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Dear St. Serra Parents,
As we enter Holy Week I encourage all of us to take a moment to pause and reflect on the many things we are grateful for, including this beautiful place where your children attend school. Holy Week at St. Serra is filled with many activities, some traditional and some new, that our children will be participating in. These include our fourth graders partaking in a prayerful experience of the Stations of the Cross and our second graders participating in a Seder Supper. The week will culminate with our traditional presentation of the Stations of the Cross presented by seventh and eighth grade students, albeit by video this year due to COVID-19.
Our children continue to do well and have adapted to the daily challenges they face. Every day our children show up at school and are ready to learn. Their resiliency is amazing! This moment in time is a ‘window of opportunity’ that will help prepare them for the rest of their lives, both educationally and on their religious journey. We are committed to do our very best to help prepare every child for the next step in their life!
We encourage all of you to attend the Holy Week services at your individual parishes to help instill in your children the understanding of this special time in our Catholic Faith.
Always Striving,
Tim Tolzda
Sr. Principal
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Tuesday,
March 30
• Moment in Time for Moms
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Thursday,
April 1
• Holy Thursday
• Minimum Day Dismissal: 11:15 a.m. (Preschool) & 12:10 p.m.
(TK-8)
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Friday,
April 2
• Good Friday (Full School Holiday)
• Easter Break Begins
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Stations of the Cross on
April 1
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We are excited to keep our traditional Stations of the Cross presentation alive this year, despite challenges presented by COVID-19. A group of 7th and 8th grade students have worked tirelessly together to create a moving pre-recorded presentation of the Stations of the Cross. All TK - Grade 8 students will watch the video in their homerooms during the last period of the minimum day on Holy Thursday, April 1. Preschool will be watching this in the morning. In addition, the link to the video will be sent out to our families to view at home. |
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Student Council Lenten Service Opportunity This Week |
The St. Serra Student Council presents a Lenten service opportunity - hospitality for those in need! The Student Council has organized a community outreach opportunity by designing cards of encouragement. These cards will be distributed to families in collaboration with the Christian Service Food Distribution of St. Norbert’s Catholic Church in the city of Orange. This activity will take place next week during Holy Week. The completed cards are due to Ms. Hubert on or before Wednesday, March 31. |
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Out of State Travel for Easter Break |
In December 2020, St. Serra received a directive from the Diocese of Orange that stated: Students and families who travel out of state can transition to distance learning for 14 days (now 10 days) upon their return or are requested to provide a negative COVID-19 test result for re-entry to campus. While this directive does apply to the Holidays, St. Serra is committed to remaining open for in-person instruction so as a result, we will continue to follow this directive for all out of state travel from now through the end of the 2020-2021 school year. The health and safety of our students and staff are our top priority. Keeping the school open requires all of us to be healthy in order to continue in-person learning here at St. Serra. Please see message from the Diocese of Orange.
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Extended Care Afternoon Pick-up Changes |
TK - Grade 8 afternoon Extended Care pick-up has changed. If your student(s) will be attending Extended Care in the afternoon as a drop-in, please be sure to contact director, Jessica Garcia at jgarcia@serraschool.org or
949-609-9720 to inform her of your student's attendance, and to receive the information needed for aftercare pick-up.
Also, Extended Care will be open after school on Holy Thursday, April 1, only for regular extended care students. No drop-ins will be permitted that day.
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Important Morning Drop-off Reminder |
Just a friendly reminder that the PEB traffic lane closes at the first bell
7:40 a.m. each morning! Teachers and Staff working morning traffic need to get to their classes. IF you are arriving close to or after 7:40 a.m., please drive to the main school entrance in front of the MEC to drop off your children. Thank you in advance for your help and cooperation!
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Hot Lunch is Back
Starting April 12, 2021
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We are pleased to announce that St. Serra's Hot Lunch program will be back in action, starting on Monday, April 12, 2021! In partnership with choicelunch, our parents will soon have the option to order fresh and healthy meals for their Serra Bear students. Please keep an eye out for a separate email communication regarding our Hot Lunch Program next week, which will include instructions on how to sign up and start ordering. |
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Volunteers Needed for Hot Lunch Program |
Get a head start on next years' service hours by volunteering for our Hot Lunch Program, beginning April 12 and continuing through June 10, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Volunteers will earn service hours credited towards next school year. Contact Rosie Chavez at (949) 888-1990 ext. 140. |
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"Why Mom Deserves a Diamond" Winners |
Congratulations to the following students in Mrs. Peterson's 3rd Grade Advanced + ELA class who were all winners in this year's annual mother's appreciation contest.:
- Grayson C.
- Melissa G.
- Varak K.
- Drew M.
- Emma R.
The mission of this contest is to allow all children to express their appreciation for their mothers, to teach kids to become powerful writers, and to prepare them for a lifetime of success by building self-esteem. These students wrote an essay explaining why their mother deserves a diamond and will be awarded a genuine African Garnet or Brazilian Amethyst for their mother.
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COVID-19 Protocol & Student Symptom Decision Tree |
The CDC and the Orange County Health Care Agency continually review and adjust their suggested practices and protocols based on emerging information about COVID-19. This memo is to announce some important changes regarding St. Serra’s COVID-19 protocols based on CDC and OCHCA guidance. Effective January 1, 2021, St. Serra has updated the return-to-school policy when a student
is exposed to COVID-19.
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The last weekly physical card order before Easter Break is due tomorrow Monday, March 29, 2021 by 7:30 a.m. There will be no physical card order the week of April 5, 2021 due to Easter break. Also, attention Ralph’s shoppers:
Ralph’s rebates for quarter ending February 28, 2021 are due and need to be submitted by Friday, April 16, 2021.
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Charism Crusader Award Winners for Trimester 2 |
This year, we have created a new award for our teachers and staff members called the Charism Crusader Award. A Charism is a spiritual, God-given gift or talent that is shared with others. Each trimester, we will give one Charism Crusader award to a teacher and one Charism Crusader Award to a non-teaching staff member.
Mrs. Jung, 6th Grade ELA Teacher, is the winner of the Charism Crusader Award for teachers for the second trimester.
Mrs. MIller, Community Events Coordinator, is the winner of the Charism Crusader Award for non-teaching staff for the second trimester.
Both Mrs. Jung and Mrs. Miller were awarded a beautiful certificate of achievement along with a $100 Visa gift card for sharing their wonderful gifts with the St. Serra Community!
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We are so proud of our students, staff and entire St. Serra community who answered the call on our Red, White and Blue Non-uniform Day, in support of the Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas. We are very happy to announce that a check of a little over $2300 will soon be on its way to Texas! We know during this prayerful time of Lent, we are not to be boastful of our almsgiving, but we just have to say THANK YOU to everyone who participated/contributed for your generous support of this outreach program! |
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Seasons Tuition Assistance Luncheon 2021
Sunday, April 25, 2021
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Season's Tuition Assistance Luncheon Travel Raffle |
Got your travel plans all set for Spring Break or Summer? Well, have we got the ultimate travel bag for you!!
From now until Wednesday, March 31st at noon, for every travel raffle ticket purchased, you will be entered into a drawing to win this beautiful leopard print cosmetics travel bag!
If you already bought travel raffle tickets in the hopes of winning the Swarovski earrings, don’t lose hope just yet! You will continue to be placed in the incentives drawings week after week. If you haven’t bought a ticket yet, now is definitely the time to do so! Buy tickets now and you will be automatically entered into this week's incentive raffle AND next week's incentive raffle too (prize to be announced soon)! Don’t forget! Sell at least 9 tickets for a chance to win the coveted reserved parking spot in the St. Serra main lot!
We are excited to announce the winner of the Swarovski earrings, Mrs. Annie Kretzmer! Congratulations!
You can send in your purchased tickets with your child to their classroom using the provided envelopes (or any envelope you have at home). Don’t forget to designate the trip of your choice in case you win!
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! This event cannot succeed without parent involvement and support. Please consider volunteering for this event. Sign up here!
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Good Times “Fore” a Great Cause!
Thursday, May 20, 2021
Arroyo Trabuco Golf Course
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We need YOU!
Although golfer registration is sold out, you can still enjoy the day by joining us on the green as a volunteer. Volunteers are a huge part of making this event a success. Please note, all volunteer hours earned by helping our Golf Classic 2021 will count toward your 2021-2022 family volunteer service hour requirement. CLICK HERE to sign up now and help support our event!
There are also opportunities to enjoy the day as a beverage hole sponsor, where you can host a hole and make a difference. Details can be found on the EVENT HOMEPAGE.
This event couldn’t happen without the generous support of our sponsors, auction donors and on-course food & beverage vendors. Additional sponsorship opportunities are still available - click on the link below to secure your sponsorship today.
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Morning Social with the Principals |
Mrs. Radzai, Mrs. Reiss and Mr. Tolzda have enjoyed meeting with a number of new families on campus during our "Morning Socials with the Principals." Now, we'd like to open the socials to all families to continue to grow together and build a school community of which we are all proud. All families with students in preschool through 4th grade (middle school invitation will follow for April) are invited to join us in the Chapel Courtyard at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays in March.
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Looking to get involved for 2021-2022 school year? |
The 2021-2022 PTO Board is looking for parent volunteers. Open positions include (but are not limited to) VP of Parent/Child Events, VP of Anchor Ball and multiple Event Chair positions. This is a great way to get involved, meet other parents and satisfy your family volunteer hour requirement for 2021-2022 school year.
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Cancelled: April 1 Family FUNraiser at BJ's |
Our sincere apologies for the oversight in scheduling our April Family FUNraiser on April 1, which is actually Holy Thursday. This is an important day in Catholic tradition, as it celebrates the institution of the Eucharist as the true body and blood of Jesus Christ and the institution of the sacrament of the priesthood.
Please check back in our Sunday News for future Family FUNraiser events as we round out the school year.
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This month, St. Serra received a donation from Amazon Smile in the amount of $230.00 for the period October 2020 - December 2020. Year-to-date, St Serra has earned a total of $339.00 We are so appreciative of all the families who use Amazon Smile and designate St Serra as their charity. It’s easy to contribute to St Serra. Just use smile.amazon.com and designate your charity as SERRA CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
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St Serra has earned approximately $175.00 from Box Tops so far for the 2020-2021 school year. Please continue to clip BOX TOPS and bring them in by the final collection deadline of the year, May 28, 2021.
AND - remember to SCAN your receipts using the app!
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Don’t forget about Coca Cola Rewards! St Serra needs your participation. Go to the website: https://us.coca-cola.com/give/. St Serra is listed as ST JUNIPERO SERRA CATH SCH - RCHO STA MARG - CA - 92688
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