The Patriot Report – October 7, 2022

“The real purpose of running isn’t to win a race. It’s to test the limits of the human heart.”
—Bill Bowerman, co-founder of Nike

This past Wednesday, October 5, was the annual CISVA Cross Country Championships hosted at Swangard Stadium. As the Director for this event, I get to see athletes at various stages of the competition. Their nervousness and excitement before the race, their energy as they take off, their struggle as they run up hills, their pain as they combat the distance, and their exhausted faces as they cross the finish line. You really do get to see a wide range of human emotion. 

My favourite moments each year are the ones that no one will really talk about. In each race there is a child that is fighting through pain to finish their race. Some have scrapes on their knees as they may have tripped on the course or stumbled out of the start. You can see with these runners that the race did not go the way they envisioned. With approximately 100 runners in each race, it is understandable that there will be collisions from time to time. There are often real tears on their face after the race as they deal with the frustration that they fell when others did not. Especially if it was caused by another runner. Regardless, these athletes, even though they may be finishing well out of the top 20, show a resolve and a resilience that will serve them well in life. The lessons they learn about not giving up and continuing to work hard in spite of the challenges and perhaps the unfairness of the whole situation, is certainly applicable to life. 

We are all on this journey of life. At times it does feel like a race and certainly we can all agree that we stumble. Whether we stumble because of our own failings or because of others, we are all still faced with the same choice as the cross country runner. Do we stop running? Do we sit on the side of the course? Or do we find the inner resolve to continue moving forward in spite of the hardship? This is the beauty of sport and why schools have sports as part of their curriculum. Sports has the potential to teach children and adults powerful life lessons.

A reminder that the playground is closed to students before and after school.  After School Club uses the playground as part of their programming.

On Thursday, October 20, 2022, we will have our annual Parent Teacher Interviews. 

The length of the interview is 10 minutes. The purpose is to give parents a snapshot of how your child has started off the year and to provide one or two suggestions to support learning at home. Parents are also encouraged to ask questions or to bring forward any needs. This is not a space for lengthy discussions. If you feel that 10 minutes is insufficient, we ask that you make arrangements to speak at another time. Furthermore, if you do meet with your child’s teacher between now and October 20, you do not need to sign up for an interview time. 

To sign up for an interview time slot please click here. 

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. 

Last year we collected close to $3000 for charity. We sent $2500 to the Archbishop’s Charities in RCAV and the rest went to Covenant House.  This year we kindly ask that you once again support our Charity initiatives as we will be supporting the Archbishop’s Charities and Covenant House. On October 17, 2022, we will do an EFT withdrawal for $20 per family for all of our Care Days throughout the school year. If you wish to opt out of the donation, please email Kim Pham at bookkeeper@stjude.ca

Thank you for once again supporting local and important charities!

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.  

Register here: https://vancouverelitebasketball.com/

Vancouver Elite Basketball is led and coached by Miss Handy, our own Gr. 2 Teacher. Miss Handy is a former NCAA Division 1 player. She will be joined by retired Professional Basketball Player, Canadian National Team Member and former NCAA Division 1 player Drew Urquhart. 

The purpose of Vancouver Elite Basketball is to train and develop players so that they can excel in the sport of basketball. St. Jude School students will have early access to sign up for Vancouver Elite Basketball. Be sure to register before registration opens to athletes outside of St. Jude School. 

Training is for boys and girls and ranges from grades 2 to 12. Athletes will be separated in groups of Gr. 2-4 (co-ed), 5-7, 8-9, 10-12.
Times are between the hours of 5:30-7:30PM Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday or 10:00AM-12:00PM on Saturday.

All practice sessions take place at St. Jude School. 

For more information please email drew@vancouverelitebasketball.com

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 can be worn from now until Thanksgiving.
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.