Weekly Newsletter

• BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
• ALISON COLONNA MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP - APLLICATION DUE SEPTEMBER 29
• FITNESS FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 29
• LEGACY BRICK FUNDRAISER- DEADLINE TO PURCHASE A BRICK, SEPTEMBER 30

Dear SHS Parents and Guardians,

The first full week of school flew by and after a very warm start to the school year, it is finally feeling like fall. The mornings are cooler and daylight hours are slipping away. There is a buzz in the building as the students patiently await all the excitement and fun activities that come with the season. Please enjoy this week’s newsletter and I look forward to seeing you all at Back to School Night.

Many Blessings,

Joanna Barlow

Principal

Back to school night is this Thursday, September 21st, at 6:30 p.m. Please meet in the auditorium for a brief presentation before being dismissed to the classrooms to meet your child’s teacher. Teachers will give a brief overview and expectations for the class. The night is set aside for you to meet the teachers, get a feel for your child’s day to day, and have your general questions answered. Individual conferences will be held in October.

Attention parents:

The Genesis Parent Portal will open on Tuesday, September 19, 2023. At that time, you will have 10 days to sign two important forms: the Photography Release Form, and the Student/Parent Handbook Sign Off Form which indicates that you have read the Student Parent Handbook.

During The 10-day period it is extremely important to check to make sure your contact information in Genesis is correct. We use your Genesis contact information all throughout the year to send important information home.

New parents/guardians, be on the lookout for an email from the Genesis Help Desk. The email will provide your Genesis sign in and temporary passwords. This information will be coming to the email address you gave the school at registration. Existing parents, if you are having trouble logging into your Parent Genesis Account please click here for helpful information.

I am extremely excited to tell you about a new scholarship opportunity for our students. Jeff Colonna, Sacred Heart School class of 1980, has established a memorial scholarship in memory of his mother Alison Colonna. Click here for the scholarship criteria and application. Deadline to apply is Friday, September 29, 2023. Completed applications can be delivered in person or emailed to schooloffice@sacred-heart-school.org

On behalf of Sacred Heart School, I would like to extend a big thank you to Deacon Chuck Moscarello and his wife Cathy for purchasing a new freezer for our school. For those who do not know, on August 27th, at the 9:30 Mass, Deacon Chuck experienced a serious medical episode. Parishioners and Father John quickly responded. Nurses and medical personnel at the Mass immediately tended to Deacon Chuck in his time of need. Mount Holly First Responders arrived and supported him as they transported him from the Church to the Hospital. Their diligence and attention to Deacon Chuck saved his life.

The Moscarellos’ wanted the gift of this freezer to serve as a thank you to the Sacred Heart Parish. They asked that we accept this gift as a token of appreciation for the gift that was given to Deacon Chuck that August day.

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 through October 15. During this month we will celebrate the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. This will be done via our morning announcements and in our classrooms through various lessons and conversations. Our librarian, Mrs. Asch will be highlighting books about Hispanic cultures as well as books written by Hispanic authors. We will also create a display of traditional Hispanic artifacts to be showcased in our front display case. 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.

At our opening faculty meetings, concerns arose regarding our student tardiness policy as well as parameters regarding students emailing their teachers. As a result, the following

updates are reflected in the Student Parent Handbook.

TARDINESS

Arriving at school in a timely manner is essential to the productivity of the day for

your child and for the children around him/her. With that in mind, students are

expected to be in their homeroom by the start of homeroom: 7:50am. Any student

entering the building after 7:50am will be marked tardy. It is essential that students are

present for opening exercises and morning prayers. Students who are late

disrupt the morning routine and are not present for important activities that start the

day in a meaningful way. Any student who enters the building after 7:50am must

report to the main office to obtain a late slip. Since our first period is starting at 7:55

the back door will be closed promptly at 7:50. Please do not ask the door monitor to

hold the door open since that person needs to report to teach a class. You must park

and sign your child in at the main office.

Lateness will result in charges of absence:

For instance, arriving any time between (7:51 - 9:30) would be charged a .25 absence. Four of these lates would result in a 1 full day absence. Of course, exceptions will be made for excused lates which may include: arriving late because of a doctor's appointment or a family emergency. These would not count towards the charged time.

To get adjusted to this new policy we will allow the first three lates without being charged. However, once a student reaches the 4th late the teacher will begin recording lates for the student.

COMMUNICATION

Prior to this year, the Student Parent Handbook stated: Students may not email teachers.

We know that in this digital world there may be times when students need to reach out to their teachers via their school gmail account, therefore, the handbook has been adjusted to read: All e-mail messages must include the sender’s name and a legitimate return address.

Students may only email teachers for academic or emergency purposes.

Here you will find the September Lunch Menu. Please be aware due to rising food costs school lunch is now $3.90 this is a 10 cent increase from last school year.

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

Due to high demand, Soccer Shots has opened a second class for K-2nd grade students on Tuesdays. If interested, you can access the link here to register for the class.

If your child is preparing to make a Sacrament this year (2nd graders are invited to make 1st Reconciliation and 1st Holy Communion, 8th graders are invited to the Sacrament of Confirmation), be sure to look at the Sacraments website, updated by our Coordinator of Religious Education, Mrs. Barbara Kane. The site has a great deal of important information for the year. A registration form was distributed by the 2nd and 8th grade teachers. You can also find a copy here. If you are planning on your child receiving a Sacrament this year, please be sure to complete the form as soon as possible.

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.

The Friends of Sacred Heart School (FOSHS) is a newly-formed organization which exists to

provide support to SHS. They consist of parishioners and alumni whose love for our School, and recognition of the value of Catholic education, have inspired them to dedicate their time, talent, and experience to supporting SHS through the creation of various fundraising endeavors.

The "Legacy Brick Fundraiser" was established to pave the way to our future while honoring our past. The brick fundraising campaign began last spring and has been so successful that they extended the deadline to purchase bricks. The deadline to purchase a brick is now Friday, September 30, 2023. Click here for the Legacy Brick order form.

The FOSHS are also sponsoring a Country Line Dancing evening at Sacred Heart School. Save the date: Saturday, October 14th, 7 pm - 10 pm. Be on the lookout for more information regarding this event.

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