The O'Reilly Minute

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year with the wish that 2024 will be filled with many blessings! As the routine of back to school and work takes place this week, it is time to start planning ahead to a busy January.   

Please start planning for the following January events. 

• Internet Safety for Parents with Jesse Weinberger, Thursday, January 25 | 6:30 PM Nationally recognized internet safety speaker Jesse Weinberger will share guidance, data, and life-changing information on keeping children and families safer online, and the connection between social media and mental health.

• Current family re-enrollment will take place starting on Friday, January 19th. More information will be forthcoming. 

• Open House for interested new families will take place on Sunday, January 28th.  Please invite your friends, neighbors and co-workers to consider enrolling their children in our school.  

• School will be closed January 15th for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

• The annual school Spelling Bee will be held on Tuesday, January 16th at 1:30 pm in the gym.  We have a “snow date” of January 19th.

• Catholic Schools Week will be celebrated the Week of January 28th and will include a Mass for the Feast of St. Brigid on February 1st , a Book Fair, Student Led Conferences and Hounds Hoopla on February 2nd.  More details to follow.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our school families for considering a donation to the new Emmaus Road Scholarship Fund. Since the last date for donations was December 31st, at this time we do not have a full accounting of gifts.  However, we do know that our school and the Diocese have received a significant amount of gifts.  There is no doubt that this will make a huge difference to our school. We will have many more details to share with you in the near future.   

On behalf of our staff I would like to thank our school families for your support, Christmas photos, kind notes, prayers, gifts and the generous Gifts of Gratitude program.  We are so thankful for your ongoing generous and loving support of our school community. 

It is my hope that 2024 will be filled with many blessings and our families and staff will have a healthy, happy and hope-filled new year,

Kathy O’Reilly

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

~Romans 15:13

Crucial Conversations: Nationally Recognized Speaker Jesse Weiberger Coming Jan 25: RSVP Now Open

Crucial Conversations is a parenting speaker series for St. Brigid of Kildare Parish and School parents of school-aged children, focusing on student wellness and safety.

Internet Safety for Parents with Jesse Weinberger

Thursday, January 25 | 6:30 PM

Nationally recognized internet safety speaker Jesse Weinberger will share guidance, data, and life-changing information on keeping children and families safer online, and the connection between social media and mental health.

Presentation highlights include:

• value vs risk of tech use
• parental complicity
• mental health impact
• cyberbullying, sexting, sexual predation
• popular apps explained
• extreme content & gaming
• how to monitor, supervise & consequence

This presentation applies to all parents. Whether your child is a toddler or a college student, technology is having an impact on their day-to-day life as well as their future outcomes.

As parents, we may not realize that our children are hypersexualized by digital content, how our own adult use of technology changes them, and the causal impact technology has on their mental health.

Jesse Weinberger is a former programmer, a nationally recognized speaker, TEDx presenter, and the host of Big Mama's House Podcast. Jesse is also the author of The Boogeyman Exists: And He's in Your Child's Back Pocket, 2nd ed. With over 15 years of speaking at school districts all over the United States, Jesse's particular skill is successfully reaching audiences with the perfect combination of humor and deep expertise in technology and digital content.

Learn more about Jesse at her website www.overnightgeekuniversity.com.

Morning Traffic Reminders

Thank you for doing a wonderful job with our AM and PM traffic patterns this year. We are asking for continued courtesy for the safety of your children.  

Please remember not to "drive through" the parking lot and stop in the lanes of travel to drop your student(s) off. Especially stopping at the crosswalk in the parking space area behind our staff member on duty. It is causing traffic back-ups and safety concerns for pedestrians.  



Please see the map and discontinue "driving-through" the area in red to drop off. If you can not follow the normal traffic pattern due to special circumstances, then we ask that you park your vehicle in a parking space and then have your student walk up to the crosswalk.

Thank you for your assistance.

St. Brigid Soccer Survey

St. Brigid Athletic Association is considering starting a soccer program at St. Brigid. The Diocese has always had a soccer program, which currently runs the season from July until around Labor Day.  Every year a couple of St. Brigid students will join with another parish that has enough players to field a team, but traditionally St. Brigid didn't have enough interest to have a full dedicated set of teams/coaches.  

We would love our community to enjoy the sport together, so we are looking to find out how much interest there is for official teams from St. Brigid.   

Currently the diocese offers boys and girls soccer for 4th-8th grade, but they are looking to collect feedback from parishes on if there is interest in 1st - 3rd grade also.  They are also deciding if they keep the season as it is or extend the season to run a little longer with more games .  We have the ability to provide them feedback, so it's important that we get some information from you.  

Fee's will be estimated to be around $150-$180 per player, and they would most likely start practices towards the end of June or early July.  Season is compact, which in the past also allowed for players to play other sports like Cross Country, Volleyball, or Football - all at the same time. Some kids may even compliment their other soccer playing at a club or DSL rec program by getting in some extra games with friends at St. Brigid.  

Please let us know your child’s interest by completing our soccer interest survey form.

We would like to collect all interest by January 10th, 2024 to help with planning at the Parish and the Diocese level.

Prospective Families: Open House RSVP & New Family Application Now Open

Sunday, January 28 from 3-5 PM

This is the perfect time for interested friends, family or neighbors to explore our three-time Blue Ribbon School. Prospective families can tour our school and see first-hand how Saint Brigid of Kildare School provides a quality Catholic education in a warm environment. There will be representatives from Saint Brigid of Kildare School’s many programs available to answer questions.

Spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested in applying to Saint Brigid of Kildare School for the 2024-2025 school year!

Registration Reminders:

• Our new family application and the open house RSVP is now open. This is for any new children entering preschool or K-8 that are not currently enrolled at St. Brigid School. Anyone interested in applying for the next school year can learn more about the process here.
• Current family re-registration for K-8 and those returning to preschool will take place January 19-26, 2024.
• If you have a currently enrolled St. Brigid preschool student wishing to move on to Kindergarten, you will fill out a re-enrollment packet beginning January 19th. Completing this re-enrollment packet for Kindergarten will place you in the general queue for review/acceptance along with all other Kindergarten applicants. You will be notified via email of acceptance/wait list status on or before February 12, 2024.

Save the Date—Uniform and Spirit Wear Exchange to be held Feb 25, 2024 10 am-1 pm

To everyone who donates, volunteers, and uses the uniform and spirit wear exchange—thank you so much! Your donations help other families and reduce waste! In the coming months, please gather gently used items your children no longer need and donate them to the school office beginning February 1^st.  Items accepted include all logo and non-logo uniform items AND spirit wear and PE uniforms. Non-logo articles that are not claimed at exchange will be donated to the Bishop Griffin Resource Center! Remember, you don’t need to donate to “shop” the exchange!

Corks for a Cause 2024 - Sponsorship + Donation Opportunities

We are excited to hold our 17th annual Corks for a Cause Silent Auction and Wine Tasting for SPiCE on Saturday, March 2, 2024. We can't wait to celebrate Music City with our Nashville Nights theme!

There are several ways to help support this event, through volunteering, becoming an event sponsor, donating auction items, or donating wine or bourbon bottles.

If you are able to help in any of these ways, please reach out to Sarah Moore at [email protected].

Youth Sunday for 6th, 7th & 8th Graders - January 14

Join our Youth Ministry for Youth Sunday after the 11 AM Mass in Enke Hall on Sunday, January 14. All 6th, 7th and 8th graders are invited! There will be lunch, games, and a guest speaker.

Friends are welcome and RSVP is required! RSVP at the link below.

Requirements to Volunteer with our Children

If you are 18 years or older and interested in volunteering with youth activities at SBK, attending PROTECTING GOD’S CHILDREN is required before you can volunteer. Register under the Diocese of Columbus at 

www.virtus.org

The Diocesan Safe Environment Department will be offering Virtus Protecting God's Children (PGC) sessions: 



 1/10/2024 DeSales HS Cafeteria (Columbus) 6pm

Fingerprinting available prior to this session 5pm

All volunteers with our children and youth must complete PGC, a St. Brigid volunteer application, submit the signed code of conduct, copy of photo ID, and complete a criminal background check prior to volunteering.

Full details and forms can be found at https://stbrigidofkildare.org/safe-environment/ 

Future Cardinals

Calling all future Cardinals!

Join us on January 30th at 7:30 PM to watch the Cards take on Hilliard Davidson in the new Frank Murphy Convocation Center.

Join us for pizza and drinks at 7 PM. The game tips at 7:30 PM.

Scholarship Opportunities

Scholarship Test: Each year, St. Charles offers a scholarship test to incoming freshmen. This year the scholarship test will be administered on January 27, 2024 (9:00am and 1:00pm). There will also be a make-up day on February 4, 2024 (1:00pm) should you be unable to make the January 27 assessments.

Charism Essay Scholarship: These awards are grants for incoming freshmen students who have exemplified the values of our school or qualities of the school's patron saint, Charles Borromeo, in their daily lives. Students will come to St. Charles to write their essay on either January 24th (6:00pm) or January 27th (12:00pm and 4:00pm).

HOW DO I REGISTER TO TAKE THESE ASSESSMENTS?

• Students MUST have applied to be a member of the class of 2028.

• Students should register to take these assessments in advance by using the link that is emailed to them after completing the application process