St. Peter School Postings

Dear Families,

HAPPY NEW YEAR! As we step into a new year together, I want to extend a warm and sincere Happy New Year to all of our teachers, staff, students and families. The start of a new year is always filled with a sense of renewal, opportunity, and hope. And at our school, that hope is rooted in our faith and trust in God's plan for each of us. A plan that has brought all of us to share life and learning in our school each day of this school year. In our daily work with your children, we are reminded daily of the light and potential they bring to a world in much need of light and hope. They are a living reflection of God's love and a constant source of inspiration to me and all of us blessed to work with them. Thank you for that privilege.

As we continue to carry our theme of hope into the second half of this school year, we are already looking forward to new and exciting events, learning opportunities and the chance to grow in love, learning and faith together. May we all, as parents, teachers, and students, continue to work together to build a culture of kindness, learning, and faith that radiates God’s presence and hope in all we do.

With prayers and blessings,

Mrs. Harris

Congratulations to our first and sixth graders for a beautiful presentation of our 2024 Nativity Play. And thank you to all the friends and families that joined us for this year's play on Thursday, December 19th. You can watch this year's presentation below!

It was a beautiful night and so many families joined in our third annual "Follow the Star" event. Led by our amazing third graders, students and families read scripture and sang songs as we travelled around the neighborhood looking for baby Jesus. The event was followed by cookies and hot chocolate in the Hall. Thank you to our "star" houses, our third graders, our refreshment volunteers and all who attended and helped with this special evening.

We had a very low turnout for the first Carnival Planning Meeting but many decisions were made! With the holidays behind us, we are hoping to have a few more volunteers attend our next planning meeting THIS WEDNESDAY, January 8th, at 7:00 pm in the Annex. All families are asked to participate in the Winter Carnival in whatever way they can. Please bring a friend and try to attend...many hands make light work and this event is one of your child(ren)'s favorite or soon will be. If you are interested in helping but cannot attend the meeting, please email Renay Gontis at rwolfrays@hotmail.com. God bless our school!

With large amounts of snow forecasted for Monday, January 6th, it is POSSIBLE we will have a Snow Day. IF school is cancelled on Monday, January 6th, we will have FLEXIBLE INSTRUCTION DAY #2. Students would need to complete FID Packet #2 at some point on Monday, January 6th and bring the COMPLETED packets to school with them on Tuesday, January 7th. These packets are graded and included in student grades. As was explained in the FID letter sent home in folders earlier this year, packets must be completed and brought to school the very next school day after the Flexible Instruction Day or students will receive a zero for that work. Only extreme circumstances will excuse a student from this work and the work would need made up. Any situations like this are to be directed to Mrs. Harris. We are NOT announcing a school closure for tomorrow but only announcing that IF there is no school on Monday, January 6th, we will have a FID #2. In the event school is cancelled, parents will receive the alerts via School Messenger and our closure will be posted on WJAC TV as well as our Facebook and Instagram accounts. Thank you!

Our local school district (Somerset) makes the decision to cancel/delay school or dismiss early as they are our primary transportation provider. Once we receive the news, as quickly as possible, we send out a phone call, email, and text message to our families and staff using School Messenger. We also post the announcement on Facebook and Instagram (follow us using the information below), and finally, it is called into WJAC TV to include with their cancellations. If our school decides to have a Flexible Instruction Day, we will communicate that information clearly to parents.

For those families who live in neighboring school districts (Rockwood, North Star, Berlin), transportation follows your home district. For example, if North Star has a two-hour delay and St. Peter's does not, North Star transportation will follow the two-hour delay and provide transportation two hours later. These families can decide to transport their children to school themselves, or if that is not possible or safe, students will arrive two hours later than the rest. Students will not be given a "tardy" or "absence" due to local district transportation decisions but will make up their work later. Transportation follows the home district in all cases. If a nearby district chooses to dismiss early and Somerset does not, those families living in that district will be notified separately to determine if students are going home early or if their parents will pick them up at our regular dismissal time. Parents are kindly reminded to alert the school of any changes in contact information to ensure they always receive information in a timely manner.

Thanks to the Baker family for organizing this year's Chicken Barbecue Fundraisers! These chickens are juicy and hot and make a great main dish for your Sunday dinners! Be sure to spread the news and get your vouchers early! We need a few helping hands to bundle up and hand out chickens on both dates. A great way for working families to pitch in and help on a Sunday morning if possible. See details below and voucher order forms will be sent home by January 13th. All vouchers are considered "like cash" and cannot be replaced so handle with care!

• SCHOOL MALL Kickoff! We will be kicking off our 2025 School Mall fundraiser later this week. Last year our classrooms received over $2000 in classroom resources thanks to parents simply sending out some friendly emails. More information will be forthcoming!
• RUNNING CLUB & SKI CLUB: Several students are participating in the Somerset Golden Eagle Running Club and SASD's Ski Club. A reminder to parents that Running Club will begin Tuesday, January 14th and Ski Club begins this Thursday, January 9th. Be sure to come to school with the necessary gear and ENTER INTO PICKUP PATROL any and all PM transportation changes. We have added "Running Club" and "Ski Club" as possible "Dismissal Options" in "Plan Changes." Thank you!

A huge thank you to the many wonderful cookie bakers who provided the sweet treats for our school and parish staff before Christmas. What a sweet and thoughtful event for all!

Email: jharris@saintpeterschool.org

Website: www.stpetersschoolsomerset.com

Location: 433 West Church Street, Somerset, PA 15501

Phone: 814-445-6662

Facebook: SaintPeterSchool1

Instagram: @saintpeterschool1