November 1 “Winter” Uniform Dress Code Begins
November 1 All Saints Day Mass – 9:15 AM – 4T preparing
November 5-9 NH Catholic Schools Week (see schedule for daily events)
November 5 STEM Committee Meeting – 6:30 PM – Library
November 6 Staff Meeting – 7:45 AM – 5M
November 7 Drop-In Open House for Prospective Students – All Grades – 9:30 – 11:00 AM
November 9 Early Childhood Open House for Prospective Students – Grades PreK to 1 -9:30 AM
November 12 NO SCHOOL – Veteran’s Day
November 13 School Board Meeting – 8:00 AM -- Library
November 14 Christmas Pricing Night – 6:30 PM – Church Hall
November 15 Parent Teacher Conferences – 4:00 – 8:00 PM
November 16 Faith Outreach Committee Meeting – 9:00 AM – Library
November 20 Crazy Sock Day!
November 20 Thanksgiving Prayer Service – 9:00 AM – 4D preparing
November 21-25 NO SCHOOL – Thanksgiving Vacation
November 26-30 Drama Club Tech Week
November 27 Teacher Soup Lunch – Parent Group preparing
November 27 Christmas Shopping Set-up – 5:30 PM – Church Hall
November 28-30 Christmas Shopping – All Day – Church Hall
November 30 Drama Club Production of Peter Pan – 7:00 PM – Nashua Catholic
NEW! Thank You – Thank you to our Friday Hot Lunch volunteers over the past two weeks for their flexibility and good nature! Due to the PreK and Kdg parent lunches, we moved Hot Lunch service to the lobby. Our volunteers went with the flow and did a super job….thank you!
THIS WEEK! Upcoming Open Houses – Spread the word! We will be holding TWO Open Houses for prospective families in the next few weeks! As part of the NH Catholic Schools Week, we will have a drop-in Open House for all grades on Wednesday, November 7 from 9:30 – 11:00 AM. On Friday, November 9, we will hold our annual Early Childhood Education Open House for families interested in grades PreK through 1 at 9:30 AM.
Please note: Experience tells us that word of mouth is the most effective recruiting tool we have…thank you to all those who have talked to friends and family about the advantages of a St. Chris education! Please continue to get the word out! Thank you!
THIS WEEK! It’s No TRICK, Donate Your TREATS! Create a win-win-win situation by donating your unwanted Halloween candy at the front desk on Nov 1st and 2nd. Thanks to Girl Scout troop 10203, your children will eat less candy, soldiers overseas will get a treat from back home, and money raised will be donated to Days for Girls to help empower and educate girls around the world. (Visit www.daysforgirls.org to see the amazing impact of this organization!) Turn your goodies into good deeds and bring your unwanted candy to fill the buckets at the front desk!
THIS WEEK! “Winter” Uniform Dress Code – This Thursday, November 1st, begins our “Winter” Dress code! Please remember:
- Boys must wear pants from November 1 until April 1. Shorts are not allowed.
- Students may wear gym shorts under their gym sweatpants. However, they must have sweatpants on when they are not in gym class. Students may also choose to wear their sweatpants alone.
- Both boys’ and girls’ socks must be plain navy, black or white. Girls’ tights must also be plain navy, black or white.
- Only St. Chris uniform sweatshirts and sweaters are allowed in the classrooms. Students may wear other sweatshirts out on the playground for recess, but those must be removed once students return to the classroom.
- Once boot season arrives, students may wear boots into the school and out to recess. However, regular shoes must be worn in the classroom. Teachers will give students time to change from their boots to shoes and vice versa. Please be sure to pack a pair of shoes if your child wears boots to school.
NEW! NH Catholic Schools Week – St. Chris will be joining other Diocesan Catholic schools in NH next week for a very special week focus on the blessings and advantages that Catholic schools offer our students! For NH Catholic Schools Week, running from November 5th through November 9th, our daily schedule will include a theme and associated activities…see the schedule in this week’s paper News! The Diocese of Manchester will also be running a number of marketing campaigns in local media highlighting our terrific schools….be on the lookout!
NEW! National Catholic Schools Week – Those who are veteran parents will probably remember that we usually celebrate Catholic Schools Week during the last week in January with the rest of the country. Fear not! We will still be scheduling a fun “Spirit Week” from January 38-February 1st, will lots of awesome activities like Pajama Day and Buddy movie day! Schedule to come in January!
NEW! Ice Cream Sundae Help Needed! As part of our celebration of NH Catholic Schools Week, our Hot Lunch program and Parent Group will be providing ice cream sundaes for all students on Wednesday, November 7…how exciting! To make this happen, we need some additional helpers beyond our regularly scheduled Hot Lunch crew. The commitment would be from approximately 11:15 to 1:00 PM and would include set-up, serving, and clean-up. If you can help out, we’d love your help! Please email Melissa Sprague at [email protected] to volunteer!
Birthday Book Program - If you are interested in a purchasing a book for our school library to commemorate your student's birthday, please contact Mrs. Noon. Feel free to send in an email or a note. I will help them hand pick a library quality birthday book that suits their interests. Books typically range in price between $10 - $15. It doesn't matter if their birthday passed…all birthdays are worth celebrating! Thank you for helping our library grow!
Winter School Delays and Cancellations – In the case of inclement weather, school cancellations or delays will be posted on the website, on our Facebook page, on radio station WZID 95.7 FM and also on TV channel 9 (WMUR). Parents will also receive text messages on their cell phones, voice messages on home phones, and emails through our Notify system.
Please note that our Notify system is not foolproof….power and internet outages may interfere with delivery of the text messages, robocalls, and voice messages. We will post the information on the school website and Facebook, as well as contacting WMUR, as soon as we are able. Please also know that we do not post school delays or closings until we receive confirmation from the appropriate administrator in the Nashua public schools, which may delay notification in some cases. Thank you for your understanding!
St. Christopher School follows the Nashua Public School System for all cancellations and delayed openings. Therefore, delayed openings are 2 hours. When there is a delayed opening, there is no school for the AM Pre-K. Before Care will take place starting at 9:00 AM and morning enrichment activities will begin 2 hours later than normally scheduled. Please note that there will be NO Band or Fiddle Squad on delayed openings. Doors are open for regular drop-off at 10:30 AM and school starts at 10:50 AM for all grades Full Day Kindergarten through 6.
NEW! Current Family Registration for 2018-2019 School Year – Believe it or not, it is time to begin the registration process for the NEXT school year! Our in-house registration for students currently in grades Pre-K to 1 takes place during the month of November. Students currently in grades 2-5 will register in January.
We will be doing the registration process online again this year. On Thursday, November 1, families with children currently in grades Pre-K to grade 1 will receive an email with a link to the registration form. (Due to volume constraints on our system’s email system, the link will be sent to whoever is listed on the student online registration as the “primary” contact. If you would like the email to go to someone else, please contact Marta at [email protected]. The online registration form must be completed and submitted for these students by November 30, along with a $160 registration fee to be paid online at the time of registration. Please know that because we are also enrolling new students at this time, current students whose registrations are returned after that date will not be guaranteed a seat for next year.
Note: New students from current families -- Current families who would like to enroll a child who is not currently a student at St. Chris are also welcome to complete an admission. The admission form can be found on the school website by clicking on the “Apply Now” button in the middle of the website.
NEW! NO After Care on December 14 – Christmas may seem a looooong ways away, but we’re looking ahead to December already! Please note in your calendar that there will be NO After Care on Friday, December 14 so that the staff and faculty can attend their annual Christmas dinner. Thanks!
NEW! Parent Teacher Conferences – Just a reminder that Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Thursday, November 15 from 4:00-8:00 PM. You should have made an appointment on Meet the Teacher night. If not, please contact your child’s teacher ASAP to schedule an appointment. At least one parent/guardian must meet with each child’s teacher at this time in the school year!
NEW! November No School Dates – Don’t forget that there will be NO SCHOOL on Monday, November 12 in observance of Veterans Day. In addition, our Thanksgiving vacation will run from Wednesday, November 21 through Sunday, November 25.
NEW! Hot Lunch Ordering – Boonli.com will be open for December’s Hot Lunch ordering from November 1-15. Please be sure to order as soon as possible, just in case of technical difficulty! As usual, we cannot accept orders past midnight on the 15th.
NEW! Drama Club Production of Peter Pan, Jr. – Our Drama Club is hard at work preparing the wonderful musical Peter Pan, Jr., which will be performed on Friday, November 30 at 7:00 PM at Nashua Catholic Jr. High School! A ticket order form is included in this week’s paper News!
NEW! Crazy Sock Day and Thanksgiving Prayer Service – November 20 will be a busy day around school! Students can wear their craziest socks with their uniforms on the 20th, plus we will have our Thanksgiving Prayer Service (prepared by 4D) at 11:30 AM. Please note: Although it’s during the winter uniform schedule, boys MAY wear shorts on November 20 IF they are wearing crazy socks!
NEW! Mark Your Christmas Calendar – We are quickly coming up on the busy holiday months, so we thought everyone might appreciate a heads-up on our upcoming Christmas events:
Christmas Shopping for Kids – This event is ALWAYS one of the students’ favorite events of the year! It will take place on November 28 through the 30th in the Church Hall. Each class will visit the “store” and shop for gifts for family and friends! Each item is $6 or under and will be wrapped before the kids leave the event. Many, many volunteer elves will be needed! More information will be distributed on November 14
HO-HO-HO! Christmas Shopping Pricing Night -- Calling all elves! On Wednesday, November 14 at 6:30 PM, we need helpers to sort and price our Christmas Shopping goodies in the Church Hall! We have boxes and boxes and boxes of great items for the shopping event, but we need to organize ourselves so that set-up the night before the event is speedy and efficient! Please send a quick email to Marta at [email protected] if you are able to help out!
Christmas Tree Lighting – Join us for our 5th Annual Christmas Tree Lighting on December 7! This year’s festivities will once again include “pre-lighting” fun and festivities in the Church Hall starting at 5:30 PM! Coordinated by the Parent Group, this wonderful event is a great way to celebrate the holidays with your St. Chris family!
Christmas Concerts –Here’s another festive way to get into the holiday spirit! Our students are busy preparing two wonderful daytime Christmas concerts. The schedule is:
- Christmas Concert for grades PreK-2 – December 11 at 10:00 AM in the Church
- Christmas Concert for grades 3-6 – December 18 at 10:00 AM in the Church
Christmas Prayer Service – Celebrate the real reason for the season – the birth of baby Jesus! December 20 at 9:15 AM in the Church. 2nd grade will be preparing the service.
Christmas Early Release – December 20 at 12:30 PM, with no After Care.
NEW! Lifetouch Portrait Retakes – If your child was absent on the original portrait date, or you just don’t like the portrait taken of your student, Lifetouch will be here for retakes on Wednesday, December 5. Students should wear regular uniforms.
NEW! AmazonSmile for Christmas – Who is thinking ahead to Christmas shopping already? If you are like most parents, at least one of the gifts you purchase this holiday season will arrive in an Amazon box….so don’t forget to use the school’s AmazonSmile program! Through November 5, Amazon will donate 5% of your purchase price back to the school rather than their usual .5%! AmazonSmile doesn’t cost you a penny extra, but St. Chris receives money from each purchase. The shopping interface is identical to the regular Amazon (with the exception of the AmazonSmile logo!) and the selection is exactly the same also. To start supporting St. Chris through AmazonSmile, visit https://tinyurl.com/stchrisamazon.
NEW! And SCRIP for Christmas, too! – Did you know that you can purchase gift cards to most popular retailers and restaurants quickly and easily online through the Shop with Scrip Program…AND benefit St. Chris at the same time? Visit www.shopwithscrip.com create an account using our school code 751C7D6L13155, order gift cards from a long list of retailers and restaurants and the gift cards will be shipped directly to the school. You’ll usually receive your gift cards in under a week, and the school receives anywhere from 1.25% to 14% of your gift card purchase! Christmas is a perfect time to give the program a try, with gift card options like Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks, Target, Toys R Us, and Barnes and Noble!
UPDATED! St. Christopher Youth Ministry News:
Junior Group News - We got started talking about Heaven last week, so this week we’ll dive deeper into the mystery that awaits us after death. Don’t forget to bring your $5 if you want to attend the “Greater Than You Know” adoration event on November 9th. See you in the Pennell Center on Sunday, November 4th from 6:00 – 8:00 PM!
Kid Group News – We’ll be playing the Starburst game again at Kid Group this week, this time with questions about movies and religious life. We’ll also be preparing for helping out with the Veterans’ Day dinner on November 10th. See you in the Pennell Center on Saturday, November 3rd from 5:00 – 7:00 PM!
NEW! Hollis Town Band and Christmas Chorus Annual "Christmas, Chanukah, Winter, Kwanzaa, New Year's, Whatever You Want To Call It Concert" -- On Saturday, December 8th, at 7:00 PM, the Hollis Town Band and Christmas Chorus, under the direction of Mr. Bailey, presents its annual Holiday Concert at Hollis Brookline High School Auditorium. The only admission fee is to bring packages of non-perishable food items (not in glass containers). The concert is presented in conjunction with the Women's Fellowship of the Hollis Congregational Church, which sells desserts during the concert and accepts cash donations. Following the concert, the Women's Fellowship uses the money raised at the concert to purchase perishable items to put together with the donated non-perishable items in food baskets to distribute to area families in need during the Holiday Season. The band underwrites all the expenses of the concert from its annual operating budget so that all the money raised at the concert goes directly to purchasing the perishable items. The concert includes a narrated musical version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" along with many other seasonal favorites and concludes with a performance of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" from "Messiah" for which audience members are invited to join the chorus, and ends with a audience sing-along of familiar Christmas Carols. A great concert for families and a great way to really get into the Christmas spirit.
Hot Lunch Schedules – Thank you to everyone who stepped up to volunteer for the Hot Lunch program! Your help is MUCH appreciated. Volunteers for the next week are below:
Thursday, November 1
Lisa Campbell
Mary Schreiner
Nadra Bell
Friday, November 2
Jane Gill
Stacy Cardinale
Liza Tirado Calzada
Karla Hall
Monday, November 5
George Torosian
Marilyn Hogan
Carol Cyran
Theresa Yasevich
Tuesday, November 6
Emily Uong
Heather McCorry
Kathleen Kenosian
Theresa Scanlan
Wednesday, November 7
Beth Dargin
Ginny Dargin
Jessica MacDonald