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St. Brendan Weekly Bulletin
December 8, 2021
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Dear St. Brendan Families, |
Today we celebrated Mass for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We remember today Mary's conception free from the stain of original sin. Mary gave God her whole life in response to His grace. How can we give God our whole lives in holy surrender? This is how we can strive for holiness. God chose each of us for this moment. What is he asking of us today? How is he asking us to be holy? We reflect on this today, the day Mary was conceived without sin.
As a Catholic school, we are blessed to have many Advent traditions woven into our classroom lessons to help our students prepare for the gift of Christ. One of our school traditions is our Advent prayer service on Monday mornings. We gather as a school in our gym, light the advent candle, and prayer together as a school community. This week we lit the 2nd candle, representing faith. It is called the “Bethlehem Candle” as a reminder of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem.
We are looking forward to our Christmas program this Friday at 7 pm in the church. Please see bulletin below for details including arrival times of students. Our students and staff have been working hard to prepare for this beautiful evening. This is truly my favorite tradition of the season!
We did not send home Wednesday envelopes this week as we did not have any items to send home. Your child will, however, come home with a holiday scrip order form.
This is the last week to support the 6th grade St. Vincent de Paul collection and the Giving Tree. If you have not participated in these we encourage you to do so. Information is in the bulletin below. Thank you for your generosity!
Reminder that Friday is a 12:45 dismissal. Extended care is available until 5:00 PM.
Thank you for your continued partnership and support.
Blessings,
Catherine Shumate
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December’s Virtue of the Month is Patience: waiting or enduring without complaint. What a perfect virtue for December, where we wait in joyful anticipation of the coming of our savior, Jesus. This month’s guessing jar will be based on St. Monica, who patiently prayed for 30 years for the conversion of her husband and son! If you’d like to practice patience this month, here are some ideas from the VIP program.
Last month’s guessing jar was filled with red candy melts (circular candies) representing the stigmata that St Padre Pio humbly bore. Lucas Orbigo had the closest guess of 340 to the actual number of candies in the jar, 361. Lucas wins some red Gatorade, peppermint Andes candy all in a mini red stocking! Thank you to the 105 students who made guesses and good luck this month!
“Let nothing Disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, Though all things pass, God does not change. Patience wins all things. But he lacks nothing who possesses God; For God alone suffices.” ~St. Teresa of Avila
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Nativity Christmas Program |
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We are excited that our live Christmas Program is back this year! We are able to host this special event with some health and safety modifications.
Our Christmas Program will be this Friday, 12/10/21, at 7 PM in the church. The program will be about an hour long. Students need to be in their classrooms at 6:30 PM.
For health and safety reasons, only immediate family members are invited to attend the live performance. We will record the performance and provide the link that you can share with extended family digitally. Immediate family members who are in attendance will be required to wear masks and keep appropriate distance from other households. After analyzing the survey regarding grandparent attendance, we do have capacity for those who responded to the survey. IF you completed the survey, we are able to accommodate those grandparents at our program on Friday.
Important Information:
- K-8 students need to be dropped off in their classrooms by 6:30 PM.
- Preschool & Pre-K will be dropped off in the church nursery by 6:30 PM.
- There is no assigned seating in the Church. Please take a seat and distance yourself from other households.
- Students K-8 are to participate and stay for the entire program. Performing, listening, and appreciating music are essential elements to their music education.
- Preschool & Pre-K students will perform first and are welcome to leave following their performance. If they have an older sibling, they we join their family in the church, so please hold a seat for your preschool/pre-k student if staying for the entire program.
- K-7 students will not sit in the church for the performance. They will wait in their classrooms until it is their turn to perform, and then return to their classroom after the performance. We will live-stream the performances into the classrooms so the students can see other grades perform.
- Following the program, K-5 students will be picked up by their parent in the classroom. Middle school students will be picked up in the Narthex.
- What to wear – Christmas best! It would be lovely to see the children in the best Christmas attire! Please know that it may get warm in the church, so boys in full suits might be too uncomfortable.
- Christmas best – Christmas colors! Dresses, skirts, slacks, nice shoes. Please no t-shirts, jeans, yoga pants, or dirty shoes.
Also, Extended Care will close at 5 PM the day of the concert to allow parents to dress and feed their children prior to the program.
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Limited Wreaths & Ornaments for Sale - Don't Miss Out! |
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This year the Parent Club purchased a limited number of wreaths and ornament to sell at the Craft Fair. We have some that we are offering to the school community to purchase. The 24 inch wreaths are $33, the glitter church ornaments are $15, and the Santa and Snowflakes ornaments are $10.
Volunteer Request: we are in need of volunteers to sell ornaments and wreaths after Mass on Sunday. We would like volunteers both after the 8 AM and 10 AM Masses. Please contact patricianajour@hotmail.com if you can volunteer.
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St. Brendan Catholic School still has some job openings. We are looking for passionate, caring individuals who want to be part of our faith-filled school community. If you or someone you know would be a good fit, we are accepting applications.
- Preschool Instructional Aide - 3 days/week
- School Custodian
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2 Early Dismissal Days this Month |
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- Friday, December 10th is the end of our first trimester and it will be a 12:45 PM dismissal. Extended care will close early at 5:00 PM that day to allow students time to eat dinner and change before the Christmas concert.
- Friday, December 17th, is our last day of school for 2021! That day will be a 12:45 PM dismissal for all grades. There will not be afternoon extended care available. Please plan ahead for this early dismissal.
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Report Cards and Outstanding Fees |
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The first trimester report cards will be sent home on Friday, December 17th.
Please check the status of your school accounts. Report cards will be held at the end of the trimester if a family's account has any outstanding tuition, fees, or lunch balance. Now is a good time to check to make sure your accounts do not have an outstanding balance.
Please contact the main office if you have any questions about your accounts.
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Happy Birthday to:
12/9 Joshua Shipley 6th grade
12/11 Shaka Girukwigomba 1st grade
12/11 Joseph Marten 2nd grade
12/12 Father Wichert
12/13 John Waltier 4th grade
12/14 Blake Douangphouxai 4th grade
12/14 Tarissa Parsons 4th grade
More birthdays will be announced in the next Weekly Bulletin
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Hello from the St. Brendan School Lunch Program!
The lunch menu is located on the school website and will be updated monthly. You can reference it here: Lunch menu. Middle school WILL have lunch on Friday. Also, to please check your lunch balances. Negative balances were emailed and paper copies sent home today.
Lunch this Week:
Thursday 12/9: Uncle Peteza's Pizza
Friday: 12/10: Cheesy Quesadilla with Refried Beans
Monday: 12/13: Grilled Chicken w/Pita and Hummus
Tuesday: 12/14: Hot Dogs w/Applesauce or yogurt
Wednesday: 12/15: Beefy Nachos
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Who do I contact for questions?
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TWO DAYS LEFT
Annual 6th Grade Drive for St. Vincent de Paul
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The annual St. Vincent de Paul Food Collection is upon us. The collection will take place from November 29th through December 10th. We hope each family will donate $8 or more to make this a huge success for families in need this year; our school goal is $1,000. Please remember that we can only accept financial donations for this collection; no food, please. The hope is to collect money for 15 deserving families in need.
We hope that you can be generous in donating money to this important collection this year. Please contact 6th grade homeroom teacher, Mr. Langston, with any questions (timl@school.saintbrendan.org). Thank you for your generosity and support!
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LAST CHANCE - St. Brendan Giving Tree
Now until Dec. 12
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Can you help bring joy, make spirits bright, and fulfill a holiday wish?
Each year we count on our parish and school community to ensure that our neighbors can celebrate the joy of the holiday season and share gifts with each other. And you are always there! Whether it’s purchasing a gift for a child, a parent or a helping an organization, your generosity brings so much joy and hope!
Please consider stopping by the church Narthex and picking up a giving tree tag. There are plenty of tags to choose from. All items are due by 10 am on December 12th.
**We also need volunteers to help sort and deliver the giving tree items. If interested, please meet in the Narthex on Sunday, December 12 at after the 10am mass. We will be sorting items by family or organization and then delivering them. Any questions, please call or text me. Thank you!!
Sally Skinner (mother of Austin, 5th grade)
(425) 830-7500
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Christmas Store Volunteers
Wow! Today was the Christmas Store. What a very special and fun tradition to allow our students to do their very own Christmas shopping for their family and friends!
Thank you to Camarin Wanamaker for spearheading this wonderful opportunity. Thank you to Mr. Andre and the 8th grade students for volunteering to help the younger students shop and for doing the gift wrapping. Thank you to our parent volunteers (listed below) who helped everything run smoothly. It takes a village to pull off special days like today and St. Brendan has a fabulous village. We are blessed!
Krissy Adams
Mariana Atef
Kat Balagtas
Luz Beas
Tara Bergan
Jenell Boyd
Molly Burdeen
Krystina Coker
Jesenia Dyer
Katrina Engel
Michelle Evans
Tina Ferguson
Melodie Feris
Beth Flajole
Ramie Giley
Lilifer Hogg
Tim Hogg
Trieu Nguyen
John Pioli
Erin Proctor
Amanda Richardson
Sally Skinner
Jamie Yarbrough
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Volunteer Request: we are in need of volunteers to sell ornaments and wreaths after Mass on Sunday. We would like volunteers both after the 8 AM and 10 AM Masses. Please contact patricianajour@hotmail.com if you can volunteer.
Student Store Committee Chair Needed
This involves buying all the fun toys that will be sold at each store, meeting with the student volunteers 1x month to assign jobs, keeping track of profits, organizing the charitable donations, and of course managing the student store one Friday a month. This is a great way to fulfill all volunteer hours in a fun and meaningful way. You will fast become one of the favorite parents that enters the school building.
If you are interested in the position, please email: loughlint@hotmail.com.
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AmazonSmile for the Holidays |
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Procurement, Procurement, Procurement, and more Procurement
We hope you are all looking forward to our Annual School Auction this year April 30, 2022
- Family Procurement Deadline is in February
EVERY Family (K-8th) is required to make a $175 donation in goods or services to the Annual School Auction.*
This donation can be a tangible, physical item that has been purchased. It can be gift certificates for items or services, or it can be a service that you, the family, provide. You are not limited to $175! Many families choose to donate either a single item or multiple items totaling well over $175, but $175 is the minimum. We also ask you to refrain from donating any clothing unless it is sports memorabilia or previously approved by an Auction Chair.
*Families who selected to Buy Out of the Parent Club fundraising do not need to procure an item for the auction.
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Need a Christmas Gift Idea?
We still have a limited selection of custom St. Brendan Glassybabies. These one-of-a-kind votives are green with a St. Brendan cross etched at the top. They are available for sale in the school office for $75 ($25 of which comes directly back to support our school!). Pick one up while supplies last!
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Financial Aid - Fulcrum Foundation |
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Financial aid applications are now being accepted through FACTS Management for the 2022-2023 school year.
Fulcrum Foundation Tuition Assistance Grants
- Available to parish and non-parish families
- Open for entering K-8th grade families
- Income/needs based grants
St. Brendan School Financial Aid Awards/ Fr. Mike Schmitt Grants
- Available to parish and partner-parish families
- Open to entering preschool -8th grade families
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To be considered for St. Brendan School aid, families must also apply for the Fulcrum Foundation grant through FACTS.
- Income/needs based grants
Documents Required
- W-2s from 2020
- Documentation for child support, DSHS, rental receipts, other miscellaneous income
- Any other pertinent documents
Deadline
- Application deadline is January 7, 2022
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All documents must be submitted online by the deadline. If you need assistance scanning and uploading, please contact Christen Lambert in the school office.
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Open House - Spread the Word! |
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Adult Advent Education with Fr. Wichert:
We prepare for Advent with a special class on the liturgical and scriptural aspects of the Advent Season. Please join us on Wednesday, December 15th, 6:30 - 8:00 PM.
Christmas Masses
Christmas Eve Masses: 5pm, 8pm, and Midnight. (All Mass times in English)
Christmas Day Masses: 9am (English) and 11:30am (Spanish)
We will open the Narthex of the church for additional socially distanced seating.
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St. Brendan Giving Tree (grab a tag from the Giving Tree)
Deadline is December 12th
Consider buying a Scrip Gift Card from St. Brendan for the Giving Tree!
Winter Coat, Blankets, Socks, and Underwear Drive
November 11 - December 10th
6th Grade St. Vincent de Paul Drive (monetary donations)
November 29th - December 10th
Extended Care Closing Early - 5 PM to accommodate the Christmas concert
Friday, December 10th
All-School Christmas Concert
Friday, December 10th
St. Brendan Church
7:00 PM; Students report to homeroom by 6:30 PM
Fr. Wichert's Birthday
Sunday, December 12th
Mass Uniform Weekend
December 11th-12th
Main Office Closed at 3:15 PM
Thursday, December 16th
Main office closing to accommodate our annual staff Christmas party
1st Trimester Report Cards Sent Home
Friday, December 17th
December 17th - Early Dismissal
12:45 PM Dismissal & NO EXTENDED CARE
Christmas Break
December 18 - January 3
Merry Christmas!
December 25th
Staff In-Service Day
Monday, January 3
School Resumes
Tuesday, January 4
Financial Aid Applications Due
Friday, January 7
Please note the following calendar changes:
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Monday, January 3rd: No School
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Friday, January 14th: Noon Dismissal
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Friday, March 4th: Noon Dismissal (previously 12:45 dismissal)
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Monday, April 25th: No School
After School Clubs
Chess Club - Mondays
Lego Challenge Team - Thursdays
Lego Club - Fridays
Speech Club - Fridays
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