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St. Gregory the Great
School Newsletter
DECEMBER 1, 2017 VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1
Mission
St. Gregory the Great School fosters a caring Catholic Christian environment, which provides a faith community where each student recognizes their uniqueness and will be prepared to take on a positive role in our society.
Families:
The Advent Season
Advent is a time for preparation before Christmas. The word Advent comes from the Latin advenire, “to come to,” and refers to the coming of Christ. This refers, first of all, to our celebration of Christ’s birth at Christmas; second, to the coming of Christ in our lives through grace and the Sacrament of Holy Communion; and finally, to His Second Coming at the end of time. Advent has traditionally been known as a “little Lent.” As in Lent, Advent should be marked by increased prayer, fasting, and good works. During Advent, the Church colors change to purple, except for the third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday), when priests may wear rose-colored vestments. The Advent wreath, made of evergreens, symbolizes God’s everlasting love for us. The four candles stand for each Sunday of Advent. Follow the link to learn more about the blessing of the Advent wreath, and how your family can do this blessing at home, starting this Sunday. http://catholicism.about.com/od/catholicliving/ht/Adv_Wreath_Bl.htm
Catholic schools, and not just in grades TK-8, afford a splendid opportunity to celebrate the liturgical year. Both the temporal and sanctoral cycles bring with them many ways in which our students can joyfully celebrate the liturgical feasts. These will remain as unforgettable memories as children mature. From school, they can bring the practices into their homes where perhaps their parents are not familiar with liturgical customs. It was time well-spent sharing a meal
with our school family at our Annual Luncheon. Thanks to all the parents who came to serve. Thank you to the older students who helped in the cleaning after the meal. We were able to donate an abundance of canned goods to Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Thank you Student Council for organizing the Food Drive.
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SLE of the Month
A St. Gregory the Great Student is an academically prepared individual who:Utilizes critical thinking skills and works independently and collaboratively
Important Dates
11/30 Progress Reports distributed
12/1-12/31
Drawings begin for December Calendar
12/1 Father Brian returns
12/1 NACHO SALE for Skid Row
12/3 Advent begins
Family Mass 8:30AM School Uniform
Fill the Truck Toy Drive at all Masses
Santa’s Secret Shop
12/4 Kindergarten Pajama Party Day
12/4-8 ACRE TESTING Grades 5 & 8 ONLY
12/6 NO SCHOOL -Teacher Professional Development Day
I’ve been very impressed with how hard our students have been working and the first quarter report cards truly reflected their efforts from T-K to 8th grade. I’m very proud of all of our students. It gives me great pleasure to congratulate all the upper grade students who made the first quarter honor roll and their teachers and parents for providing the guidance and encouragement to achieve such good grades.
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe Cast was phenomenal! We sold out shows all three days! Thank you to Ms. Shannon and the students for all of your hard work. If you haven’t heard….
Many thanks to our families who have recommended families to attend St. Gregory the Great. The enrollment has improved as we are educating 285 students this year. We welcome Josie Velasquez (TK) who joined us in the past month and our second international student, “Jay”Choi from Korea. We are grateful for your help in keeping our school name and reputation in a positive light in our community. Many families who are looking for good schools search the internet regularly. When you are posting, and I hope you are, please promote positive affirmations about the school. We need help in posting experiences on GreatSchools.com and all forms of social media. Blessings, Ms. Clagon
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12/8 Immaculate Conception
12/9 Pass out lunches on SKID ROW
12/12 Our Lady of Guadalupe
12/13 PreVisit WASC Team
Free Dress Birthday for December
12/18 Communal Penance
12/18- Wear Christmas sweater and jeans
12/20 Christmas Program
NO DAYCARE - Christmas Faculty and Staff Party
12/20 Knights In Shining Armor Recognition Ceremony and AR Goal Recognition
12/24 Family/Children’s Mass School Choir will sing 4:30PM
Encourage students to attend the beautiful Mass
FAITH Family Mass Sunday, December 3, 2017 First Sunday of Advent
Continue to pray for our family members: Mr. Gill(recovering from surgery) Mr. Padilla Mr. Hernandez’ son(Substitute PE Teacher) Priests Vocations Newly Baptized Raven and Emma Pinzon-Valcarcel (Grade 1)
Excellence
SCHOOL ACCREDITATION UPDATE Our school faculty has been working diligently these past few months, studying the various aspects of our school and writing the chapters of our Self Study document, Improving Student Learning: A Self Study Process for Catholic Elementary Schools. We are currently on schedule. Our final draft has been submitted and are currently under review by the accreditation Leadership Team.The Visiting Team will receive the final document December 13th when they come for a meeting and initial tour of the school. Please continue to hold the school community in your prayers as we undergo this important process for our school improvement and accreditation.
We have filled Jr. High students to fill our Decathlon Team! There is a perfect volunteer opportunity. We need coaches, so that our students are well-prepared for competition in the spring. Please contact Mrs. Beville, [email protected],for information on how you can help.
Student Council Thank you for setting the Dia de Los Muertos Altar (Day of the Dead). The children celebrated a beautiful ceremony of life in remembrance of our loved ones.
Please see the fliers(below) for all the great opportunities for social justice projects.
“To all people of good will who are working for social justice: never tire of working for a more just world, marked by greater solidarity”-Pope Francis
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@stgknights
stgknights
st.gregoryschool.whittier
Cross Country- We had the largest Cross Country Team in the school’s history. Congratulations to the outstanding performances. Christopher Ceron 3rd Place in “B” Division and Allen Reynoso placed 15th in Varsity Division. All runners hit a personal best and competed with well over 100 runners in each division.The Basketball season will begin in December for the Varsity Girls and Boys Teams. We are still in need of coaches for our B & C teams. Please help if you can.
J.V. and C BASKETBALL COACHES NEEDED! Any interested parent should contact Main Office: [email protected] or our Athletic Director, Larry Guereque at 562-760-7451. Coaches must be in place prior to tryouts.
GRADELINK: Track your service hours. If you need help please email: [email protected]
Congratulations to November Student of the Month Awardees. A St. Gregory the Great Knight is: An effective Communicator who: Listens Attentively and Speaks Articulately.
(picture)
Making the Principal’s List for having a GPA of 4.0 or higher in all subjects, behavior, and effort; No A- were: Lou Ong , Emily Parades , Mia Kennedy
Achieving First Honors status for having a GPA 3.99-3.50 B or better in conduct and effort: Antonio Palencia,Laetitia Moreau, Tatiyana Petrie, Jenessa Hindson, Alexander Sciarra, Alyssa Acosta, Abbey Duarte,Sophia Alvarez,Nevaeh Baldwin,Jonah Chavez,Carolina Espinoza,Carah Gonzalez,Trent Harrison, Caitlyn Juarez,Alma Leon, Joshua Leon, Gabriela Lopez, Victoria Martinez,Elias Mota,Madison Caro,Noah Chavez,Ariana Contreras,Pablo Mota,Jaspreet Singh, Alexis Alvarez, Maya Castaneda, Lauren Garcia, Keiki Iuli, Allen Reynoso
Attaining Second Honors for having a GPA 3.49-3.0 B or better in conduct and effort: Tyler Lawler, Hailey Fivecoat, Angelo Martinez, Daniel Lopez, Madison Lopez, David Guerrero, Adrianna DeLaRosa, Marion Alacron, Andrew Arellano, Alina Ayala, Andres DeLeon, Sophia Gonzalez, Lily
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Hernandez, Camille Juarez, Adrian Marquez, Dylan Mason, Kiara Sison,Ethan Canty,Kaila Castaneda,Aidan De La Cruz,Nicholas Enriquez,Roman Espinosa,Diego Espinoza,Hayley A. Garcia,Lucas Gomez,Jacqueline Martin,Melissa Martinez, Adam Dolor, Abigail Gutierrez, Joshua Lewis, Eric Ortega, Lillian Ramos-Alvarado
Stewardship Just a friendly reminder the December Calendar drawings will take place on December 1-December 31 for the December Raffle. If you can sell extra calendars it will help tremendously. Thanks to the parent volunteers who are helping to sell after all the Masses. The Annual Toy Drive will commence December 3 at the Family Mass. We will stuff a truck full of toys to help the children in the organization Concept 7 and Adopt-A-Family. Please bring donations to Mass. Please do everything you can to meet deadlines.We depend on the few fundraisers to improve the school and assist in the day to day operations of the school. We still have outstanding monies from the St. Agnes Raffle and Christmas Calendar please do everything you can to reconcile before school closes for the Christmas vacation.
Community Clean Up Schedule 2017-2018 December 2-Grade 5 and anyone who missed their class clean up day January 27 Catholic School Week Clean Up Grades TK & K- Feb-3rd WASC Clean up- Grade 1 February 24 - Grade 3 March17-Grade 4- Tentative April 14- Grade 6B-Tentative May 19-Grade 8 June 16- Grade 7
Annual Auction- Our room parents should be helping to coordinate in putting classroom baskets together for the February event. Should you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Romo- [email protected]
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E-cards and plastic cards are available!
Top Earners for November
1. Phil Harrison 2. Patty Trejo 3. Frances Cervantes SCRIPSENSE is increasing rebate percentages for your favorite eGift card merchants!
Week 2 Starts November 23rd at 12:01AM - Ends November 29th at 11:59pm
REI - Earn 8.25% (previously 5%)
Lands' End - Earn 8.5% (previously 6%)
XBOX Live - Earn 6.7% (previously 5%)
Week 3 Starts November 30th at 12:01AM - Ends December 6th at 11:59pm
Lowe's - Earn 5.5% (previously 4%)
Brookstone - Earn 8.25% (previously 5%)
Omaha Steaks - Earn 8.25% (previously 6%)
Week 4 Starts December 7th at 12:01AM - Ends December 13th at 11:59pm
Zappos.com - Earn 8.25% (previously 5%)
Domino's - Earn 7% (previously 5%)
GAP Options - Earn 4.5% (previously 3%)
Week 5 Starts December 14th at 12:01AM - Ends December 20th at 11:59pm
Krispy Kreme - Earn 7.5% (previously 6%)
Global Hotel Card by Orbitz - Earn 8.25% (previously 7%)
Panera Bread - Earn 7% (previously 5%)
Week 6 Starts December 21st at 12:01AM - Ends December 27th at 11:59pm
Barnes and Noble Booksellers - Earn 5% (previously 3%)
Sephora - Earn 4.88% (previously 3%)
Groupon - Earn 4.5% (previously 3%)
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Week 7 Starts December 28th at 12:01AM - Ends January 4th at 11:59pm
Carnival Cruise Lines - Earn 8.25% (previously 5%)
Go Play Golf by Fairway Rewards - Earn 8.63% (previously 6%)
Morton's - The Steakhouse - Earn 6% (previously 4%)
Box Tops Contest Underway See it, clip it, turn it in. Prizes will be given to the top 3 classes that bring in the most box tops. This is a big fundraiser for our school and you don't even have to leave your home. Thank you for your support! This is a great way to give back to support our school.
Looking for Service Hours? ● Yard Supervision 7:30AM-7:45AM, 11:30AM-1:00PM Campus
Angels ● Athletic Coaches ● School Beautification and Cleaning- Join TLC ● Academic Decathlon Coaches ● Drivers and extra donations for Social Justice Projects
**Check service hour log on Gradelink
Partnership
Dual Enrollment Class offered through ELAC
The first semester of the Robotics Class will conclude December 14th. Our students have earned their first college credits and considered freshman in college! The second semester will begin in January We can’t thank Mr. Duenas for his role in offering this college course. I am excited in our future participation with ELAC. Thank you also to Professor Randy.
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Welcome to the weekly newsletter from the
Office of Life, Justice and Peace. Each
Monday we send a newsletter with
information, action items, events, prayers, and resources that can be used
during the week at parishes, schools, and within ministries.
Please contact us with questions, comments or suggestions for newsletter
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"Eucharist means 'thanksgiving.' With our lives, we thank God for the gift of
salvation, for delivering us from the darkness of living in this world without him.
We thank him for the sheer fact of being alive...Thanksgiving is meant to become
the reason and the way for our lives." -Archbishop Gomez in his pastoral letter
For Greater Things You Were Born
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