We continue to remember in our daily prayers the intentions of our school families. If your family has a special intention on a certain day, please let us know and we will add the person’s name to our daily prayer list. Announcements are made at 8:25 am each morning.

 

 

All children are to be lined up behind the Early Childhood Center, or if weather is inclement, in their classrooms by 8:15am. Any child arriving after 8:15am is to come to the office to get a late slip.

 

If there is any change in how a child is to go home, the office must know about it prior to dismissal. Many of the children are telling teachers at dismissal that their regular dismissal plans are changed. Also, if a child normally rides the bus home from school each day, the child must continue to ride the bus unless we receive a note from their parent saying that “I will pick up my child today.” Sometimes students, especially the younger ones, get confused and say, “I think my mother said she would pick me up today.” Since the student doesn’t usually say this until the bus is ready to pull out, there is often no time to check whether the parent did say this or the child is mistaken. This is the reason why it is imperative for us to know any change in normal schedule. Without a note stating otherwise, the child will go home on the bus.

 

 

If your child is going to be absent from school, please call the school office (215-635-4673) that morning. If no one is available to answer your call, please leave a message. Also, if you would like homework sent home with a sibling or neighbor, or if you intend to come in to pick it up (after 2:30 pm), please mention the homework request when you call. When your child returns to school they are to bring in an absent note, signed by a parent.

 

 

Parents, please check the office for any lost articles of clothing, , hats, gloves, sweaters, sweat shirts, jewelry. We have it all. The lost and found is in the school office; please check it out any time you may be around school. Thank you.

 

 

Congratulations to Matthew VanderVossen , who represented St. James School at the Archdiocesan Spelling Bee.

 

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Second Graders as they receive the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist for the first time on Saturday, May 8th at 5:00 pm. May Our Lord bless you and keep you always!

 

 

-Grade 3 – Eric Carle Animals are now on display in the Elkins Park Library.

 

- St. James School Student Art Show, Wednesday, May 5th, 7:00PM, St. James School Hall. More information is on the flyer in this newsletter.

 

-On Wednesday, May 12th-(when the children return to their classrooms after the May Procession) they will find the last batch of artwork on their desk- to be taken home.

 

 

All after school clubs for grades 1-4 will end on Friday, May 7. After this date if you need your child to stay, please send your after care forms and payments into the office.

 

Miss Hallman will send a letter home to parents of PAC students, grades 5-8, to let you know when PAC will be ending.

 

 

The last day for milk will be May 27th. Please send your child with a drink on June 1-4 and June 8 & 9.

 

 

St. James School has a “Before and After Care Program”. This is how our program works: the school website has the forms for both Before and After Care. The completed forms and payment are due the FIRST of each month so we are aware of when your child/children will be staying. If we do not have them on our schedule, we do not know you intend for them to stay that day. This is very important so we can schedule coverage accordingly. We do have emergency spots available. Please notify the office as soon as you know you will be needing the Before and After Care Program. The forms can be downloaded from the St. James website, www.stjamesparishschool.org, or call the office and we will send them home to you.

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to our students who performed, handled the lighting, music, or curtains, and the stage crew for all that you did to make the “Tribute to St. James” Talent Show an awesome event! We extend a special thank you to Miss Hallman, Mr. Pfefferle, and Mrs. Pfefferle for planning, writing, and performing. Last, but certainly not least, we shout out a big thank you to John Stevenson for his undying dedication to St. James and the video he produced. This last show will be remembered for a long time…

 

 

Library books are to be returned during library time the week of May 17th. After the Early Childhood Center has had the opportunity to take what they need, we will have a book sale the weeks of May 24th and May 31st. More information regarding the library book sale will be sent home later.

 

 

Research has shown that if children do not continue to do independent reading over the summer months, they begin to lose their skills. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has published a suggested summer reading list for each grade, K-8, this list is available on the Archdiocese website www.archdiocese-phl.org. We suggest that you contact the school that your child will attend next year to check to see if they have a suggested summer reading assignment.

 

 

Our annual Track and Field Day will be held Thursday, June 10th at St. James from 8:45 AM until 11:45 AM. Mr. Weiss will be giving each child the color of his/her team. The child should wear clothing matching his/her team’s color.

 

 

Congratulations to our Kindergarten class who will be graduating on Thursday, June 3th, in the School Hall, at 7PM. Good luck next year, 1st Graders.

 

 

Our Eighth Grade Graduation will be held on Wednesday, June 9th following the 5:30 PM Mass. The ceremony will be followed by dinner in the school hall for the families and guests of the graduates. Good luck to you all, as you begin a new journey.

 

 

Closing ceremonies for Grades One through Seven will be held on Friday, June11th at the 9:00 AM Mass. Students will be dismissed directly from church at approximately 10:00 AM.

 

 

May and June communication envelopes will be going home:

May 6, the deadline for information is Tuesday, May 4.

May 13 the deadline for information is Tuesday, May 11.

May 20, the deadline for information is Tuesday, May 18.

May 27, the deadline for information is Tuesday, May 25.

June 3, the deadline for information is Tuesday, June 1.

Friday, June 11, very important information will be in this envelope.

DO NOT BEND IT the deadline for information is Tuesday, June 8.

 

 

The Regulation Winter Uniform for St. James School is the following:

 

Girls: Yellow blouse or golf shirt, round neck plaid jumper, navy blue knee socks, and on chilly days, a navy blue sweater. Girls have the option of wearing khaki colored slacks and navy blue golf shirt with St. James logo. girls in Grades 5-8 may wear the optional plaid skirt (which matches the uniform jumper) and yellow or navy golf shirt with St. James logo.

Boys: Yellow golf shirt (long or short sleeves) with St. James logo, navy blue dress slacks, navy blue socks, and on chilly days, a navy blue sweater. They may not wear “jeans” or their equivalent.

 

Though there are no regulation shoes, the shoes must be dress shoes (not sneakers), which are tied, give support, and do not have heels higher than an inch.

 

In the warm weather, students may wear the yellow knit golf shirt with the St. James logo, their gym shorts, white socks, and sneakers. The warm weather option may be worn from the beginning of school in September until October 19th, and again from May 3rd, until the end of the year, regulation winter uniform must be worn for  May Procession.

 

On gym days the children wear their gym uniform to school.

 

Warm weather gym uniform (same dates as above): royal blue tee shirt with St. James logo, navy blue waffle-weave shorts with St. James logo, white socks and tie sneakers.

Winter gym uniform: navy blue sweat suit with St. James logo, royal blue tee shirt with St. James logo, white socks and tie sneakers. Only the navy blue sweat shirt with St. James logo may be worn (no other sweat shirts or jackets while in school.)

 

All hair styles are to be moderate, no “fads”, and not those which draw attention. Children’s hair is to be their natural color. Boys’ hair must be trimmed above the collar of the shirt. Both boys and girls hair should be out of their eyes, and cut in a manner to dignify the uniform. Small hair ties and ribbons may be worn. We appreciate your cooperation in keeping all hair styles simple.

 

Jewelry of any kind is not part of the uniform. Students may, however, wear a Religious necklace or pin and a watch. Boys may not wear earrings. Girls may not wear large or dangling earrings, because they are unsafe at recess and during gym. Nail polish may not be worn to school. Boys and girls may wear a bracelet of support for cancer research or the like.

 

Simple attire helps to eliminate some of the distractions which take students’ attention away from their studies.