Parent Memo: February 5, 2021

 

PRINCIPAL’S CORNER:

Dear Parents,

Another Catholic Schools Week comes to a close. Although it looked differently than it has in years past as activities had to be modified due to the pandemic, we still had fun and celebrated how fortunate we are to have Catholic schools. We hope that in all of this uncertainty, we have been able to provide a stabilizing force in your children’s lives and help make their days more “normal.” Thank you for entrusting your children to a Catholic school, especially OUR Catholic school.

In Service,

Ms. Laura

[email protected]

 

RE-ENROLLMENT FOR 2021-2022 SCHOOL YEAR NOW OPEN

Re-enrollment packets were sent home with the kids today (youngest child or only child in family). Please follow instructions in packet to save a place for your child for next year. If you are adding in a new child, indicate that on the form, and this will facilitate the application process for that child. Please note the re-enrollment deadlines in the packet. We are currently carrying waiting lists in almost all of our classes, so we will need to respond to those prospective parents once we reserve spaces for our returning families.

 

SPELLING BEE WINNERS

The winners of our school spelling bee during Catholic Schools Week were:

Middle School: 1st place – Riley Bostaph, 2nd place- Audrey Orzech

Gr 3-5: 1st place – Emily Staneata, 2nd place – Mesbah Shahood

Gr 1-2: 1st place – Gia Lac VoNguyen, 2nd place – Thomas Clark

A big congratulations to our winners and all of our contestants. Super job!

 

OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP RE-APPLICATION PERIOD OPEN

Between February 1st and March 1st is when families have to apply to get priority consideration for the Opportunity Scholarships. There is no benefit to being the first applicant on 2/1/ 2021 over an applicant from 2/5/2021. Actually, we have been asked not to apply February 1st to help keep the system from being overloaded. However, the March 1st deadline for priority consideration is a hard and fast deadline.

The three links below will be helpful for you.  We encourage all families who are already receiving the grants to re-apply. There are more funds available than last year!
Overview of the Opportunity Scholarships

https://www.ncseaa.edu/k12/opportunity/

 

Apply for the Opportunity Scholarships

https://www.ncseaa.edu/k12/opportunity/interested-in-opportunity-scholarship/

 

FOR FAMILIES ALEADY BENEFITING FROM the Opportunity Scholarships

https://www.ncseaa.edu/k12/opportunity-current-scholarship-families/

 

FINANCIAL AID FOR 2021-2022

If you are requesting tuition assistance from the school/parish for the 2021-2022 school year (not the Opportunity Scholarship), please see the informational flyer at the end of the newsletter. Anyone applying for tuition assistance must be an active parishioner and complete the steps on the flyer.

 

AFRICAN AMERICAN AND NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE TUITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

On January 31, 2021, the beginning of Catholic Schools Week, the 2021-2022 application for the African American and Native American Heritage Tuition Assistance became available. Catholic school students (K-12th grade) of African American and Native American heritage in the Diocese of Raleigh are eligible to apply for tuition assistance. The assistance awards come from funds granted to the diocese from the Black and Indian Mission Office founded by the Catholic bishops of the United States.

  • Allapplicants MUST complete a Catholic school enrollment application and a FACTS tuition assistance eligibility application before this application will be considered.
  • Application Deadline:March 12, 2021
  • Decision letters will be mailed to parents no later than May 21,2021
  • Tuition awards are sent from the diocese to the applicant’sschool.

 

Application opens on January 31, 2021 and closes on March 12, 2021. Apply with the link below. If it doesn’t redirect, then copy and paste the link into your browser.

https://raldioc.configio.com/go/aamen-tuition-assistance

 

 

WANTED – OUR BELTS

The school had 6-8 belts at the beginning of the school year that we loan out to kids who forget to wear theirs. They are supposed to return the belts the next day. We have only 1 belt left, so please dig around and return any school-borrowed belts if you find them. We will always take donations of belts that your kids grow out of for our stash, as well. Thank you to those families that have donated belts already.

 

ST VALENTINE’S DAY

As with all celebrations during this Covid year, we have to tone it down. St. Valentine’s Day is on a Sunday this year. Therefore, the school will be recognizing it on Friday, February 12th. Please note the following:

  • Small traditional Valentine cards will be exchanged in grades PreK-5. Participation is optional. Remember that if your child is bringing in Valentine cards to distribute, that he/she have enough cards to distribute to everyone in the class. No one can be left out. Please communicate with your teacher regarding numbers of students.
  • NO FOOD OR CANDY treats or non-edible goody bags from home are allowed this year. Only Valentine cards can be brought in. The school has purchased a Valentine treat for every child in grades PreK-8 which will be distributed at the end of the day.
  • No gifts for individual friends of your student are allowed to be brought to school. If your child wants to give a Valentine’s gift to a friend, please do so outside of the school.

Thank you for your cooperation.

 

OPERATION RICE BOWL

Operation Rice Bowl is a donation drive that has been carried out in Catholic parishes and schools for years during Lent. It will begin soon in our parish and school. Donations to Rice Bowl help the hungry, both in our local community and beyond. 25% of the donations to Rice Bowl stay in our own community, and there is certainly a need during this time. Please use the link to donate to Rice Bowl online or see the flyer attached below about how to donate using the QR code. Thank you for your prayerful donation during the Lenten season.

https://crs.donordrive.com/participant/stpatnc

 

The SHAMROCK!

Below, you will see the reservation form to send your child a special message on a special day by painting the SHAM-ROCK. The kids always get the biggest kick out of it. Instructions below.

 

SUPPORTING THE SCHOOL

Please remember that we have a variety of programs where you can help the school without costing you anything above and beyond your normal budgeted purchases. These avenues often have to be renewed annually, however, so even if you already registered with them, please check the next time you are shopping and make sure your contributions are still registered to go to St. Pat’s.

 

  • AMAZON SMILE – This is exactly the same as the regular Amazon site. I didn’t have to change a thing and I kept all my Prime benefits. Just log into smile.amazon.com instead of the regular amazon.com, enter your username and password that you always use and direct the site to donate to St Patrick Catholic Church (the school is listed under the church’s name). Then every time you shop on Amazon, you go to smile.amazon.com and do your regular shopping. Amazon donates a percentage of that back to the school. I use the “smile side” of Amazon for all of my purchases and literally, the only thing it costs me is to type in one more word by typing smile.amazon.com instead of just amazon.com. I think I can expend that much effort for the school to get donations. Anybody can do this. They don’t have to be part of the school. They just need to log on and connect their regular Amazon account to a Smile account, so spread the word far and wide to friends and relatives. Just realize that the school only receives the donations when people shop on the Smile side and not on the regular side. It doesn’t make any difference to the consumer, however.
  • PUBLIX and HARRIS TEETER supermarkets – Both have school give back programs where a percentage of your shopping total will get donated to the school. Costs you nothing. The supermarkets do the donating. These need to be renewed annually, I believe, so even if you registered in the past, please drop by their customer service window the next time you shop and check that your purchases are still connected to our school.

Thank you for doing every little thing you can to help support our school.

 

BOXTOPS

Grocery shopping online for delivery or curbside pickup? Watch this short video to find out how you can forward your receipt from your digital grocery shopping to the Box Tops for Education program and earn cash for our school!

https://youtu.be/ZfUGb_3JzZg

 

 

DATES TO REMEMBER

 

Feb 12                      St Valentine’s Day observance in class

Feb 15                      NO SCHOOL – President’s Day holiday

Feb 25                      End of Trimester 2

Feb 26                      Spirit Day