WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

MOUNT HOLLY CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8 AT 6:00 PM

PTA BREAKFAST WITH SANTA - DECEMBER 9

CHRISTMAS SHOW / BAND CONCERT - DECEMBER 11

HALF DAY - DECEMBER 15 & 22 NO EDP

Dear SHS Parents and Guardians,

As the first week of Advent comes to a close, I wanted to share with you some of the ways we are celebrating Advent at Sacred Heart School. On Monday, during the morning announcements, I spoke about the season of Advent and Father John gave an Advent blessing. Each classroom has their Advent wreath on display and each day during morning announcements, we light the candle(s) and say an advent prayer. To prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we are creating Advent paper chains. Each Monday during religion class, students are creating and adding links to the school Advent paper chain. Classes were given pink, purple, and green paper slips to create the paper chain. Each link is completed by the students performing acts of kindness, saying prayers, or reading Bible verses. Students then create the chains with the slips and decorate the hallways with the chains. The more slips the better, the goal is to decorate the upstairs and downstairs hallways.

In addition, each grade is spending time during the week doing Advent activities and exploring the Advent themes of hope, peace, joy and love. This is just one way we are helping our students prepare their hearts to receive the gift of Jesus during Christmas.

Many Blessings,

Mrs. Joanna Barlow

Principal

You are invited!! Sacred Heart School’s Annual Christmas Show will take place on Monday, December 11 at 6:30 p.m., in the SHS Auditorium. All Children PreK - 4th grade will be performing. The Sacred Heart School Choir and Band will also perform. Join us and let’s celebrate the Reason for the Season!

The Sacred Heart School Choir has been invited to sing at the Mount Holly Christmas Tree Lighting on Friday, December 8 at 6 p.m. The Choir will perform their songs and march in the parade. The evening will end with the tree lighting. All Sacred Heart Families are welcome to come out and support our Choir and enjoy this kick off to the Christmas season. Festivities begin at 6pm in downtown Mount Holly.

Congratulations to those 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who achieved Honor Roll for the 1st Trimester. Students will be awarded their certificate at our January 5th First Friday Mass. Those students who make the Honor Roll all Three Trimesters will be treated to a breakfast to celebrate their accomplishments. Congratulations and keep up the terrific work!

Come get into the Christmas Spirit this Saturday, December 9 at the Sacred Heart School PTA Breakfast with Santa. There will be a delicious breakfast, crafts for the kids, contests, dancing and prizes. Dress in your favorite pajamas or ugly sweater and join the Holiday Spirit Contest. The cost is $10.00 and you will receive a free picture with Santa and some holiday treats. Santa and I hope to see you there!

Breakfast and Crafts with Santa - December 9

Breakfast with Santa Registration Form

The week of December 18 we will be having our SHS Christmas Spirit Week. Each day of the week students, faculty and staff are encouraged to dress up according to the themed calendar days. Prizes will be given out to the most spirited grade. Also, the Deck the Door Contest is on… Over the past two weeks classes have been working hard to Deck their Doors. Each grade was asked to choose a Christmas Carol and design their door around the carol. On December 20th students will vote on the best interpretation of the carol. Fa la la la la la la la la….

Thank you to everyone who bought a poinsettia, dined in or out at Downtown Pizza, and participated in the Hang Out Nite. Your generosity is helping the 8th Grade Class raise funds for their 8th grade trip, and dinner dance. More fundraising opportunities and events to come in the New Year.

The next 8th grade class parent meeting is scheduled for January 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the library.

Icicles to Heaven are a beautiful way to remember our loved ones during the Christmas season. When you purchase an icicle ornament in memory of a loved one, a tag with his or her name will be attached to the ornament. The ornament will then be hung on a special Christmas tree in the Church near the Tabernacle in the Eucharistic Chapel. The names will also be included in a special book of remembrance placed close to the tree. Icicles will be hung on the tree by Christmas weekend, and those honored will be remembered at our School Mass in January. Icicles will be available for pickup at the school and in the auditorium after Masses at the conclusion of the Christmas season so that you may keep this special memento for years to come. Order forms can be found here, in the church vestibule, or online at sacredheartmh.org/foshs

**All orders must be placed by December 15th**

****NO EDP ON DECEMBER 15 AND 22*******

Morning Care (6:30am-7:30am) and Extended Day Program (EDP) is available. If you are interested in either of these programs, please be sure to visit the website to get all the information you need. This is also where you can register your child for the programs.

Giving Tuesday is a global day of generosity, when people make donations to all kinds of organizations. Tuesday, November 28 marked the 5th year SHS participated in this global day of giving. Giving Tuesday is not just about money, people can donate time, food and even parts of themselves. With this in mind, we saw Giving Tuesday as a teachable moment for our students. This past Tuesday our students pledged to give back by doing something good for others. We reinforced the idea that giving and kindness isn't about a day, it is a way to live our lives.

Sacred Heart School would like to thank all of those people who participated in our Giving Tuesday Campaign. If you missed out and would still like to participate in Giving Tuesday please click here or scan the QR code. Your contribution, no matter how small, will make a difference. Your financial gift will directly contribute to offering the students of Sacred Heart School a dynamic, faith-filled, values centered curriculum that fosters creative thinkers and problem solvers. Thank you for being a part of the Giving Tuesday movement with us!

Over the past few months, we have increased our social media presence. Make sure to follow us and like all the great things happening at Sacred Heart School!

Instagram: sacredheartschool_mtholly

Facebook: sacredheartschoolmt.holly

The Sacred Heart School Marketing Department is looking for volunteers to help us take Sacred Heart on the Road. Interested parents and their children are asked to help us spread the word about our awesome school.

Who: SHS Parents and Students

What: Be a presence at local events to showcase and spread the word about our school.

When: Tentative Events

12/8/23 - Mt Holly Tree Lighting

1/27/24 - Mt. Holly Fire & Ice Festival

3/2/24 - St. Patrick’s Day Parade

July 2024 Burlington County Farm Fair

If you are interested in being part of the SHS Show on the Road Committee please email schooloffice @sacred-heart-school.org. 7th & 8th grade students who participate with their parents can earn service hours.

Additionally, parents, if you have some time on your hands and would like to volunteer one day a week to assist with lunch or recess duty, please email schooloffice@sacred-heart-school.org. Please be advised that all volunteers must be VIRTUS trained and fingerprinted. If you need to start the process to be fingerprinted and/or VIRTUS trained please email ptaevents@sacred-heart-school.org. Any day you could offer assistance is welcomed.

General Information - For Families with Children Attending Catholic Schools in The Diocese of Trenton. Tuition assistance is awarded each year to families with children in our Catholic schools in grades K-8. Awards are made based on financial need.

How is the determination made? Information contained in the application along with the supporting materials is used to determine financial need. The formula utilized has been especially designed for families with children attending Catholic school. This calculation is based on a moderate standard of living for the geographic area of the applicant, further ensuring a realistic result. This formula determines the ability of a family to pay for private education. FACTS includes a comprehensive review and verification process ensuring the accuracy of the data.

Award Amount - Families who apply can receive up to one-half of the school’s in-parish tuition

Rate. Click here to learn how to apply.

FOSHS cordially invites you to the Blue and Gold Gala and Basket Auction April 20th at Deerwood Country Club. Dinner, dancing, a super 50/50 and fantastic basket auction are some of the highlights of what will be a wonderful evening. Details to come!

MySchoolBucks is a convenient online service that allows you to securely pay for your student’s meals online using your credit/debit card or electronic check.

You can:
- Set Up Automatic Recurring Payments
- Track & Review Meal History
- Create Low Balance Alerts
- Make Payments with the Mobile App
- And More…
Sign up now! Registering for your FREE account is easy, go to https://www.MySchoolBucks.com. Create a secure account and never worry again about sending cash or checks with your student(s) to school again!
https://www.MySchoolBucks.com | (855) 832-5226

Have a smartphone? Get the MySchoolBucks Mobile App:

iOS (iPhone) - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/myschoolbucks/id661878685?mt=8
Android -
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hss.msb&feature=search_result

Mrs. Fortin, our Art teacher, is excited to introduce the SHS Virtual Art Gallery. This year we will be showcasing the student's artwork through a new online website called Artsonia. We recently began uploading student art to their portfolio. We will be adding to each student's portfolio throughout the school year. If you do not see any artwork for your little Picasso do not worry, we are just finishing up additional projects in each class.

Please take a moment to scan the code on the flyer to access your child's artwork. If you love your little Rembrandt's piece; this site allows you to purchase it as keepsake. Full giftshop options including ornaments, shirts, mugs etc. Twenty percent (20%) of all proceeds will be donated back to Sacred Heart School!

Genesis credentials were sent to new users. These credentials come from Genesis SIS – not Sacred Heart School. Existing users should use the credentials they already have. If you have forgotten your credentials, click on the Forgot Password link. If you attempt to access an account 5 times using incorrect credentials, NO PASSWORD, even one sent from the Forgot Password link, will work until the account is re-enabled. Accounts are re-enabled Tuesday – Friday, sometime between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. If your parent account is disabled please:

· Wait until midnight

· Go to https://parents.dioceseoftrenton.org

· Click on forgot password link

· Wait for a new password to be sent

· To avoid errors, copy and paste the new password

If you do not think you received credentials, please check your SPAM before posting a parent access support request.

*** If you did not complete and sign off on the start of school forms:

• Sacred Heart School 2023-24 Photo Release Form
• Sacred Heart School 2023-24 Student/Parent Handbook & Acceptable Use Policy

Your Parent Access Account has been deleted. You can no longer access your child(ren)’s assignments, grades, or report cards. Your Parent Access Account will not be restored until you provide physical copies of the forms.***

To view our great products click SHS SPIRIT WEAR to enter the website. Remember all your purchases support our school and show our Chargers Pride!

Let’s show everyone all the amazing things happening at Sacred Heart School! Have you taken some great pictures of events or activities at SHS? If so, share your photos with us. Your photo(s) could be used to promote our school via our website, newsletter and our social media accounts. We will also use the photos for our 23/24 school yearbook.

To share, email photos@sacred-heart-school.org and use the following guidelines:

● Try to include more than one SHS student in the photo

● Email photos with name of event or activity in the subject heading

● Include names of students and grades

If you are happy with our school, please consider giving us a 5 star review on google and yelp. If you are not happy, please let us know at schooloffice@sacred-heart-school.org