February 11, 2025



The Numbers are In!

Dear St. Philip Neri School Families and Friends,

The Athletic Board hosted a Crab Feed on February 1st, and we are happy to announce the success of this event and thank those who made it happen. We had over 100 diners enjoy a delicious meal of crab, salad, pesto pasta and rolls. Between the dinner, the 50/50 raffle, the Super Bowl squares, and the bar, the net profit is over $6,000 that will go to offset costs for gym rentals, the bulk of the Athletics expense budget. 

Special shoutout to Jeff Croft and our Athletic Board members who helped run the event: Needlyn D'Mello, Maricela Ramirez, Elaine Mendes; and our wonderful faculty and staff who also stepped up to lend a hand: Mrs. Trujillo, Mrs. Serles, Mrs. Foster, Mr. Rod, Mr. Shim and Ms. Turner. Our 8th grade servers were also a BIG help, and they raised over $300 in tips to go to their class fund for graduation activities.

We look forward to bringing back this event next year, and we hope we can carry over the success and fun we had to make next year even bigger and better! Thank you to all the families, parishioners and friends who donated and helped support the Athletic Board Crab Feed!

Peace & Blessings,

Ms. Thomas

Principal

We have a surge of colds and flu going around. Please be vigilant and keep sick students home. There have been 0 COVID cases since September 4, 2024.

February 2025

Feb 14 St. Valentine's Day, Free Dress Red, White and Pink Colors, Noon Dismissal

Feb 17 NO SCHOOL: Presidents Day - No Share and Care

Feb 18 Free Dress for February B-days

Feb 19 Vision Screening

Feb 24 School Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Feb 28 End of 2nd Trimester

March 2025

Mar 2 Family Mass, 9:00 a.m., Hosted by grades 1st & 2nd

Mar 3 T3 Begins

Mar 3 PTG Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Mar 4 Mardi Gras, Burning of the Palms at Morning Assembly

Mar 5 Ash Wednesday, All School Mass, 9:30 a.m.

Mar 6 Special Free Dress Day: Dress Like a Pirate!

Mar 7 T2 Report Cards Distributed

Mar 15 Annual Auction

Mar 18 Free Dress for March B-days

Mar 18 Middle School Information Night 6:30-7:15 p.m.

Mar 24 School Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Mar 26-28 Nature Bridge, 6th Grade

Mar 31 Cesar Chavez Day, NO SCHOOL, No Share and Care

Perseverance: An example of Fortitude

Looks like: Finishing a job even if you are tired.

Sounds like: “I will finish this even though I am really tired.”

We have begun to prepare for the 2025-26 school year, and that includes applications for Preschool through Grade 7 (there are currently no openings for 8th grade for next year). If you or someone you know has a child 3 years or older who is looking for placement, please have them go to our website and apply for the 2025-26 school year.

Many thanks to all of the families who have already submitted their Intent to Return Form;  we appreciate your prompt response and positive comments. Please take a moment to share with us your plans or thoughts for next school year. Thanks in advance for your time and attention to this request.

Many thanks to our Finance Committee for working with our bookkeeper, Mrs. Gina Trujillo, and Principal in reviewing our income and expenses and supporting our fiscal responsibilities. Here are the Tuition Rates and Registration Fees, 2025-26: the tuition rates are based on projected expenses for next year, and the Registration Fees are unchanged from last year. Registration will open March 17 and the deadline will be April 10, 2025. Please contact Mrs. Trujillo or Ms. Thomas if you have questions or concerns.

Our teachers have prepared the following focus for their Black History Month curriculum this year.

Next week, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Grades curriculum will be shared.

Arlington, VA – The 2024 Mathematics and Reading Assessment for students in grades 4 and 8 was released on January 29 by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card. Catholic school students persist in producing higher achievement levels than their public school counterparts.

NAEP assessments are considered the gold standard of testing. Catholic school students continue to outpace public schools in math and reading, while public school student achievement has not returned to pre-pandemic levels and reading scores continue to decline following a sobering trend last reported in 2022.

Top 10 Ways to Encourage Your Child to be a Good Reader

By Rosaleen Sturlini, Reading Specialist

1. Expand vocabulary. Have conversations with your child to expose children to new words and build background knowledge. 
2. Listen to audio versions of books.  You can enjoy stories together with the novelty of hearing a new voice. 
3. Discuss what you read. In fiction books talk about the characters and make them come to life. In nonfiction books marvel about what you learn.
4. Ask questions when you read. What do you think will happen next? Why did the character do that? How would that make you feel?
5. Encourage rereading. An excellent strategy to use to develop comprehension skills.
6. Read aloud to your child. Make the story come to life by using an expressive voice. 
7. Read together everyday. Set aside time when everyone reads….after dinner, before bedtime, whatever works for you. 
8. Keep books handy. They should be in the car, in a bag to pull out while you wait in restaurants or for an appointment or keep ebooks on your phone. 
9. Provide encouragement to your reader. Praise your new readers for a job well done as well as seasoned readers for their perseverance.
10. Let children make choices. Allow children to pick out what is of interest to them. 

The SPN See's Candy Storefront is open and ready for business!

Our general storefront will remain open until the end of the year for you to order delicious candy and help support the PTG at the same time. If you have any questions, please contact spn.ptg@csdo.org

General Store Link:

https://www.yumraising.com/secure/saintpns_saint_philip_neri_school60/GinTru3524/candy

Please continue to follow parking and traffic rules– NO PARKING IN RED ZONES, NO JAYWALKING, NO DOUBLE-PARKING– during morning drop off and afternoon pick up to maintain safety for our students as well as to not be cited by law enforcement.

PT https://bit.ly/3MTGSlg

Earn Volunteer Hours & Link to Log Hours

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.

Log your Volunteer hours Here

https://forms.gle/3VhHDCEhxiPa5YXg9

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

Garden

Science

Choice Lunch Calendar for Volunteer

Thank you so much to Needlyn D'Mello for creating the calendar this year.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1O9RBOBiRFZ-ngev5lHPL0nL718i0_IakbZwIL0t2i4w/edit?usp=sharing

A Better Way to Buy Scrip

Do you want to get a head start on your Scrip purchases for the 2024-2025 school year? We now have an easier way to start earning!  Order your gift cards to be delivered to the school or your home. Raise Right also features an app that allows you to purchase egift cards delivered to your ewallet within seconds. There are hundreds of stores available including gas stations, grocery stores, clothing & shoe stores, hotels and more. Check it out today!

Enter enrollment code 432BQIZ543ML at RaiseRight.com/Enroll 

Saint Philip Neri Social Media

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”.