December 6 Penitential Service – 9:15 AM – Grades 3-6
December 7 Christmas Tree Lighting Festival – 5:30 PM – Church Hall
December 7 Parish Vigil Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception – 7:00 PM
December 8 Parish Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception – 8:00 AM
December 10 Cookies Due for Parish Appreciation Project – 9:00 AM – Lobby
December 10 STEM Committee Meeting – 6:30 PM – Library
December 11 PreK to Grade 2 Christmas Concert – 10:00 AM – Doors open at 9:30 – Church
December 12 Barnes and Noble Night – 6:00-7:30 PM – Barnes and Noble, South Nashua
December 13 Monthly Mass – 9:15 AM – 6E preparing
December 14 Christmas Cafeteria Day!
December 14 NO After Care – Staff Christmas Party
December 18 Grades 3 to 6 Christmas Concert – 10:00 AM – Doors open at 9:30 – Church
December 19 Paper Wednesday News
December 20 Christmas Free Dress
December 20 Christmas Prayer Service – 9:15 AM – 2nd grade preparing
December 20 EARLY RELEASE – 12:30 PM – NO HOT LUNCH OR AFTER CARE
December 21-January 1 NO SCHOOL – Christmas Vacation
January 2 School Resumes
NEW! Thank You – Wow! What a week it’s been since our last Wednesday News! Many, many thanks to share:
NEW! Progress Reports Postponed – Due to our crazy busy schedule over the past couple of weeks, we have decided to postpone Progress Reports from this Friday to next Friday, December 14. This will allow our teachers to give parents a more accurate assessment of student achievement.
NEXT WEEK! More Help Needed! Parish Appreciation Christmas Cookies – ‘Tis the season of giving! Please help us share our Christmas joy with the pastors and parish staffs of our Deanery! We still need a few bakers to make Christmas goodies and deliver them to the front desk on Monday, December 10 at 9:00 AM. We will use everyone's delicious treats to create giving plates of cookies and candies for delivery to each of the 11 parishes in our Deanery in appreciation of their support of Catholic schools. Please sign up using the SignUp Genius HERE and thank you for your contribution to this wonderful project!
NEW! Morning Arrival – Please make every effort to have your student/s to school by the time the morning late bell rings at 8:50 AM! Getting to school late is a difficult and often frustrating way for a child to start the day and is quite disruptive to others in the classroom. Students who are on time are more prepared to face the day and are often more successful! Thank you for your attention to this important matter!
3D Design Club at St Chris! Is your child interested in 3D printing? Using 3D design software, the students will learn how to create a design that can be transformed into a 3-dimensional object, and then printed on the school's Makerbot printer. No experience is necessary, and the club is open to 4th - 6th graders. The club will meet in the computer lab, beginning on Friday January 11th at 7:45 AM. The club will meet every other Friday, for 5 Fridays. Parents - interested in helping out Club Coordinator Tom McCarthy? You don't need to be experienced with the software in order to lend a hand! Sign up’s for both students and adult helpers can be found HERE.
NEW! Ski Club Welcome Email – Did you sign up for Ski Club? Did you receive the Welcome email yesterday? If not, please email coordinator Tara Canaway at [email protected] so she can get you up to speed and ready for the slopes!
NEW! Annual Fund– The second of our three annual fundraisers, the Annual Fund, is underway! Each family should recently have received an Annual Fund letter asking for your support of this effort. All gifts to the Annual Fund stay here at St. Chris and go directly to benefit our students through advanced academics, updated technology and facilities, and exciting extracurricular activities. In addition, because the cost of educating our students exceeds our tuition, EVERY St. Christopher School student receives financial aid supported by our fundraising efforts. Please support us in our mission to provide an excellent Catholic elementary education to all students by donating to the Annual Fund! All donations, no matter the size, are most appreciated!
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! Auction Website is UP! – It’s never too early to start thinking about our 15th Annual St. Christopher School Auction! This fun adult evening out is the event of the year and our biggest fundraiser! This year’s Auction will have a retro 80’s theme and will take place on Saturday, March 23 at Sky Meadow Country Club. The event’s website is now up and running, and offers lots of information about the event, suggestions for donations, opportunities for sponsorship and advertising, and, of course, ticket sales! Check it out HERE!
NEXT WEEK! NO After Care on December 14 – 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! Monthly Mass for December – 6E is preparing our monthly mass for December, scheduled for December 13 at 9:15 AM. Please join us!
NEW! STEM Committee Meeting – Our STEM Committee will meet next Monday, December 10, at 6:30 PM in the school. All are welcome!
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the year….Mark Your Christmas Calendar! – Be sure to add the following events to your calendar:
TOMORROW! Penitential Service – Students in grades 3-6 will attend a Penitential Service TOMORROW, Thursday, December 6 at 9:15 AM. Students who have already completed their First Reconciliation will be invited participate in the sacrament of reconciliation as individuals with Fr. David and other priests.
NEW! Parish Reconciliation – St. Christopher Parish is also offering a number of opportunities for the sacrament of Reconciliation during December and school families are welcome to participate:
Every Tuesday during Advent during Eucharistic Adoration~ 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 22nd~ 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Monday-Thursday ~ 7:45 a.m. following daily Mass and Saturdays ~ 3:00-3:30 p.m.
THIS WEEK! 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! Please note: After Care will be held in 1st grade on Friday to allow our Tree Lighting elves to set up in the Church Hall!
THIS WEEK! Immaculate Conception Vigil Mass – Immediately following the Christmas Tree Lighting, St. Christopher Parish invites all families to attend the Vigil mass for the Immaculate Conception at 7:00 PM. Immaculate Conception is a holy day of obligation for Catholics and celebrates the belief that Jesus’ mother Mary was conceived without original sin. The parish will also hold a mass for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Saturday, December 8 at 8:00 AM.
UPDATED! Christmas Concerts –Here’s another festive way to get into the holiday spirit! Our students are busy preparing two wonderful daytime Christmas concerts. Both concerts take place at 10:00 AM in the church, with doors opening at 9:30 AM. Please note: The concerts will each last approximately one hour! Students should dress UP in their Christmas best for the day of their concert! The schedule is:
- Christmas Concert for grades PreK-2 – December 11 (See informational flyer HERE)
- Christmas Concert for grades 3-6 – December 18 (See informational flyer HERE)
UPDATED! Barnes and Noble Night – Plans are underway for our annual Barnes and Noble night on December 12 from 6:00-7:30 PM! This amazing evening features performances by many of our student groups, a raffle for a Barnes and Noble gift card, free dress certificates for all students who attend, and more! A percentage of every purchase made that evening benefits the library. Barnes and Noble Night is the perfect time for Christmas shopping fun, so mark your calendar now! Please note: A flyer with the evening’s schedule will be sent home next Monday!
Christmas Cafeteria Day – Oh what fun! Our next Cafeteria Day will be Friday, December 14! All students will eat lunch in the Church Hall according to their regular lunch schedule.
Christmas Free Dress – Students will get into the holiday mood by wearing their favorite red, green and white on December 20! Santa hats, jingle bells, flashing necklaces, and other Christmas accessories are welcome and encouraged!
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 Hot Lunch or After Care.
Christmas Vacation – Enjoy this most blessed season with family and friends from December 21 through January 1. We will resume school on January 2, 2019!
AmazonSmile for Christmas – Who has started their Christmas shopping? 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! 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.
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!
Hollis Town Band and Christmas Chorus Annual "Christmas, Chanukah, Winter, Kwanzaa, New Year's, Whatever You Want To Call It Concert" -- Saturday, December 8th, 7:00PM, Hollis Brookline High School Auditorium -- The Hollis Town Band and Christmas Chorus under the direction of Mr. Bailey presents its annual Holiday Concert. 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.
NEW! St. Christopher Parish Youth Ministry:
Movie Night at Junior Group – We’re having a movie night this week at Junior Group! We’ll be watching and discussing Ready Player One. To account for the movie’s run time, we’ll be meeting from 5-8pm instead of 6-8pm. Pizza and popcorn provided! See you in the Pennell Center on Sunday, Dec. 9.
Kid Group News – To get in the Christmas spirit, we’ll be making Christmas cards this week at Kid Group for some lonely people in the Nashua area. We’ll also be watching a short surprise Christmas movie! See you in the Pennell Center from 5-7pm on Saturday, Dec. 8.
For any questions, email Emily Murphy at [email protected].
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, December 6
Lisa Campbell
Mary Schreiner
Nadra Bell
Friday, December 7
Jane Gill
Stacy Cardinale
Liza Tirado Calzada
Karla Hall
Monday, December 10
George Torosian
Marilyn Hogan
Carol Cyran
Theresa Yasevich
Tuesday, December 11
Emily Uong
Heather McCorry
Kathleen Kenosian
Theresa Scanlan
Wednesday, December 12
Beth Dargin
Ginny Dargin
Jessica MacDonald