Weekly Newsletter Welcome Back!

• HALF DAY- TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 & 6 NO AFTERNOON EDP
• NO SCHOOL - MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 - HAPPY LABOR DAY!
• BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21

Dear SHS Parents,

Welcome Back to School! The faculty, staff and I are bursting with excitement and can’t wait to open our doors to the 2023-2024 school year! Our first week is a shortened week but is jam packed with academics, prayer life, and special surprises for our students.

Following the footsteps of previous SHS Principals, I too will continue the weekly newsletters. Each week you will be receiving my newsletter filled with important information such as: the monthly lunch menu, a link to access "My School Bucks", a letter from me highlighting events in our school, and so much more. The newsletter is intended to keep you informed and connected to our school.

One of the most important jobs I have as Principal is making sure the safety and security of our students is our top priority. Recently, I attended and participated in the four-day NJDOE School Safety Specialist Academy. As such, I am now certified as Sacred Heart School’s School Safety Specialist. The curriculum for the academy was all encompassing and included information about drills, resources, planning, response teams, reunification processes etc. Throughout the school year I will be working with our faculty and staff to build upon the many safeguards that are currently in place. We will prioritize school safety by raising awareness through professional development, enhanced communication, and detailed plans. Stay tuned for safety updates throughout the school year.

Let's begin by making sure everyone arrives to school safely. Our first day of school is Tuesday, September 5th. Drop-off begins at 7:30am. Please remember to pick up your child at 12 noon if your child is in PreK or 12:15pm, if your child is in our K-8 program.

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.

On the first two days of school:

If you are a Kindergarten parent or parent of a new student, you are permitted to park your car, walk your child to the main gym door where a staff person will greet you and assist you to your child’s classroom.

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.

We look forward to a happy, hope-filled and safe school year. A year bursting with new knowledge, new faith, new friends, and so much more. We can’t wait to see all the happy smiling faces! As we start the new school year take solace in knowing your children are in a faith -filled community with educators who are here to guide, care and love them each and every day.

Many Blessings,

Joanna Barlow

Principal

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.

To help us celebrate the new year the PTA will be giving each child an icy treat on Wednesday September 6 during their snack time. If you do not want your child to partake in this for any reason, please alert your child's homeroom teacher.

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

Friday, September 8 is our first monthly school mass. Most of our masses will be held on the first Friday of the month. Students should wear their "dress" uniform to all school masses. Each month a different class will help with the mass. This month our school choir will sing and some of our middle school will help bring up the gifts and say the intercessory prayers. Next month 8th grade will be in charge of the mass. All parents/guardians, friends and relatives are invited to attend.

Our virtue for the month of September is HOPE, please encourage your child to trust in God's loving plan this month and always.

Our band/string program is run through Northeastern Music Programs, students in grades 3-8 will attend an informational demonstration of various musical instruments on Friday, September 8. If you would like your child to participate in our instrumental program please attend the virtual meeting regarding Band and Orchestral Instruments on Tuesday, September 12th, 6:30 PM

For more information information and to access link for the upcoming Band/String Instrument Parent Meeting, which will be held virtually via Zoom please check out the following links.

North Eastern Music Program

Virtual Parent Meeting

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!

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

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 having trouble logging into your Parent Genesis Account please click here for helpful information. It is extremely important to check to make sure that your contact information in Genesis is correct.