SPN Weekly Newsletter #35

May 17, 2022

Principal's Message

Dear SPN Families,

Thank you all for making last Thursday’s Celebration of the Arts/Open House/Spring Concert such a festive and joyful time for SPN! We loved opening our doors to our families and enjoying everyone’s participation and presence. Special thanks to Raven Halderman, former SPN parent and yet continuing lead of our Art Docents, and her successor, Tahd Frentzel, for organizing the Celebration of the Arts and the greeting card sale. Much appreciation to our faculty and staff for their extra time and efforts with our Open House. Extra special gratitude to Mr. Q fora wonderful evening.

1st graders on their way to their first Spring Concert!

Perhaps most inspiring is the amount of donations collected for Ukraine Relief. Your generosity brought in $1,360.00! We will be sending a check to CARE USA this week. Many thanks to Zora Oliverius, our Service Learning representative on the SLC (Student Leadership Council), for leading this effort to help our brothers and sisters in Ukraine.

The fantastic student art cards are still available for purchase through May in the office. $5 each. Here are examples from 5th, 6th, and 8th grades. Did you buy your child's card yet?

Preparations for 2022-23

Our Class of 2022 graduates have just a couple of weeks before they experience their 8th grade commencement. They know from their recent 8th grade retreat that the commencement ceremony marks a new beginning for them just as much as it signifies the end of their time here at SPN. Please keep them in your prayers these next few weeks as they prepare for this very special time of achievement and recognition.

Faculty Announcements

As we plan and prepare for the 2022-23 school year, there are a few important personnel changes that I want to formally announce for the fall:

Preschool Team: First, we have hired a new preschool teacher, Ms. Hanen, to assist Ms. Grace. Welcome!
Kindergarten Team: In Kindergarten, longtime SPN parent and Kindergarten Instructional Assistant, Mrs. Hall, newly credentialed, will become the other half of our 2022-23 Kindergarten team, joining Mrs. Foster. Congratulations! Our new Kindergarten Instructional Assistant will be Mrs. Trujillo. Welcome!
1st Grade Team: We are fortunate to be able to keep Mrs.Halkias at SPN, this time as a 1st grade teacher along with current 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Apel. The schedule arrangement for 1st Grade will be similar to that of Kindergarten with the teachers splitting the week. Crackerjack Instructional Assistant, Mrs. Ratto, will continue with the 1st grade as well.
Goodbye Ms. Schuler! Finally, we are saying good-bye to our beloved eighth grade teacher, Ms. Schuler, who leaves SPN to pursue a new career. We thank her for her dedication and service to SPN, her love for our students, and her care for and preparation of our graduates as they move on to high school. Fortunately for us, Ms. Schuler has agreed to continue as our illustrious Drama teacher through next year. We are actively seeking a new 8th grade homeroom teacher and ELA instructor for grades 6-8.

Next week’s Newsletter will feature a link to the State of the School video - a brief presentation of our 2021-22 achievements, STAR test results, finances, and goals for the future. This will be a video that you can watch at your convenience.

As we remind the students, we have plenty of work to do in these final weeks of school. Please stay focused on our procedures and expectations in order to have a strong and successful finish to this school year.

Warmly,

Julie Thomas

Principal

Updates and Information

COVID Update: We have had 1 school case since May 10th. We ask that you continue to follow the Daily Health Screening DHS and contact the office to report symptoms and/or exposure outside of school.
SLC Spirit Day this Thursday, May19th: See special section below for an explanation of the theme ("Crazy hair and bring a picture of a chair").
Share and Care Important Message: Please make sure to include both your signature and time of pick up when signing your child out of Share and Care. Families will automatically be billed until 6pm if students are not signed out properly (i.e. missing signature or time or both). For safety reasons, it is essential that the record of the time your children are in our care is as accurate as possible.
Uniforms Exchanged: Thanks to Helen Bouras and Heiji Xie for laying out a great uniform spread yesterday! Returning and new SPN parents made a molehill out of our mountain of donated uniforms. Look for the summer sale by Classic Designs on Sunday, July 17th, and another exchange in the fall.
Record your SPN volunteer hours: SPN Volunteer Hours Form. Need your total? Just contact our friendly office staff to inquire.
Still need to fulfill your volunteer hours? Look for open slots on this sign up sheet for Choice Lunch servers. Mon. - Fri. slots, 11:30a.m. - 12:30p.m.

Special Section for Volunteer Opportunities for 2022-23

Want to plan ahead for fulfilling your volunteer hours commitment for next year? Looking for a way to engage the SPN community? The following are opportunities for volunteer positions that have some flexibility in time and location and which offer a nice chunk of hours.

PTG: SPN's Parent Teacher Group is seeking nominees for the following positions for the 2022-2023 school year:

Secretary: take notes of meetings (1 time per month during school year on Tuesday evenings)

Corresponding Secretary: write thank you notes, well wishes and other cards (flexible assignments, need not be present during PTG meetings)

Room parent coordinator: must attend all PTG meetings in addition to coordinating all other room parents (training available by current room parent coordinator)

Three Advisory Board Members: attend meetings, assist, plan, and/or lead with PTG hospitality events. Flexible hours.

Sports: “The SPN Athletic Board is looking for volunteers to fill our vacancies for the 22-23 academic year. In order to make the program as successful as possible, we are in need of a few volunteers to help us get organized. If you are interested in helping our young athletes, consider joining the athletic board using the link here https://airtable.com/shrBv8DfcLda4vshb and sign up for a vacant spot. There is also a link to a brief description of the available positions and the amount of time commitment on a monthly basis. Thanks!”

School Nurse: Contact Mrs. Schmitz (jschmitz@csdo.org) in you are interested in supporting SPN by serving as our school nurse or helping with screenings and/or keeping student records. Flexible times and take-home tasks.

Special SLC Spirit Day Description

Spirit Day this Thursday, May 19th

Hello SPN families,

The spirit day this month is "Crazy Hair and bring a Picture of a Chair". We wanted to clarify what that spirit day means. “Bring a Picture of a Chair Day” has been a recurring joke throughout our skits that we do to announce the spirit days. We know that the younger grades across the street have not been able to see our skits, so we are explaining this whacky idea here. “Picture of a Chair Day” is a spirit day where you bring a picture of a chair to school. It is a far-fetched idea but has been highly anticipated for a long while. When you bring your picture to school you can carry it or tape it to your shirt, your choice! You can choose to combine this with “Crazy Hair” if you choose!

Sincerely,

Anabelle Holmes & Hannah Niu Spirit Commissioners

School Happenings

SPN Olympics

The SPN Olympics are back! On May 27th at 10:45 we will have our very own Olympics. Students in grades Kindergarten through Eighth have practiced and participated in our three events and are ready to take on all other grades in the spirited competition. The events are: Ring Toss, Cart Race and Relay Race.

All Grades will be out on the yard at once cheering on their representatives to see who the medal winners will be. Along with the three events each grade will have a winner for the sportsmanship award. Each Grade will have their own designated color to wear on the day of the Olympics. Parents are welcome to come and enjoy but we ask that you stay outside the fence.

Class Colors:

8th - Red

7th - Blue

6th - Green

5th - Orange

4th - Black

3rd - White

2nd - Yellow

1st - Purple

K - Gray

Class Representatives:

8th - Brendan, Sydney, Lauren, Hannah, Avery, Tiburon, Matei, Tiernan, Lucas, Katie and Mihir

7th - Brandon, Hannah, Wyatt, Olivia, Ikaika, Declan, Kiana, Parker, Dahlia and Tej

6th - Carter, Kaleb, Jack, Loenn, Ronan, Clara, Alyssa, Emmett, Conrad, Fiona and Ava

5th - Harper, Grace, Vincent, Jonas, Vivian, Lawrence, Alondra, Delilah, Joy, and Chiara

4th - Emily C, Jestyn, Jaden, Amelia, Malcolm, Quinn, Aria, Adeline, Valentina, Quinn and Grace

3rd - Carl, William, Jacob, Max, Michael-Sean, Caroline, Victor, Christine and Isabella

2nd - Eliana, Ulysses, Landon G, Hudson, Cole, Landon V, William, Maze, Mariela, Francisco and Myles

1st - Desi, Alice, Kalia, Edie, Colton, Cameron, Samuel, Patrick, Longwen and Wyla

K - Samantha F, Jack, Nathan, Bennett S, Anthony, Maxwell, Nate, Samantha R and Kalina

Go Spartans!

Catholic Speaker and Author visiting SPN

We have a fabulous Catholic author and missionary coming to St. Philip Neri on Thursday, May 26th! Meg Hunter-Kilmer has been traveling and speaking full-time since 2012. She just published her second book of saints - the delightful "Saints around the World." This testimony from her website captures her gifts beautifully:

“Meg, is a vibrant and engaging witness for Jesus Christ, His Gospel, and His Church. She pursues sanctity with a fervor that is convicting and contagious. Meg is a good judge of her audience and can reach both youth and adults alike, providing practical ways to grow in the spiritual life. Most importantly, her listeners often come away with the realization that a deep and meaningful relationship with Christ is possible and that holiness is accessible.” - Deacon Greg Amarante

Meg will be sharing stories from her new book with grades K-8 in the morning. Later, that evening she will be giving a talk for parents at St. Joseph's Basilica.

Candidates for our 2022-23 SLC gave their speeches to their voters today. Some are pictured below. Great job, everyone!