WEEKLY NEWS
November 14, 2017
CLASSICAL EDUCATION CORNER
St. Benedict, our Patron
You'll want to enjoy and share this story about our Patron, Saint Benedict with your children!  

Only 4 days to Grandparents Day - Friday, November 17th !
Your grandchildren and Saint Benedict staff are looking forward to our visitors. 
Please keep the following in mind:

8:30am        Registration & continental breakfast in St. Anselm Hall; please enter
                    school on Belmont Avenue - look for the balloons!
9-9:25          Welcome
9:30-10:25   Classroom visits
10:30-12:15 Mass and students' Veteran Day Tribute
12:30           Dismissal at church for students going home with grandparents;
                    but students MUST have a permission slip from the parents on file at
school by Wednesday, November 15, naming the grandparent the
child will be leaving with.
1:30             All other students stay at the school, have lunch and are dismissed at
1:30pm
VIRTUS
A friendly reminder to please read your monthly VIRTUS bulletin. Log into your VIRTUS account at least once a month to keep up with the latest training bulletins. You should be receiving reminders via email, however email filters will often block these messages so if you are not receiving them on a regular basis, please make an inquiry at helpdesk@virtus.org.  
Saint Benedict in Pictures This Week:
Junior Kindergarten at the PUMPKIN PATCH!!   
PTO News
We STILL need a few parent volunteers to make November 17th a fun and memorable event for our grandparents and students. Sign up here: Grandparents Day 

Please join us at out PTO meeting THIS Thursday, November 16th at 6pm.  All are welcome and we look forward to greeting new faces!!
Student Council News
This week the Student Council will be sponsoring a canned food drive for the Little Sisters of the Poor. Please bring in as many items as your family can spare. The classroom with the most cans by percentage will receive an ice cream party compliments of the Student Council. 
Suggested items: tea (individually wrapped), candy, spaghetti and macaroni, spaghetti sauce, canned or dried fruit, beans, canned meat or fish, condiments, toiletries, and paper goods. All donations are graciously accepted! Thank you for your support of this very worthy charity.
Drop off and Pick up Reminders
School hours are from 8:10AM-3:00pm. If you are dropping your child off after 8:15am, please walk them into the building and sign them in. If you need to pick your child up before 3:00pm, please call ahead or send a note so the teacher has time to get them ready. If you do not have an appointment or emergency, please wait and follow normal afternoon dismissal procedures at 3:00pm. 

And a note concerning MORNING Drop Off:
For parents dropping off students at the front door of the school in the morning, please do not make a U-turn on Grove after dropping off. It is both illegal and unsafe.

Thanks so much for your assistance.
For PARENTS on TEENS
JESUS WAS A TEENAGER TOO! (though perfect)
You are invited to come to a special presentation by Catholic Psychologist Dr. William T. McKenna, on Wednesday, November 15 th .
You will not want to miss this evening which will give you deeper insight about your
teenager(s). The evening will take place in the library of the St. Benedict school.
Light refreshments will be provided beginning at 6:30pm and the presentation with begin at 6:45pm with time for Q & A, ending by 7:45pm.
 
This event is for parents only , children and teens are not allowed to attend. Children ages K-12 may attend our parish’s religious education this evening.
 
For planning purposes, kindly RSVP to Rob Hamrick by Tuesday Nov. 14, if you plan to attend.
Upcoming Events at Saint Gertrude High School
Thursday, November 16 is Visitors' Day at Saint Gertrude High School. It's going to be another fun event and we encourage all 8th grade girls to register to visit for the day.  Please arrive no later than 8:15 AM to meet your hostess as our day will begin with Morning Gathering at 8:20 AM. Lunch will be provided and we conclude the day with an SGHS Talent Show and dismissal at 2 PM.  You can register at  www.saintgertrude.org/visitorsday.

Admission Testing We will again be using the OLSAT test for our Admission Testing. The testing dates are:  Saturday, December ​9​, Saturday, January ​6​, and Saturday, February ​3​. We will again invite parents to join us in our Board Room for refreshments and a short presentation and Q&A about Saint Gertrude while their daughter is testing. The test is in two parts: the OLSAT test is a timed 72 question , 40 minute aptitude test. The second part is an un-timed writing sample. You can register for testing at www.saintgertrude.org/admissions then click on Dates & Deadlines.
Upcoming Dates
Nov. 15 Admissions Open House, 9-11:30am
Nov. 16 PTO Meeting, 6-7pm, Cafeteria
Nov. 17 Grandparent's Day
Nov. 17 Early Dismissal at 1:30pm
Nov. 22-24 No School - Thanksgiving Holiday