March 17, 2021

 

NEW! Thank You! -  Thank you to the Cook family for the delicious cheesecake and strawberry topped cake for the lower campus faculty and staff…..YUM!

 

Thank you, too, to those who have already donated to the Auction or have purchased sponsorships! Your support is very, very appreciated!

 

Financial Aid Applications for 2021-2022 With the announcement of the discontinuation of the Catholic Student Supported Tuition Rate Program (see the letter emailed this week from Superintendent David Thibault HERE), we especially encourage families to apply for Financial Aid for the 2021-2022 school year NOW. This early application process allows us to plan accordingly for increased financial aid needs. To apply, parents must do the following in this order:

  1. Apply to the Children's Scholarship Fund HERE if eligible. (The eligibility rules are listed on the Children's Scholarship Fund website) The Children's Scholarship Fund is a source of financial assistance for families in need in NH. Awards are made on a first come, first served basis, so parents are encouraged to apply early.
  2. Apply to St. Christopher School Financial Aid through the Financial section (in the right blue menu)  in your Family Portal (click on the link under “Financial Links” on the right side of the window).  The level of Saint Christopher School Financial Aid is determined by FACTS. Please be aware that Saint Christopher Financial Aid will take into account any award from the Children's Scholarship Fund when awarding aid to families.

UPDATED! Summer Vacation Dates -- Now that we are reasonably sure that we are past the most difficult of the winter weather (fingers crossed!), we are able to set our schedule for the final days of school! Please note that we did have to add some days to the calendar because we missed a number of extra days during the school year due to weather and COVID complications. The schedule is:

 

June 9 

-- Final day for 8th grade students

June 10 

-- Final day for 5th and 6th grade students

-- 8th grade graduation in evening (details to come)

June 11 

-- Final day for prekindergarten and kindergarten students

-- 5th and 6th grade ceremonies (details to come)

June 15

-- Final day for grades 1-4 and grade 7. This will be an Early Release Day with grade 7 released at 11:30 and grades 1-4 released at 12:00 PM.

 

NEW! Lower Campus Tech Note - We have been experiencing intermittent internet issue this week at the lower campus. Comcast will be coming out tomorrow, March 18, to troubleshoot the issue. Remote students may not be able to connect to the school at random times during the day. Hopefully, this will take care of the problem!

NEW! Message from the Athletic Department - Due to the closure of the Upper campus, all open gym, extracurricular activities have been suspended until we return to campus. Please feel free to contact Interim Athletic Director Paul Williams with any further questions at: [email protected]

  • In light of the closure, sign-ups for tryouts for spring sports will be submitted electronically
    • 6th, 7th and 8Th grades: Baseball/Softball/Golf and Track & Field (Track is a no-cut sport)
    • Interested athletes please send an email to the athletic department at: [email protected]
      • Include student name, grade and sport that your child will be trying out for.
  • Tryouts will start the week of March 29th           
    • Specific Days and time for each tryout will be announced in the coming days
  • If there are any lingering Covid related absences during the tryout period please contact AD Williams
    • We will offer extra tryout days if a student is still in an isolation situation

NEW! Sturdy Bag Request: If parents are able, we’d LOVE to have students at the upper campus bring a large sturdy bag to transport their books back to school on March 26….and then leave the bag in their locker! Having packed up sooooo many books for our upper campus students, we’ve discovered that those big sturdy reusable bags are very handy! Thank you! 

NEW! Upper Campus Remote - The upper campus will return from its COVID remote learning on Friday, March 26.

NEW! Easter Break - Mark your calendar now for our upcoming Easter Break! There will be NO SCHOOL on both Good Friday, April 2, and Easter Monday, April 5!

NEW! April Vacation - We will also be closed from April 26 to April 30 for our annual April vacation!

NEW! Teacher of the Year - The Catholic Schools Office is looking for nominations for their Teacher and Clergy of the Year awards for 2021! For more information or to nominate one of our fabulous faculty, please visit HERE! Deadline is April 9.

NEW! CMC Heart to Hands Scholarship for grades 7 - 12:  Catholic Medical Center, in cooperation with the Diocese of Manchester Catholic Schools Office is offering its 2nd annual Heart to Hands Scholarship for students in grades 7 to 12. The scholarship is open to any student who attends a Diocesan or parish Catholic school! The one-time scholar-ship awards are: 

  • Junior high student (grades 7-8): $1,500 
  • High school student (grades 9-12): $2,500 

The application is available at https://www.catholicnh.org/schools/visitors/scholarships/ 

 

Calendar Schedule Change- The Diocese has informed us that our teachers will be attending a professional development program on the afternoon of June 4. Therefore, we will be making June 4 an Early Release Day. More details to come. 

Auction 2021!  - It’s time to start preparing for our Auction! Sadly, COVID precautions have caused us to forego our fabulous evening event at Sky Meadow again this year (2022’s date is already booked….fingers crossed!), but we are excited to be offering an alternative online auction in its place! Here’s some important information about the upcoming auction:

Bidder Registration and Item Sneak Peek open April 1 

Online Auction open for bids from May 8 to May 15

Live event streamed on May 15 from 6:00 - 6:30 PM

Online bidding ends on May 15 at 10:00 PM

Donations: Help make this online event fun, exciting, and a great success! Item donations are always needed and appreciated! Donation ideas can be found HERE. To donate, please complete the online donation form at the bottom of the page HERE, then send your donation in to school by April 1. Thank you!

Sponsors and Advertising:  Sponsors of the auction receive a variety of benefits for their support, depending on their level of sponsorship. If you or your business are interested in being a sponsorship, see the information HERE to view the possibilities!

Thank you to our Bronze sponsors…. 

Center for Physical Therapy and Excercise

Smith and Heald Funeral Home

Dave and Ellen Valade

 

Teacher Appreciation: Aren’t our teachers GREAT? They've worked so hard all year long keeping our kids safe and helping them learn and grow even under these challenging circumstances. Show them how much you appreciate their efforts by treating them to a very special catered lunch, gifts, and prizes on May 14, the day before our virtual Live event! Teacher Appreciation sponsorships are $25 each and can be purchased online HERE (scroll down toward the bottom!).

 

Thank you to Teacher Appreciation Sponsors:

Eleni Eliades, Katherine Shrieves, Luc Sirois & Faby Gagne, Kelly Ciardelli, Paul Schmitt, Erica Lilley, Lori Szydlik, Julie Phelan, Kristina Gilmer, Tracey Bradshaw, Fred Daniels & Nancy Trask, Mel & Kathy Speidel, Michaela Zebrak, Diane Gear, Barrett & Jessica Brown, Erin Mello, Corey & Jamie Gregoire, George & Jennifer Torosian, Quang & Emily Uong, and Ed & Michelle Canto

Wildcat Pride Tuition Raffle: NEW this year! For the first time ever, our online auction will include a very special raffle for a FULL Academy tuition for the 2021-2022 school year! Tickets will be $50 each and only available from the online auction when the website is live from May 8 through May 15! 

Seasonal Allergies - Our school nurses would like to remind parents that with the warm spring weather, many students may begin to experience seasonal allergy symptoms that mimic COVID symptoms. If your child suffers from spring allergies, please be sure to inform Gloria Sheehan ([email protected]) at the lower campus or Corrine Zeman ([email protected]) as soon as possible. This will help our nurses evaluate students for COVID symptoms. Thank you!

Sonia Kovalevsky Day - Girls in grades 6 through 8 are invited to participate in Sonia Kovalevsky Day, an interactive online experience featuring math activities led remotely by WPI students and featured keynote talks by women leaders in STEM. Titled “An Empowering Day for Middle School Girls Who Love Math,” the day aims to bolster girls’ passion and enthusiasm for mathematics in a support environment. Please see the flyer HERE for more information.