Weekly Newsletter

******IMPORTANT CALENDAR CHANGE. MONDAY, OCTOBER 9 (COLUMBUS DAY/INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY) IS A SCHOOL HOLIDAY THERE WILL BE NO SCHOOL OCTOBER 9******

• LEGACY BRICK FUNDRAISER- DEADLINE TO PURCHASE A BRICK, SEPTEMBER 30
• OCTOBER 6 - 1/2 DAY OF SCHOOL, FRIST FRIDAY MASS, K-2 PROGRESS REPORTS, and UNIFORM EXCHANGE

Dear SHS Parents and Guardians,

Throughout the month of October, our school will devote our morning prayer to the Canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis. On April 30, 2022 Bishop O’Connell placed all Catholic schools and young people under Blessed Carlo Acutis’ patronage.

Bishop chose Blessed Carlo because children and young adults can relate to him in a

unique way through their many similar interests such as; a love of sports, playing video games, funny jokes, and discovering all things about the computer. Blessed Carlo shows us that living a holy life is attainable for all of us. Throughout the month ask your children what they know about Blessed Carlo and his devotion to the Eucharist.

Many Blessings,

Mrs. Joanna Barlow

Principal

Due to the rain, today’s Fitness Friday was canceled. Our next Fitness Friday is scheduled for October 27, 2023.

Our next First Friday Mass is Friday, October 6. Students are reminded to wear their "dress" uniform. This month our 8th grade class will be presenting. Additionally, Our Pre K students will be joining us for the first time this year. Our Pre K students will be paired up with their 8th grade Prayer Partners. Prayer Partners is a great way for our 8th grade students to make connections and model proper behavior for our youngest students. Prayer Partners will be partnered up at Mass as well as during other events throughout the school year. Mass is at 8:30 a.m. All parents/guardians, friends and relatives are invited to attend.

October’s virtue of the month is Studiousness, seeking knowledge to grow closer to Truth. The Virtues in Practice curriculum explains, “Real knowledge requires real effort. The entire universe and all that is in it comes from the hand of God. The human effort to seek knowledge should always lead us closer to the Truth, which is God himself." Those students who exemplify studiousness will be honored at our November 10 First Friday Mass.

***Applications will be available online November 1***

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.

Each year, the elementary schools of the Diocese of Trenton administer the Renaissance

Star Assessments in mathematics and reading during three assessment windows.

The assessments, which last less than 40 minutes each, are given in the fall, in the

winter, and in the spring. The assessments from Renaissance, like many other

standardized assessments, measure academic proficiency. In addition to proficiency,

however, these assessments also track the academic growth of a student during the

course of one school year as well as over the period of a student’s career from grade

two through grade eight. Click here to read a letter from Daniel O’Connell, Assistant Superintendent for the Diocese of Trenton about the Star Assessments.

Star Assessment (window #1) is October 9, 2023 through October 27, 2023. Specific assessment dates will be communicated by the classroom teachers. Results are sent home to parents after each testing window.

The FOSHS is sponsoring a Country Line Dancing evening at Sacred Heart School.

Join us on Saturday, October 14th, from 7 pm - 10 pm. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. No experience or partners needed. Tickets are $20 online and $25 at the door. All proceeds benefit S.H.S. Click here to purchase your tickets online.

Hispanic Heritage Month runs through October 15. We are still collecting items for display. If your child would like to showcase an item, please put their name on the item and send it into school. The item will be returned after October 15. We will do our best to display all items that are sent in.

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

SHS Students grades 4-8 are invited to be part of the SHS Choir. For information and registration click here.

Mrs. Burke, the SHS Yearbook Advisor, is asking parents of 8th graders for the following:

• Please submit one baby picture of your 8th grader

• please put child’s name in subject line

• Pictures should be sent to photos@sacred-heart-school.org

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. See below for our photo sharing criteria and email address; and get clicking.

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.

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 am and 1:00 pm. 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, by October 5, 2023, you do 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 will be deleted. Once the account is deleted, you will not be able to access your child(ren)’s assignments, grades, or report cards. Additionally, the Parent Access Account will not be restored until you provide physical copies of the forms.***

• Uniform Exchange - Friday, October 6

• Back to School Skating Social - Sunday, October 8

• Halloween Hustle - Saturday, October 21

• Trunk or Treat SHS Families - Friday, October 27

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!

ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL TIMES:

Drop-off begins at 7:30am. Pick up for our K-8 program is at 2:30 and 2:15 if you child is in Pre-K 2:15.

CAR LINE TIPS ON ARRIVAL:

Form 2 lanes. The right lane is for grades K-8, the left lane is for our Pre-K students. Families with students in both PreK and K-8 should stay in the right lane.

When arriving you will be greeted by Father John and myself. Please wait your turn in the car lanes. Once in the drop off area, have your child exit the car. K-8 students will be dropped off in front of the main gym doors. Pre-K will circle around and be dropped off in front of the church. Our staff on duty will assist in making sure your children arrive safely to their classrooms.

Once you have dropped off your child/children please do not cut out of lane instead wait until the car in front of you moves to exit the campus. When exiting please be mindful that cars may turn in front of you to drop off at preschool or to exit the campus.

CAR LINE TIPS FOR PICK-UP

Form 2 lanes. In the interest of safety for your child/children and others:

Children will not be permitted to enter a car until the car is in front of the auditorium. Please pull all the way up to the "Drop off ends here" sign even if your child is standing in another place. If one of the car lanes is moving, children must wait until the cars stop moving before going to their car. If you must exit your car to buckle seat belts, we ask that you use the lane closest to the auditorium. Please pick up your child as quickly as possible, being mindful of the extremely long line behind you. We are discouraged from blocking Clifton Avenue.

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.

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

If you would like to submit pictures, or need an event posted to Facebook or Instagram please contact Karla Fluder at ptamedia@sacred-heart-school.org