When you sit down to eat, pray.

When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so generous to you.

If you drink wine, be mindful of Him who has given it to you for your pleasure and as a relief in sickness.

When you dress, thank Him for His kindness in providing you with clothes.

When you look at the sky and the beauty of the stars, throw yourself at God’s feet and adore Him who in His wisdom has arranged things in this way.

Similarly, when the sun goes down and when it rises, when you are asleep or awake, give thanks to God, who created and arranged all things for your benefit, to have you know, love and praise their Creator."

— St. Basil the Great

Dear Families,

Happy Thanksgiving! This is truly one of my favorite holidays. It is a time to be grateful for all of God’s gifts. May you be with family, friends and loved ones this week.

Hall of Saints: Today, the 6 ^th grade presented the Hall of Saints. Each 6 ^th grader selected a Saint to study, researched the life of the Saint, then came to school as that Saint. They became a wax museum of Saints that all the classes visited. To make the Saint come alive and tell their story, visitors pressed a button. It was wonderful!

Reclaiming Childhood in a Digital Age: About 200 people attended the Parent Ed night presented by Dr. Richard Freed. It is so important we come together as a community and begin this conversation on how to support our youth in this ever developing technologically connected world. Attached here is a handout follow up from the presenter. 

Book Fair: The Book Fair will be open for business on Tuesday, November 28 ^th from 2:30-6:30. Come by and stock up on great holiday gifts!

Religion Jeopardy and PJ day: A fun day was had by all as we came to school last Friday in our PJ’s. The best part of the day was competing in religion jeopardy!

Break Ins: Please do not leave anything visible in your car, even if only for a few minutes. There is a huge increase in thefts, where the perpetrators break the window and grab. They are generally looking for computers, phones and wallets. A student backpack is a particular target.

Please be safe as you travel this weekend. Many blessings to you and your family.

Jessica Murray

Principal

SPN's annual Book Fair is coming soon! Visit the Book Fair to find wonderful books and gifts for your child(ren), friends, and family. There is something for everyone. Also, help build your child(ren)'s classroom library by purchasing books from their classroom wish list. 

We will also have a variety of activities that students can participate at the Book Fair to win prizes. Plus, the class with the most attendance at the Book Fair will win the Principal's Challenge, which is Free Dress for the whole class.

Book Fair Dates & Hours:

If you are unable to attend the Fair in person, we invite you to visit our  online Book Fair from Nov. 18 - Dec. 8 at  http://www.scholastic.com/bf/spnalameda.

Before you visit the Book Fair, be sure to download the  Book Fairs app to help you find the right books for your child. For more information, go to:  scholastic.com/bookfairs/app.

CALENDAR

Thanksgiving Break

November 22-24

November

27 - November Birthdays Free Dress

28 - December 1 - Book Fair

December

3 - 1st Sunday of Advent

5 - Christmas Craft Day

6 - Advent Prayer Sevice

6 - Information Night for Prospective Families

8 - Feast of the Immaculate Conception/All School Mass, Full uniform required

10 - Breakfast with Santa

Parish Mass

Thanksgiving Day is November 23. Our mass schedule for Thanksgiving day will follow our regular morning mass schedule: St. Albert the Great - 7:30 am St. Philip Neri - 8:30 am We welcome you to bring your bread and wine to be blessed for your family meal. 

Giving Tree

The Holidays are just around the corner and we, at St. Philip Neri -St. Albert the Great, will continue with our tradition of helping our least fortunate brothers and sisters in our community. This year, St. Philip Neri is honored to sponsor our former pastors’ parishes… Fr. Jojo’s parish, St. Leo the Great in Sonoma and Fr. Aaron’s parish, St. Anthony de Padua in Willits. Their communities have been affected by the recent wildfires. We hope to make Christmas a little bit more comfortable for the families who suffered such great loss. Our Giving Tree for St. Philip Neri will be up by Thanksgiving day. The Giving Tree for St. Albert the Great will be up Thanksgiving weekend and will benefit the St. Vincent de Paul conference. Thank you for your generosity! 

The Divine Mercy Chaplet

For Middle School Families

Would you like to pray for your kid/s using the Divine Mercy Chaplet? There is an opportunity to pray for your child and their classmates with the prayers that our dear Lord gave it to Saint Faustina.

How we will do this? The Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayer using a regular Rosary, but instead of praying Our Father and the Hail Mary there are prayers in witch there will be added the name of every child. For example: ... "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion", Have mercy on (name of the child) on us and on the whole world (10 times the same prayer).

Here is the schedule of the days we will be praying this Chaplet and the classrooms that it would be offered:

7th grade  FRIDAY DEC 01 AT 9:15 am in the "crying room" next to the altar in Saint Philip Neri Church

8th grade  FRIDAY DEC 15 AT 9:15 am in Saint Philip Neri Church