Tiger Talk! December 2, 2022

Dear School Family,

We began the season of Advent this week. Our Fifth Grade class decided on a new 2022 Advent theme, “Awaiting the JOY of Jesus.” You will see this theme throughout our building, in all of our classrooms, and we will talk about the joy of Jesus as we anticipate Christmas. We will focus the next few weeks on Advent. We meet every Monday morning during Advent in three separate levels. Each Monday during Advent, I do an Advent prayer service and we light one candle in the Advent wreath. We are lucky enough this year to spend all 4 Advent Mondays together. We continue our November/December Catholic Social Teaching which focuses on the fact that all people have rights and responsibilities.

Absences/Tardies/Early Dismissals –  Exciting new way to report your child’s absence and save yourself a call to or from the office! Please use this new link on the website to report that your child will be absent, tardy or have an early dismissal. Letting the office know these things in the morning will help keep your day (and ours) running smoothly! If teachers are aware of early dismissals ahead of time, they are often able to have students prepared to leave when they are called. This will also prevent interruptions to school Mass on First Fridays. Thank you in advance for understanding!

Sacrament of Confirmation is tomorrow, December 3rd. All are welcome to join us in church at 12pm as our Eighth Graders receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Thank you to Mr. Limmina for preparing them for this very special day. Please pray for a beautiful day for our students as they receive this Sacrament and that they may be abundantly filled with the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord now referred to as Wonder and Awe. The Most Reverend WIlliam E. Koenig, D.D., Bishop of Wilmington, will celebrate this Mass with Father Wrightson and Father Sleeva. 

Contacting Teachers – We ask that when there is an issue with your child or in your child’s classroom, please follow protocol and discuss it with their teacher first.  I will always go speak with the teacher about issues brought to me before responding to them. The teachers are the ones who are with your children all day. They should be contacted before me.

Thank you to Roseann Detlefsen! I would like to thank Roseann for her hard work shopping and setting up for a wonderful Secret Santa Shop. It was a remarkable experience for children to shop and buy quality and reasonably priced gifts for their families. This is a huge undertaking and we are so appreciative of what Roseann was able to do for our students. Thank you to our parent volunteers and to Ms. Livia who is always there to help everyone!

Congratulations to our November Students of the Month! These students were recognized by their teachers as being responsible individuals.  Congratulations to Stokely Harris (PK3), Maxwell Leshak (PK4), Aubrey Wisniewski (K), Bear Latina (1st), Stella Caesar (2nd), Ronnie Mercante (3rd), Brennan Lott (4th), Katelyn McLaughlin (5th), Jun Chen (6th), Nathaniel McGowan (7th), and Faith Jah (8th). Way to go!

Thanksgiving Food Drive – Thank you so much for your generosity! You all donated over 1,350 items to the St. Patrick’s Center in Wilmington. This will help many families this holiday season. 

Thank you to our Home and School Board members for the fun ice cream sundae bar the day before Thanksgiving break. The students (and teachers) enjoyed this special treat!

Scholastic Book Fair – Next week, December 5th – 9th, the Scholastic Book Fair returns to St. Anthony’s!  Many of the students are excited to be able to go to this event.  Students will be able to shop during the school day. Parents are invited to come shop on Wednesday, December 7th from 4-8pm. (See below for more information.) Cash, check, and credit card are accepted.

Jingle, Mingle, & Shop Event on Wednesday, December 7th from 4-8 pm. Don’t miss this new event! There will be activities for children, a hot chocolate bar, crafters/vendors, and more! Please enter school through the doors on 10th Street (double gray doors). This event will be held in the Ballad Room (school cafeteria).

Eucharistic Revival with Father Jasper on December 9, at 2pm. Please join us in welcoming Father Rich Jasper once again to our church. Father has been graciously celebrating First Friday Masses with us. On December 9th, he will return to carry out one of the main goals of the Diocese of Wilmington for the National Eucharistic Revival which is to facilitate opportunities for different groups within our diocese to experience a dynamic and engaging encounter with our Lord when He is present in the Eucharistic. Father Jasper will be sharing a Witness and Reflection talk with our students and faculty. Parents and families are welcome to attend.

Report Cards will be distributed next week! Report cards are set to be distributed the week of December 5th. We typically send them home on Wednesday or Friday with main communication envelopes. This year, due to scheduling, they will most likely be sent home on Friday, Dec. 9th.  The copy of the report card is yours to keep.  Please be sure to sign and return the brown envelope the report card comes home in.

NO AFTER CARE on Wednesday, December 14th and Friday, December 23rd! On December 14th, we will be having a School Staff Christmas Party at 3:15pm. December 23rd is a noon dismissal and marks the beginning of Christmas Break. Please arrive promptly at 3:15 on  December 14th and noon on December 23rd, so that our staff may join their friends and family and begin their Christmas break.

Christmas Program/ Band Demonstration Dec. 23rd at 10am in our school gym. Please enter the school using the main entrance. If you arrive late to the program, please wait in the hallway and do NOT interrupt the performers on stage. There will be a short break after each class sings for the next class to move to the stage and for anyone to enter or exit the gym. We will not call for early dismissals on that day, so if you do not wish for your child to participate, please pick them up prior to 9:30am. Once the program begins, all students will remain in the gymnasium until they are dismissed with their teachers. For everyone’s safety, anyone here at 9:45 am will remain until Noon. We do not have extra staff on hand to bring children out of the gym, to their classrooms to collect belongings, and then to the lobby to meet parents. I appreciate your cooperation and partnership on this matter.This is one of our largest attended events. We will not be dismissing students after they perform. To repeat, if you do not wish to have your child here until noon, please plan to pick him/her up prior to 9:30am. 

Counseling Services – Beginning January 3rd, we will have a therapist on staff here at St. Anthonys, every Tuesday from 8am until Noon. Please take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. Karen Beltran, MSW, comes to us from Amanecer Counseling and Resource Center. I met Karen through my good friend, Father Brain Zumbrum. Father Brian is doing his internship with Amanecere. We thank Amanecere for this opportunity. They are provided free counseling services to our students and their families when mental health issues are at an all-time high and counseling services are scarce. Please reach out to our school counselor, Shayne Hinton at shinton@stanthonynet.org if you wish to take advantage of these services. Amanecere also offers legal support and can provide resources for things such as electric, gas, and funeral costs. They specialize in the areas of trauma and domestic violence. The therapists are bilingual, so this is an added advantage. Their services are currently covered by a grant, so this is at no cost to us. We welcome Karen to our counseling program. 

Salesianum Seniors visit and learn! Our Salesianum Seniors will be on site from January 3rd through January 13th. We welcome them into our classrooms and hope they are inspired to pursue careers in Catholic education after their stay with us. 

Financial Assistance for Tuition Applications and all required documentation for the 2023-2024 school year must be received by FACTS no later than January 31,2023. Tuition assistance through the Diocese of Wilmington is provided to children attending grades K-12.Families currently receiving tuition assistance from the diocese must reapply. Assistance is not automatically renewed from year to year.

Christmas Break will be from Saturday, December 24th through Monday, January 2nd. I hope we all return on January 3rd rested and ready for a new year. The next issue of Tiger Talk will be in January, 2023.

I wish everyone a very joyful and peaceful Advent and Christmas Season!

Advent Blessings,

Mrs. Judith J. White

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