Dear St. John Paul II Families,
Wow! What a weekend, thank you to everyone for coming and enjoying our Snacks with Santa and Holiday on the Parkway! It was a true success! Don’t miss out reading below about our Robotics teams' BIG weekend too!
We are busy hosting many Christmas events and I look forward to seeing you at the evening performances as our students share their talents! Next week as we close the semester, please be mindful of the Mass change to 9:30 a.m. due to our dismissal on
Friday, December 15 at 12:00/12:15/12:30 p.m.
I hope you all are enjoying the beginning of Advent! As we celebrate the first week of Advent, and after listening to the homily this past weekend, I was reminded that in the hustle and bustle, the busy, and the trials, I should be waiting in joyful anticipation for the birth of our Lord. We all should be alert and ready to welcome Him. I am hopeful that you will join me in awakening our Christian life, so that we illuminate His glory to all we encounter through love and service. Happy Advent!
In Him we trust,
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Annual Fund
Thank you to all those that gave to the Annual Fund on Giving Tuesday! We raised over
$30,000 in just one day
! It was amazing to see how our collective acts make a large impact. Annual Fund letters will be delivered to your homes this week. If you recently made a gift, thank you!
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Strategic Plan Campus Townhall meeting
Please save the date for the campus-wide Strategic Plan Townhall on January 23. Mrs. Bogard and the administrative team will be unveiling the school's strategic plan and goals for the next three years.
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Middle School: 'Tis the season for testing!
Please mark your calendar for the upcoming Middle School Mid-term Schedule:
Monday, December 11
- 6th Grade Social Studies (PM)
- 7th Grade Literature (PM)
- 8th Grade Algebra (AM),
- 8th Grade Literature (PM)
Tuesday, December 12
- 7th Grade Science (AM),
- 8th Grade IPC (PM)
- 8th Grade Language (AM)
Wednesday, December 13
- 6th Grade Earth Science (AM)
- 7th Grade Theology (PM)
- 8th Grade Theology (AM)
- 8th Grade History (PM)
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Principal Proclamation from Principal for a day
As the official principal of the day on November 30, I hearby proclaim the following:
The Pre-K through 2nd grades will have a pajama day with extra recess
3rd, 4th, and 5th grades will have a homework pass with a crazy hair and free dress day
6th, 7th, and 8th grades will have a homework pass with extra recess and a 10 minute nap and a final after party (Mrs. Drewes's homeroom will receive pizza on the day of recess and nap)
All dates will be scheduled after the holidays as a much deserved treat.
TEACHERS
, Dec. 11 - 15 I proclaim as jean week. Additionally, the teachers will receive one day of a catered lunch - TBD
Macey Saenz,
Fall Principal for the Day
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8th Grade Fundraiser: Nails, Tails & Tennies
Please support the 8
th
Grade fundraiser! Students may buy a pass for only $5 to wear nail polish, untucked shirts, and any color tennis shoes! The pass will be valid on
December 14
! Please download the
flyer
and turn it in to your homeroom teacher or the front office by
December 11
. There must be ONE form per student!
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As the elementary school counselor at St. John Paul II I am blessed to work with your children in a variety of ways throughout the year. One of my favorite interactions with students is through grade level guidance lessons. I schedule these lessons through your child’s religion teacher, and I look forward to these guidance lessons as an opportunity to work directly with your student in the classroom environment. Guidance lessons are designed to address specific social-emotional skills and skills that support successful learning. During these lessons I am able to get to know all the students as learners, but I am also able to provide direct instruction related to life-long learning skills.
Below is a brief outline of some of the skills you can expect your elementary students to be exposed to in guidance lessons at StJPII this year. Our primary mission at StJPII is to prepare all students spiritually and academically to succeed in life and do God’s will. These guidance lessons are designed with this mission statement in mind. I look forward to continuing to work with your children as this year progresses.
(Due to how Hurricane Harvey impacted the school calendar some of the below lessons have already been or will be combined with other lessons to fit into the adjusted school year).
Completed Lessons (PK-5):
- Counselor Introduction: Review of the who, what, where, and when of school counselors
- Being a good listener: we will discuss what being an active listener looks like, sounds like, and feels like as a student
- Filling Our Buckets: a heartwarming book encouraging positive behavior by using the concept of an invisible bucket to show children how easy and rewarding it is to express kindness, appreciation, and love to others.
Skills and lessons to continue to be introduced throughout the year (PK-5):
- Making friends and what it means to be a good friend
- Introduction to bullying behavior: We will cover what bullying behavior is (intimidating behavior that is intentional, repetitive, and taking advantage of an imbalance of power). Equally important to discuss is what bullying behavior is not. Students feel empowered to learn how to identify the difference between what could be an isolated “mean moment” (and how to address that) versus systematic bullying. We will discuss how to identify bullying, strategies to prevent bullying, and the school plan for if you see or experience bullying first hand (always tell an adult).
- Empathy & Respect: Students learn the importance of identifying their own feelings and other people's’ feelings.
I am looking forward to a continued amazing and exciting year at StJPII!
Blessings,
Laura Doherty
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Robotics Teams are Advancing to the Regionals
StJPII Robotics teams are advancing to Regionals! The Robokids won 1st Place on Core Values and Championship Advancement ticket. The Awebots won 2nd Robot Performance and 1st place Champions Award with Championship Advancement Ticket!!
Congratulations to the following students:
Awebots
Alex Schwartz
Claire Kollar
Davis Kushner
Mateo Cardenas
Lizzy DeGeeter
Oscar Quinones
JD Kollar
Noah Mosvold
Ryan Gruen
Robokids
Joshua Cline
Luca Chavez
Miguel Leyco
Ella Matthews
Jenna Beyer
Madeline Escobedo
Caleb Sudkamp
Pablo Escobedo
Zane Beyer
We are extremely proud of these students. The teams brought home three trophies to StJPII!
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StJPII "GIRLS WHO CODE" Club Receives Funding
The StJPII Girls Who Code (GWC) club won a $300 grant from the Girls Who Code organization, a national non-profit organization working to close the gender gap in technology. The grant will be used to purchase three Chibi Clip Starter Kits, which will help the club members learn electronics and coding. Club memberswill make paper circuits and explore programming concepts such as loops, variables, and conditional statements.
Members of the StJPII
Girls Who Code club will benefit from the generosity of the national organization and partners such as AT&T, Dell, Kate Spade, and Estee Lauder, as they create a Computer Science Impact Project that addresses a real-world problem they care about.
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Chess Team to Participate in its First
United States Chess Federation Tournament
The StJPII Chess Team will be participating in their first USCF rated chess tournament at TH Rogers on
December 9
. All chess players, including those who are not part of the program, are highly encouraged to participate. If we have all our players, then we have a great chance to win the School Trophy!
To register for the tournament, please click on this link:
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Men's Retreat
StJPII's Father’s Ministry is designed to focus on strengthening the fathers of our students in faith and love, to help them bring the Catholic faith home to their families and support the mission of the school. As a father of a child(ren) at the school, you are a member of this Ministry. Our ministry includes retreats, Mass and other events that enrich and encourage your faith and witness as a man of God, all in the model of St. Joseph. Our next retreat of the year will be at 6:00 p.m. on
December 7
in St. Jude Hall. All StJPII dads are invited to attend. Please RSVP to Assistant Principal
Dr. Mike Weinman
.
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Love and Logic
Is brushing up on your parenting skills in your resolutions for the new year?!? Come laugh and learn with Former Assistant Principal Mr. Dan Courtney (currently Principal at Christ the Redeemer Catholic School) during a series of Love and Logic workshops beginning in January. Weekly evening sessions will be offered in January and February for $50 per family. (If you have taken the class before, you are welcome to return for a refresher, or send your spouse for free.) For more information, click
here
.
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Early Bird Tickets
Remember to by your Gala tickets at early bird prices! The $99 price goes up on December 31st, so you don’t want to miss out, 200 tickets have already been sold! Go go
jp2.org/gala
to purchase your tickets. For more information or questions, contact:
gala@jp2.org
.
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Wine and Pet Rock Drop Off Next Week
1. Buy a bottle of wine
valued at $25
or more to donate.
2. Find a rock, decorate it, and name it (optional).
3. Bring your bottle of wine and/or decorated pet rock to carpool:
Wednesday and Thursday (December 13-14)
- AM & PM Parkway Plaza carpool line
- PM ONLY Brimhurst walkers line
Friday (December 15)
- AM ONLY Parkway Plaza carpool line
4. At the Gala, buy a $25 pet rock and win a bottle of wine!
What is the Pet Rock Adoption and Wine Pull?
It’s easy, we have combined the totally awesome 80’s pet rock fad with a wine pull and turned them into a fun Gala night activity. All you have to do is donate a $25 bottle of wine and a pet rock to go with it (optional). On Gala night, purchase a $25 pet rock and win a bottle of wine! Click here for
instructions and donor form.
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Thank you for attending Holiday on the Parkway and Snacks with Santa
Thank you everyone for helping make this year's Holiday on the Parkway and Snacks with Santa a huge success including the many volunteers and helpers that helped with the check in table, photographer and to the face painters. Also many thanks to: Eric and Miriam Janda, Olga Saenz, Edith Hernandez, Oscar Melendez, Sherry Dharamsingh, Diane Gonzales, Gail Anderson and Ann Davis.
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It is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…Christmas!
Please consider donating to the PTO Staff Christmas Bonus. Donations are completely voluntary. If you would like to help make a big impact for our staff, send in your donation to the Front Office in an envelope marked, “PTO Treasurer.” Donations are due by
Friday, December 15
. For more information, please see the attached
flyer
.
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Middle School Athletics
Last week, our Girls JV & Varsity basketball teams played the Indians from St. Cecilia. Our Varsity team struggled the first three quarters being down by 10 points but came back in the 4th quarter trying to pull out the win, but came up short losing 46-43. Our JV Lady Saints came out strong from the get-go and finished even stronger defeating the Indians 21-7! Our 6th grade team had off from the game schedule.
On the boys side, we had 1 day of games as well traveling to St. Thomas More with all three teams. The Varsity team had a nail biter of a win displaying some great offense and defense, winning by a score of 54-51, as well as the 6th grade team keeping their lead the whole game to secure their win. Our JV team struggled to keep up with the Tigers losing by a score of 32-24.
Thank you to all who came to the Lacrosse meeting yesterday! It was a great showing of parents and players and we look forward to the progress of being the 1st Catholic middle school to start both a boys and girls lacrosse teams! Please watch the
Saints Weekly
for more info regarding the Practice/Clinic schedule!
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Dads Basketball
StJPII dads play men's basketball on
Wednesday Nights
in the gym at 7:00 p.m. Please contact Mark Gugliotti to be added to the distribution list and for more information:
markgoogs@att.net
or 832-301-1681. Everyone is welcome. It's a fun way to meet other dads and get some great exercise!
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St. John XXIII High School Admissions Information
St. John XXIII College Preparatory school will host an Admissions Information Night on
today, December 5 from 7:00- 8:00 p.m. at St. John XXIII
.
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St. Thomas High School Open House
St. Thomas High School will host an Open House on
January 7, 2018. Open House is a great opportunity to get to know the St. Thomas community by visiting with our teachers, faculty, staff, coaches, and most importantly our students. Attached is a
flyer for more details. To register for the event at
visit.sths.org.
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12/5 Elementary Christmas Program (3
rd
-5
th
Grade), 7:00 p.m.
12/6 Feast of St. Nicholas
12/6 Adoration, 7:40 a.m. All Saints Chapel
12/6 PTO meeting 8:15 a.m.
12/6 Middle School Choir Christmas Concert, 7:00 p.m.
12/7 Dad’s Retreat, 6:00 p.m. St. Jude Hall
12/8 Feast of the Immaculate Conception
12/8 All School Mass, 8:30 a.m.
12/8 School Tours
12/11-12/13 Middle School Exams
12/13 Kinder Christmas Program, 8:30 a.m.
12/14 Band Concert, 7:00 p.m.
12/15 All School Mass, 9:30 a.m.
12/15 Christmas Attire for Students/Early Dismissal 12:00/12:15/12:30, No BASP
12/15 End of the Nine Weeks
12/16 Christmas Holidays
1/2- Classes Resume
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St. John Paul II Catholic School
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1400 Parkway Plaza, Houston, TX 77077
281-496-1500 • 281-496-2943 (fax)
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St. John Paul II Catholic School prepares all students spiritually
and academically to succeed in life and to do God's will.
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