Friday News from Sister Lydia 11-18-22

Good Afternoon Families,

Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness , and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. Isaiah 58:10

Thank you for the donations for St. Joseph’s food pantry. Your generosity was overwhelming! As a community we are so richly blessed; sharing with the less fortunate enriches us in body and spirit. 

The children performed beautifully on the MAP/NWEA tests.  I’m very proud of all of the grades 1-8.  As a special treat for them, the children had a frozen pop treat today after they finished lunch.

A note from Mrs. Hogan, our librarian, for all students:

Decorate one of our paper ornaments with a BOOK THEME! Students may use colored pencils, crayons, markers, ribbons, beads, pictures from magazines or the internet, or anything that fits within the ornament! Give your BOOK THEME decorated ornament to Mrs. Hogan in the library once completed! Prizes will be awarded the day before Christmas break for creativity!  Check your child’s backpack for the template and instructions over the next few days! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

COVID Tests

We will be sending COVID-19 tests home with your child, in their backpack, this coming week.  If you would prefer to not receive these tests, please send an email to Mrs. Kelley ( lkelley@sacredheartkingston. com ) to opt-out.  We do ask that if you attend large gatherings over Thanksgiving and Christmas that you test your child prior to returning to school. And of course, if your child has symptoms of COVID-19 please test him/her and keep the child home until well.

A note from the Department of Education: “Thanks to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Public Health, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is providing at-home COVID-19 tests at no cost to public school districts, including charter schools; approved special education schools; collaboratives; and non-public schools that completed the survey. These tests are intended for use by students and staff to support the return-to-school process after the Thanksgiving and winter breaks. We recommend tests be used no sooner than 24 hours prior to returning to school after these holiday breaks.”

CALENDAR NOTATIONS:

November 21–Test of our school-wide announcement system to all families

November 23-27---Thanksgiving Vacation

November 30–Picture re-takes

December 8—Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception 10:30 am

December 15--Grade 1-3 Christmas Concert at 7 pm in our auditorium

December 16–NO Aftercare

December 20–Chorus Concert at 7 pm in our auditorium

December 22–NO Aftercare, Early Dismissal

Odds and ends:

Thanksgiving break begins on November 23rd. School resumes on November 28th. Report cards will go home after Thanksgiving. If you want a conference with your child’s teacher, conferences will be held on December 7th, our early dismissal day.

Please make sure your child brings his possessions to school so that you do not have to drop off instruments, lunch boxes, neckties, sweaters, etc. at the front door.  We strongly discourage a return trip for forgotten items.  The intention is not for us to be unkind; it’s all part of teaching responsibility to the children by making sure they are responsible for their belongings.  Please help us with this. Of course, retainers, eyeglasses, medicine, and lunch may be brought to school.

Please continue to be mindful of tardiness. It is disruptive to your child's teacher and his/her classmates.

Please be sure to clearly label your children’s sweaters, sweatshirts, coats, etc.  Anything a child might take off during the day must be labeled.  We have red and blue sweaters and about 15 royal blue sweatshirts in our Lost and Found.

Next week we are going to conduct a test of our school's “snow day” cancellation system.  Be on the lookout for a text, phone call, and email. Usually, every phone number we have in your household will ring with news of a snow day or other emergency situation that will impact the school day. I’m told that students get very excited when all the household phones ring and chime at once! We will plan this test for 1:30 pm on Monday, November 21st.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Sister Lydia