Weekly Newsletter: Sept. 29, 2019
This Week's Schedule
Monday, Sept. 30
  • Feast of St. Jerome (Jerome House Students wear shirts)

Wednesday, Oct. 2
  • Coffee with Mr. Cruess (7th & 8th Grade) 8am-8:30am
  • EDGE Kick Off 6:30pm (see details below)
Thursday, Oct. 3
  • Virtus Training (Spanish) at SBC church 6pm-9pm

Friday, Oct. 4
  • Mass 8:30am
Principal's Message
There are many instances in Scripture that show the importance of a shared meal - from Abraham's hospitality toward his three unknown guests, to the wedding feast at Cana, the feeding of the five thousand, and of course, the Last Supper.

Sitting down together and sharing a meal is something that builds relationships and develops positive lines of communication. I encourage each of our families to try to share a meal together every day. During the meal, practice the art of conversation with your kids.

Discuss your day and theirs in a way that builds strong family bonds and always serves to glorify God.

Sean Cruess, SBCS Principal
Here's the current standing:
St. Augustine -- 12
St. Ambrose -- 8
St. Jerome -- 6
St. Gregory -- 5

There are many more activities over the rest of the school year, get involved!
Monday, September 30 is the Feast of Saint Jerome. 
All students in Jerome House should wear their House t-shirt with their regular uniform on that day.
Do you have a child in preschool?
If so, can we count on you to take some Open House flyers to share with your preschool about St. Benedict? Parents always love to know where other students in their child's preschool class attend, and this is a wonderful way to help spread the word about St. Benedict! Able to help?

Email Gretchen Ridgely at  admissions@saintbenedictschool.org  today! Our Open House is coming up on October 16, so please let her know asap. THANKS!
100 Acts of Service
This year our school is working to achieve 100 Acts of Service for our RVA community and beyond, in thanksgiving for our Centennial!

Our students, teachers and faculty - as well as our parents - are encouraged to help us identify worthy organizations and efforts that could benefit from our non-monetary support (letters to veterans, visits to nursing homes, canned goods and gently used item donations, for example). 

If you have an idea for an Act of Service, please email Mr. Cruess at  scruess@saintbenedictschool.org .  
Blood Drive
On Sunday Oct. 13, we will have one of those wonderful 100 Acts of Service opportunities for our parent community's participation! 

Parents, faculty and family members 16 and older  are encouraged to help us support The American Red Cross by joining us and our Knights of Columbus for a Blood Drive being held at our school in St. Anselm Hall from 9am - 1pm.

Please see the flyer for directions on scheduling your appointment time on the 13th! Donating blood is a simple thing to do and makes a BIG difference in the lives of others. 
Volunteer
Help Distribute Lunches
School lunches are  delivered and labeled  for each ordering child by Yay Lunch. It's easy-peasy, but we need parent volunteers to help give them out!

And your kiddos will love to see you during their lunchtime. You just have to be VIRTUS trained and background checked to participate.  Here are the times - CHOOSE ONE or CHOOSE ALL we're just grateful for your help:
  • 11:30am - 12:00pm
  • 11:45am - 12:15pm
  • 12:15pm - 12:45pm

School Payments
FACTS
Did you know whenever the business office enters a charge or payment you get an email notification from FACTS. Remember, the date of the transaction is the date that it was entered into FACTS not the date that the event occurred. If you want to know more, you can log into your FACTS account and look at the Transactions Tab. If you don't see the full description, you can click the hyper link to get more information. If you still need more information, please email Elizabeth Hanson: ehanson@saintbenedictschool.org
Share the Saint Benedict Love
What do YOU love about St. Benedict?
Drop a quick email to Gretchen ( admissions@saintbenedictschool.org ) and let us know what your family appreciates about our amazing little school! Our close-knit community? Our supportive teachers? Our awesome Catholic culture? Our small class sizes? Our classical curriculum?

Whatever it is, please share it with us! Even better, send a little selfie of you and your student/s along with it and we'll share it with our online visitors. Just a couple of sentences will do and it means so much! Thank you!!
William Asher is in 2nd grade and is class of 2026. His mom shared on Instagram that he is one of the third generation of Muldowney's to attend Saint Benedict School. She said he doesn't know it yet, but he is making history. Thank you for tagging us Lizzie!
Got a referral family for us? We love those too! So, send them to one of our upcoming Open House Events. And thank you in advance for helping spread the word about our amazing little school!
Service
Annual NET Retreat: Host Families Needed

St. Benedict's is hosting a NET (National Evangelization Team) retreat for our middle-schoolers on Tuesday, November 5.

This is an annual event, and it is one of the students' favorite days of the year. The time they spend with committed young evangelists is both fun and Spirit-filled, and the SBCS community is fortunate to benefit from the NET team's enthusiasm and commitment to Christ.

One of the school's responsibilities in hosting the NET team is to provide accommodation for its 11 members on the night of  Monday, November 4 . SBCS has been blessed in past years with a generous response from its families, and I hope that we can rely on you again this year.

If you are willing and able to host 2-3 young evangelists in your home  Monday, November 4,  share dinner with them ,  and provide them breakfast in the morning, please let Mr. Cronheim know at  jcronheim@saintbenedictschool.org .
Join Us for School Mass 8:30am Fridays
Friday, October 4
Choir: 2nd Grade
Lectors: Jose Bautista, Michael Williamson
Servers: William Proctor, Olivia Panchyshyn, Max Brunner

Friday, October 11
Choir: 7th Grade
Lectors: Magdalen Fitzpatrick, Luke Whaley
Servers: Liam Cruess, Dominic Laschon, Seamus Cruess
Ministry & Events
SBCS Parent Prayer Ministry

In honor of October being the month of the rosary, parents will be gathering every Tuesday to pray the rosary together. We will pray for our students, our families, our school, and any intentions that the school community has. 

The first Parent Prayer gathering will take place on Tuesday, October 1 at 8:15am - we will meet at Saint Benedict Church by the Saint Benedict statue in the courtyard.

Depending on the weather, we will either pray outside in the Mary Garden or in the Saint Gregory room.

Drop your kids off for school, and join your fellow parents for a time of prayer. If you have questions or prayer intentions to share, please contact Rhoda Bevc at  rhodabevc@gmail.com

Additional dates:
October 8
October 15
October 22
October 29
K-5 Parish Religious Education for grades Kindergarten through 5th grades is being moved from Wednesday nights to Sunday mornings between the Masses from 9:45am-10:45am and will be located in the same rooms as last year at the parish school.

Classes will begin on Sunday, October 6. 
The Edge Kick-Off will be on Wednesday, October 2 from 6:30pm-8:00pm at St. Benedict Catholic Church.

All 6-12 graders are welcome! Dinner will be served.  

 Edge, middle school youth ministry and religious education, will take place from 6:30pm-8:00pm on Wednesday nights in the St. Anselm Hall of the Parish School after the kickoff. 
Registration Open!
Registration for Kindergarten through 5 th grade religious education, Edge middle school youth ministry and religious education, The Rule high school youth ministry and religious education, confirmation preparation, and First Penance and Communion is open! Please register online on the parish website. 
First Penance/First Communion Sacramental Preparation
The deadline for signing up for First Penance/Communion (age of reason: 7, typically in 2nd grade) is October 6.

Registrations are online on the parish website and letters with schedules are on the parish website and side porch. Classes for First Penance/Communion will take place on select Sundays between the Masses from 9:45 to 10:45am. 

Please remember that any child preparing to receive sacraments must be concurrently enrolled in religious education, which is different than sacramental preparation. Sacramental preparation for First Penance/Communion is required to occur through the parish, not the school.

Religious education, however, can take place either through a Catholic school, parish religious education program, or a homeschool program. In some cases, a young person will be receiving both religious education and taking sacramental preparation courses. School students have their religious education covered in class. 
From the PTO
The Next Generation of Box Tops is Here!
The Box Tops program is changing. Families can now download the Box Tops app to "clip" their Box Tops.

The new and improved mobile app uses state-of-the-art technology to scan your store receipt, find participating products, and instantly add Box Tops to your school's earnings online. You can even "credit" your child's House for the school competition.

We are still collecting paper Box Tops and those collection dates will be announced soon.

Our SBCS Goal for Box Tops for Education is set at $1,000. Right now, through mobile app users, we are at $13.00.

Download the app and text a screenshot of it with your child's House name to 757-812-4509 and your child's House will receive one point. 

For more information on changes to the program, please visit www.bfte.com
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