The Patriot Report – January 25th, 2019

Today I delivered a presentation to the student body on having grit. I explained that “gritty people tend to stick to their goals despite numerous setbacks and failures.” Last night we had 3 way conferences in which students, teachers, and parents discussed learning goals. In school and in life, we need to have grit in order to attain anything worthy of achievement. Grit helps us to give the best of which we are capable. I think the lessons of grit are also applicable to our faith story. The early Christians had a tremendous amount of grit. In the face of persecution and turmoil, they persevered in spreading the gospel message because they were absolutely convinced of its truth and importance. And certainly, the Saints who have gone before us remained committed to the idea of salvation with God despite the many temptations that were laid before them. For ourselves, we need to be models of grit. We need to be a people of resolve and commitment. We need to model this for our children. We need to encourage them to push forward despite the challenges that lay in front of them.

On Monday, January 21, 2019, re-registrations forms will be sent home to our existing families with your oldest child. We apologize for the delay as we had hoped to have the forms sent home today but experienced copier difficulties and could not get the packages out on time.  There are some changes this year to our re-registration procedures and to our forms. Here is a summary of important information:

1. Re-registration will happen on February 6, 2019 following our AGM. The AGM is at 6:30pm. All families need to attend the AGM. As soon as the AGM is over, we will have tables set up to accept re-registration packages. It is very important that you bring all your re-registration forms filled out and required documents already copied. There will be a $20 administration fee for late re-registration packages received after February 6. 

2. All parishioners of St. Jude Parish will need to have Fr. Jun sign a form indicating that they are to receive Category 1 tuition rates. This form will be in the registration package for those who are parishioners of St. Jude Parish. 

3. We have added a Category 3, which is in alignment with other Catholic schools in our Archdiocese. Category 3 is for those families who are Non-Catholic. 

St. Jude School is starting to field registration questions from interested new families. In order for us to know how many spots we have available we need to hear from our existing families that have children who will be entering kindergarten. Some families have already contacted Ms. Goh at the office with this information. We ask that if you have a child who will be entering Kindergarten in September 2019, please email Ms. Goh at office@stjude.ca.  Please also include the child’s name and date of birth in the email.  

As an administrator it is my desire to always have school be in session. However, I cannot put students and staff at risk in the event that road conditions become treacherous. Our school is a commuter school in that the majority of our students are driven to the school and our staff comes from various neighbourhoods. This presents unique conditions for our school that must be considered when discerning whether to close the school due to weather.
The school will communicate a closure due to weather through the school website and through email using our MailChimp service as well as Remind. Please understand that the decision to close is never an easy decision and numerous factors are taken into consideration.

Parents are responsible for checking email and the website on cold weather days when snow is in the forecast. 

The Grade 6 class is exploring the importance of the Theological Virtues. If we can orientate our lives to the highest possible good then we will indeed find ourselves building the Kingdom of God here on earth.

The Grade 3 students are exploring New Years Resolutions. This one caught my attention because it does a great job of recognizing the importance of gratitude. It starts with a recognition of the blessings. It calls attention to be more mindful of the blessings. It examines the selfish attitude that works against gratitude and it clearly shows a way forward by realizing a difference between wants and needs. The message of gratitude is an important one for us all!