaeLynn is a conscientious student and puts a lot of effort into her school work.  JaeLynn plays softball and is a member of the Dance Explosion dance team.  She also likes to play volleyball.

In third grade, Christian of the Month is awarded to Maggie Zeiler for her great display of respect and responsibility shown towards her classmates and in her schoolwork.  As a Girl Scout, Maggie has earned Painting, Bugs, Dancer, Home Scientist, My Best Self, Household Elf, Making Friends, Letter Boxer, Snacks and First Aid badges. She is also a student at Center Stage Dance in McAdoo for the past six years. She loves to cook, bake, draw, create, build, explore the outdoors and care for her pets!

In fourth grade, Morgan O'Brien is Christian of the Month for November. Morgan is a very kind student. She is willing to help anyone. Morgan is respectful and always takes the feelings of others into consideration. She works hard in school and tries her best. Morgan has played baseball in the Lansford Little League since the age of 4. She was selected for the 2015 LL All Star Team and was the U8 2016 LL Homerun Derby champion. She currently participates in the West Penn Softball league and Panther Valley Youth Basketball. She also played Panther Valley Youth Soccer for 3 seasons. She received the 1st place trophy in CYO Bowling last year for girls grades 3 and under. Morgan enjoys being outdoors. She loves to fish with her Dad and she loves animals of all kinds especially horses! Morgan is a great helper and sets a good example for her sister Megan to follow.             

Isabella Boyer was chosen for 5th grade's Christian of the Month for November. She is respectful to her peers and teachers, kind and has a great sense of humor.  Isabella is a member of St. John XXIII parish where she is also an altar server. Isabella takes guitar lessons, enjoys art and playing volleyball.

Joseph Walko is the Christian of the Month for November for Grade 6.  Joey displays a positive attitude and is always helpful and friendly. He is fun-loving and genuinely cares for others. Joey is a catcher for the McAdoo Fire Company and was part of the Tri County All Stars. He plays point guard for the CYO JV team and YMCA Basketball League. He is an altar server for All Saints Parish and volunteers at St. John XXIII Vacation Bible School. He enjoys hunting, fishing, and camping.

Jay Burton has been selected as 7th Grade Christian of the Month. He always greets everyone with a smile. Jay is thoughtful and caring, and he gets along well with his peers. He is always willing to help teachers and fellow students. Outside of school, Jay enjoys playing basketball with his friends.        

Charizma Hiles has been selected as the 8th grade Christian of the Month.  Charizma always shows respect for her teachers and peers and displays a positive attitude.  She welcomes leadership roles in groups and works democratically with her peers. Her activities include:  Panther Valley Soccer U-16, CYO Track and Field, and a member of the Greeting Ministry for St. Joseph's Parish in Summit Hill. Charizma took 2nd place in the 2016 CYO Arts and Crafts competition, 2nd place in the shot put in the 2016 CYO Track and Field  District 5 competition and she consistently makes the honor roll.  Charizma is very active in the SJRS school community.  She serves as the Student Council Secretary, reads the school's morning announcements, and is a school paper writer for the Standard Speaker.  Congratulations, Charizma!

Geography Bee

SJRS will participate in the National Geographic Bee.   The contest is designed to motivate students to learn about the world and how it works.  Students in grades four through eight are eligible for this challenging competition.  The preliminary competition will be held in individual classrooms in December. The final competition to determine a school champion will be held on Friday, January 13, 2017.   Good luck to all our students!

HW Hotline Info

Penn State Schuylkill has launched the Penn State Homework Hotline, a free tutoring service to students in participating local school districts. Saint Jerome Regional School has elected to participate in the program.  The community program is based on the very successful Homework Hotline program at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT) in Terra Haute, Indiana.  Students in grades 6 to 12 with questions about math homework or concepts can call and speak to a college student who is trained to tutor math and has acquired all of the required clearances to work with children. The hotline is open Sunday through Thursday evenings throughout the school year from 6 to 9 p.m. Tutors are available to assist with general math, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, pre-calculus, calculus and statistics. The tutors will guide the students through the process of solving the problem, so that the students will learn how to complete similar problems on their own. The Homework Hotline phone number is 570-385-6500. 

                                                           

Tuition            

Monthly tuition payments are essential to pay the operating costs of SJRS. The school has monthly bills that must be paid and overdue tuition payments create a hardship on the school budget. Please keep up- to-date with tuition payments using the FACTS tuition management system. Thank you for understanding the importance of your tuition commitment and up-to-date payments.

 

Tuition Chance

             

This year we will again sell tuition chances to help you win money toward your tuition bill.  The chances are $1 each and paper slips are in the family envelope. If you want to purchase the chance, fill out the slip and enclose money in an envelope marked tuition chance. This is not a fundraiser. All money collected will be awarded to the winning student’s tuition account. If your tuition is fully paid, credit will be applied to next year’s bill. 

The winner for  November is Anthony Fairchild in grade 6.   The amount of tuition credit is $118.00 . Thank you to all who took chances. Slips are enclosed for next month’s drawing which will be on December 20th.

Gift Card Program

The last day to order Scrip Gift cards will be December 13th.  Gift cards make great Christmas Gifts!

 

Diocese of Allentown Mandated Reporter LIVE Training

As a follow-up to the Mandated Reporter Training Policy, for those individuals at your location who do not have access to a computer to complete the course, the Diocese of Allentown will be hosting training sessions that the individuals may attend. The Diocese’s in-person training sessions are the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance Trainings approved by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The Live 3-Hour long training session will be held at the location and time stated below:

January 9, 2017- Saint Jerome Regional School, Tamaqua PA 5:30-8:30 PM - Register by January 3rd

There is a fee of $5.00 for each person attending the live training listed above and the fee will cover the materials. To register, please contact Ruth Davis at 610.332.0442 (x16), once you leave a message, please consider yourself registered, or [email protected] by the deadline listed above. Please mail your $5.00 check or money order payable to the Diocese of Allentown to:   Office of Safe Environment 2145 Madison Ave. Bethlehem, PA 18017   Please check the Diocese’s website at www.allentowndiocese.org for the up-to-date list of trainings.

Protecting God's Children

A session of Protecting God's Children will be held on November 29th from 6:00-9:00 pm at St. Jerome Regional School in Tamaqua.  Anyone interested should register by calling St. Jerome Regional School at 570-668-2757 and ask for Deb Smarr, School Secretary.

Mission News

Our mission project for the month of December will be two-fold and support our local community. Students in grades Kindergarten through 4 are asked to bring in items for the “Birth Rite“ Tree sponsored by the St. Vincent DePaul Society.  Items needed include: Newborn to 4T clothing for girls and boys, crib sheets, sleepers, blankets, onesies, disposable diapers, diaper bags, socks/booties, baby towels and wash cloths, baby wipes, shampoo & soap, pacifiers, bibs and bottles. Items will be accepted until December 20 then given to the Schuylkill County Birth Rite for distribution to clients throughout the year.    Students in Grades 5-8 will once again participate in the Marine Corps Toys for Tots Program.  New, unwrapped toys will be accepted until December 14.  May God bless you for your generosity during this Christmas Season.