February 1 Hot Lunch ordering begins on Boonli.com
February 1 Faith Outreach Committee Meeting – 9:00 AM – Library
February 1 Corpus Christi Brown Bags Due
February 5 Staff Meeting – 7:30 AM – 5M
February 11 Auction Committee Meeting – 7:00 PM – Margarita’s
February 14 Red, White, and Pink Valentine’s Day Free Dress
February 15 Hot Lunch ordering ends at midnight on Boonli.com
February 18 NO SCHOOL – Presidents Day
February 19 Yearbook Group Photos
February 20 Paper Wednesday News
February 23 – March 3 NO SCHOOL – February Vacation
March 4 School Resumes
NEW! Thank You – This week we thank all those who participated in our Many Gifts: One Nation Day of Giving that ran from Tuesday to Wednesday this week! With 44 donors, our 24-hour event raised $2,730! These donations will go into our Annual Fund campaign to directly benefit ALL students at St. Chris. We appreciate your support!
NEW! Upcoming Funeral – St. Christopher Parish will be holding a funeral on Tuesday, February 5 at 10:00 PM. Please do not park in the upper parking lot by the church or in front of the church until after the funeral has ended. This allows our older funeral attendees easier access to the church entrance. Thank you!
UPDATED! Annual Fund– We are so thankful for all those who have chosen to support our students through the Annual Fund! As of today, we have raised $24,486 towards our $34,000 goal! All of these gifts, along with any made before April 1st , will be included in our Honor Roll of Donors published in our summer News and Notes publication!
Every gift to the Annual Fund is important, no matter how large or small! All gifts remain here at St. Chris and directly benefit our students. In addition to providing advanced academics, updated technology, and exciting extracurriculars, the Annual Fund assists in covering the cost of educating students that is not funded by tuition. In other words, EVERY family receives financial aid through the Annual Fund!
Please support us in our mission to provide an excellent Catholic elementary education to all students by donating today! Thank you!
Donating to the Annual Fund is easy! You may make your donation using any of the following methods:
- Return the remittance envelope included in your Annual Fund letter along with a check, cash, or credit card number.
- Send a check or cash in to school in an envelope marked “Annual Fund”.
- Call Business Manager Murrayann Abucewicz at 882-7442, ext. 113, to have your credit card charged manually.
- Or donate online through Paypal HERE.
However you choose to donate, please know that we are MOST grateful!
NEW! Morning Drop Off Reminders – The snow in the streets has made morning drop off in front of the school just a little bit more tricky! Please keep these notes in mind:
- Do not park in front of, or in, our neighbors’ driveways, even if you are just going to be there a minute. The driveways are private property and our friends need to be able to leave whenever they would like. Several neighbors have called to complain, and while they are being as patient as possible, they have mentioned calling the police.
- If you need to get out of your car to assist your child (to bring in a project, get his/her coat on, etc.), please pull around to the back of the school and pull into a parking space in the middle of the lot. Your child is welcome to enter the back door of the school with the PreK/Kdg students if he or she has a lot to carry. Stopping in the drop-off line at the front of the school creates a bottleneck for all those who are waiting behind you.
- Please pull allllll the way up to the second sidewalk when dropping off, and use the entire length of the drop-off zone (including the spots without a sidewalk). With so many parents driving to school in the morning, the line often wraps around the corner onto Manchester St. We need to use all the space in front of the school we can to keep the line moving!
- Finally, please, please, please do not pull up to drop your child off on the opposite side of the street…even if you are running late. The extra few minutes required to drive around the block and drop off on the correct side of the school is well worth the safety it provides! With the snow, the street is constricted and many views are blocked, making it extremely hazardous for our students to cross the street, Thank you!
NEW! St. Chris at the Red Sox! -- Join our Saint Christopher community for some family fun at Fenway Park! Our Parent Group has secured two blocks of tickets for the Saturday, June 8th 1:05 PM game vs. the Rays!! Tickets for St. Chris will be available in the bleachers ($40 each) or the grandstand ($68 each) and we will all be sitting together. This is not a fundraiser, just a great opportunity to get together and cheer on our World Champion Boston Red Sox! Tickets must be purchased HERE by February 20. No additional tickets will be available beyond the 20th, so reserve your seats today!
Hot Lunch Ordering – Hard to believe, but it’s almost time to order March’s Hot Lunch! As usual, ordering is open tomorrow through midnight on February 15 and no late orders can be accepted. Log into Boonli.com HERE.
Valentine’s Free Dress – How sweet our school will be on Thursday, February 14th with our annual Valentine’s Free Dress day! All students are invited to wear red, white, and pink that day! Please be sure that students follow our free dress rules!
Yearbook Group Photos – Lifetouch will be here on Tuesday, March 19 to take photos of all of our school groups (Chess Club, Ski Club, Altar Servers, etc.). Students should wear their regular school uniforms that day. Group photos will not be retaken if a student is missing that day.
February No School Dates – Mark your calendar! We will have Monday, February 18, off from school for Presidents Day and February vacation will run from February 23 through March 3!
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.
Junior Great Books - Love to read? Be sure to register for Junior Great Books! Junior Great Books is a ten week, before school “book club” for each grade level. Eager readers (students and/or parents) are welcome!! Complete the form HERE and join the fun!
_____________________________________________________________
Auction News -- Our 15th Annual St. Christopher School Auction will be here before you know it! The “St. Chris Rocks” Auction will take place on Saturday, March 23 at Sky Meadow Country Club…and we need your help! Please consider getting involved in any of the following ways:
Item Donations: Item donations are at the heart of the evening’s action! We need over 200 items to make the night a success! We are looking for both “small” items like restaurant gift cards or popular electronics for our Silent Auction, and “large” items like vacation rentals or concert/sports tickets for our Live Auction. Looking for some ideas? Check out this list HERE!
Donations this week include:
Hot Lunch for the ENTIRE 2019-2020 school year!
Patriots Fan Basket
Avengers Basket
Beautiful jewelry
Personal training at Effective Fitness
And more! Check out the list HERE!
Business Participation: We love to have local and national businesses participate in the Auction through item donations, program advertisements, and sponsorships! This is a great opportunity for businesses to reach over 200 potential patrons! Chat with your boss, ask your barber, talk with your dry cleaner, reach out to your dog groomer….almost any local business is happy to participate! If you need an Auction information packet to pass along to a local business, you can download the Auction packet on the school website HERE or contact Marta at [email protected] for a printed copy. Thank you!
Businesses can get involved through:
Item Donations –Businesses are welcome to send along business cards, brochures, or other information for display with any item they may donate.
Sponsorships -- Sponsorships run from $250 to $5,000 and include many perks, like Auction tickets and at-event promotions.
Thank you to these current sponsors:
St. Joseph Hospital – Bronze Sponsor
Catholic Medical Center – Copper Sponsor
Center for Physical Therapy and Exercise – Copper Sponsor
Advertising -- Program advertising runs from $50 to $250. Every Auction attendee receives a program for the evening. Because the program describes EVERY Live Auction item in detail, these are guaranteed to be read by everyone!
Thank you to our current advertisers:
Platinum Tan
Forcier Contracting and Building Services
Kalil and Kress Dentistry
PAL Force Football and Cheerleading
Auction Committee Meetings: Our Auction planning is in high gear! Many hands make light work…please consider joining us at our next Auction Committee meeting on February 11 at 7:00 PM at Margarita’s!
Ticket Purchases: Our invitations go out NEXT week, but you can get a jump on things and purchase your tickets now! When purchasing your ticket, you can choose you meal and indicate anyone who you’d like to sit with! Click HERE to purchase your ticket online. Tables of 10 or 12 can be also reserved ahead of time by sending a list of attendees to Marta at [email protected] or Ellen Valade at [email protected].
_____________________________________________________________
Financial Aid Applications for 2019-2020 – As always, our goal is to make a St. Christopher education affordable for any family! To that end, applications for Financial Aid for the 2019-2020 school year are open and will run through March 15 and all families in need are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. All oldest and only students were sent home with a packet of information regarding the Financial Aid process today. The packet can also be accessed HERE. Please read the information carefully. All families interested in financial aid MUST follow the packet instructions or aid will not be given. If you have any questions, please contact either Mrs. Clarke at [email protected] or Business Manager Murrayann Abucewicz at [email protected].
Diocesan Excellence in Education Awards: The successes of our Catholic schools and their students would not be possible without the selfless support of committed educators, administrators, clergy, and lay partners in the community. This year, the Diocese of Manchester is holding its second annual Recognizing Excellence Awards Gala at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord on Thursday, June 20, 2019. All are invited to attend this exciting event to officially honor the School Leader of the Year, Clergy Member of the Year, Community Partner of the Year and most especially our Teacher of the Year.
Nominations from the St. Christopher community are now being accepted. To nominate someone you think deserves to receive this special recognition for this year, please read the award descriptions HERE.
The deadline for nominations is March 1, 2019. If you have any questions, please feel free to call the Catholic Schools Office at (603) 663-0140.
NEW! Youth Ministry News:
Junior Group News – Teen/Junior Group is hosting a video game night this Friday! Bring an HDMI-compatible console and/or a multiplayer game to share. (The game must be able to work without use of the internet.) All 6th-12th graders are welcome. See you in the church hall on Friday, February 1st from 7:00 – 9:00 pm.
Kid Group News – How can you better take care of nature? That’s what we’ll be talking about this week at Kid Group. See you in the Pennell Center on Feb. 2 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. All 3rd-5th graders are welcome to join us.
Fleece Blanket Update – They’re ready to be distributed! Anyone who helped make a blanket is welcome to come help drop them off. We’ll meet at the Pennell Center at 6:15 pm on Thursday, February 7th and drive to the Front Door Agency together. Please let Emily know if you’re able to come.
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, January 31
Lisa Campbell
Nadra Bell
Susette Parks
Friday, February 1
Gina Samarel
Karen Hutchins
Heather Reardon
Jaclyn Leonardi
Monday, February 4
Lorraine Barry
Lisa O’Connor
Rochelle Roberts
Stacey Marino
Tuesday, February 5
Karla Chamoun
Staci Felder
Annette Cameron
Wednesday, February 6
Sasha Shaplyko
Alicia Maffei
Annie Wong
Erin Sarette