October 24, 2023



Faith Families

Dear St. Philip Neri School,

Last Wednesday our students in grades K-8 gathered in Faith Families – cross-age grade level groups led by an 8th grader who conducts an activity related to a Religious season or lesson. This year’s first Faith Family activity focused on our school theme and chant, Believe and Receive, and what that means to students. The 8th graders prepared an activity that all students could engage in while getting to know one another: they created beautiful posters reflecting their discussions on Believe and Receive. To conclude the activity, the 8th grade “parent” shared the first prayer of a Novena, a series of 9 prayers, that the class wrote about our theme, Believe. The remaining 8 prayers of the Novena have been and will be read at Morning Assembly. The individual prayers of this Novena are impressive, inspirational, comparable to some of the best prayer books around. Here is a copy of the Novena for you.

Speaking of the 8th grade, yesterday the class of 2024 embarked on their outdoor education and retreat experience to Sonoma County at Caritas Creek Camp. From Monday through Friday, the students will have the opportunity to grow closer to one another while growing closer to God through nature. This is often the most memorable experience of all of the SPN memories of our graduates. We pray for them, their teacher, Ms. Taylor, and the parent volunteers accompanying them that they enjoy a worthwhile, positive, inspirational experience this week.

Our Town Hall Meeting is this Thursday, October 26 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. for families in grades K-5. If you plan to attend and have not replied, please do so  here so we prepare enough refreshments and chairs. We look forward to a fruitful evening of conversation on “Setting Up Students for Success in School.” 

Halloween is next Tuesday. Please read details below about our schedule and guidelines for costumes.

Next Wednesday is All Saints Day, so we will have our first All School Mass of the year at 9:30 a.m. hosted by our 7th grade class-- all are welcome. Additionally, as we have done for the past 2 years, interested students may dress up as saints on Wednesday, November 1 in honor of All Saints Day, and they will have a special role in our Mass. See details below from the Catholic Identity Committee.

Please read through this Newsletter for important information about upcoming events and activities.

Peace & Blessings,

Ms. Thomas

Our Annual Fund Campaign runs through November 15. Our goal is to raise $50,000– we are currently at $21,671– with the support of parishioners, relatives and friends as well as 100% participation by all school families. Our Grade Level Competition kicked off Monday, October 16 (all siblings are credited with a family’s donation): any class showing 100% participation by November 15 will earn a pizza party and free dress on Friday, November 17. If you want to pledge a donation through your tuition billing, please complete this form. Thank you for supporting our Annual Fund.

As of October 23:

Preschool: 9%

TK: 31%

K: 27%

1: 23%

2: 25%

3: 21%

4: 48%

5: 13%

6: 23%

7: 27%

8: 15%

Halloween is a special day at SPN. Students will come to school dressed in costumes with only appropriate make-up and accessories for school (i.e. NO gory, violent, excessively bloody masks or costumes; NO weapons). Students may wear masks only during the Parade which will begin at 8:15 a.m., after Morning Assembly, and includes Preschool through Grade 8 walking around the neighborhood. Then students will return to the classrooms for the morning, and during that time each grade level will be assigned time to enjoy the Halloween Carnival with games and candy prizes prepared by our Student Leadership Council (SLC). All grade levels will also enjoy a Halloween party prepared by room parents, and it is a Minimum Day with Noon Dismissal for all. Share & Care will be available in the afternoon.

There have been zero (0) COVID cases since October 1, 2023.

Please continue to conduct Daily Health Screenings and inform the school office of any exposure or positive cases.

October 2023

October 26 - K-5 Town Hall Meeting, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

October 31 - Noon Dismissal, Halloween Parade, 8:15 a.m.

November 2023

November 1 - All School Mass: All Saints Day, 9:30 a.m.

November 2 - Mini Maker's Fair, 5:00-7:00 p.m.

November 5 - Rite of Enrollment - Family Mass Hosted by Grades 5 & 6, 9:00 a.m.

November 7 - Chipotle Fundraising

November 7 - PTG Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

November 9 - End of First Trimester

November 10 - NO SCHOOL: Veterans Day Observed - No Share and Care

November 12 - Scholastic Book Fair First Day

November 14 - Free Dress for Nov Birthdays

November 14 - AB Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

November 15 - Noon Dismissal / Professional Development Day

November 16 - Catholic School Principal Appreciation Day

November 17 - Report Card Day

November 20-24 Thanksgiving Break - NO SCHOOL - No Share and Care

November 27 - SAB Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

November 30 - School Spirit Day - Pajama Day

December 2023

December 8 - All School Mass: Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 9:30 a.m.

December 12 - Free Dress for December Birthdays

December 12 - AB Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

December 14 - Christmas Concert, 7:00 p.m. Students' Attendance Required

December 20 - Christmas Free Dress

December 20 - Noon Dismissal - No Share and Care

December 21 - January 3 - Christmas Break: NO SCHOOL - No Share and Care

Join us in celebrating the Solemnity of All Saints on Wednesday, November 1st.

Children are encouraged to come to school dressed as a Saint wearing their costume over their uniform. Here are some easy Saint Costume ideas for Boys and Girls. Parents are invited to attend our all school Mass at 9:30am and stay for coffee and fellowship afterward.

Please contact Anna Adams, CI Committee

Join the SPN Belonging and Inclusion (B&I) Committee in commemorating Día de los Muertos (November 1-2). We invite you to participate in SPN's tradition of creating an ofrenda (altar) by submitting a photo no larger than a 5x7 of your ancestors to the box in the front office labeled "SPN Ofrenda" from 10/24-10/26. Please submit copies as photos may be exposed to adhesives and may not be returned. If you have any questions about this initiative or the SPN B&I Committee, please email justinelazaro@gmail.com. 

Our Student Leadership Council is still looking for donations of candy to be used for the Halloween Carnival, on Tuesday, October 31, hosted by the SLC. Please check the ingredients as we can accept only peanut free confections. Thank you for your cooperation.

PTG and the school are planning to release our paper copies of our annual Family Directory.

Please let us know below if you would like to receive a hard copy of the directory or if you prefer a digital one. Also, please let us know if you can help with creating it.

Our 8th grade class left on their annual Caritas trip on Monday morning.

Photos courtesy of Jodie Nakamura Liu.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED (Great way to get parent hours)

Hello Families,

Our Boys Basketball and Girls Volleyball season are right around the corner. Part of our commitment to having a great season for our students is hosting days at our "home gym", Alameda Point Gym, where we have a whole day's worth of games, both basketball and volleyball. Families that sign up for Athletics have an added five hours commitment for volunteering and this is a great way to knock those out! We also do not only take families of athletes, any and all that are willing and able to volunteer are welcome (if signing up for a scoring job please have some basic knowledge of the sports). Our First hosting day is Saturday November 11th, it is a full day starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m., shifts are two hours each. Link to sign up is below, thank you all for your time. Any questions please let me know.

https://volunteersignup.org/CLKLC

Go Spartans!

Jeff Croft

PE Teacher and Athletic Director

This weekend was bitter sweet with the last race on Friday and Potluck on Sunday evening to bring an end to the cross country season. The people who placed at the CYO Championship Race on Friday were Sirvon Toner-1st, Rory Castelaz-5th, Viaan Ravichandran-20th, Cole Castelaz- 11th, Hudson Patterson-26th and Clara Castelaz-4th. All the kids did so great, have grown so much this season and shaved off time from there runs. Anywhere from 6 seconds all the way to 1 minute and 30 seconds off their time from last year. They all ran their hearts out for me, the team, the school, their families and themselves. It was so much fun coaching, running, praying and sharing in God’s word and love this season. I think the thing I love most about cross country, is that it’s just like raising kids, it takes a village to do it. It takes all the parents helping out with the beach runs, coarse runs and running with the kids at all the practices; it takes all the parents helping me setup, breakdown and find my keys at all the meets (LOL); and it takes

all the parents encouraging all the kids. It is such a community sport unlike anything I have had the privilege to experience until this season. I am so grateful to everyone who is part of our SPN Cross Country Family.

Thank you for a wonderful Season,

Coach Elaine

SPN's annual Mini Makers' Faire will be on Thursday Nov 2nd from 5-7pm at O'Brien Hall. 

Please sign up to volunteer here and donate supplies here.

We are also collecting gently used toys for up-cycling and small household appliances for electronics take apart. A collection box will be set out the week of Oct 23nd. 

Please contact Helen Wang (Alexandra, K and Maxwell, 2) or Elaine Mendes (Zeke, 3) with any questions.

Families can now get volunteer hours for buying items from Grade Level and Department Amazon Wishlists. You will get 1 volunteer hour for every $20 spent. If the class does not have any items available on their list, Amazon gift cards are welcome, too!

Please include a gift receipt so we know who to thank!

Please contact Ms. Trujillo with any questions.

Preschool

TK

Kindergarten 

1st Grade

2nd Grade

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

6th Grade

7th Grade

8th Grade

Art/Spanish

Library

MakerSpace

Music

Office/Shared Areas

PE

Resource

Share & Care

Lunch Servers Needed

Help serve lunch. Please contact Janelle Sheets with any questions.

Log your volunteers hours HERE! Please contact Ms. Trujillo for help.

Dear SPN Families:

I’m excited to announce that our school will be hosting our Annual Fall Scholastic Book Fair, which will take place from NOVEMBER 13 through NOVEMBER 17 at O’BRIEN HALL.

For students, it’s one of the most anticipated events of the school year—but we need volunteers to make it happen. We hope that you can offer your time and talents to help students experience Bookjoy firsthand! And every purchase at the Fair directly benefits our school. So, it’s a win-win!

If you’re available to lend a hand at this upcoming event, please visit the sign-up page at: https://bit.ly/3RnJ7ka or scan the QR code below:

Opportunities to assist include:

• Setup/Decorating the Fair
• Helping shoppers at the Fair
• Checkout
• Strike Down/Packing up the Fair



I look forward to hearing from you.

Gratefully,

Benjamin Yee

(Joshua, 4)

Please contact Mariem Lambert at mlambert@csdo.org if you know of a candidate who would be a good fit for our school.

About the organization:

St. Philip Neri’s mission is to educate children in the Catholic faith and nurture their

minds, body, and soul. We aim to inspire them to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

achieve their highest academic and creative potential, and actively serve and enrich the

community.

About the program:

“Share and Care” is St. Philip Neri’s play-based extended care program that reinforces

the school’s philosophy of educating the whole child and encouraging students to be

responsible, reverent, respectful lifelong learners. Activities are directed to encourage a

sense of community, positive-self image, independence, and global citizenship.

While Share and Care takes place outdoors 90% of the time, students can still expect to

do crafts, get help with homework, and have storytime. Additionally, we offer special

activities like American Sign Language, Taste Test Tuesday, and cooking class.

About the position:

The extended care assistant works under the Director of Extended Care to provide

supervision for children in grades TK thru 8th.

Who we are looking for:

● Motivated self-starters who can follow a diverse daily schedule without

supervision

● Positive and energetic mentors who can make each student feel like a superstar

● Team players who work to ensure procedures are followed and goals are met

● Problem solvers who can come up with creative solutions for students and staff

● Efficient multitaskers who can complete assigned tasks while managing student

groups

Examples of duties and responsibilities:

● Preparing and cleaning up snack for up to 50 students

● Resolving conflicts between students

● Cleaning tables and washing dishes

● Monitoring the playground, structured activities, and bathroom usage

● Attending and participating in weekly team meetings

● Helping students in 1st-8th grade with homework

● Implementing behavior management schemes created by the Share and Care

team

● Leading students in group activities, games, and projects

Expected Hours:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 2:30-5:00

Wednesday: 1:30-5:00

Noon dismissals: 11:50-5:00 (There are about 19 noon dismissals in a school year)

There are opportunities to gain more hours during school events and as a substitute for yard duties and lunch supervision.

Compensation:

$18/per hour

Please send cover letter and resumé to Mariem Lambert at mlambert@csdo.org

Have you joined SPN on social media? 

We would love to have you as a part of our social media community.

It only takes a few seconds to join.

Check us out on Instagram at “spnalameda”.