SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT MEMO
Everything You Wanted to Know
Week of 10-28-24
A NOTE LIBBY RANKIN, 2024-25 PTC PRESIDENT:
Dear Parents,
It’s hard to believe it’s almost November! Molly and I are excited for everything that
lies ahead this school year. As we move forward, we want to take a moment to express
our gratitude to everyone in this amazing community. Your involvement—whether
attending events or volunteering—means so much to us, and we appreciate your
ongoing support.
In our role as PTC President/Vice President, we are tasked with selecting a Parent Education Night theme/speaker for our community for this winter. In order to find a topic that would generate excitement and be applicable for our wide range of students, we decided to solicit feedback from faculty, staff, students and families. During these conversations, a common theme of adolescent mental health and technology use continued to surface. Therefore, we will be utilizing this theme as our Parent Education for this academic year.
We understand that every family is different, and technology offers great benefits. We also acknowledge that many of the current middle school students already have cell phones, with many of those devices being smart phones. The goal of our parent education initiative is to think carefully and intentionally about the impact of technology on our kids and how to successfully balance and safeguard young lives in a 24/7 digital world.
To get started, one opportunity we would like to provide is the ability to obtain parent education material regarding adolescent mental health and technology use. You may have heard of the book *The Anxious Generation* by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. In it, Haidt offers specific recommendations to address the youth mental health crisis, many of which we’ll be discussing. It’s going to take a team effort—parents, schools, and communities— to support our kids as they navigate this critical phase of their development.
Here are a few resources you can explore with your family as we begin this
conversation together:
- Get a copy of *The Anxious Generation* You may purchase your own book and/or check out our SJF copies, available in the school library. Email Mrs. Burd and she will send the book home with your child
-Listen to a 4-minute summary of the book
- Listen to an NPR interview with the author, Jonathan Haidt(think we should include his name again for clarity)
-Create a tech agreement with your family:
Learn about the Wait til 8th pledge
Thank you for being part of this journey with us. We look forward to creating a
supportive environment for all our students together.
CALENDAR REMINDERS
Tuesday 10/29: 3:15-3:45pm Gr 5-8 Study Hall
Wednesday 10/30: 7:30am Glee Club in church, 1:00pm School Mass (7th Gr), 2:05pm Dismissal, Chess Wizards, 2:30pm Faculty meeting
Thursday 10/31: Happy Halloween! NO GLEE CLUB BEFORE SCHOOL, 10:50-11:20 Family Group Activity, 1:00pm Halloween Assembly in the gym, Classroom parties to follow, Extended Care closes at 5pm
Friday 11/1: All Saints Day, 9:00am School Mass (4th Gr), 12:50-2:50pm 4th Gr Saint reports in church, 3:15pm Girl Scouts meet in library, 6:00pm All Saints Day Mass
Sunday 11/3: Daylight Savings Time Ends, 10:30am Altar Server training for 3rd, 4th & 5th grade students, 1-4pm LaSalle Prep Open House
Monday 11/4: Picture Retakes w/ Lifetouch Photography starting at 8:30am, High 5 Fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House begins
Tuesday 11/5: 3:15-3:45pm Gr 5-8 Study Hall
Wednesday 11/6: 7:30am Glee Club in church, 1:00pm School Mass celebrating Veterans (6th Gr), 2:05pm Dismissal, Chess Wizards, 2:30pm Faculty meeting
Thursday 11/7: NO HOT LUNCH, 10:30am Rosary, Funeral Mass & Reception for Al Corrado, 3:15pm Gr 5-8 study hall
Friday 11/8: 3:15pm Girl Scouts meet in library
PLAYGROUND DUTY:
Playground duty is from 11:25am - 1:00pm. If there is a conflict with your scheduled playground duty date, please notify Holly Hunt, our playground duty coordinator, as far in advance as possible so that she can reschedule your duty. Thank you for your help in the lunchroom and on the playground.
Tuesday 10/29: PROCTOR
Wednesday 10/30: MINEO (KIM)
Thursday 10/31: BIRKLAND
Friday 11/1: SCHULLER
Monday 11/4: HALLANZZINI
Tuesday 11/5: SCHMITT
Wednesday 11/6: JOVANOVIC
Thursday 11/7: DWYER
Friday 11/8: SCHMIDT (MATT & EMILY)
CARDINAL HAPPENINGS
Thank you to the SJF Men’s Club for hosting such a “spooktacular” Halloween Carnival & Trunk or Treat this past weekend.
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
Service is a hallmark of our school community and our students/families sure came in full force for our Catholic Charities Hurricane Helene Response Fund “free dress” donation drive. We are excited to report we raised $3,294.10!
NOVEMBER EXTENDED CARE
Please sign up for November extended care coverage. The November calendar is included in this SAM, and can also be found on your FACTS Family Portal under Resource Documents.
MASS IN HONOR OF MILITARY PERSONNEL
In honor and celebration of our military personnel, we invite all service men and women to attend our special Veteran’s Day Mass on Wednesday, 11/6 at 1pm. We welcome all family and friends, particularly those with military experience, to attend this special Mass.
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS OFRENDA PHOTOS
The 4th grade class, in collaboration with students from the Celebrating Heritage elective, invite you to honor friends, family members, and pets who have passed away during the week of Dia De Los Muertos (October 31-Nov 2nd) These are days of remembrance and celebration of past lives and the celebration of the continuity of life. Please bring a photo of a loved one who has passed away (label the back with name and what grade so we can return to you) OR write their name on a card and place it either on the ofrenda table outside 4th grade classroom or the ofrenda bulletin board outside 8th grade classroom. We also invite you to visit the ofrenda trifolds on display in the school foyer that the 8th grade class have created to honor loved ones. They are touching tributes to the many special persons in their lives.
PICTURE RETAKES - NOV. 4
Lifetouch Photography will be here on Monday morning, Nov. 4 for school picture retakes. This is a free dress day if your student was absent on the original picture day or needs to have their picture retaken. Please use this code if you need to order a picture package in advance at mylifetouch.com:
EVT74ZV3T
HEALING MASS
The Healing Mass for November will be on Friday, November 8th at 9am. Father Valentine will be offering the Sacrament of the Sick after the Mass.
WELCOME NEW EXTENDED CARE STAFF!
We are very excited to announce that we have hired 5 additional staff members to support our aftercare program: Graham Barton (class of 2022), Shannon Broughton, Sidd Chitgopakar (class of 2022), Tammy Hanna, and James Kennedy (class of 2022). Welcome to the team!
THANK YOU BOOK FAIR SHOPPERS
A record breaking number of books found new homes with our students last week. Our school raised over $1,600.00 from the sales. Additionally, our generous classroom donors contributed over $500 to our individual classroom libraries. Thank you for supporting SJF students' reading adventures!
ALTAR GUILD NUT SALE
It’s almost time for the annual altar guild nut sale. Place your order after Masses during the following weekends:
Nov. 2-3
Nov. 9-10
Nov. 16-17
Price sheet is attached to this SAM.
CYO BASKETBALL REGISTRATION IS OPEN
There’s still time to register for the Winter 2024 SJF Basketball Season! Go Cards, Go!
Hot Shots (1st-2nd grades): Hot Shots is a combined 1st-2nd grades, co-ed league. Games are on Saturdays, with a 30 minute practice scheduled before the game (no weekday practices). Season will begin in January.
1st & 2nd: The registration fee is $240 per participant (LATE FEE : $315 Effective 12/02/24)
Register your 1st & 2nd graders for CYO Hot Shots Basketball
3rd-8th Grades: Practices are two days a week and will begin in late November. There will be one game in December, then a Holiday break, followed by the rest of the schedule beginning in early January.
Regular season games are on Saturdays and a championship tournament will be played in March.
3rd-8th: The registration fee is $285 per participant (LATE FEE : $335 Effective 12/02/24)
Register your 3rd-8th graders for CYO Basketball
Uniform order links: 3rd-8th and Hot Shots
(Uniforms are yours to keep and can be worn again next year... or passed down to younger siblings. Order ASAP so your uniform is ready for the first game!)