In this issue of the Scribe:
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Dear Parents,
As I was finishing an observation of one of our PE classes recently, a group of primary grade students were lined up as they waited to be picked up by their teacher. Upon seeing her students - some chatting excitedly and others hopping and jumping in line, many with shirts untucked and untied shoe laces, and all with perspiration streaming down their rosy faces - the teacher exclaimed playfully: "O my goodness, boys and girls, look at you! What are you?"
In almost perfect unison, the students responded happily: "We're a hot mess!"
I wonder how many of us feel like a "hot mess" from time to time? I know I do, on a very regular basis, in fact. Some days, after hours of taking care of many things, I find that nothing on the "things to do" list with which I had started in the morning had been checked off. On other days, as I examine my conscience before going to bed, regrets and mistakes of the day confront me, and I find myself saying to the Lord: "I am a mess."
The "messiness" of life can feel truly overwhelming, to adults as well as to young people. Unfortunately, as we all know, it is neither possible nor healthy to shield our children from the difficult things of life. I have been so touched by the stories which some of you have shared with me about how you teach your children to handle challenges, big and small. Some pray the Rosary as a family each evening or in the car on the way to school. Some find a special patron saint with whom their child can connect (for example, St. Joseph of Cupertino is a great one for struggles with studies, St. Francis de Sales is awesome at improving patience and gentleness, St. Therese the Little Flower loves to help build emotional strength). Some make the difficult (but very rewarding) commitment to stop all activities a few evenings each week so that their entire family can sit down together to eat dinner - having dedicated time to share a meal and speak with each other is one of the most effective ways to build strong relationships among members of a family, and it is these relationships which can help us weather the big storms of life!
Our faith assures us that our God is a merciful Father who delights in tending to the "messes" of His children. At the end of each school day, we pray the Act of Contrition because we want to acknowledge our "messes" - we want to ask our Father to clean up these "messes" and bind our wounds. Let us learn from the little ones who announce their "messy" status freely because they trust that the "big people" - their parents, teachers, and, ultimately, their Father in Heaven - will always be here for them.
God bless,
Sister Mary Jacinta, O.P.
Principal
A special "thank you" goes to Stacey Morgan and Stacy Stewart, co-chairs of our upcoming Gala Auction, and their amazing team of committee chairs and volunteers who have been working non-stop to prepare for a fabulous event! I look forward to seeing many of you at the auction and hope that everyone will take advantage of the online bidding - we have many "priceless" treasures! All proceeds from the auction will benefit our efforts to grow our STEM and Twenty-First Centuries skills initiatives: expanding our one-to-one Chromebook program to include our entire Middle School, class sets of iPads to support learning in the primary grades, and STEM workshops for our students (to be hosted by Engineering for Kids®).
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Week of 2/6-2/10:
Wednesday, 2/8
All school Mass - 5B No Confessions Fun Lunch - Jason's Deli - Ham Sandwich Science Olympiad Meeting Thursday, 2/9 3rd Quarter Mid-term Friday, 2/10 Frozen Friday Saturday, 2/11 SCS Gala Auction
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Week of 2/13-2/17:
Virtus Training for K,3,6 & New students
Wednesday, 2/15
All school Mass - 4A
4B Confessions
Fun Lunch - Pizza Hut
Science Olympiad Meeting
Thursday, 2/16
3rd Quarter Mid-term Reports go home
Open Registration Closes
Re-enrollment Forms Due
Friday, 2/17
No School - Teacher In-service
***No school Monday, February 20- President's Day
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Please pray for:
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Congratulations
Congratulations to our Blazers Basketball teams for a wonderful season! A big "thank you" goes to our coaches and assistant coaches for their leadership and dedication. Our 5th Grade Girls team will play at the "Final Four" this Wednesday, February 8 at 6:30 p.m. in our gym - come cheer for this amazing group of athletes and show our Blazer pride!
Congratulations to our 8th grade students, Lucia Touma and Sophia Brun, whose Science Fair projects qualified them to participate in the 42nd Georgia Junior Science and Humanities Symposium sponsored by the US Army and Air Force. These young scientists are among only 20 participants who were selected!
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Basketball Highlights
This past weekend, all of our 5th thru 8th grade SCS Blazer Basketball teams competed in the CMLA Playoffs. All of our teams battled hard and played their hearts out. SCS Basketball was represented well and we are very proud of all of our Blazer players and teams.
We have one team still in contention in the Playoffs. Our 5th Grade Girls have advanced to the "Final Four" and will play Wednesday night (2/8) in our gym versus rival St. Joe. Game time is at 6:30 pm.
For those who are free Wednesday night, please come on out and cheer on our girls in the big game. A win will make our girls the first SCS Girls team in school history to advance to the CMLA Championship Game. Hope to have the gym rocking and create a real "home court" advantage!
Go Blazers!
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Special Speaker Presentation
Please save the date for a special presentation by Catholic apologist and speaker, Matt Fradd, on "Parenting an Internet Generation." The presentation will be on March 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the gym.
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International Night
We are now up to nearly twenty countries for International Night. And, a dance troupe from our Hispanic ministry will join us to make a special presentation! Thank you to all who have signed up to host a table. And, we invite all families to come enjoy an evening of cultural celebrations: please RSVP via this link
http://evite.me/SEsDGJpMek
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Today is the Last Day to Buy Raffle Tickets
Thank You for Your Continued Support
In Making This Year's Gala Auction a Big Success
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Annual Fund
Thank you for your generous support of our Annual Fund! To date, we have received $17,975 in pledges from 37 families. We are grateful for the generous contributions that so many of you have made to St. Catherine of Siena. If you have not had a chance to make a pledge to the Annual Fund, there is still time to contribute a gift. The gifts raised will directly support our students, the cost of educating our children, academic classroom enhancements, student programs and services. Please consider a gift and help us achieve our goal with 100% participation. No amount is too small and every gift will make a difference in the success of our amazing school!
! Please click here to go to our webpage to make a pledge. Thank you for your generous support!
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Father Daughter Dance
The Enchanted Forest
Saturday, March 25, 2017
6:00 - 8:30 pm
St. Catherine of Siena Herbert Hall
Hosted by Girl Scout Troop 10393
Grab your fairy wings and your Prince Charming and fly on over for a magical evening.
Your reservation ensures an Enchanting Evening on our Woodland Dance Floor, Fairy Punch and Enchanting Desserts as well as a Photo Booth and one Raffle Ticket for Elementary & Middle School Raffle Baskets. Additional Raffle Tickets will be available in the Forest.
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| Little Free Library is Now on the World Map
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Yearbook Early Edition - Make it Yours!
The 2017 yearbook will be filled with pictures of our year together at St. Catherine's and is must have for all the students! We are happy to offer this all color, hardcover edition at a special price of $25 each! This price is valid from February 1st to March 15th. After this, each copy will be priced at $30. You can order your copy from the following link:
We are excited to inform you that Yearbooks will be available earlier- on May 17, 2017. An insert with all the end of year pictures will be distributed in August, 2017.
Help make the Yearbook spectacular!
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Calling all Photographers
We are busy working on the pages of this unique early edition and are looking for pictures that have been taken during special events, class field trips- very specially TEAM SPORTS!! We need Team pictures as well as action shots of Volleyball and Basketball.
Please send photographs as soon as possible to Mrs. John. Pictures are to be in jpeg format and preferably on a flash drive. You can also send Mrs. John a link to your online collection.
Deadline February 28th, 2017.
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B'Tween Life for Middle Schoolers
On Friday, February 10th at 6:30pm in room 201/202, we would love for our Middle Schoolers, all 6th, 7th and 8th graders to join us for a B'Tween Life Night. What do toothpaste and bullying/gossip have in common? Come and have some pizza, play some games and let's find out! RSVP to [email protected] by Wednesday, February 8th.
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Archdiocese of Atlanta Middle School Fest Registration
Registration for the Archdiocese of Atlanta Middle School Fest has begun! On Saturday, March 4th, hundreds of Middle Schoolers from around the Archdiocese will join together. This daylong event is not to be missed. We will meet at St. Catherine's at 8am, board a bus and spend the day having fun, praying, doing acts of mercy and concluding with Mass with Archbishop Gregory. We will return to St. Catherine's at 7:45pm. $36 per person includes transportation, lunch, a t-shirt and snacks. All fees and forms are due to the PSR office by Friday, February 10th.
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St. Catherine of Siena Preschool
Do you have a little one that will be 16 months to 5 years of age in September of 2017? If yes, St. Catherine's Preschool offers a strong Catholic, educational foundation in a highly academic and creative environment.
Our preschool teachers are loving and qualified individuals that will help mold your children. We are housed in Our Lady of Grace building and have been in existence for 25+ years!
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