NEW! Thank you! - Thank you, thank you, thank you to all those who made last Saturday night’s Father Daughter Dance such a special evening! Many, many hands made light work! Special thanks to the Parent Group for coordinating the event, to those who came out on Saturday afternoon to tarp and decorate the gym, to everyone who donated a baked good or snack, to our staff chaperones, and to our clean-up crew!
NEW! Upper Campus Honor Roll - Congratulations to our upper campus scholars who achieved Honor Roll for the 1st quarter! Please view the list of students HERE!
NEW! Re-enrollment Reminder - Don’t forget to re-enroll your student/s for the 2024-2025 school year! All students must be enrolled by January 15 in order to guarantee a seat for the next school year. The enrollment packet can be found in the Family Portal of the “primary” parent under Enrollment/Reenrollment. Thank you for your prompt attention to this!
NEXT WEEK! O’Connor Portraits Absentee / Retake Day – School portraits went home last week! If you did not receive your student’s portraits, please contact O’Connor Studios at 978-640-6250.
Absentee / Retake Day at both campuses is on Wednesday, November 29.
- Students who were ABSENT on Picture Day, October 4 will have their photo taken for the yearbook. If you are placing an order, these students should bring their original order form to the photographer (which is preprinted with the student’s name and ID number). If you misplaced the original order form and would like a replacement, please contact Carol Fiore at [email protected] and we will send a blank order form home. You can also place an order by calling O’Connor Studios at 978-640-6250.
- Students who already purchased photos and want a RETAKE may have their photo taken again.
Simply fill out the “Retake Form” printed on the back side of the portrait envelope that contains your student’s portrait package. (You do not need a new form.) *Note, you must send the entire portrait package back to school with your student on Retake Day.
- Students who are NEW to Saint Chris since October 4 will have their photo taken for the yearbook. We will send an order form home with your student before Thanksgiving. If you are placing an order, please send the completed order form to school on Retake Day. You can also place an order by calling O’Connor Studios at 978-640-6250.
Students should be in full uniform. For the upper campus, students should wear the oxford shirt (with tie for boys), and may wear the quarter zip sweater.
If you have any questions, please contact Carol Fiore at [email protected].
NEW! Lower Campus School Store - Our lower campus school store is back in business! Starting the week after Thanksgiving, the store will be open every Tuesday for grades PrK to 1st from 8:30 - 8:45 and every Thursday for grades 3-5 from 8:30-8:45. The store sells a variety of school supply items like pencils/pens/erasers, along with school spirit items, rosaries, and more! Please send your little shoppers in with cash for the store as no checks or charges will be accepted.
Deadline Next Week! Ski Club - Registration for this year’s Ski Club is now underway! Parents were sent an email from Mrs. Joyce last week detailing the Ski Club and the same information can be found on the school website HERE. IMPORTANT: All students must be registered for Ski Club using the form HERE by December 1st!
Ticket sales for Crotched Mountain are now open. Instructions for ordering are HERE. All Ski Club participants (except those with EPIC passes) must purchase their Ski passes through the online system in addition to registering with Saint Chris through the link above.
Christmas Show - December will be here before we know it…and so will our Christmas Show! Mark your calendar for December 13 at 6:30 PM in the upper campus gym! This year’s show will feature student singers from grades PreK to 5, as well as the lower campus chorus and Performance Choir and the upper campus band and chorus. Mr. Quigley will send additional information in the near future!
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! Bake your favorite Christmas goodies (or bring your favorite Christmas candy!) and deliver them to the front desk on either campus on Monday, December 4th by 9:00 AM. We will use everyone's delicious treats to create giving plates of cookies and candies for delivery to each of the 12 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!
Parish Christmas Cookies Delivery - We also need parent volunteers to deliver the cookie plates to the parishes on the morning of Tuesday, December 5! Please see the SignUp Genius HERE!
Pajama Drive to benefit The Pass Along Project – We are happy to be participating in a Pajama Drive for The Pass Along Project again this year. The Pass Along Project collects and distributes clothing bundles to children who enter the foster system. We will be collecting pajamas for these children who often arrive at a foster home with nothing. Please click HERE for specific instructions! Families on both campuses are urged to participate until December 15!
Christmas Free Dress - Our classrooms will be fun and festive over the last two days of school with TWO Christmas free dress days! On Tuesday, December 19, all students on both campuses are welcome to wear their favorite red, green, and white free dress. On Wednesday, December 20, all students should wear their favorite school-appropriate pajamas for a special Polar Express day! For both days, all students should keep in mind our free dress guidelines outlined in the parent-student handbook!
December and January Calendar Notes -- Looking ahead to December and January, we have a few schedule notes for your calendar:
- Our last day of school before Christmas vacation will be Wednesday, December 20.
- Our first day back to school after Christmas vacation will be Wednesday, January 3.
- There will by NO After Care on Thursday, January 4 so teachers can enjoy their Christmas party!
- We will have NO school on Monday, January 15 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr Day.
Christmas Tree Lighting and Blessing of the Bambellini: Gather the whole family for our Christmas Tree Lighting on Friday, December 1 at 6:00 PM in front of the lower campus building! This event is a beautiful tradition in the Saint Chris community and includes the blessing and lighting of our school Christmas tree, the story of the promise of the Messiah and the birth of Jesus told in short bible readings, and the singing of traditional Christmas carols. Families are also invited to bring their bambellini…the baby Jesus from their home nativity…for a special blessing….just like at the Vatican! All are invited!
Lower Campus Library News - Mrs. Noon has lots of great information to share!
Birthday Books - It's Birthday Book time! Lower campus students have brought home a flyer with information on the birthday book program. Students whose birthdays are after January will receive their flyer in January. It is a great way to commemorate your child's birthday, and the book they choose will be shared with others for many years to come! Books typically cost between $14-$17 and are library bound. If you have more than one student, please consider ordering books for all of them at once. Feel free to have your student order a book anytime. You can find more information HERE. If you have any questions please email Mrs. Noon at [email protected].
Destiny Online Catalog - Students in Grades 2-5 have all been assigned a password and username to fully utilize the online catalog. Students will receive a label with their username and password and it will be adhered to the inside of their planner for your convenience. Upon logging in, students can check to see which books they have checked out, they can put books on hold, and browse the books that we have in the library right from the comfort of their home! You may access our online catalog 24/7. Please visit Mrs. Noon's class page to access the online catalog as well as under the Student Life tab on the lower campus home page.
Self Check in and Self Check out - Independent check in and check out in the library for students in Grades 1-5 has begun. Students are now checking in and checking out their own library books. Students love being part of the library process, and it also fosters their independence in the library.
Thank you.....Many thanks to Sarah Daugherty, Stephanie Ellison, Lauren Saltalamacchia, Kirsten Snyder and Julie Vincent, for their help in the library with genrefying the fiction section and adding sub locations to Destiny so that students can easily locate fiction books, as well as scanning each book in the library for inventory. Thank you for all of your help!
Happy Reading!
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NEW! Auction Sponsor! We are thrilled to announce two more Auction sponsors this week!
Presenting Sponsor
Gold Sponsor
Bronze Sponsor
Kevin Brown '99 - the Knights of Columbus Insurance __________________________________________
Lower Campus Chess, Checkers and Cribbage Club - We are thrilled to announce that our lower campus Chess, Checkers, and Cribbage Club is back thanks to parent volunteer Tom Nardone! This program offers a safe, low stress environment for children to learn and enjoy the games, while engaging in a social activity that is fun for all. Children play with classmates and learn at their own pace. The club meets on Monday morning at 7:30 AM. Students should enter through the Before Care entrance and check in with the teacher on duty before proceeding to Mrs. Hickey’s class for the club.
Additional parent helpers are MUCH appreciated and welcome! (Note: All volunteers must have completed the Diocesan Safe Haven training prior to volunteering.) While some knowledge of chess, checkers, and especially cribbage would be helpful, it isn’t necessary!
Hot Lunch Volunteers - Thank you to our fabulous Hot Lunch volunteers! The schedule for the next week is:
Thursday, November 24
LC: NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break
UC: NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break
Friday, November 25
LC: NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break
UC: NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break
Monday, November 27
LC: Renee Gabree, Stephanie Ellison, Diane London, Corrina Wang
UC: Elizabeth Cyran, Nadra Bell
Tuesday, November 28
LC: John Lynch, Tina Bruno, Haddy Marte, Emily Rodriguez
UC: Emily Uong, Diana Morel
Wednesday, November 29
LC: Greidy Medrano, Erik Smith, Jennifer Villada, Liz Guilmette
UC: Rocio Spencer, Becky Kosterman
Popcorn Poppers: Our popcorn poppers for this week are:
LC: Thanksgiving Break
UC: Thanksgiving Break
Upcoming School Masses - All parents are invited to attend our weekly school masses! Parents must enter through the front door of each campus facility, sign in, and receive a nametag to attend. All masses are at 9:45 AM on both campuses unless otherwise noted. The schedule for the next month is:
November 30 - Upper campus Mass
December 8 - Immaculate Conception (Holy Day of Obligation) - both campuses
December 13 - Lower campus Mass
December 18 - Lower campus prayer service
December 18 - Upper campus Mass
SCRIP for Christmas! – 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? Click HERE, select “Join a Program,” and create an account using our school code 751C7D6L13155. Gift cards are available from a long list of retailers and restaurants and all 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, and Barnes and Noble! SCRIP also has an app for your phone that makes ordering and managing gift cards soooo easy! Check out RaiseRight by ShopWithScrip!
COMMUNITY NEWS
THIS WEEK! Thanksgiving Mass at St. Chris Parish - St. Christopher Parish will hold a Thanksgiving mass on Thursday, November 23 at 8:30 AM. What a wonderful opportunity to give thanks to the Lord for all of his gifts this year!
NEW! Confirmation Prep at Immaculate Conception Parish - If your child is baptized, has received First Reconciliation, is in (at least) Grade 3, and has been enrolled in his/her 2nd year of Faith Formation (or attending Catholic School), he/she is eligible to receive Confirmation/First Eucharist in the Spring of 2024 at Immaculate Conception Parish in Nashua. Registration deadline is January 1, 2024. To register, please go to www.iccnashuanh.org.
Camps Fatima and Bernadette Registration – It’s time! Registration for the 2024 season at Camp Bernadette and Camp Fatima is underway! Early registration secures your camper’s spot and allows you to set up a payment plan. NH Catholic school students are eligible for a 15% discount. If you have any questions, please contact Andrew Thibault: [email protected] 603-931-5500 x114.
Boston Marathon Run in Honor of Lindsay Toomey - In November of last year, Saint Chris parent Lindsay Toomey lost her long battle with ovarian cancer. Heather French, a close friend of Lindsay’s and a fellow teacher, is running the 2024 Boston Marathon in honor of Lindsay. All proceeds from Heather’s fundraising for the marathon will go to Dana Farber Cancer Institute. All are invited to support Heather and remember Lindsay through a donation HERE.
Happy Hearts Day Care - Happy Hearts Daycare, located across the street from the lower campus at 12 Cushing Ave., has a few openings for extended care. The hours are 6:30 to 8:30 AM and 3:00 to 5:30 PM. They accommodate students on snow days, two hour delay, early release, no school days (except for the major holidays) and even if there is a power outage :) They also provide care on the Christmas, February and April vacation weeks. If interested, please call...603-321-9320.