October 9, 2019

October 11 Faith Outreach Committee Meeting – 9:00 AM -- Library

OCTOBER 11 – EARLY RELEASE AT 12:30 PM – NO AFTER CARE

OCTOBER 14 – NO SCHOOL – COLUMBUS DAY

October 16 Lifetouch Portraits

October 18 Spirit Day Free Dress and CrAzY Mrs. Clarke Day

October 22 Vocation Day – Mass at 9:15 AM

October 24 Kindergarten Parent Lunch – Noon – Church Hall

October 24 Parent Group Meeting – 6:30 PM - Library

October 25 PreK Parent Lunch – Noon – Church Hall

October 28 Auction Committee Meeting – 7:00 PM – Margarita’s

October 30 Paper Wednesday News

October 31 Halloween Free Dress

October 31 Cafeteria Day

NEW! Thank You – We are extending a special thanks this week to our staff and faculty who attended the Diocesan workshop in Manchester on active shooters last evening after school. The safety of our children is a top priority here at St. Chris, and we are thankful that our staff and faculty is willing to give up their free time to learn how to better protect our students!  

Looking for a List of Daily Calendar Winners? – You can find the list quickly by clicking HERE or going to the News Announcements part of the front page of the website and looking for the "Calendar Raffle Winners" article!

Spirit Day and CrAzY Mrs. Clarke Day -- Since we met our school goal of 2,000 tickets sold, CrAzY Mrs. Clarke will make an appearance on October 18! This will be a Husky Spirit Free Dress Day…students may wear any St. Chris gear or blue and white! In addition, the tuition raffle winner will be drawn at 10:00 AM at Nashua Catholic…watch the live stream on the Nashua Catholic Facebook page!

Parking Lot Safety Notice -- This is an urgent request for our back parking lot pickup folks! We have had several near-misses in the lot which could have put our students in harm’s way. For our students’ safety, we request all parents follow these important rules:

• Do not pull into the parking lot until all students, including those moving the cones and classes coming from the Fine Arts Center, are safely in the school building.
• Enter the parking lot slowly, in a single line. Fill the spaces along the outside of the lot before parking in the center spaces
• Back into parking spaces along the outside of the parking lot. Those parking in the center of the lot should pull straight in.
• If someone new comes to pick up your child, please be sure that he or she is well aware of the pickup parking procedures.

Chess and Games Club: St. Christopher Chess and Games Club will start on Friday, October 18 from 7:50 AM to 8:30 AM in 5M. The club is for grades 1 to 6. Kids learn to play basic Chess and some board games. It is an opportunity for children to learn and play across different classes/grades. Kids need not know how to play to join the club and will pick up the game after a few days. Parents are welcome to join. 5M is located on the 2nd floor. If you enter through the before care door and take the stairs the class room is on your right. The Chess club will be held every Friday at the same time on school days. There will be no Chess club on school holidays or when the school is canceled for weather or other reasons. Sign your child up to the Chess and Games Club via SignUp Genius HERE.

Chess Club Volunteers – The Chess Club is looking for volunteers! Chess Club meets on Friday mornings from 7:45 to 8:30 AM in 5M. Parents do not need to know how to play chess, just be willing to help monitor the club members while they learn! If interested, please contact Tal Murthy at [email protected] if you are able to help out!

Educational value of Chess

-Research shows there is a strong correlation between learning to play chess and academic achievement. In 2000, a landmark study found that students who received chess instruction scored significantly higher on all measures of academic achievement, including math, spatial analysis, and non-verbal reasoning ability (Smith and Cage, 2000).

-Eight and nine year-old minds and thinking skills are developing rapidly, and chess teaches higher level thinking skills such as the ability to visualize, analyze, and think critically.

                                                                      Johns Hopkins School of Education/Fischer, W.

NEW! STEM Extracurricular Programs – The STEM Committee is busy putting together a number of STEM related extracurricular programs for this year! While many of the activities already have a coordinator/leader, we are looking for adults to lead additional programs in computer programming (Scratch and Java) and photography/video. Program usually run for 6 weeks. For more information or to volunteer, please contact committee chairperson Sophie Marquis at [email protected].

Auction Committee Meeting – We had a GREAT first meeting! We discussed theme (In the Winners Circle with St. Chris!), decorations, sponsors, advertisers, potential trips and other big ticket items, and more!  We’d love to have anyone who is interested join this fun group to plan our big night! The next Auction Committee will take place on Monday, October 28 at 7:00 PM at Margarita’s in Nashua. There’s a place on the Auction Committee for everyone, including those interested in theme/decorations, item procurement, technology/computers, class art projects, reservations/seating, etc.! Meetings are held monthly through December, then bi-weekly during January and weekly in March, although Committee members “come and go” as needed with their role on the Committee. Contact chairperson Jenn Torosian at [email protected] for more information. 

NEW! Parent Group Meeting – Our Parent Group will be holding its first meeting of the year on Thursday, October 24 at 6:30 PM in the library! Please join us! This group offers every parent (everyone’s a member!) the opportunity to get involved with enrichment programs for our students and wonderful community events for our families. Among the many programs and activities the Parent Group coordinates are:

• Used Book and Uniform Sale
• Christmas Tree Lighting
• End of the Year Barbecue
• Special Enrichment Guests 
• Teacher Appreciation Events

NEW! Christmas Shopping Committee Meeting – It’s never too early to start planning for Christmas! Our Christmas Shopping event takes place from December 4 through 6 in the church hall and provides students the opportunity to purchase special gifts for their family members. All gifts range in cost from $1 to $6 and every class and student will visit the shop during the big event! The Christmas Shopping Committee will meet on Monday, November 4 at 6:30 PM in the library to plan. Many elves are needed…please plan on attending this meeting to get in the holiday spirit!

Vocation Day – Our annual Vocation Day will take place on Tuesday, October 22 and we will be welcoming over 20 special guests! This wonderful day gathers priests, sisters, deacons, and lay ministers together to share a mass with our students, attend a casual breakfast reception, and then visit with the students in their classrooms. Mass will take place at 9:15 AM and everyone is welcome to attend it and the breakfast reception.  We are looking for food and paper product donations to make our brunch festive and delicious for our guests, so please check out the SignUp Genius at https://tinyurl.com/VocationDayBrunch2019. Thank you!

Ski Club Registration is Open!  Ski Club is open to skiers in Grades 3-6, runs for 5 weeks and will start-up on Friday, January 10th.  Please contact Tara Canaway at [email protected] if you are interested in joining and were unable to attend last week’s organizational meeting.

To register, purchase your passes on the Crotched Mountain website.  Our club registration deadline is November 15th. An awesome benefit this year:  kids get season passes valid at all 7 Peak resorts with their ski club pass!!!

• Go to https://www.crotchedmtn.com/voyager-program/
• Scroll down, click the “BUY NOW” button.
• At the VIP Login page, use the following user name and password to access St. Chris Ski Club:  User Name:  CMSTCHRSC  Password:  scscmember(case sensitive)
• Click ‘See Available Items’, then ‘Friday Youth Cards’ for the 5-week program pass.  Youth Season passes are also available.  (Lessons will be listed as an optional add-on after you select the pass.)  Follow directions for checkout.
• Important!If your child will need to ride the bus to Crotched please email [email protected]to reserve a seat.

If you have questions about which passes/options to purchase, please contact Tara.  If you have questions or issues with the website, please contact Amy Daniels at Crotched Mountain – 603.588.3668 ext 232.  Thanks!    

Upcoming NO School and Early Release Dates – Please note that we have several No School and Early Release Days coming up in October:

• THIS WEEK! THIS Friday, October 11 will be an EARLY RELEASE DAY. Students are released at 12:30 PM. There is no Hot Lunch or After Care that day.
• THIS COMING MONDAY, October 14 will be a NO SCHOOL day in recognition of Columbus Day.

Lifetouch Photos -- Picture Day is right around the corner on Wednesday, October 16th! (Reminder – students should wear regular school uniforms!)  To make Picture Day even easier, Lifetouch encourages families to order ahead online.  To do so, please click on the link provided below and you will be directed to St. Christopher School's ordering page.  Note that you will receive a free Shutterfly gift if you order your St. Chris school pictures before October 16th!  A paper flyer about portrait day went home with students today! 

Order school pictures HERE before Picture Day, Wednesday, October 16. Parents can customize packages, order for more than one child at the same time, earn coupons, and pay with credit card or Paypal.