Monday Memo

Dear parents,

As we enter into the holiday season, we are also embarking on the sacred journey of Advent. Advent, derived from the Latin word "adventus" meaning "coming," symbolizes a period of preparation and expectation for the arrival of Christ. It is a time for reflection, hope, joy, and love as we count down the weeks leading up to Christmas. Here at Saint Susanna, we celebrate the themes of Hope, Preparation, and Joy (Advent 2023 Plan). We celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation in grades 3-8 and start our weeks with short prayer services on Monday afternoons led by our intermediate students. We celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception with mass on December 8th and the fun tradition of leaving shoes out for St. Nicholas on December 6th.

May this season of Advent fill your homes with warmth, peace, and the blessings of the divine. Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed Advent season.

Avon Sports Apparel will be in the Fr. Glenn O'Connor Room in the parish center after school on Friday, from 3:30 - 4:45 PM, for our monthly uniform sale. They will have uniform polos ready for purchase and spirit wear items for order.

The December menu is available at the bottom of the newsletter.

God bless, Janet Abdoulaye

We have a 1:20 PM dismissal on Friday, December 23rd to start Christmas break. Extended Day will close at 3:30 PM on this day. Please make arrangements to pick up your children on this date. Your EDM staff thanks you!

Wednesday, November 29th

• Build Each Other Up Shirts with uniform bottoms
  
• 2:50 PM Dismissal

Thursday, November 30th

• All School Mass at 8:45 AM led by 4W

Friday, December 1st

• Spirit wear shirts with spirit wear or uniform bottoms
• Uniform Sale by Avon Sports Apparel in the Parish Center from 3:30 - 4:45 PM

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Future Events:

• Thursday, December 7th: Preschool/Prekindergarten Christmas Program will be in the gym at 6:30 PM.
  
• Thursday, December 14th: Kindergarten - 4th Grade Christmas Program in the gym at 6:30 PM

Students and their families are welcome to experience the joy of Christmas by celebrating mass with us. The 4:00 PM Christmas Eve Mass includes a simple pageant that all children are invited to be in. Click the picture above to go to the signup form for your children to be included in the pageant. All of the Advent and Christmas Season services are listed below.

What is Turkey Bingo without a ... Turkey? Thanks to our special guest, Mrs. Authenreith, for being the evening's Master of Ceremonies and taking her role to heart!

This evening was a great way for our younger scholars to practice literacy skills. The bingo cards had pictures of turkeys engaged in various tasks and used words to describe them as well. Students could decode the pictures or the words to mark their bingos. This allows our pre-readers to further make the connections that printed words and pictures are related to spoken words. It allowed our young readers to practice connecting unfamiliar print words with spoken words, supported with pictures. And most importantly, we gave away more than 100 books to support reading at home. Read, Spartans, Read!

Our second graders read Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet prior to Thanksgiving break. They created their own float balloons and were the puppeteers through the hallways of Saint Susanna!

In order for our cafeteria to be self-sufficient, we must receive regular and timely payments from those who participate in the hot lunch program. As such, I have updated our lunch policies accordingly. Please see below for the excerpt from the attached Student Parent Handbook:

• For any student with a negative cafeteria balance, the student will continue to be eligible for a hot or cold lunch and milk; however, they will not be eligible for extra servings or any a la carte items including bottled water, until the account is brought positive. Students are always welcome to bring their own refillable water bottles to lunch with them.

• Preferred: www.myschoolbucks.com Payments made through MySchoolBucks credit to a student’s account automatically and accounts are updated without delay. Previously setup accounts will continue to work throughout your child’s time at Saint Susanna. Accounts can be set up with the lunch number that will come home in your child’s back-to-school packet. This system also shows parents all of the charges and credits to a student’s account.
• Alternate Method of Payment: Payments made outside of the MySchoolBucks system are subject to delay in crediting your student’s lunch account: 1) Online via www.saintsusanna.com/pay 2) Check sent via backpack mail to Mrs. Carson’s attention clearly describing the amounts to be applied to each student account. Do not send cash.

New uniform polos for K-8th grade for the 23-24 school year must be purchased from Schoolbelles and carry our monogram. Students can also wear monogrammed Educational Apparel red shirts from previous years. Students may not wear non-monogrammed polos as part of their uniforms.

Our plaid is unchanged. Girls may continue to wear the previous years' skirts or can purchase new ones at Schoolbelles as well. You can order through their website at www.schoolbelles.com with the school code S3012. Below is a flyer that shows items that Schoolbelles has to offer. The only item that must be purchased through their company is the monogrammed polos (highlighted). Other items are optional and are permissible in our dress code.

Middle school students will continue to have specially monogrammed shirts available from Avon Sports Apparel.

All volunteers must have a background check and completed safe environment training through the Archdiocese's Safe Parish system. All volunteers' background checks are monitored quarterly. All volunteers must be registered in the Safe Parish system before they can volunteer. Instructions for registering and training are in the newsletter each week (see below).

In order to volunteer in our school building during the day or attend field trips as a chaperone, you must have current safe environment training on file with us. This requirement includes safe environment training and a basic background check through the Archdiocese.

To obtain a new training and background check:

1. Go to the website www.archindysafeparish.org
2. Create an account.
3. You will need a passcode in order to create an account. The passcode is Archindy2021
4. Complete the background check for school or parish VOLUNTEER and select Saint Susanna as a recipient of your information.
5. Complete the training video and questions.

Please allow up to two weeks for this process to be completed.

The service hour tracking form can be found here and a copy will be sent home in the back-to-school packets. We ask that each family complete five service hours this school year. These hours can be completed during school or parish events.

Box Tops for Education

Here’s how it works:

• Step 1: Download the new Box Tops App (iTunes or Google Play) – it’s free
• Step 2: Create a username and connect it to your child’s school
• Step 3: Scan your grocery store receipt. Items with the new Box Tops label will be automatically credited to your school

Does this mean I should stop sending in my paper Box Tops that I have already clipped? No! Continue to send those to the school!

Kroger Community Rewards

Information on the Kroger Community Rewards program can be found here on their website or under the "rewards" tab in your Kroger app. You will need to search for the exact name of our organization as SAINT SUSANNAS SCHOOL PTP . From there, you can link your Kroger card with our organization and a portion of your spending at Kroger will come to us.

St. Susanna Catholic School's mission is to provide a Christ-centered, quality education that prepares and inspires its students to excel as they progress in their scholastic careers. Based on Catholic teachings, our students and staff exemplify the value of faith, service, love, and respect in all situations and with all people.

Email: jabdoulaye@saintsusanna.com
Website: www.saintsusannaschool.com
Location: 1212 East Main Street, Plainfield, IN, USA
Phone: 317-839-3713
Facebook: facebook.com/stsusannaschool