October 30, 2018

Principal



P.S. Today your students will find out what House they belong to! I hope you have an opportunity to check out the colored letter in your child’s Tuesday folder today about the new shirt coming available.

House Systems- Saints Families

It's an exciting time to be a Saint! As All Saints Day approaches, we are pleased to announce that we will begin launching our new House System. In Tuesday folders today, you should find a letter containing your child's new House name and shirt color. As a courtesy to our families, Mills Uniforms will have our new House shirts available starting on November 1, 2018 in stores and available online until later in the month. This allows our families plenty of time to purchase their shirts. Please note, these new uniform shirts will be required starting in August of the 2019-2021 school year. All students from young to old will, in community together, practice living the Gospel, modeling the Saint.

All Saints Day Mass

Please join us for All Saints Mass this Thursday, November 1 at 8:30 a.m. All Saints Day is a holy day of obligation for Catholics. There will also be 7:10 a.m. Daily Mass in the Chapel on Friday, November 2 for All Souls Day and the First Friday of November.

Annual Fund

Did you know that  100% of our staff   has donated to the Annual Fund  this year? Our staff has shown their commitment to our school and your students by donating to the Annual Fund. Please join us in donating today!

Halloween Attire/Early Dismissal and Blue Jeans

Tomorrow,   Wednesday, October 31 is early dismissal. Pre-K and Kindergarten students are dismissed at 1:45 p.m., 1st - 5th graders are dismissed at 2:00, and Middle School is dismissed at 2:15. Since tomorrow is also Halloween, students may wear school-appropriate black or orange shirts with jeans or uniform bottoms. Please refer to the  Parent/Student Handbook for more guidelines. All early dismissal dates are posted on the school  online calendar.

VIRTUS / StJPII VOLUNTEER APPROVED

The Galveston Houston Archdiocese has made changes in the Virtus classes. There is no longer a KPA Class (this was the 2nd class).

If you received a letter notifying you that you were due for a KPA class, please go to our website and read the Volunteer Approval/Virtus information. This is located under the "Community" tab. Be sure to read the Anniversary Date Information. 

Does it ever seem like we live in a world of extremes? Sometimes educators comment, “The parents of some of our students spend absolutely no time involved in their children’s educations. The end result is predictable: Their kids rarely achieve up to their potential.”

 

Other times teachers say, “Some of our parents are so overinvolved in their children’s homework, school assignments, and grades that their kids can’t seem to function without someone doing most of the work for them.”

 

Considering these extremes, perhaps it makes sense to compare and contrast healthy versus unhealthy parental involvement, understanding that the healthy variety is essential for high achievement.

 

Healthy parental involvement means being aware of your kids’ assignments, asking questions about these assignments, and offering assistance if they ask. It means giving ideas and allowing them to do the lion’s share of the work.

 

Unhealthy parental involvement means constantly reminding and rescuing, essentially taking more responsibility for their work than they do.

 

Healthy parental involvement means consistently allowing your kids to evaluate how they feel about their performance. This might sound like, “You have a sixty-nine in music so far. How do you feel about that?” or asking, “You earned a ninety-eight on that test. How does that leave you feeling?” Kids allowed to own the good and not-so-good feelings associated with their performance are more likely to understand and care about the connection between their personal effort and outcomes.

 

Unhealthy parental involvement means making it all about our feelings. This might go like, “That sixty-nine in music is just not acceptable. You need to bring that grade up” or it may sound like, “You earned a ninety-eight on that test. That makes me so happy. That’s great.” When we make their grades about our feelings, we run the risk of stealing opportunities for them to think about how these grades personally affect them.

 

Healthy parental involvement means putting most of our energy into providing a healthy home where kids are loved, respected, and expected to complete chores. It’s about creating a place where they get to experience an authentic relationship between cause and effect. In other words, they experience the gift of loving discipline.

 

Unhealthy parental involvement means spending so much time criticizing the school and rescuing our kids from their teachers that we have little time or energy left over to create a rock solid home environment.

 

Healthy parental involvement means allowing our kids to hear us talking with excitement about our own learning. It also means letting them hear us saying positive things about their teachers and their school.

 

Unhealthy parental involvement involves providing plenty of lectures about how important education is while allowing our kids to hear us gripe and complain about our own learning responsibilities and how subpar the school and teachers are.

 

Overall, healthy parental involvement means being good models. It means allowing kids to make mistakes. It means providing plenty of empathy. It definitely means remembering that raising kids who can think and learn for themselves is not for the faint of heart.

International Festival: Sign up for Country Booths and Performances

Please join us at the International Festival! This fun and educational event will celebrate the many cultures that make up our StJPII community. Countries registered to host a booth so far include Trinidad & Tobago, Panama, Germany, Poland, Venezuela, Grenada, Philippines, Colombia, Mexico, Italy, Puerto Rico, Peru, Brazil, UK, Nigeria and France. 

We are also looking for students, parents, teachers and/or staff to present a performance! Performances may include dancing, singing, music, martial arts, or any other cultural expression.

Would you like to become a sponsor? This is a great chance to put the name of your business in front of our community. Sponsorships range from $250 to $50. 

For more information and to sign up please contact the StJPII International Festival Chairperson, Alexandra Riveros.

Grandparents & Special Friends Day: November 16

StJPII will honor Grandparents and Special Friends on the  Friday before Thanksgiving break,   November 16.  StJPII families, please share the date with your grandparents and special friends. We are looking forward to celebrating this occasion with our extended family! The format will be similar to previous years, featuring performances by elementary students, our middle school chorale and the 7th/8th grade band.

 

Please remember that Grandparents Day is a day for grandparents and special friends only - rest assured that every year we have children who do not have a grandparent or special friend attend, and they enjoy the day and do just fine! Our students are great about sharing their special guests with classmates whose grandparents cannot attend. Invitations have been mailed to Grandparents and Special Friends. There are a handful of extra invitations available at the front office for memorabilia. Invitations and RSVP's are not needed to attend the event, all Grandparents and Special Friends are invited to attend. You can view the invitation and share with your Grandparent or Special Friend  here . Please contact the Communications and Events Officer,  Kaela Lewis  with any questions you may have.

Trunk or Treat

StJPII's 4th Annual Trunk or Treat party on Friday was a huge success! With countless families in attendance, this was definitely the “best Trunk or Treat ever.” Everyone had a fantastic time trick-or-treating in the parking lot. Our students looked fantastic in their costumes. A very special shout out and many thanks goes to this year’s Chairpersons Sarah Moore and Erica O’Conner for all of their creativity, time and talent to ensure our event was a huge success!

Thank you to all the families who participated this year in decorating cars and passing out treats to our students.

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s contest:

1) Harry Potter for best theme- The Nino-Angulo Family (PreK and 4th grade)

2) Alice in wonderland was judges favorite- The Russell Family (1st grade)

3) Haunted house was scariest- The Farfan Family (PreK and 3rd grade)

 

Last but not least, we would like to thank Mingo's and Kona Ice for coming out and supporting our school. With each purchase, the school will received 10% from both of our food vendors!

Run with the Saints

The 20th Annual Run with the Saints in memory of Lauren Lockard was another great success! This year, we were able to raise approximately $9,000 for The Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation and our Athletics Department! This would not have been possible without YOU, our volunteers, participants and our generous sponsors. With over 400 runners registered for the race, we had a wonderful turnout. All results for this year’s race can be found online. We appreciate all of our volunteers and teachers for making everything come together so smoothly, it was certainly a team effort and it couldn't have been done without your help both on and off the course. Finally, an extra-special thanks to alumni parents Bernie and Mitzie Weber for their leadership as Race Directors and allowing us to continue to honor Lauren’s legacy. 

If you were not able to attend Run with the Saints but would like to purchase a t-shirt, they are available in the front office for $20.

DARR Halloween Skate Party- Costume Winners!

A great time was had by all at the Halloween Skate Party and a few Saints won prizes for their costumes. Congratulations to: Cristian Alacron, Isabella Mahmoud, Carolina Barros and Marianna Rondon. 

Russo's Pizza Night

Just in time for Halloween - no need to worry about dinner tomorrow night! October 31 is StJPII Spirit Night with Russo's Pizzeria. Dine in, delivery, or take out, 20% of all StJPII orders will be donated to back to our PTO. The participating Russo's location is 13346 Briar Forest Dr. Suite #100 (at Briar Forest in the LA Fitness retail center). Thanks in advance for supporting the StJPII PTO!

Spirit Store- Commemorative Tumblers Now Available

Blue Ribbon commemorative tumblers are now available for a limited time. Help recognize and celebrate this achievement by purchasing a tumbler to show your Saints Spirit. 

Holiday on the Parkway 2018- Important Information

This year the St. John Paul II Catholic School PTO will sponsor a craft fair for parents and outside vendors on Friday, December 7 and Saturday, December 8 . Last year we had over 30 booths filling the Bramanti Athletic Center! The students, faculty and parents are able to shop for holiday presents for family and friends on Friday, and all are welcome to shop during the annual Snacks with Santa festivities on Saturday. If you are interested in reserving a table for your business or know someone that may be interested in having a booth, please complete the below form and send to the school as soon as possible, together with the booth reservation fee. The form can be hand delivered or mailed to St. John Paul II Catholic School, 1400 Parkway Plaza Drive, Houston, TX 77077, Attention: Olga Saenz (Holiday on the Parkway). Space is limited and it will be handled on a first come, first serve basis. Please email or call Olga Saenz or 713-213-6930 with any questions. 

Brick Pavers help support the StJPII Garden

Our StJPII Garden is a beautiful sight to be shared on campus. Did you know the sale of brick pavers helps to fund repairs and supplies needed for the garden? These pavers come in a variety of sizes and are a great way to thank coaches, our teachers and honor graduating students or the memory of a loved one. Please consider purchasing pavers to support our campus garden. See flyer for ordering information and special pricing.  

St. John XXIII Open House

St. John XXIII College Preparatory invites you to attend their Open House Sunday, November 4, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. Register online at sj23lions.org/openhouse.

Students will have the opportunity to learn more about St. John XXIII's college preparatory curriculum, tour the campus, meet faculty, administration, current students, and parents. Please plan to attend and see why it’s a great day to be a Lion! For more information click on the attached flyer.

St. Thomas High School Open House

St. Thomas High School cordially invites StJPII's Middle School boys to their Open House on December 9 at 1:00 p.m. at the Moran Fine Arts Center on St. Thomas' campus. For more information, please see the attached flyer.

Catholic Schools Got Talent

The first ever Catholic Schools Got Talent is scheduled for Saturday, February 2. It is going to be a wonderful celebration of talent in our Catholic schools! 4th-8th grade students are invited to audition for the big show! For more information, please read the Eligibility and Guidelines.

Dads Basketball

StJPII dads play men's basketball on Wednesday Nights in the gym at 7:00 p.m. Please contact Mark Gugliotti to be added to the distribution list and for more information: [email protected] or 832-301-1681. Everyone is welcome. It's a fun way to meet other dads and get some great exercise!

To view events related to StJPII, please click on the school calendars below.