September 26, 2023

Principal's Message

Believe and Receive

Dear SPN Families,

How glorious to have the Fun Fair back in person last Saturday! We asked for your help and participation, and we got it: consequently it was a fun-filled day for school families, friends, and parishioners. A BIG shout out to Gina Foster who with Ken Dorrance, our SPN-SA Pastoral Council President, organized this wonderful event. But it takes all of us coming together– baking cakes and cookies, volunteering at food and game booths, setting up, cleaning up– to make any event successful. The beautiful day set the perfect background for the camaraderie and happy faces that marked the day. We even had an Eighth Grade Reunion for the Class of 2003 coincidentally planned for the same day, and some of our alumni joined us at the Fun Fair for nostalgic memories and connection. One of the day’s highlights for me was seeing all of our students having so much fun with one another while demonstrating responsibility and respect. I can count on our students to be polite, helpful and grateful – I heard a LOT of THANK YOU’s– and that’s a beautiful thing to see.

Speaking of alumni, we are pleased to welcome our New Preschool Assistant to support Ms. Grace, and she is an SPN Alum! Rosie Saxton graduated from Chico State University with a degree in Child Development and has returned to SPN as a staff member. We couldn’t be happier to have Rosie share her expertise and talents with our youngest students. Welcome back, Ms. Rosie!

Please join us for our first Family Mass of the school year this Sunday, October 1 at 9:00 a.m. when our 7th and 8th graders will be our hosts. Fr. Steve Kim, Principal of St. Joseph Notre Dame High School, will be our celebrant for the Mass. Fr. Steve is a dynamic speaker, and I highly encourage you to attend to meet Fr. Steve. The Knights of Columbus will be serving donuts after our Family Masses this year.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership. Remember to read through this Newsletter for vital information about events and opportunities at SPN and in the community.

Peace & Blessings,

Ms. Thomas

Conferences

If you haven’t already, please sign up for Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences for next week (October 3-6) for each of your children with his/her Homeroom teacher and if needed, middle school families can sign up for an additional conference with a subject specific teacher as well. Again, if you cannot arrange for a conference during the days/times offered, please reach out to your children’s teachers to make other arrangements for this very important meeting. Sign Ups will be closed on Wednesday, September 27 at 9:00 a.m.

Sixth Grade Sign Up (and middle school Social Studies)

Seventh Grade Sign Up (and middle school Math)

Eighth Grade Sign Up (and middle school English)

Middle School Science

Covid Info

There has been one COVID case since September 21, 2023.

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

DAILY HEALTH SCREENING QUESTIONNAIRE

Calendar

September 2023

September 27 - Jeans Day Fundraiser

September 27 - Noon Dismissal: Professional Development Day

September 29 - Spirit Day: Wacky Day

October 2023

October 1 - Family Mass hosted by 7th & 8th Grade, 9:00 a.m.

October 3-6 - Noon Dismissal, Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences

October 3 - Walk and Ride to School

October 4 - Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, Prayer Service Blessing of the Animals, 8:00 a.m.

October 9 - NO SCHOOL: Indigenous Peoples Day

October 10 - PTG Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

October 17 - AB Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

October 17 - Free dress for October birthdays

October 20 - Make-up Photo Day

October 23-27 - Caritas - 8th Grade Retreat

October 23 - SAB Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

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

Blessing of the Animals

Wednesday, October 4, Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Blessing of the Animals at Morning Assembly:

Parents may bring live pets to be blessed from outside the fence surrounding the playground, or students may bring a stuffed animal or photo of a pet to be blessed during the Prayer Service.

Walk n' Roll to School

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Ronan Sturlini (8th Grade) and our student leaders invite all families to chose an environmentally friendly mode of transportation to come to school.

There are many ways to do that:

Walking
Carpooling
Using public transportation
Using an electric vehicle
Rollerskating
Scootering
Biking

We are looking forward to seeing as many families as possible rocking up to the school's gates in "green style."

Literacy Corner

Notes from our Reading Specialist, Mrs. Sturlini

Reading aloud to our children is a wonderful way to introduce new and classic literature. Many of us began the tradition of reading to our babies once they came into this world (or even before) and made it a nightly ritual. It is a perfect way to wind down from the busyness of the day, step away from the screens, and spend quality time with our children. Unfortunately, for many the ritual ended as our children began to read independently. I am going to suggest that you try to find a way to bring the routine back even for our older students.

Yes, they can read on their own. Yes, our days are filled to the brim with homework, sports practices, piano lessons, careers, errands, and making dinner. Yes, this seems like 30-60 minutes that we don’t have. However, all of our students will benefit from listening to someone read. Students may be reading at a particular level, but their auditory comprehension level is much higher. It will allow you the chance to connect with your child (instead of a device,) sparking conversation and building vocabulary. I hope you will try it, you may even find you begin to look forward to this enchanted hour.

Athletic News

Hi Spartan Sports Fans!

Fall is officially here and our first Cross Country meet was held last week. We had a great showing by our runners highlighted by a first and second place finish for our K-2 runners Sirvon Toner and Rory Castelaz!

Our Spirit Wear shop is up and running. Go check out all of the new and returning favorites and get out there and show our Spartan Pride! I mentioned fall, they do have lots of nice Sweaters, Jackets and even blankets to keep you nice and cozy as you cheer on our athletes or even join us at school for an event.

Jeff Croft

Physical Education Teacher

Shop Now

Hello SPN Families!

Last week SPN Cross Country Runners had their first meet against the whole Oakland Diocese in which 22 other schools out of 39 competed. Just try and imagine 1,000 people and 737 runners from 22 schools at Crown Memorial Park in Alameda. Cross Country is the only sport where all 22 schools are racing at the same time broken down by grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8 grades are scored individually and as a team based on their finishing times. It was crazy, frightening and fun all wrapped into one. There was so much excitement from everyone cheering for their school, their friends and their kids, I never could imagine it unless experiencing it.

This year, as in every year, is always especially hard for the 3rd graders, because last year they only had to do half a mile and they were the oldest in their category. This year they had to run a mile and they were the youngest in their category. So a special shout out to all the 3rd graders!

Below are the kids who placed in last Thursday's Meet

In the Girls K-2nd category Anamarie Patterson came in 30th out of 77 girls.

In the Boys K-2nd Category Sirvon Toner came in 1st and Rory Castelaz came in 2nd out of 97 boys.

In the Boys 3rd-5th Grade Category Cole Castelaz came in 11th, Hudson Patterson 20th and Michael Sean Brunetti came in 24th out of 159 boys and as a team came in 4th place as an overall team.

In the Girls 6th-8th Grade Category, Clara Castelaz came in 6th out of 121 girls and came in 10th place as an overall team.

Lastly in the boys 6th-8th Grade Category Kurt Liu came in 27th out of 144 boys.

I also want to send a special shout out to AJ Losk and Liam Weesner who were knocked down, trampled on and got up to finish the race. They may not have placed, but it is a lot harder, takes more courage, strength and will power to want to pick yourself up and finish after being on the ground. This week we will be racing on Friday, September 29th at Joaquin Miller Park.

Coach Elaine

Mini Makers' Fair

Scholastic Book Fair

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: