September 20, 2021
Dear Students, Parents/Guardians,
Last week we had Monica Harmon from Speak Out Against Bullying and Cyberbullying visit our classes as a guest speaker. You may remember her from her last visit in 2017. Ms. Harmon gave a powerful presentation and she left the students with important reminders. For parents, she cautions us to watch our children more vigilantly to protect them from harm. One thing that stood out to her was that many students in K-8 told her they have cell phones at home and are on social media. This is a very dangerous tool at their fingertips and we highly recommend that children do not own cell phones or have access to social media in our school. Many problems arise from this, and the issues happen outside of our school’s jurisdiction. Please talk to your child about what they are watching and who their online friends are. Many predators find their victims from the internet and on social media. We hope you will discuss digital citizenship openly with your children. We want everyone to stay safe.
Parents please note that PLC Lead meetings (led by Leah Nakayama and Angelic Nunez-Scott) and Room Parent meetings (led by Lorena Lakey) will occur virtually on Zoom this week on 9/21 and 9/23 at 6:30pm. Look out for Zoom links to come.
We have had a great start to our Fall Fundraiser, thanks to Mrs. Nakayama and Mrs. Angelic Nunez-Scott! Please check the calendar for our 2 upcoming Trojan Drawing dates, starting this Wednesday, 9/22 during our virtual morning assembly (the second one is on Wed, 10/6). PAYMENT DEADLINE is MONDAY 10/04/2020, end of the business day to qualify for final prizes. 10/08 is the deadline for all chocolate monies in order to avoid late charges.Just a reminder that all money needs to be submitted each Monday before the school office closes at 4pm to qualify for Trojan Drawing and prizes. To recap:
Trojan Drawing #1 takes place on Wed 9/22 at our 7:50 AM morning Assembly. To be included in drawing $ due Mon, 9/20
Trojan Drawing #2 takes place on Wed 10/06 at our 7:50AM morning Assembly. To be included drawing, $ due Mon 10/4
PAYMENT DEADLINE is MONDAY 10/05/2021 end of business to qualify for final prizes and Futbolero Soccer Show on 10/20
All chocolate monies are due by Friday 10/8 to avoid late charges.
Last year we raised over $20,000 for our school selling chocolates, even during the pandemic! Let’s keep selling and break this record by 10/4! Keep selling! As a reminder, in 2 weeks we have our Parent Conference Week. We will have NOON DISMISSALS from October 4-October 8, 2021. Friday, 10/8 is a STUDENT FREE DAY from classes, but teachers will continue to schedule a full day of parent conferences.
I would like to thank Patricia Dungo and our Volunteers for running our Gently Used Uniform Sale held last week before and after school on 9/13 and 9/14. Moving forward, if your child outgrows their uniforms, or if you have a child graduating from 8th grade this year, please consider donating your gently used uniforms back to our school for a fundraiser. We will have these sales in September and June each year. Thank you in advance!
Pacific Toxicology is on campus today 9/20, and every Monday moving forward from 7:30-8:30am for COVID-testing. This is optional, but we ask that those students and staff who are unvaccinated get tested more often, at least once or twice a week. Please sign up for testing online using the link sent to you, on the Thursday before the Monday test date each week. You must sign up every Thursday, in advance. This is for students and staff or parent volunteers who work on campus only. Tomorrow, 9/21, we will complete our first STAR testing window. Thanks for helping us monitor your child’s progress. You will receive your child’s first progress report and STAR testing results at Parent Teacher Conferences in October! This Thursday, 9/23, is our Fall Picture day. Online payments are preferred. Any questions, please feel free to reach out and contact me at agrey@stanthonygardena.org.
Next week we welcome October, which is the month of the Rosary. A devotion to Our Blessed Mother is a tradition that has long been embraced here at St. Anthony’s and all of our teachers and students will be doing various activities this month in order to help instill this special prayer and relationship with Our Lady to our children. I invite you as well to spend time praying the Rosary this month and to keep in mind the many special intentions of our school families. Today, 9/20 is Sr. Tho’s bday. We also want to wish our Music and Theater teacher, Mrs. Garcia a very happy birthday on Saturday, 9/25!
Mrs. Grey, Principal
SCHOOL CALENDAR 2021-2022
(Be sure to always check www.stanthonygardena.org and your child’s teacher’s blog for the most current information.)
- August 17-September 21: STAR Window 1 (School-wide testing) Please make sure students sleep early and eat a good breakfast)
- Monday, September 20: Junior High Ocean Institute Field Trip
- Wednesday, September 22 and October 6: Trojan Drawings at St. Jude Statue (outside at morning assembly)
- Thursday, September 23: Fall Picture Day (All School Faculty and Staff Pictures, Attire: Formal Mass Uniforms)
- Monday, September 27: STUDENT FREE Day, Faculty preparation for WASC/WCEA Hybrid Visit 10/19-10/21
- Friday, October 8: Fall Fundraiser final monies due to avoid late payments (monies due 10/4 to qualify for prizes)
- Monday, October 4 – Friday October 8 : Parent Conference Week -Progress Reports and STAR results for Window 1 go out at Conferences
- Friday, October 8: Student Free Day – Parent Conferences continue
- Monday, October 11: No School – Student Free Day (Columbus Day)
- Wednesday, October 20: Futboleros Soccer Show (for all who sold 5 or more boxes by 10/4)
- Friday, October 29: Halloween – Trunk or Treat Noon Dismissal, Halloween activities TBD
- Monday, November 1: All Saints’ Day (all school saint dress up, K-8 process into church at 8am Mass)
- Tuesday, November 2, All Souls’ Day
- Friday, November 5, Blue Mass (for first responders), Continental Breakfast hosted by 8th grade and Student Government for special guests
- Saturday, November 6: Healing of the Family Tree Workshop in Church 10:30-4:30pm (SAVE THE DATE and register early!)
CEF INITIATIVE
The Catholic Education Foundation (CEF) was recently given a $5 million dollar grant from an anonymous donor. It is to help boost enrollment in Catholic Schools. We need everyone’s help in Marketing this to our parish families. If anyone is in the Publicity and Marketing PLC, we would love to have you help us promote this by speaking after weekend Masses or talking to Religious Education Families in English or Spanish to promote our school and this wonderful opportunity.
EARN ONE SERVICE HOUR FROM HOME!
Parents who review our school online on Yelp, Google, AND greatschools.org will earn up to one service hour after you send me your screenshots of all 3 sites as proof: to agrey@stanthonygardena.org.
St. Anthony of Padua – Pray for us
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