The Patrioteer -November 29, 2024

This weekend marks the beginning of Advent and St. Jude School is as busy as Santa’s workshop as the staff and students prepare their hearts and their classrooms to accept infant Jesus on Christmas day.

Today was also our November Care Day and students dressed in plaid. These Care Days are a great reminder that we are to take “care” of those around us. We can offer monetary care, as through each family’s donation to the Archbishop’s Charities that we collected this month. We can also learn about kindness and caring for others in our classrooms. 

Thanks for helping us pass along a spirit of caring for others! 

St. Jude, Pray for us!  

Today we had our first Advent Assembly marking the beginning of our journey to Christmas. Our delightful Primary students did a great job kick-starting our Advent reflections. Thank you to the Primary team for preparing their students to celebrate this special time of year. Our Advent Assemblies are every Wednesday in December, beginning at 11:30am. Parents are welcome to join.

The decision making process for closing the school due to snow includes:

– assessment of sidewalks & stairways

– assessment of parking lots

– assessment of staff driving routes

– assessment of general driving conditions

– assessment of weather, current & projections

– consultation with neighbouring schools and principals

– consultation with staff that live in the area

– prayer

Some of the factors which make St. Jude School unique when considering these decisions include the following:

– we’re not a neighbourhood school, but nearly exclusively a commuter school

– students travel from different parts of Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, and Richmond

– staff travel from Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, North Van, and Maple Ridge

– we live in a region that does not get much snow and many drivers are ill prepared (no snow tires) to drive in snow yet do so anyway. The Government of BC has not mandated that winter tires must be used on lower mainland roads during the winter season. As such, the risk of car accidents greatly increases in such conditions and commute times become exceptionally long with many arriving very late or not at all, which reduces our ability to properly staff the school.

Other factors all schools must consider:

– are we able to provide a quality learning experience if we have 1/3? or 1/2 of our students in the building?

– if some teachers aren’t able to make it to school, do we have the support from our Teacher On Call pool to handle the sudden demand? Are we able to provide adequate supervision if staff cannot make it to work?

– can we confidently say that we made the best decision to open if an injury or fatality occurs?

When the school is closed due to inclement weather, communication will be through the Remind App first, Facebook, and the school website by 7am at the latest. It is the responsibility of the parents to sign up for Remind, to check our website, or our Facebook feed, when snow is in the forecast.

If the school is closed due to Snow, there will be no clubs, sports, or after school clubs running that day. 

In difficult weather, our hope is to open our schools as soon as it is possible while considering all educational and safety perspectives. We thank you for your prayers and support!

We are excited to welcome kindergarten sibling registration for children born in 2020, turning 5 in 2025. These children will begin kindergarten in September 2025.  Please pre-register by completing a google form found here:  https://forms.gle/6JxxNYkuWZV2pZGJ9

We are now accepting new applications for the 2025-2026 school year.  If you know of anyone who would like to attend St Jude’s, please have them contact the office or visit our website for an application form.    They can also contact our office to schedule a school tour, led by a couple of our Grade 7 Student Ambassadors.

A reminder to our families that our referral program is operational. Every student that is referred and enrolls in our school for the year results in a reward of $200 for the the referring family. 

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

A reminder to our families that our referral program is operational. Every student that is referred and enrolls in our school for the year results in a reward of $200 for the the referring family. 

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

Check out the website for the current schedule: https://stjude.ca/extracurricular/athletics/basketball/

We will have three days this month that After School Club will end early. 

Dec 12– This is the concert night and teachers need to help set up for the night performance of the Christmas Concert so After School Club will end at 5pm.

Dec 19–This is the Holiday Party night for the Staff. In order for the staff to attend the party, After School Club will end at 4:30pm. 

Dec 20–This is the last day before Christmas Break, so After School Club will end at 5pm. 

Have a great month!  

We are very excited to invite the community to our 2024 St. Jude Christmas Concert on December 12. This is always a fun evening of song and fellowship. We will have two shows, one at 1:30pm and one at 7:00 pm (with a call for students at 6:30pm).

Be advised that After School Club will end early this day at 5:00 to make sure students and teachers have time to prepare for the evening concert.   

Monday – Saturday: 9 am morning Masses
Novena Mass on Wednesdays: 7:30 pm
Saturday anticipated Mass: 5 pm
Sunday Mass: 9 am, 11 am, 5 pm