November 15, 2022



A Time for Giving and Giving Thanks

5th graders June and Adeline with bags decorated by their class

for the parish's ecumenical Thanksgiving food give away.

Dear SPN Families,

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I’m reminded of the quote, “charity begins at home.” As you know, we are in the midst of our Annual Fund Campaign for the operating budget. Our goal is $50,000. We have sent donation requests to parishioners, made announcements at weekend Masses, and asked you to contribute what you can to this effort. In order to keep tuition costs low, we have only a few fundraisers each year: the Annual Fund, the Auction (formerly known as the Crab Feed), SCRIP, and the Fun Run.

Right now we have 22% family participation in the Annual Fund and have collected $18,000. We are looking for 100% participation! The class competition has begun and will run through December 5th. All classes that reach 100% parent participation by December 5th are eligible for Free Dress on Wednesday, December 14th. The first class to reach 100% gets Free Dress AND Pizza Lunch on December 14th!

• Class Rankings as of 11/14/22:
• TK: 24%
• K: 18%
• 1: 12%
• 2: 25%
• 3: 26%
• 4th: 31%
• 5th: 19%
• 6th: 27%
• 7th: 20%
• 8th: 8%

Thank you for showing your appreciation for our wonderful school community by making your contributions to the Annual Fund, and please enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday. We have so much to be grateful for.

Warmly,

Ms. Thomas

Principal

Focus on HOPE: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11

SPN 2022 Adopt-A-Family

Our annual Advent program for giving, Adopt-a-Family, will kick off on Monday, November 28th and conclude on Monday, December 12th. Each Advent we reach out to local organizations to help them help their members celebrate the season. This year we will be giving to the Pacifica Senior Living residence in San Leandro, Alameda Meals on Wheels, and the Welcome a Stranger project that supports refugee families who have been relocated to Alameda. Please see the list below for how each grade level can contribute to this year’s Adopt-a-Family program of giving.

• Grades Preschool through Grade 2: Please bring in a wrapped pair of warm socks or a winter scarf for a senior resident at Pacifica Senior Living in San Leandro. 
• Grades 3-7: Please bring in grocery store gift cards for Meals on Wheels.
• Grade 8: For the Nori Family, a family of 8, specific details of the family’s wish list will be emailed to you by your room parents.

Thank you for your giving!

• Trimester 1 Report Cards: Our second trimester began on November 14th. Report cards will be distributed to students this Friday, November 18th. Please pay special attention to Attendance/Tardies on your students’ Report Cards. If there have been excessive absence or tardies during the first trimester, you will receive a letter from Principal Thomas and may need to have a meeting to plan for improvements on attendance going forward.
• Volunteers Needed This Weekend!: The Athletic Board needs volunteers to assist with our Alameda Point Hosting date THIS SATURDAY, Nov 19th. Please use this link to sign up. Middle schoolers can also sign up for credit towards service hours. For those who are interested in volunteering as a volleyball scorer, please sign up here for scoring training (Online) that is scheduled for Nov 16th. A reminder that families participating in sports need to contribute 25 hours of parent service hours per year. Thanks for supporting our Spartans!
• Thanksgiving Break Next Week: There will be no school and no Share and Care next week, Nov. 21st - 25th due to our Thanksgiving break. Enjoy the holiday!
• Looking for a past newsletter? Check out our Newsletter Archives on our website.
• Volunteering at SPN: Interested in volunteering? Need to log your hours? Here's what you'll need for the 2022-23 school year. View the SPN Volunteer Requirements here. After volunteering, log your hours using the Volunteer Hours Log Sheet. Thanks for your time!
• COVID Update: There have been no new COVID cases at SPN since Tuesday, November 8, 2022.

Have you checked out the Book Fair?

The 2022 Scholastic Book Fair is Open!

Visit in-person in O'Brien Hall this week or online at our online Book Fair (open Nov. 14th - 27th) to find wonderful books and gifts for your child(ren), friends, and family. You can also help build your child(ren)'s classroom library by purchasing books from their classroom wish list.

Book Fair Dates & Hours (located in O'Brien Hall):

●     Monday, Nov. 14 – 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

●     Tuesday, Nov. 15 – 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

●     Wednesday, Nov. 16 – 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

●     Thursday, Nov. 17 – 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

●     Friday, Nov. 18 – 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Did you know eWallet is the perfect present? This digital payment account allows you

to fund your child's purchases in advance. Best of all? Family and friends can also contribute to eWallet. The more, the merrier! Find additional information here or check out the video.

Dear Parents,

Have you heard about the concept of an “upstairs” and “downstairs” brain? It’s an analogy that compares your child’s brain to a two-story house. The so-called "upstairs" brain controls rational, logical things — planning, organizing, and self-regulation. The "downstairs" brain handles things that don’t require active thought— like breathing. It’s also where strong emotions (anger, fear, etc.) come from. Typically, your child’s upstairs brain curbs the downstairs brain — also known as emotional regulation. However, when your child loses control, they switch to downstairs mode. BIG, instinctual feelings rule. (This dramatic shift is also known as meltdown mode). 

For us parents, our first instinct might be to say something like "stop crying!"or "go to your room and think about what you did!"  The issue with this approach is that once your child reaches their boiling point, not much self-reflection or rational thought can happen.

So what can you do instead? Rather than sending them away with these big emotions, help them learn coping skills like using calming breathing techniques, getting emotional energy out through exercise, or stimulating their senses by playing with clay, jumping rope, or making music. Managing emotions is a new skill for many of our children, and practicing these strategies may help them learn to regulate themselves during those "downstairs" moments.

As always, please reach out if you have questions or need support.

Nicole Gwire, LMFT 47141, LPCC 255

School Counselor, Saint Philip Neri School

(510) 373-5213

Hello SPN Sports Fans,

A quick recap of the games this past weekend. Only two SPN teams played this weekend with one team playing two games over the weekend. The 8th Grade Boys Basketball team played an awesome game with a strong effort! Despite the loss, the team had a lot of fun and played a game that made their head coach proud. Way to compete!!

The only other team that saw action was the 5th grade Girls volleyball white team. The first game was on Friday night and was cheered on by a lot of SPN fans!! What a showing of support. It was a close match against St. Joseph Alameda with some great rallies that kept the audience on their toes! Although the team didn’t come away with a win at the end, they did walk away with a lot of confidence and got the early season jitters out of the way. The team bounced back against Madeleine on Sunday and won their match with some great plays from the entire team. Emily Campos and Amelia Holmes had break out success with their serves that sealed the victory for the team. Go Spartans!!

This week’s game schedule - come cheer on our teams at Alameda Point! 

Boy’s Basketball:

11/19 - 3rd grade - 9AM vs. St. Leo- at APG

11/19 - 4th grade - 10AM vs. St. Leo - at St. Leo Gym

11/19 - 6th grade - 10AM vs. St. Jerome - at APG 

11/19 - 7th grade - 11AM vs St. Elizabeth - at APG

11/19 - 8th grade - 2PM - vs. St. Joseph Pinole at APB

Girl’s Volleyball:

11/19- 5th grade - 10AM - SPN green vs. SPN White - at APG

11/19 - 6th grade - 11AM - vs. Madeleine - at APG

11/19 - 7th grade - 12PM - vs. Corpus Christi - at APG

11/19 - 8th grade - 2PM - vs. St. Joseph Alameda - at APG

Spencer Tse, Jeff Croft

Saint Philip Neri Co-Athletic Directors

SAVE THE DATE: BREAKFAST WITH SANTA!

A holiday must-attend event for the St. Philip Neri - St. Albert the Great community. Come join us for Breakfast with Santa, on Sunday, December 11, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at SPN’s O’Brien Hall. Bring you family and friends and get your photos taken with Santa and enjoy a scrumptious breakfast buffet meal prepared by our hardworking volunteer elves. Breakfast includes: pancakes, eggs, sausage, hash browns, apple compote, juices, coffee and tea. Ticket prices are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, $10 for kids ages 2 to 12 years old, free for kids under 2. This is a SPN PTG fundraising event. Bring your family and friends to this traditional SPN holiday event! More information on tickets sales in the next newsletter. 



Thank you to the PTG for sponsoring Family Math and Game Night last Tuesday!

4th graders decorating Thanksgiving food donation bags for the parish.

Share and Care painting fun!

Annual Holiday Flower Sale

BSA Troop 78 is currently offering poinsettias, rosemary trees and zyco cactus plants for sale. This is our 5th annual fundraiser. Proceeds are used to offset the cost of troop activities. Please reach out to a current scout or go to Scout Troop 78 - Alameda California for additional details. Deadline for ordering is November 29, 2021.

Several of our band students participated in the first M.U.S.E. in-person workshop of the year. Bryant Allard came down to lead the workshop. The students worked on rhythms, getting a good tone, exercises and songs. The intermediate and advanced students were joined by Moreau High School students who led them in sectionals. (small groups divided up by instrument). A special shout out to SPN 6th grader, Ronan, and 8th grader Raphael!

November/December 2022

Nov 14 - 18 - Scholastic Book Fair

Nov 15 - Free dress for November Bdays

Nov 18 - Report Card Day

Nov 21-25 - Thanksgiving Break

Dec 8 - All School Mass

Dec 11 - Breakfast with Santa

Dec 13 - Free dress for December Bdays

Dec 15 - Christmas Concert - 7pm, Student participation mandatory

Dec 16 - Noon Dismissal - NO SHARE AND CARE

Dec 19 - Jan 2 - Christmas Break: No School, No Share & Care

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Check us out on Instagram at “spnalameda”.