Dear Parents/Guardians,
I hope you enjoyed your 3-day weekend! This Wednesday is actually Veterans’ Day, but students will have a short day of instruction, since we observed the holiday today, 11/9.
Last week you were given at least $200 worth of Cash Raffle tickets per family, which are to be sold between now and Friday, December 11. Our drawing will take place after the annual Christmas Prayer Service on Friday, 12/17 in the evening on campus. The monies for these tickets are due by Friday, December 11, and are part of your mandatory fundraising requirement for the year. Please feel free to sell to family and friends during the Thanksgiving break to give them a chance to win the Grand Prize of $2000!
This week we will also begin a fundraiser for the pre-sale of Christmas Poinsettia Plants. This is a school-wide fundraiser and these festive plants will be on sale for $10 apiece. If you pre-order them now, you can pick them up at our next drive-in Mass on Friday, 12/4. Thank you in advance for your support! All school fundraisers help to make up for the income lost from extracurricular activities, due to COVID-19. Every little bit helps. In December, we will also begin selling Krispy Kreme cards (with 10 stickers that lets you get a dozen free when you buy a dozen donuts). These are great Christmas gifts!
On Friday, 11/20 from 9-9:45am, is our 1st Trimester Mass and Awards Ceremony! Please join us on Zoom after Mass that morning. Teachers will send out the link.
This Thursday, 11/12 is our Parent Faith Formation Retreat, hosted by Msgr. Sal Pilato from 6pm-8pm on Zoom. He will be talking about topics including Spiritual Warfare, a new child saint, Blessed Carlo Acutis, and parenthood. You don’t want to miss his talk! If you want to grow in faith and fellowship with other school parents, this is a great opportunity. Please email me at agrey@stanthonygardena.org to RSVP in advance. You can also earn 2 service hours!
Next Saturday, 11/14, the Interior Maintenance PLC will be meeting at the school to clean from 11am-3pm. Please let Claudia Guzman know if you are able to help. You can earn service hours for your time.
Starting Monday, 11/16, our K-8 teachers will begin opening their classrooms to a small number of students to learn in Small Cohorts. This has been approved by LA County and the ADLA. Teachers are using assessments to determine a small handful of students from their classroom who will be eligible to be on campus for up to 3 days out of the week, if they meet certain criteria. The CA Dept. of Public Health published rules for opening school campuses to students with disabilities and other students who need in-person support and services that can’t be met through distance learning. The county is allowing schools to provide K-12 in-person instruction to cohorts of no more than 25% of the total student body at any one time. Schools are advised to prioritize targeted/specialized services for STEP and English Language Learners. The county clarified that their intent is for high-need student populations to be served, such as STEP and EL in cohorts. However, schools can exercise their discretion and determine who their highest need populations are, but also students who do not have access to the internet or devices, students requiring assessment, do not have care during the school day, or other vulnerable circumstances may qualify. Teachers may be reaching out to you personally this week to invite qualifying students, after they have determined eligibility for your child to join this cohort. Those invited must meet the criteria based on assessments and official STEP plans, and special circumstances. If people opt out, we may be able to invite other families. We thank you for your understanding as we wait for approval to reopen fully to all students. We are happy that this has been approved, as this is a start for those children who really need help. Those families who choose to opt out of the cohort and continue to have their child learn remotely, will have that option as well. We look forward to fully reopening, when approved by the county.
Mrs. Grey, Principal
SCHOOL CALENDAR 2020-2021
(Be sure to always check www.stanthonygardena.org and your child’s teacher’s blog, along with our SAP School app for the most current information.)
August
- Monday, November 16: First day of Special Needs Cohorts (by teacher invitation only, based on assessments and special needs/circumstances)
- Friday, November 20:First Trimester All-School Virtual Awards Ceremony on Zoom from 9-9:45am
- Thursday, November 26-29 Thanksgiving Holiday
- Tuesday December 1: Kindergarten applications available for nursery students
- Friday, December 4: 8am Drive-in All School Mass (poinsettia fundraiser pre-sale pick up day)
- Friday December 11: Fall Raffle fundraising money due ($2000 Cash/credit towards tuition for Grand prize)
- Monday, December 14: School Penance Service (Sign up Genius)
- Thursday, December 17: All-School Christmas Show and Final Drawing for School Raffle Winners
- Friday, December 18: Noon Dismissal and Last day of school before Christmas Break (Faculty and Staff Luncheon at 12:30)
SCHOOL DONATIONS AND SERVICE HOURS
For families looking to pay off their service hour commitment, our school gives the option to buy Scrip/gift cards and donate them to the school for overhead expenses. We buy a lot of materials and supplies from Home Depot for Beautification of our school, and Target for much needed supplies, so if you buy Scrip valued at $10/hour and donate it to the school to offset costs, we will credit your service hour account. You can also donate gift cards to the school for prizes for our PLCs and fundraisers. Thanks in advance! Our Interior Maintenance PLC will be having a clean up day on Saturday, 11/14 from 11am-3pm. Please contact Claudia Guzman at cm.guzman@sbcglobal.net if you would like to volunteer and earn service hours.
SCRIP
One easy way to help you reach your $500 financial commitment is to purchase Scrip throughout the year. We accept credit cards in the office for your orders making it easier than ever! It’s basically buying gift cards to purchase things like groceries, gas, gifts, or things you need and want on a daily basis, but you can get fundraising credit for a portion of every gift card you buy! Work smarter, not harder! We have Scrip for Starbucks, Vons, Albertsons, Sam’s Club, Home Depot, Gardena Supermarket, and so much more!
KINDERGARTEN EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION IN DECEMBER
In December, we will be offering EARLY BIRD applications to St. Anthony Day Nursery Families and siblings of current SAP School families for incoming Kinder students for the 2021-2022 SY! Open Enrollment for other families begins 3/1/21. Please spread the word!
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