SJRS Monthly Newsletter May 2018
Saint Jerome Regional School
"Living Fearlessly Through Faith..."
A Message From The Principal
Dear Parents/Guardians, 
There are a lot of fun events planned at SJRS during the last few weeks of school. As we approach this busy and exciting time of the school year, we need to remember that it is equally important for our students to remain focused on their academics and continue to build on their learning. Parents and Guardians can help us by encouraging their children to work hard, to keep motivation levels at their highest, and to be responsible about completing all of their school work. We know that school success is based on teamwork and we appreciate your role as a valuable member of your child’s educational team.
The month of May is very special because it is the month dedicated to our mother, Mary. During May we ask Mary to intercede for us as we pray a decade of the rosary together every morning. Our intentions will be for all of our families, especially our mothers and grandmothers. A paper was sent home asking you to please list the names of any mothers, grandmothers, aunts or godmothers that you would like us to pray for during the month dedicated to our mother, Mary. Names will be announced over the PA system daily during the month. May we always stay close to Jesus through his mother, Mary. Happy Mother’s Day.  God bless you.
Please Share the news about our special event with your friends and family!

This event is open to all. We hope to see you there!
Some of the highlights during the month of April are listed below:

  • Students enjoyed a day of dressing like their favorite book character during the Scholastic Book Fair.
  • 8th grade students received the sacrament of Confirmation. 
  • Mid-Trimester Progress Reports were distributed on Wednesday, the 25th. 
Christian of the Month 
The Christian of the Month Award recognizes students who display good character on a consistent basis and serve as student role models throughout the month. Students are nominated by their teachers based on the six pillars of character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Students chosen to receive this award will be acknowledged for their accomplishment in the monthly newsletter. Students will receive a dress down pass, Christian of the Month Certificate and a Burger King Certificate. Listed below are the students that have been chosen as
Christian of the Month for April in each homeroom. CONGRATULATIONS!
Tanner Zukovich has been chosen Christian of the Month for Kindergarten Blue. Tanner is a very hardworking, conscientious student. He is respectful to his teachers and classmates. Tanner enjoys reading and he is very knowledgeable about animals and nature in general. Tanner participates in Tamaqua Area Youth Soccer and T-Ball. He placed 1st Place in the CYO Art Contest in the Kindergarten Craft Division. At home, Tanner enjoys nature walks, hunting and fishing. He is also very interested in birds both learning about them and drawing them. He enjoys building with blocks and legos. Tanner loves spending time with his family, always willing to lend a helping hand. He is a great big brother to his little sister. Congratulations, Tanner!

Kindergarten Gold's Christian of the Month is Charlie Price . Charlie is a very curious student. He is always asking questions, especially in Religion Class. He likes to sing and hear about Jesus. Charlie loves to be outside and help his dad with his work. He likes to help his dad when he uses the dump truck, backhoe, and excavator. He also likes to help his dad drive the Bobcat.

Kathryn Breslin , Grade 1, has earned the Christian of the Month Award. Kathryn is a very kind and respectful student. Kathryn is always prepared for work, pays close attention and participates throughout the school day. Kathryn is on the Fusion 209 Volleyball and Fusion 209 Travel 12U Volleyball Teams. Kathryn also participates in dance with the Dance with Denise Studio. Kathryn helps at St. Joseph of the Panther Valley Parish Festival and belongs to St. Joseph’s Youth Group. Kathryn is the little sister of Caroline, whom she loves to help in any way. Kathryn is kind, loving, and understanding little girl. She loves to play volleyball and swim. Kathryn loves gymnastics and walking her three dogs.

Baylee Eschbach has been chosen as second grade's Christian of the Month. Baylee is kind, respectful and very helpful to her classmates. She puts a lot of effort into her work and always tries to do her best. Outside of school, Baylee attends Marian Cheerleading Camp and likes art and crafts as well as music.

Emily Upanavage is Christian of the Month for third grade. Emily is a happy student who loves to help out in the classroom. She is kind and compassionate towards her fellow classmates.  Emily is always quick to share a dimpled smile and a belly laugh. She loves being with friends, but with her little sister most of all. She enjoys art, reading, creating, playing with her dog, Wyatt, and spending time with family. Emily is an ambitious student. Each new grade is her favorite. She is kind and thoughtful. Emily is a strong athlete and strong in faith. She currently plays for the West Penn Lightning U10 girls softball team. She respectfully serves Mass in the St John XXIII Parish. 

April’s Christian of the month in 4th grade is Gabrielle Maggio . Gabrielle is a hard working student and tries her best with her school work. She is kind to her classmates and teachers. She is always willing to lend a helping hand, no matter if it is to help another student or to volunteer for a class job. When she is not at school, Gabi enjoys being on the CYO volleyball team. She also enjoys playing the piano and has been doing so for one and a half years. Gabi also participates in karate and has her purple belt and has even participated in the National Geographic Bee. She has a positive attitude and genuinely cares for others. Gabi also enjoys gymnastics and loves to draw, bake, and swim. She also is training her puppy, Shadow, how to sit, stay, and roll over. Gabi especially loves to spend time with her family. Nice job, Gabi!

Fifth grade's Christian of the Month is Alexandra Feller . Alexandra is a very helpful student. She  is very dependable and  often wants to help in and around the classroom. Alexandra has been taking classes with Tumble with Denise  for eight years. She medaled in vault at the State Games of America which was held in Michigan. She is big sister to Gabrielle in 1st grade. When she is not at the gym, she loves to read and work with building robotics. Congratulations Alexandra!!

The Christian of the Month for grade 6 is Julia Meiss . Julia is a consistent honor student and has earned Distinguished Honors for the first 2 trimesters of this school year. She loves to read, especially anything related to Harry Potter. She recently won the top award for most pages read for 6th grade for the SJRS Read-a-Thon. She recently participated in the 2018 Schuylkill County K"Nex STEM Design Challenge. Julia has been a part of St. John XXIII CYO Volleyball team for 3 years. Additionally, she has played with the Anthracite Volleyball Club for 3 years. She has played in the Tamaqua Area Girls Youth Softball Association as shortstop for the past 6 years. Julia currently takes Jazz, Hip Hop, and Tap at Faberge Follies and is in her 5th year dancing with the studio. Julia is an altar server at All Saints Church, McAdoo. Congratulations, Julia!

Blaise Mullen has been selected as 7th Grade Christian of the Month. Blaise is a hardworking student who has attained First Honors in the first two trimesters. He is kind and compassionate and is always willing to help others. Blaise is a member of the SJRS Academic Bowl team. Outside of school, Blaise enjoys fishing, ATV riding, and music. He has played the piano for 6 ½ years. Congratulations, Blaise!

Anthony Soberick has been selected as the eighth grade Christian of the month. He displays a cheerful attitude and is kind and helpful to everyone in the classroom. Social Studies is his favorite subject. Anthony's passion is go-kart racing. He has been involved in racing for seven years and has been a team member of the Tanda Racing Team , which is based in Oklahoma, for the past two years. He recently competed in a race in Connecticut and his team won three out of four races. His next race this month is in Oklahoma. Anthony also enjoys serving his community as a junior firefighter for the Coaldale Fire Department. Anthony plans to attend Marian High School. Congratulations, Anthony!
The CYO Art/Craft/Photography Competition was held in April. 
Below are the winners in each division. Congratulations to everyone!
 
ART CATEGORY

ART K
2nd place- Addison Engleman
ART 3rd-4th
3rd place- Jacob Jadush
ART 5th-6th
1st place- Julia Meiss
2nd place- Madison Miller
CRAFT CATEGORY

CRAFT K
1st place- Tanner Zukovich
2nd place- Kellan Krajcirik
  CRAFT 1st-2nd
1st place- Clarice Griffin
2nd place- Baylee Eschbach
3rd place- Madison Kehl
    CRAFT 3rd-4th
1st place- Margaret Zeiler
2nd place- Gabrielle Osenbach
3rd place- Kaden Krajcirik
     CRAFT 5th-6th
1st place- Alyssa Porambo
2nd place- Alex Porambo
     CRAFT 7th-8th
    2nd place- Lance Price
      PHOTOGRAPHY CATEGORY    
    
PHOTOGRAPHY 5th-6th
1st place- Anthony Odorizzi
2nd place- Jayden Ladlee
3rd place- Abigail Kluck


PHOTOGRAPHY 7th-8th
1st place- Isabella Norton
Poster Contest Winner
Congratulations to Alex Porambo , Grade 6, who won third place in the Organ Donor Awareness Poster Contest. Winners were announced and prizes were awarded at a ceremony held at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem on Thursday, April 19. Alex received a certificate and $100 gift card for his winning entry. Great job, Alex!
May Mission Project
Our mission project for May will once again benefit two of our SJRS families who are battling illnesses. On May 21st we will have a Dress Down Day for a donation of $1.00 or more. The money collected will help the families with travel expenses and some medical needs. Thank you for your generosity!

G ift Certificates and Scrip Certificates
These are great ways to help with tuition costs. If you have any questions please call the office. Many people are saving hundreds of dollars in tuition by purchasing certificates. Certificates are sold from the school office daily during school hours and scrip orders are taken on Tuesdays. On-hand certificates: Boyer's and Redner's, $100 and $25 denominations. 

Gift Card Program
Please note that d uring the summer move, there will be no Scrip/On-Hand gift card sales available
The Scrip program will start up again for the 2018-2019 school year on the first day of school!
 
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.
2018-2019 Payment Plans
Thank you to everyone who has already re-registered for next year! Updated tuition information packets were sent home in the previous communication envelopes and has also been uploaded to our website here . Please be sure to read over the packet as there were some changes from last year. For 2018-2019 we will be offering the following payment plans for K-8th grade: 
Full Payment (4% Discount)
Bi-yearly Payment (2% Discount)
12 Month Payment Plan
10 Month Payment Plan

***PLEASE NOTE*** Your current plan will be reselected for next year unless otherwise specified. If you wish to change your payment plan for the 2017-2018 school please contact Ms. Smarr via email ( advancement.director@gmail.com ) by April 30th . Thank you! 
        
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 April is  Abby and Makayla Whittaker in 1st and 4th grade. The amount of tuition credit is $84 . Thank you to all who took chances. Next month’s drawing will be on May 21st.  

Scholarship Applications 
To request an application for the Kremer Scholarship please call or email the office. The school will need everything completed and returned by  Thursday, May 17th .  

Financial Aid Applications must be submitted through FACTS by May 31st. 
Annual Appeal
We are only $7,000 away from our goal!  

Thank you to everyone who has donated this year: we are grateful for all your support!
 To learn more about our annual fund or to donate, please visit our website: 
 
HSA Message

Thank you to our  17-18 officers f or all of t he hard work and dedication throughout the school year. Together as a school community we have made our fundraisers a great success. The children enjoyed the many activities that HSA was able to provide.

President- Karissa Montgomery
Vice-President- Holly Bones
Treasurer- Amanda Ogozalek
Secretary- Megan DeAngelo

We are happy to announce the 2018-2019 Home and School Officers:

President- Karissa Montgomery
Vice-President- Amanda Ogozalek
Secretary- Megan DeAngelo
Treasurer- Karen Weicker

We are looking forward to a great new 2018-2019 school year.


Volunteer Requirements

Please see the updated safe environment Checklist for Volunteers as of February 2018 Parents wishing to join their children on field trips will need to get their clearances as soon as possible.  If we don't have it on file in the school office , we cannot include it in your list of completed clearances. Thank you.
SJRS SCHOOL CALENDAR UPDATE
***Please note the changes in the School Calendar due to snow days ***
The UPDATED SJRS 2017-2018 Yearly Calendar is located on the website  here

Notifications were also sent out via, text, voice, & email using OptionC. Notification was also posted to the SJRS Facebook Page and distributed in the communication folders.   If you have any questions regarding your Option C account, please call the school office.

The 2018-2019 SJRS Yearly Calendar is located on the website here
Little Lions Preschool Update:
May

Religion: Mary, Mother of God
Letters: We are done introducing all of the letters. This month we will review letters and sounds.
Our theme this month will be Nursery Rhymes

Important Dates
5/1- Race for Education 3s
5/2- Race for Education 4s
5/7 – SJRS Kindergarten Screenings
5/10- Mass for 3s, Ascention Thursday, 9:30am
5/16- Field Trip to Knobels
5/18 – Mass 9:30am
5/28- Memorial Day, No School
5/29- 3s Last Day of school, End of year celebration
5/30- Last Day of school 4s, 11:30am dismissal for all students. End of Year Ceremony 6pm in the gym.
REMINDERS: 
  • Please check the May/June calendar for all important dates.  

  • We are in need of boxes and package tape. Please spread the word. If you have any or know of anyone that does, we will be accepting empty box donations at our main office!

  • Summer Reading Assignments will be posted on the individual Teacher Homework Pages of our website for the entire summer.    

  • Summer vacation can be a great time for rest and renewal for educators and students. But every year, there is concern about how to keep students from sliding backwards academically when their study routines are interrupted. This month's NCEA Parent Engagement Flyer addresses how to help keep students from sliding backwards in their faith routines. Click here for some tips to help keep faith alive over summer break.  All of the parent flyers are archived on the NCEA website.

  • There have been a few updates to the Student/Parent Handbook: Page 37-41- The Wellness Policy has been updated. To view the entire handbook. Please visit the website. Here is this link.

  • 2018-2019 Dress Code-Please click here to view the Dress Code Policy on our website. 
           To order from Flynn and O'Hara please click the following link:  www.flynnohara.com/school/pa431
           To order from Valley Athletic please click the following link: www.valleyathleticsupply.com/contact

Know that we thank God for you and your continued cooperation and support of Catholic education. The faculty, staff and administration ask for your continued prayers, support, cooperation and dedication to Catholic education.  We are so blessed by your support that allows for the faith formation and academic growth of our students.    If you have any questions or concerns, you can call the school office at 570-668-2757. We will be happy to help you! Thank you for being part of the SJRS Family! Thank you for all the sacrifices you make to send your child to this school! In order to save time and money, we will continue to use email to communicate with you. If you have an email address, please check it and look for our messages. If you are not receiving our e-newsletters, please send a note to the office to be added to the email list. 

God bless you and your families,

Mrs. Amy M. Hannis-Miskar, Principal
Let Us Pray

Thank you, Lord,
for the gift of time
for growing and learning,
and for the gift of Catholic education.
We thank you for our school family.

AMEN  


Let us pray for:

Your continued prayers, support, cooperation and dedication to Catholic education.
Your continued kind words toward each other. 
     A special intention.
All Mothers and Grandmothers
Someone who is battling an illness.
A SJRS family who needs your prayers.

Email your prayer requests to altssj@ptd.net or send a note to the office.
We will list the names that you would like us to pray for in our monthly newsletters.