Dec 17 2nd Grade Christmas Program in Parish Center at 6:30pm
3rd Grade Christmas Program in Parish Center at 7:30pm
Dec 21 PreK Christmas Programs – 9:30 & 1:30 in the Church
Dec 22 PreS Christmas Programs – 9:30 & 1:30 in the Church
Dec 22 “Dress Down Day” - Students Wear St. Patrick’s Apparel
K- 8th Christmas Parties in the Classrooms at 2:15pm
1st Semester Ends
Dec 23-Jan 4Christmas Break – No School
Jan 5School Resumes
Jan 7 1st Semester Report Cards Sent Home
Jan 9 Catholic High Schools 8th Grade Entrance Exam
Jan 14 2:00 Dismissal
Jan 15 2nd Half Tuition Due for Half Pay Plan
Jan 18 No School – Teacher In-Service
Jan 21 2010-2011 Registration Forms Go Home
TO ST. PATRICK’S HOME & SCHOOL COMMITTEE & THEIR ELVES - THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO TO SUPPORT OUR STAFF! From the School Office Staff, all of the Teachers, Teacher’s Assistants, Priests, Food Service, and Maintenance, Extended Care people, etc... We would like to express our deepest thanks to The Home and School Elves Committee and, specifically, ALL of the families that made the monetary donations to the Elves Program. Each staff member that works with the students, or for the school, received a generous SCRIP gift certificate for Christmas. This would not be possible without the support of you – the parents and families that donated! Please know how thankful we all are! Each and every gift reminds us of the awesome community we belong to here at St. Patrick’s School.
CALENDAR AND MENU CHANGES - Please note that the school calendar and December Lunch Menu have been updated on the website.
APPAREL DRESS DOWN DAY REMINDER – Just a reminder that Monday, December 22nd is a “St. Patrick’s Apparel Dress Down Day” for all, as an appreciation from the Home & School for supporting apparel sales. Appropriate attire for the day may also include anything that has St. Patrick’s name professionally applied to it such as sports jerseys, clubs, etc. Students may wear dress down bottoms as stated in the Family Handbook. We hope all enjoy this dress down day and showing their school pride.
PRES and PREK CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS – Pre K Program will be on Monday, December 21st at 9:30 for the am class and 1:30 for the pm class. Pre S Program will be on Tuesday, December 22nd at 9:30 for the am class and 1:30 for the pm class. All Programs will be in the Church.
REGISTRATION FORMS WILL BE SENT HOME THURSDAY, JANUARY21ST, 2010– In order to allow new families earlier notification of their status, whether it be accepted or on the waitlist, the registration process will begin in January rather than February this year. Please note that the “Current Student 2010-2011 Registration” forms will go home on January 21st. They will be due back by January 28th with the $100 registration fee perchild to hold their spot. Please make sure you have completed the 2009 Stewardship Appeal form, found on the Parish website, to keep receiving the parishioner rate for tuition.
PAGE ONE READING CLUB - Does your child enjoy reading? Then, we have the perfect book club for them! Page One is a program that was started in Lincoln to encourage children to read for pleasure and share their knowledge with their peers. There are three different age levels: 3rd-4th graders, 5th-6th graders, and 7th-8th graders. Each group will have a parent leader that will be in charge of meeting with their group once a week from January- April to discuss the books in order to prepare them for a competition in the spring in Lincoln. Please note that students may be in the book club without participating in the competition. Tracy Fernandez will lead the 3-4th graders, and hold meetings Thursdays after school in the library. Christina Diers will lead the 5-6th graders, and they will meet Wednesdays after school at the Elkhorn Public Library. Kerry Benes will lead the 7th-8th graders with meetings on Sundays at 1:30 in her home. If your child is interested, please contact these leaders.
LUNCH VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - So far this year over 500 volunteer hours have been shared in serving the lunch program at St. Patrick's. Whether your child enjoys the hot lunch provided or brings a cold lunch, every child utilizes the lunch room. In addition to lunch trays being filled, tables and chairs need to be wiped and cleaned in between each of our three lunch shifts, and the floors need to be swept at the end. As St. Pat's grows so does our need for helping hands. The shift runs from 10:45 AM - 1:00 PM. Whether you can volunteer once a quarter, a month, or every week - we would welcome your help - and the students enjoy seeing their moms and dads in action! Please contact Kathy Mingo (mikemingo@cox.net) or Kris Morrissey (krismorrissey@cox.net) if you have any questions and/or would like to volunteer.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK DATES - Catholic Schools Week will be celebrated nationally on January 31st- February 6th, 2010. On Sunday, January 31st, there will be the masses celebrating Catholic Education with our parish community. All St. Patrick’s School students are asked to wear their uniforms and sweaters to the Saturday and Sunday Masses.
Wednesday, February 3rd- Special Friends Day open to Kindergarten - 4th graders only will be held in the afternoon. Please keep this date open.
Friday, February 5th- The Talent Show is open to all 4th- 8thgraders. Other information on Catholic School’s week will be available following the New Year.
START PERFECTING YOUR TALENT4th – 8th GRADE STUDENTS– This year’s St. Patrick’s Talent Show will be open to all 4th-8th graders. Each act can be no longer than 2 minutes. Try-outs will be held on Thursday, January 21st from 3:30 to 4:15. Please fill out the permission form and send it back to school. The talent show will be held during Catholic Schools Week on Friday, February 5th beginning at 1 pm. More details to come!
IS YOUR CHILD MISSING A COAT, HAT, GLOVES ETC? – We have plenty of items in our Lost & Found cabinet. If your child may be missing an item of clothing, coat or lunchbox, please come into the entrance of school to take a look in the Lost & Found to retrieve the item. On December 22nd, items left behind will be taken to Goodwill and to the Used Uniform Closet. As always, we recommend you to place your student’s name on all items or clothing, doing so makes it easy to find where the item should be returned.
SCRIP HO HO HO PROMOTION - was a HUGE success with over $50,000 in sales! There are lots of people on Santa’s nice list this year! The students earned a Dress Down Day for Friday, January 8th! The winner of the $20 Sam & Louie’s gift certificate was the Wolf Family. Thanks to everyone who used SCRIP for their holiday shopping! All orders will be returned before the break. Don’t forget to stop by Material Girl (117th& Stonegate and just east of Oakview Mall) for some last minute gifts. Remember, from now until December 31st, just mention St. Pat’s and 20% of your sale will be donated back to our school! Thanks to everyone who has shopped so far.
PURCHASE ST. PATRICK'S APPAREL ONLINE - Through the generosity of one of our parents, an online web store has been set up. You may now buy St. Patrick's apparel online, anytime, in any quantity! It will be shipped directly to your home. Even better--you design your own item (choose from shirts, blankets, mugs anything)! Don't like what you see? Upload your own artwork. Create a St. Pat's item or a shirt for your next family reunion and the profits go back to St. Patricks! Go to www.stpatshs.gigabitprint.com, create a login and go! Happy with what we have? Give Joan Quinn a call and see what is in stock and we will get it to you this week! Questions call or e-mail Joan at 658-0120 or jquinn26@cox.net.
ATTENTION PARENTS! DISCOVER YOUR GOD-GIVEN GIFTS - Don’t forget about yourselves this Christmas and make a New Year’s resolution for yourself!Living Your Strengths is a 4-week series in which participants join a small faith-sharing group. They discover their unique God-given gifts and how to use those gifts in service to the Church and Community. Understanding your unique top-five strengths will also have a profound effect on your home and work life. This is a great program to do with your friends, spouse and adult family members!Contact Beth Kathol in the Adult Formation Office at 289-4289 ext.1525 or bkathol@stpatselkhorn.org to register or for more information.
January 11th - February 1st
Monday Mornings - 9:15-10:45 in the Parish Conference Room
Monday Afternoons 1:30-3pm in the Family Room
Monday evenings 7:00-8:30pm in Classroom 229
January 12th - February 2nd
Tuesday evenings 7:00-8:30pm Teacher’s Lounge
THAT’S AMORE...SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13th, 2010 - Items are being collected for this year’s dinner/auction; however, the deadline is fast approaching! Solicitors should be turning in items collected to the Development office as soon as possible. Many wonderful packages come from our generous families here at St. Pat’s. Please consider donating something for the auction. If you would like more information on donating an item, please contact Dana Bird, Auction Chair, at 315-9689. THANK YOU for your generosity!
IRA GIFTS CAN HELP PARISHES, SCHOOLS & YOUR TAX BURDEN - During this month of giving thanks for our many blessings, we are grateful for all of the ways so many people have helped St. Patrick’s through the years. Again this year you, your parents or grandparents may have a unique opportunity to make a charitable gift to St. Patrick’s without paying additional taxes on income from their IRA’s. One small part of the 700+ Billion Bailout Bill can directly help our parish, school, RF programs, and individuals over the age of 70 ½! Under this bill, a regular or Roth IRA owner age 70 ½ or older may make a direct transfer from their IRA to a qualified charity without declaring additional income from the transfer. This transfer may be up to $100,000 per year and is tax-free to charity, but at this time this option exists only until December 31, 2009. This may* allow you to make your charitable gift without paying income taxes on your annual required IRA distribution (*Dependent on your unique personal tax situation.) A few important rules: 1. Your IRA administrator needs to cut a check directly to St. Patrick’s. 2. Married couples can each make a gift from their IRA. 3. You do not receive a tax deduction for your gift. We can supply you with any additional information you may need, but you need to act quickly. This law currently expires December 31, 2009. There are limitations on the type of charity that qualifies for such a direct transfer/gift, but your parish does qualify. Please prayerfully consider contacting your IRA custodian and/or accountant to see if this new charitable tool will help you save on income taxes. Or please contact family members over the age of 70 ½ to see if they would be willing to consider such a wonderful opportunity. Thank you for your past and future support of St. Patrick’s!
Principal's Notes Deadline:
Please submit all items/information in final form.
Principal's Notes deadline is Tuesday by 8:00am to the school or email to
a Dress Down Day for Friday, January 8th! The winner of the $20 Sam & Louie’s gift certificate was the Wolf Family. Thanks to everyone who used SCRIP for their holiday shopping! All orders will be returned before the break. Don’t forget to stop by Material Girl (117th& Stonegate and just east of Oakview Mall) for some last minute gifts. Remember, from now until December 31st, just mention St. Pat’s and 20% of your sale will be donated back to our school! Thanks to everyone who has shopped so far.
