From the Desk of Mrs. Tiezzi

Dear St. Rita School Parents and Guardians, 

Happy New Year to all! Thank you to all our families for your generosity during the Christmas holiday. Your acts of kindness through the overwhelming number of cards, gifts, and food bestowed on us all, are immeasurable, and did much to spread Christmas joy to our hardworking and dedicated faculty and staff.

Last weekend we celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany and the youngest student in the family was sent home with a blessing bag. Mrs. Hamling, our MS Religion teacher, shared the meaning of this with her families and I would like to share her message with all of you:

“Last weekend we celebrated the Epiphany or the visit of the Wisemen to the Christ Child. Epiphany means manifestation. This feast celebrates Jesus' revelation to the gentiles, signifying that his message is for all people. There are many traditions associated with the Epiphany. Blessing of the Home and

chalking of the door on the Feast of the Epiphany is one. The chalking of the door is an easy tradition to adopt and a great practice whereby we dedicate our year to God from its very outset, asking His blessing on our homes and all who live, work, or visit them. Each student was sent home with a Blessing of the Home Bag. This bag includes blessed chalk and the how to’s for this tradition. Students were given Epiphany homework: 1) share this tradition and 2) help with the blessing of the their home. Each classroom at St. Rita School has been blessed this year.” Please join in keeping this tradition alive by blessing your house too!

The second NWEA MAP assessment (Reading and Math for grades 1-8 and ELA for grades 3-8) will be administered to students over the next few weeks. Your child’s teacher will notify you when the assessments will be given. This adaptive assessment measures the growth of our students over time. The results of the assessment will be used by our teachers to plan individualized instruction for our students. We should expect that students have made some degree of growth in all areas assessed. A parent report will be sent home so you can discuss the results with your child and set goals for further growth. Students in kindergarten will be taking the I-Ready Assessment in the areas of Reading and Math sometime this month and the results will be sent home to you.

Once again our lost and found bin is overflowing with a few winter coats, miscellaneous water bottles, sweatshirts, hats, and gloves. The bin is located in the main lobby. In addition, a number of our student musicians routinely leave their valuable instruments in the hallway overnight for one, two, three, or more nights. Please work with your son/daughter on the importance of taking care of their personal belongings, a skill which will benefit them for the rest of their life.

Now that winter has officially arrived, I want to remind you that all important school inclement weather closing and delayed opening information will be sent out to parents via text, email, and robo call, and also posted on the various TV news stations. St. Rita School will usually follow the decision made by the Town of Hamden in regard to school delays, closings, or early dismissals, as we receive busing services through First Student. Once a decision is made parents are notified.



Thank you for entrusting your child/ren to our care. Best wishes for a happy, holy and healthy 2025.

God Bless,

Mrs. Tiezzi

Get ready for a magical performance as St. Rita School proudly announces this year’s school play:

Mary Poppins Jr.!

Performance Dates: May 16 & 17, 2025

All students in grades 5-8 are invited to audition for a role or to be a part of the crew.

Audition Information

Dates & Times

Thursday, January 9, 2025, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Audition Requirements

Lead Roles:

Please be prepared to sing a verse from "A Spoonful of Sugar" or "Chim Chim Cheeree."

Ensemble Roles:

No solo singing required.

Crew:

Does not need to come to auditions. Please sign up below for further information.

To sign up for auditions and crew, please click the button below to use the Google Form.

Just a reminder that applications for the Lands’ End 7^th Annual Scholarship will be accepted until January 17^th for students in Grade 8

Help Wanted!

We are in need of a time keeper and scorebook recorder (high school age or above) for home basketball games held at Sacred Heart Academy.

We are also looking for an Athletic Director for the remainder of the school year. Please contact Mrs. Tiezzi if you are interested (ptiezzi.stritaschool@gmail.com).

Home basketball games are scheduled at Sacred Heart Academy for:

Sunday, January 12

Sunday, January 26

Sunday, February 2

Sunday, February 16

Changes to game times on these dates at SHA:

Game 1 - 1:30

Game 2 - 2:45

Game 3 - 4:00

Game 4 - 5:15

HSA

(Home-School Association)

Nurse's Corner

COVID and respiratory virus policy change:

In conjunction with the health department, Hamden Public Schools and Saint Rita School will be adopting the new COVID policy.

If your child tests positive for COVID, they should stay home for 24 hours.

If they do not present with a fever , they can return to school after 24 hours. Wearing a mask for 5 days is advised as there is still a high transmission rate. 

If they develop a fever, they should stay home until they are fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medicine. They can then return to school and it is advised that they wear a mask for 5 days. 



If during the 5 day mask period they develop a fever, the clock resets. They should remain home until they are fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medicine. Returning to school with a mask for 5 days is advised. 

Medication in school:

If your child requires medication in school, the medication must be brought in by a parent along with a Medication Administration in School   

completed by the pediatrician. 

Cough drops brought into school must stay in the nurse's office. 

Any OTC medication should not be sent into school with your child (Advil, Tylenol, midol, allergy medicine, etc...) If your child requires any OTC medicine while at school they can go to the nurses office and a parent will be called to bring the medicine into school and administer it to their child. 

PreSchool Flu Shots:

All Pre school students are required to get a flu vaccine before we leave for Christmas break. Please send in a note from the doctor after your child receives their flu shot.

7th Grade Physicals:

All students entering 7th grade must have a physical dated after May 31st of the 5th grade year. They are also required to have a tetanus booster and meningitis vaccine. If your child is in the 6th grade now, physicals for 7th grade can be sent into the health office at any time during this school year. Any physical dated after May 31, 2024 will be accepted.  

Nut allergies in the classroom:

If your child is in a classroom with a student with a severe nut allergy, your child's teacher will have informed you that any foods containing nuts should only be eaten in the cafeteria. Please do not send in a snack with nut ingredients. Thank you for helping us to keep all of our students safe.

Please reach out to me at any time during the school year with any health questions or concerns.

Please pray for all the deceased members of our

St. Rita Community.