WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

• CHRISTMAS VACATION DECEMBER 25 - JANUARY 2
• SCHOOL RESUMES WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3
• FIRST FRIDAY MASS - JANUARY 5 WEAR DRESS UNIFORM

PATIENCE AWARDS AND HONOR ROLL CERTIFICATES DISTRIBUTED AFTER MASS

• UNIFORM EXCHANGE- JANUARY 5
• HALF DAY - FRIDAY, JANUARY 12
• NO SCHOOL JANUARY 15 - DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

Dear SHS Parents and Guardians,

Today, during our Christmas prayer service we focused on the story of The Little Drummer Boy. We concentrated on the fact that, like the Little Drummer Boy, we are all invited to give gifts to the baby Jesus at Christmas time, regardless of our wealth or status. Each of us is unique, and has special gifts from God. We are called to use these gifts that we’ve been given to help others and to show our love of God. This Christmas I want to thank you for the gift of your children. Each one of our Sacred Heart School Students is unique and talented. Daily they share their gifts with me; gifts I treasure, adore, and cherish.

As we reflect on God’s Greatest Gift this Christmas, the birth of Jesus signifies a new beginning for all of us. It is a time of renewed hope, peace, joy and love. On behalf of the faculty and staff of Sacred Heart School, I would like to wish you and your family a wonderful and peaceful Christmas and a New Year blessed with health and happiness.

Christmas Blessings,

Mrs. Joanna Barlow

Principal

(The next edition of the Weekly Newsletter will be sent Friday, January 5, 2024.

This week was super spirited at Sacred Heart School! Each day this week students dressed in Christmas attire and accessories. On Wednesday, students voted for their favorite door in the Deck the Door contest. Our Choir traveled to the Samuel Miller Retirement Center and treated the residents to a Christmas sing-along. During the last period of school today, we held our 1st annual SHS Christmas Send-off Spectacular. All students came together to play Christmas trivia, sing Christmas carols and participate in A Christmas Story prayer service. Even Santa and Mrs. Claus joined in on the fun! Check out the pictures below, and many more on Instagram: sacredheartschool_mtholly and Facebook: sacredheartschoolmt.holly. As you can see, a good time was had by all!

Monday, December 11, SHS held our Annual Christmas Show and Concert. It was a spectacular evening filled with song and joy. Thank you to Mr. Wooden and Mrs. Blair for the many hours they spent teaching and rehearsing with the students, creating the program, setting the stage, preparing costumes, and decorations. I also want to thank our teachers for communicating home, practicing the songs and working with their students on their lines for the pageant. Last, but certainly not least, thank you to Mrs. Sheaffer and Mr. Standish for their behind the scenes support in making the show possible.

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 2 is January 8, 2024 through January 26, 2024. Specific assessment dates will be communicated by the classroom teachers. Results are sent home to parents after each testing window.

Throughout the first semester our food service provider, Princeton Food Service and I have been noticing that our lunch program has been experiencing a financial loss each month. Together, we decided to make a change to our program which will reduce costs but not affect the level of product provided to our students each day.

Changes you will see -

• We are right-sizing our kitchen staff to one employee thus saving a salary.

• Students will be able to purchase snacks once all students have purchased their lunch.

What is staying the same-

• We will continue to have teacher/staff lunch monitors and parent volunteers in the lunchroom to assist students and help manage the line.

• You will continue to receive a monthly menu.

• Pricing of $3.90 per lunch will stay the same.

• Many of the most popular food selections will be available, including fresh Pizza on Fridays.

• Daily Alternates such as: hot dog, PB&J sandwich with chips, cookie, fruit, salad platter and beverage will be available.

• Students will have the ability to purchase snacks, milk, or beverages.

Prior to making the decision, I consulted with a number of our sister schools in the Diocese who have transitioned to a one person kitchen staff and they are pleased with results. We will transition in January when we return from Christmas break.

The Friends of Sacred Heart School cordially invites you to the Blue and Gold Gala and Basket Auction. Come out and celebrate 80 years of education excellence. Saturday, April 20, 2024 at Deerwood Country Club. Cocktails will be served at 5:30 p.m. Tickets will be available for purchase January 5, 2024 - March 2, 2024.Ticket price: $80 per ticket or 2 for $150. Dinner, dancing, a super 50/50 and a fantastic basket auction are some of the highlights of what will be a wonderful evening. Looking forward to seeing you there!

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. On Giving 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. Our Campaign runs throughout the school year. 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

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.

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

****NO EDP ON DECEMBER 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.

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

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.

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