From the Principal’s Desk

Dear Parents,

The Department of Education’s yearly theme is “Many parts, one body.” Each one of our 30 elementary schools has different gifts and strengths, yet we all are one. Each one has areas needing to be strengthened, yet we all are one. We have different ways of doing things, we have different student uniforms, we have different resources, yet we all are one. St. Mary’s is not St. Catherine’s. St. Catherine’s is not St. Christopher’s. St. Christopher’s is not St. John Vianney’s….and so on. We each are our own unique school communities. However, we are unified by our belief in Christ and our commitment to the mission of educating young people in the way of grace, goodness, gratitude, growth, goals, and eventual graduation to higher learning. Together we make a powerful Catholic school system. And that’s why we are all celebrating this week.

Within our school, we are many parts, yet we are all one body. Each person, each faculty member, each staff member, each student, and each family make up this wonderful community of St. Mary’s. Each one of us has different gifts and strengths, yet we all are one. Each one has areas needing to be strengthened, yet we all are one. We have different ways of doing things, we have different resources, yet we all are one. We are unified by our belief in Christ and our commitment to the mission of Catholic education. Together we make a powerful Catholic school.

We could extend this analogy to each classroom within the school, to each family. The meaning for us as Catholics is profound: we do not live in isolation from one another. Nor are we totally independent from one another, linked merely by some loose bond. Rather, through our Baptism we are all members of the Church, the Body of Christ. Our prayers and good works contribute to build up the Body of Christ; and our sins and failures diminish the Body of Christ. In St. Paul’s letter he notes this about the Eucharist: the bread is made up of many grains of wheat, but there is but one loaf – the Body of Christ; the wine is made up of many individual grapes, but only one spiritual drink – the Blood of Christ.

So we are all part of the Body of Christ. Our identity is based on our relationship with Christ. We question: Who are we? Who are we not? Which part of Christ’s body are we? What is the primary way the Lord works through us? If we know how we are in Christ, this can be a strength for the entire community. We are many parts, but we are one body.

Prayer Corner

Let us pray for all who have died, especially Lynn Kovach; for Briana and Jenna Lemon’s grandfather; for Vicki Campanella’s daughter-in-law’s father Jim Eyherabide; for 5^th Grader Emily Sanchez; for Miranda and Gannon Janisch’s Papa and for their Great Aunt Connie; for Tatiana Davis’ Papa; for Alexia Gelinas’ grandma; for the Souza family’s friend Gil; for Anthony Drysdale’s Aunt Dina and his brother Christopher; for Ethan and Makenna Soria’s grandpa; for Daniel and Cristina’s Uncle Jesse; for Roger and Carmen Silva; the Morris’ cousin Jeff; for Stefan and Christian Kulkowski’s grandfather; for Justin and Jacob Longworth’s Aunt Marge; for Rebeca, Rachel, and Larry Reimal’s Aunt Ada; for Mary Sanchez’s friend Gary; for Anna and Emily Sanchez’s 2-year-old cousin Jace; for J. R. McFarland’s uncle; for Jaevan Cordia-King; for Sister Helene; for Sister Sylvia Llerena; and for all our friends and benefactors.

• CONGRATULATIONS to Grandma Ms. Cordia and Auntie Miss Julie on the occasion of the birth of Eirnan (mom is alum Sissy Cordia) born at 4:09AM on January 28. He’s 5lbs. 13 0z and 19” long. Baby joins big brothers Tristain, Jaevan and Aidan.

•On another note regarding Miss Julie: she will be leaving her position in Extended Care to take a full time position elsewhere. We wish her the very best as she moves on and thank her for her service to St. Mary School. The position is approximately 15 hours per week (3-6PM) with additional evening hours for early dismissal and for meetings as scheduled. We are beginning the search for her replacement.

Questions to ponder

One of the goals discussed at our 2010-11 SAC meeting is to give parents tools to be the primary educators of their children in the area of religion. When you leave Sunday liturgy, do you feel equipped to talk with your child about what they heard? Principal Christa Hanson will offer questions to discuss with your child in the Wednesday bulletin and the parish bulletin after hearing the readings of this upcoming weekend’s liturgy:

1. We are called to be a light for others. How might your family act in a way that is a light for others, a light that is worthy to put on a lamp stand?

2. I know I am a light to others when….

3. Just as now, salt was used in Jesus’ time for flavoring, as a preservative, and as a healing agent. How have I helped “heal” others? How have I brought the “flavor” of Christ to my world?

Coming up at SMS!

WED, Feb 2—Won’t you join other SMS families tonight for our Annual FAMILY ART NIGHT? Spend time working next to your child and create some of the amazing pieces with various mediums that our children are exposed to throughout the year, thanks to the talent of our own Sheryl Cathers. EVEN IF you did not RSVP, come enjoy and bring your family!

THU, Feb 3—Look for faculty members in the parking lot sharing special treats with our parents; wear “Cozy Clothes” -- Uggs, flannel pants, sweatshirts—clothes that are warm and cozy!

Recess: BAKE SALE to support our D.C. students.

Thank you to our Community Readers who are scheduled to come into classrooms throughout the day to share the joy of Dr. Seuss with our students. Speaking of Dr. Seuss, read more about the upcoming March 26 Auction with a special Dr. Seuss theme this year—our 24^th Annual event!

Gr. 2 will travel to History San Jose

FRI, Feb 4—SPIRIT DAY: Classes who have P.E. today, wear or bring your P.E. shoes AND shorts/sweats; Hot chocolate (chocolate milk for K) will be served at recess. IF your child has any sensitivities, please provide another snack option for your child. ONLY hot chocolate will be served; parents should send something more for their child.

2PM, join us in the gym for a special CSW Rally!

The movie in Extended Care is "Swiss Family Robinson"

Remember, if you are a Parish Supporting family and plan to apply for Tuition Assistance during the 2011-12 school year, you must compete the application—available in the School Office—and return it to the school by Monday, February 7—no exceptions!

TUE, Feb 8: 7PM, Mothers’ Guild meets in Serra Cottage for a “Fiesta”—check out the details enclosed today.

WED, Feb 9: Your Candygram orders, to support our 2011 D.C. students are due today!

Good luck to Mrs. Ervin, who travels to St. Leo the Great School as a member of their WCEA/WASC accreditation team. She will return to her classroom duties on Monday, Feb. 14. As chair of our school’s WCEA Team, this assignment will give her a better feel for our upcoming accreditation, already underway.

Inside today’s envelope:

•Congratulations to the students who were acknowledged for their academic achievements at last week’s AWARDS ASSEBMLY. A list of names is included; photos may be viewed on the school’s website>Gallery.

•Men’s Club meets on February 15 because of the Winter Break the following month. The RSVP is enclosed.

•School Advisory Council Agenda for the February 17 meeting and the minutes of the January 20 meeting are included. If you have questions or concerns that you would like addressed at an upcoming meeting, use the POINT OF INFORMATION form found online>Wednesday bulletin>Standard Forms.

•Mothers’ Guild/Men’s Club MOVIE NIGHT, Saturday, March 5…save the date!

•Auction Flyer—it’s only 8 weeks away! Invitations will be in the mail by February 26.

•Logowear order form—we have a new vendor for the royal blue zip up hoodie. We had found some problems with the quality and Merry Mart was quick to address them!

•D.C. fundraisers: Birthday Marquee, Black Bear Diner and Bake Sale

Did you know….

•If you pre-ordered a video of the December Advent Program, it came home with your child on Thursday.

•For every cell phone and empty laser and inkjet printer cartridge, St. Mary School receives funds for the Technology program at our school? Send in your donations to the Front Office. Project Coordinator Carol Capozza boxes and mails your donations for a refund!

•INFORMATION RE: KINDERGARTEN ADMISSIONS DATE

The policy of the diocesan Department of Education has been to align our Kindergarten admissions age requirement to that of the CA public schools. This means there is no change for the upcoming school year, 2011-12.

The Kindergarten Readiness Act was signed into law last fall. It reads: “. . .This bill would change the required birthday for admission to kindergarten and first grade to November 1 for the 2012-13 school year, October 1 for the 2013-14 school year, and September 1 for the 2014-15 school year and each school year thereafter.” We will match those changes in order to keep to our own policy.

•REGISTRATION COURTESY FOR ENROLLED PARENTS

If you are planning to enroll a sibling in Kindergarten or any other grade at SMS for 2011-12, you will be given an opportunity to do so on Friday, February 11 from 9AM-Noon at the Front Office. [New parents will be registering on Saturday, February 12.]

If you are registering a student in Grades 1-8, you will need to return with your student on Saturday, Feb. 12 for screening.

Gr. 1-8: At the Friday registration, you will be asked to complete a short form, bring a COPY of your child’s Birth and Baptismal certificate (if applicable), a copy of the most recent report card and pay the $25 processing fee.

For incoming Kindergarten students: At the Friday registration, you will be asked to complete a short form, bring a COPY of your child’s Birth and Baptismal certificate (if applicable), and pay the $25 processing fee.

•We are pleased to pass on information gleaned from the St. Francis Central Coast High School monthly newsletter, POTENTIAL TAX SAVINGS ON PRIVATE SCHOOL TUITION:

The tax cut package passed by Congress in December preserves, at least for the next two years, the historic Coverdell Education Savings Account (ESA) which allows families to earn tax-exempt interest on up to $2,000 in annual savings for tuition at private schools. For complete information, you should contact your investment counselor.

Bits and Pieces

FROM LOST & FOUND COMMITTEE:

Parents, if you have uniforms that your child has outgrown, please put them in a bag and place the bag on top of our Lost & Found closet (near the gym).  Any bags on top of the closet will be passed on at our Used Uniform Exchange events.  

Reminder:  for the security of our students, we ask that any items containing the “St. Mary” name not be donated to outside parties or charities, i.e., Goodwill, Salvation Army.

FROM BOX TOP CHAIR, HEATHER PAPPAS:

Great news! Our school just received a check for over $1430.00 to help purchase books and supplies for our school library!

This could not have been possible without all your great work at clipping those Box Tops! It’s also even easier than ever to reach our goal. General Mills has added Box Top Labels to many new products this year!

With that said, our next deadline is fast approaching.
Our next deadline for submitting Box Tops is February 10th for a free dress pass on March 8th.

Box Top coupons can be found on most General Mills Products. Turning in 50 coupons will earn all children in your family a FREE DRESS PASS. If you do not have 50 labels to turn in at once, a running tally is kept and when you reach 50 you will then receive a FREE DRESS PASS.
Lets keep up the great work! Please start turning in your Box Tops in your labeled bags by February 10th

Thank You for your ongoing support. If you have any questions you may contact me at 846-5104 or heatherpappas@verizon.net

Way to go!

•Congratulations to Kyle Watts, Safety Patrol Student of the Month! Great job, Kyle!

•Congratulations to our students who won a spot in the recent Ellks Club Hoop Shoot: 10-11 year olds who competed were Sean White an Teresa McCarthy; competing for the 12-14 year olds were Sam Kent and Sarah Weiby.

•We hope you’ve taken time to view the outstanding pieces of art displayed in the St. Mary School Art Gallery. The exhibit is located by the double doors to the playground closest to the picnic benches.

Works of art, designed by the following students, are this quarter’s presentation:

Blake Anderson Sabrina Aragon

Atayah Austin Emma Barbazette

Brandon Broch Brandon Bumanlag

Marissa Bumanlag Olivia Burke

Alyssa Castro Teresa McCarthy

Miles Cluck Emma Donovan

Braedon Ervin Aidan Grissom

Jacob Harden Luke Jacobs

Tyus Kline Alexis Kong

Carson Leal Aileen Levan

Jacob Longworth Ryan Luna

Luke Macedo Tricia Phillips

Ailisha Ramos Logan Reese

Larry Reimal Rachel Reimal

Danny Skahill Christian Tapia

David Talavera Konya Tieh

Rachel Tripoli Kate Watts Lorelai Wierzba

Scrip News and Notes

Don't forget that Winter Break will be here soon!  If you are planning any trips or local activities, use SCRIP dollars! From Gas cards to movie tickets to Disneyland money to restaurant options, SCRIP has a lot to choose from.  Get your orders in early so we can help you with your planning!  

And in last week's bulletin, we mentioned that Valentine's Day is right around the corner. See's Candies has one of the largest SCRIP contributions of any of our retailers.  For every dollar you spend with See's, you give 23% back to St. Mary. Enjoy shopping this month. And don't forget Target is now available through SCRIP!

If you have any questions regarding your SCRIP requirement for the year, please contact Kristina Ryan at scrip@stmarygilroy.org
Thank you all for the support.  

Catholic Schools Week began with a well-attended liturgy on Sunday at 5PM. Special thanks to Mrs. Rudolph, Mrs. Mantecon and Mrs. Ursin for the planning and execution of a meaningful start to this national week of celebration.

As always, our students did an outstanding job of reading, singing, movement and leading the parish community in prayer. Ms. Hanson’s pertinent reflection helped us more clearly understand the relationship of our school and its students to our parish, our community and the world.

On Monday, we celebrated with students from all of the schools in our Diocese to show that we are many parts…One body. Students who were selected to represent St. Mary School were Gaby Agustin, Luke Jacobs, Claire Middleton, David Talavera, Kendra Roberts, Ryan Fiorio, Matisse Miller and Antonio Tran.