The Patriot Report – October 21, 2022

“With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18)

It is sometimes challenging to think of what to reflect on for the weekly newsletter. In times such as these, I will often grab the Bible and start flipping through various parts of scripture. Usually with the Gospels first but then to the letters of St. Paul. I flip and search until something grabs my attention and speaks to me. 

The above quote was the passage that grabbed my eye or more precisely the bolded heading of “Constant Prayer.” The reason it struck me is because in the passages I had read previous to this one, prayer kept coming up. In fact, prayer comes up frequently in scripture. When something is repeated often, it is worth taking note. 

Prayer is best defined as communication with God. We communicate with our thoughts, both spoken and silent, as well as with our actions. For every action is in fact a form of communication. But for prayer to become more meaningful in our lives, we need to be more intentional. For myself, there is a prayer I often recite during Mass and in particular during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. 

The prayer is not a traditional prayer but rather just my own intention for myself. My prayer is one in which I ask God to help me be what I am called to be. I often ask God for help in being a better father and husband for my family. I also ask God to help me in my work as a Catholic School principal and educator. I often will ask God to take control and help me to just do what God wants me to do. That’s about as far as I get before my mind trails off on some sort of distraction. 

I encourage you to pray to God as well. Ask Jesus to help you in what you need help in. I think St. Paul is wise in his teaching that we need to pray and pray often. It is a teaching worth listening to. 

Now that the weather is getting colder and the rains are here, the summer uniform is not to be worn. Thank you!

Please be sure that your child has a proper raincoat, umbrella, and rubber boots or waterproof shoes so that they are prepared for the weather. 

Remember there is no such thing as bad weather just bad clothing. Only in extreme conditions will we keep kids inside. 

The essential part of any quality communicable disease plan is that those who are sick stay home. If your child is coughing frequently or is complaining of stomach pains or nausea, please keep them home. If children present symptoms at school, we will need to call you to pick them up. 

As we are approaching the flu season, please be proactive and get yourself and your children a flu shot. Covid19 Booster shots and vaccinations are also part of ensuring that our student body and staff are kept healthy. 

Visit your family doctor or your local pharmacy to learn more about how to protect your children and yourself this cold and flu season. 

I want to provide further guidelines for this day with respect to Halloween Costumes.

• Costumes may be worn providing that:
  • no violent costumes – no weapons of any kind (swords, guns, knifes, etc) are permitted
  • no grotesque or gruesome costumes – this means no fake blood, no ghoulish masks, no horror costumes
  • no devils or anti-Catholic costumes or images
  • no sexually suggestive costumes – many costumes online are now sexually suggestive and parents must exercise caution here

We want to encourage our students to wear costumes that are age appropriate and school appropriate. Students do not have to wear a costume. Students who do not want to wear costumes are encouraged to wear halloween colors (orange, black, white, purple, lime green) or halloween themed shirts that are appropriate. It is a non-uniform day so jeans and a halloween shirt or halloween colored shirt is more than acceptable.

Any student that is found wearing something deemed by school administration to be inappropriate will be asked to either change or will be sent home. 

We have been answering parent requests to bring in treats for classmates on the day of their child’s birthday. There are a couple of rules to follow for such occasions:

1. Always check in with the classroom teacher. 
2. Food must be store bought and must be from a vendor that practices food safety.
3. Avoid things with high sugar content. 
4. We encourage doing non food treats such as a pencil for each child or a bookmark. 
5. If you are bringing food please ensure it is nut free. Check with your child’s teacher for other food allergies. 

We want to celebrate our children, but please keep things reasonable. 

Please be mindful of the following rules:

1. After School Club is from the hours of 3-6pm, please respect Miss Daly’s time and pick up your child within these hours. 
2. Help us keep track of students and remember to sign up for the After School Club through our website: https://stjude.ca/after-school-club/ . Even a last minute registration can make organization easier. 
3. Once you have picked up your child from After School Club, please leave the school grounds. It makes it challenging for children whose parents are not there to see a classmate playing with their parent or to see children not being picked up when their parent is on the property. Please help us prioritize our students mental health and well being.  
4. Once you have picked up your child, you are not allowed to drop them off again. Once a child is signed out, they are remained signed out for the day. There is no back and forth as this makes keeping a clear roster challenging for Miss Daly and our volunteers. 
5. If you have more than one child and you need to pick up one child and not the other, please explain in advance to Miss Daly the reason why. Only legitimate reasons will be accepted. For example, perhaps a sibling may have a school sports game or event that you need to take them to and the other sibling needs to stay at After School Club. 
6. If your child is away absent from school then they do not have access to the After School Club. If a child is too ill to attend school, then they are also too ill to attend After School Club. 
7. When you arrive to pick your child, it is helpful if you always check in with Miss Daly and sign your child out. This helps us maintain logs and it is also very important for the safety of the club.  

Parents are reminded to sign up for the After School Club through our website: https://stjude.ca/after-school-club/ 

Please note that there has been a very small price increase. You can read more below. 

Description of Club: Will run daily Monday-Friday 3:00-6:00 p.m. It will also be in operation from 12 noon to 6 PM on Curriculum Planning (early dismissal) days. It will not operate on professional or conference days or holidays. Students will engage in games, arts and crafts, reading/homework, and outdoor play.

Cost per child is $13.00/day or $55.00/week on regular school days. If the child is picked up before 4:00 pm it will be $6.50. On early dismissal (12 Noon) days the cost will be $25 to 6:00 pm or $13 if the child is picked up before 3 pm. (Those who are attending the whole week and paying $55 a week will not be charged extra for early dismissal days).

I would like to remind families of the following uniform rules:

1. Our uniform policy is found online in the parent handbook.
2. Summer Uniform is worn from September until Thanksgiving (unless otherwise posted–see earlier post).
3. Polo Shirts are to be St. Jude School polo shirts purchased through Cambridge Uniforms.
4. Cambridge is offering a pants option for girls and this must be purchased through Cambridge Uniforms.
5. All sweaters must be up to date (St. Jude Crest on the sweater). Sweater vests or cardigans are a part of our school mass attire.
6. Black shoes are required for indoor shoes – if you would like clarification on shoes please see your classroom teacher or the principal.
7. Every Friday is Patriots Spirit Wear: (students are not allowed to wear items that are not school issued).
   • PE strip is a part of Patriots Spirit Wear.
   • Patriots hoodies, sweatpants, and long sleeve warm ups.
   • Walkathon shirts.

Please subscribe to our school calendar for a list of important dates. 

To subscribe to our calendar feed copy the link below and paste it into your calendar app:
https://stjude.ca/events/?ical=1&tribe_display=month

This past year we handed out $1200 in rewards to parents that referred students to our school. Every student that is referred and enrolls in our school for the year results in a reward of $200 for the the referring family. 

We currently have spots available in Kindergarten, Gr. 1, and Gr. 2. 

To learn more about the referral program, please click here. 

It’s beginning to look a lot like… a Christmas Program! Mrs. De Sousa is pleased to announce that preparations for the 2022 St. Jude Christmas Program are underway. This year our Program is titled “Once Upon a Mango” and is an exciting Christmas adventure set on the high seas with an important religious message at the heart. Auditions for the speaking roles will be held for grades 6-on Wednesday during lunch recess.