January 9, 2024



“Commit yourself to lifelong learning. The most valuable asset you will ever have is your mind and what you put into it.” – Albert Einstein

Happy New Year St. Philip Neri Families and Friends,

As we begin a new calendar year, it is a perfect time to reflect on the past and make plans for the future. New Year’s Resolutions or Intentions do not need to burden us but rather should motivate us to make a desirable change to some facet of our life practices. For our students at St. Philip Neri, we focus daily on our School wide Learning Expectations of Respect, Responsibility, Reverence, and Lifelong Learning. The first three attributes of Respect, Responsibility and Reverence focus mostly on behaviors and how we interact positively with others: the last attribute of Lifelong Learning focuses more on our attitude or mindset about the world.

Lifelong learning supports the idea of having a growth mindset, a mindset that is open to possibilities and understands that the process of learning is never ending. The “power of yet” is often connected to the idea of growth mindset in that we may not have reached our goal or mastered an intended skill yet, emphasizing that the possibility to do so is still in play. As an educator, lifelong learning and growth mindset hold even greater importance. I believe that all education has an ultimate goal to increase our understanding of and empathy for one another, and with that goal, peace is possible. With greater understanding we can hold greater compassion for others, and when that happens, peace is inevitable.

As a school we are planning for the future as this is the time for applications for next year, setting the calendar, and identifying goals. Today we hosted a Shadow Day for Rising 6th Graders interested in attending our school next year. Tomorrow night we will host Information Night for prospective parents, and our Open House at the end of the month is another opportunity for families to visit our school and get a feel for our community. Please share this information with your friends who may be interested in St. Philip Neri for school: our best marketing is through personal relationships and referrals. Applications for new students are online and our deadline to apply for the 2024-25 school year is January 31. 

Let’s make sure our New Year’s Resolutions or Intentions not only help us to be better versions of ourselves but will also help us promote peace and harmony in our homes, in our school and in our local and global communities.

Peace & Blessings,

Ms. Thomas

Remember that applications for the 2024-25 school year are online, and the deadline to apply for next year is January 31, 2024. Preschool has limited availability, so register now. TK, and Kindergarten decisions will be mailed out on February 16: grades 1-8 decisions will be mailed out on February 23.

We have had #0 COVID cases since January 4, 2024.

January 2024

Jan 9 - PTG Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Jan 10 - Information Night for prospective families, 7:00-8:00 p.m.

Jan 12 - NO SCHOOL, Elementary Staff Day, No Share and Care

Jan 15 - NO SCHOOL, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, No Share and Care

Jan 16 - AB Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Jan 17 - Come and Play in TK and K, 9:00-11:00 a.m.

Jan 18 - Fall Sports Picture Day, 8:30 a.m.-12 noon

Jan 19 - 8th Grade portraits

Jan 22 - SAB Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Jan 23 - Free dress for January birthdays

Jan 24 - Noon Dismissal, Teachers Professional Development

Jan 25 - School Spirit Day - Class theme

Jan 28 - Catholic Schools Week kick-off with All School Mass, 9:00 a.m.

Jan 28 - Open House, immediately following Mass/Science Fair 10:00-11:30 a.m.

Jan 28 - February 2 - Catholic Schools Week

February 2024

Feb 2 - Noon Dismissal, Teacher Appreciation, No Share and Care

Feb 4 - Family Mass Hosted by Grades 3 & 4, 9:00 a.m.

Feb 6 - PTG Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Feb 13 - Burning of the Palms - Morning Assembly

Feb 13 - St. Valentine's Day Free Dress (red, pink, white)

Feb 13 - AB Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Feb 14 - Ash Wednesday, Mass 9:30 a.m.

Feb 16 - Noon Dismissal

Feb 19 - NO SCHOOL - Presidents Day - No Share and Care

Feb 20 - Free Dress for February Birthdays

Feb 24 - Gala Auction

Feb 26 - SAB Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

FACE (Family Aid Catholic Education) grant applications are accepted January 1, 2024 through March 31, 2024. More information can be found on the Diocese of Oakland's website.  Contact Gina Trujillo for the FACE application timeline and questions. 

Happy New Year SPN Community! The PTG is looking forward to a great 2024! One of most important events is quickly approaching. Catholic Schools Week starts with our Open House on 1/28/24. The PTG is looking for a few volunteers to assist with donuts and/or provide some refreshments. Please sign up here if you are interested in helping. 

Please contact Emily Libby with any questions.

Hello Spartan Sports Fans! 

Happy New Year and welcome back to the final stretch of the season. We have our last hosting date set for Sunday January 28th. Please note the timing is different than when we host on Saturdays. We have shifts available from 11am to 6pm, please see the link below. We absolutely can use the help and support and this could also be one of the last sporting opportunities to get those family hours done.

https://volunteersignup.org/DCK79?classic

Fall Sports Picture Day!

Friday January 18th will be Fall sports picture day! All students who participated in a fall sport (Cross Country, Boys Basketball and Volleyball) will wear their uniforms to school and have their team photos taken for the yearbook. The Spring Picture day will be later on in the year. Think of it as a school spirit day and wear your uniforms with pride as we smile bright and look our best!

Jeff Croft

PE Teacher and Athletic Director

Saint Philip Neri Catholic School

(510) 219-0773

Go Spartans!

Please contact Ms. Foster with any questions.

Imagine this scene, a young child is given a sweet treat from a grandparent and immediately the parent is there to say, “What do you say?” Eventually the child will begin to automatically respond with impeccable manners (or so we hope.) Children begin their learning with oral language and making inferences or filling in the gaps to make meaning of what is happening around them. When we begin reading text, we also must make inferences to make meaning. In order to be our most successful it is necessary to have a wealth of background information. For example, in the classroom this takes the form of vocabulary exercises, visual aids such as maps, and making connections to other texts. At home, in addition to incorporating reading in your family routines, the ins and outs of everyday life is where the learning happens. I encourage you to converse with your children while cooking, driving, and visiting new places. Have conversations about how the eggs arrived in your home. In the car talk about what you see in the world around you. When planning a vacation pull up a map and show where you are going. Is it in the same state? The same country? Is it north, south, east, or west? What is the area known for? Find out together about the culture, food, language, and native plants and animals. When reading a bedtime story, look up words you do not know and start incorporating them in conversation as they will fit. Use multi-media to explore the unknown together. These conversations and lessons all lead to strong reading comprehension. The more knowledge students have about a subject before reading, the better they will be able to fill in the gaps and the more successful they will be as a student and in life.

Mrs. Sturlini

Reading Specialist

Our very own Garden Science teacher, Ms. Kristen Smeal was interviewed by Alameda County Weights and Measures last year. She told them about our program supporting youth in gardening and our service-learning project and our affiliation with the Alameda Backyard Growers' Seed Library, which she helped start with seeds from SPN during Covid. They used her photos as well as the introduction to our program in their 2022 crop report. The interview is hosted permanently on their website and sent out to stakeholders in the AC Agriculture field. Congratulations, Ms. Smeal!

Check it out here: https://www.acgov.org/cda/awm/resources/2022cropreport.pdf

7th and 8th graders and their families are invited to a "Tailgate and Game" event at SJND.

Chess at St. Philip Neri

Dates: Thursdays, January 18 - March 21, 2024

Location: Science Room

Time: 3:15 - 4:15

Grades:   1- 5

Tuition: $160 for the 10-week session

Enroll online at www.berkeleychessschool.org (under after school classes) 

Immerse yourself in the exciting world of chess! Chess is fun and can be learned quickly and easily! Studies have found that chess helps improve test results in reading, science, and math, and produces growth in critical cognitive skills. Beyond academia, chess influences social behavior including self esteem, respect for others, patience, and good sportsmanship. And did we mention: it’s FUN!

Chess boards and sets are provided. The minimum class size is 10 and the maximum is 20. Enrollments are accepted in the order received. For siblings, the first child is full price, additional siblings are half price. Some reduced fees are available to low-income families upon request. 

The Berkeley Chess School is a nonprofit organization offering chess instruction from kindergarten through high school since 1982. Over the years our students have won many state championships and several have gone on to become National Masters, FIDE Masters, International Masters, and International Grandmasters.  

2622 San Pablo Ave ◼ Berkeley, CA 94702 ◼ t 510.843.0150 ◼ info@berkeleychessschool.org ◼ www.berkeleychessschool.org

Did you know that you can purchase Scrip online to be picked up in the front office? Enter group ID 510521SPN when you register a new account.

Dear SPN Community,

We are excited to invite you to join Konstella if you haven't already! It is a web-and-mobile-based app service with various tools that help parent organizations streamline communications, centralize information, and build engaging parent communities. You can create sign ups, share photos, post alerts, and see what's happening in our SPN community with a handy red bubble on your phone. Currently, about half of the parents are on the platform and we would love to get more signed up to really start to use it as a centralized system. Please use THIS LINK to sign up and get an introduction. We will then follow up with an invitation link to join.

Sincerely,

The PTA and SAB

Lunch Servers Needed

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

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

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

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PE

Resource

Share & Care

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”.