Week of December 5, 2021
Here are a few short snippets from our sweet JK class performing on our Day of Service for our friends and residents at St. Francis Home. ❤️
Coming up this week....
For all in-person events, indoor masking is required regardless of vaccination status.

  • Tuesday, Dec. 7th:
  • Feast of St. Ambrose. St. Ambrose House only wears (green) House Shirt.
  • Deadline for Santa Shop items

  • Wednesday, Dec. 8th - 8:30am Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Middle school wears dress uniform.) This is a holy day of obligation in the Catholic Church. Families are welcome to attend.

  • Thursday, Dec. 9th:
  • SANTA SHOP - Yay!
  • TAG DAY $2 to wear your Christmas-themed clothing!

  • Friday, Dec. 10th: School Mass at 8:30am, followed by reenactment in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Parents welcome.


PLANNING AHEAD:
  • Dec. 14, 15, 16:
  • Middle School Exams (MIDDLE SCHOOL ONLY will dismiss at 12:30pm each day.)
  • Wednesday, Dec. 15th:
  • JK & K Parents! Coffee with Mr. Cruess at 8:30am (cafeteria). See info below with sign up!
  • Friday, Dec. 17th
  • Lessons & Carols; 12:30 Dismissal from Church (NO ASE)
  • Dec. 20 - Jan. 2nd Christmas Break! Students return Monday, Jan. 3rd

Check out our school calendar on the website HERE!
Need a past newsletter? Check out our archives on the website HERE!
Principal's Corner


Day of Giving
My sincere thanks to everyone who has supported our #igivecatholic fundraising challenge that culminated on Giving Tuesday! To this point, we have raised $27,960 with 66% participation from our families. That's WONDERFUL, and we are so grateful for your participation! As you know, our goal is always 100% participation. It's not about the size of the gift, but rather about all of us pitching in and doing what we can to support our school. So if your family hasn't made a donation to support this year's campaign, offline giving has been extended until tomorrow - Monday, Dec. 6 and we'd be grateful if you could help us reach our 100% participation goal!

We'll also be recognizing the House that has raised the most money for our campaign on Monday and an email will go out and will also be posted on our social media! On Tuesday, Dec. 15th we're going to have a special free Tag Day in that House's honor, with the entire school wearing their house color! Stay tuned!

This year's iGiveCatholic effort marked the "re-launch" of our Centennial Campaign, which is now being done in partnership with the diocesan-wide Learn to Lead Campaign. Funds raised by our school will stay with our school and will be used to complete our Centennial Campaign plans. We are especially excited about the plans for renovating our smaller playground. The playground equipment will provide new play options for all of our students. Because tuition goes to our operating budget for day-to-day expenses, it takes additional funding for major capital expenditures like these. We need everyone's help and support, and we are so grateful for our generous community. We look forward to sharing with you more designs of the different features the new playground will include!

Day of Service
What a Day of Service we had this past Tuesday! We are so proud of our Comets and all they did to be good stewards in our school, in our neighborhood and in our greater community!
  • Junior Kindergarten made Christmas pictures and sang for our friends at St. Francis Home.  
  • Kindergarten made a great big spiritual bouquet of prayers for our Foundresses, The Benedictine Sisters of VA.  
  • Letters of joy and love for our buddies at Children's Hospital at VCU were sent by our 1st Grade Class.
  • 2nd Grade made prayer cards for friends who receive the lunches we make for Richmond Friends of the Homeless each month.
  • Our 3rd and 4th Grade classes spent time weeding our garden and over at our beautiful Church.
  • 5th and 6th grade made rounds picking up trash around our playground and our alleyway.
  • 7th grade spent time cleaning chairs and tables in our school's meeting room.
  • 8th grade sorted and delivered our school family donations of coats and shoes to our neighbors at Coats for Kids and Soles for Souls.  
What a truly AWESOME day!! 

And special thanks to some of our PTO moms for coming in to bake and serve up some delicious brownies at school that day for our students to enjoy at lunchtime. It smelled so good throughout the building and they were a wonderful treat that we all enjoyed!!
Santa Shop is THIS WEEK - Yipee!!
Santa Shop is Coming!! December 9th!
Santa Shop is a fun day that our younger students can shop with a middle school buddy to find Christmas presents for the family! Everybody LOVES our Santa Shop!! 
 
Parents - Clean out your gently used or new items around the house and donate them to our Santa Shop so our little shoppers have presents to purchase!

SUGGESTED ITEMS:
Candles, Christmas decorations, Ties, Scarves, New  socks*,  New  gloves*,  New  hats*, Books, Picture Frames, DVDs, Vases, Jewelry, Kitchen and Dining Ware, Stationery, Tools, Board games, Stuffed Animals, Baby Items, and other new or gently used gifts. 
 
*For hygenic reasons, please only donate these items brand new, never worn, WITH TAGS STILL ON.
 
We also need donations of gift bags, holiday wrapping paper, tape and gift tags.

Deadline for donations is Tuesday, December 7th. YOU CAN DROP THEM OFF IN CARLINE!
Money collected from the sale will go to our 8th grade class trip.
Any leftover items will be donated to a charity thrift store after the event.

VIRTUS Trained parents are also needed to help the 8th graders run the Santa Shop. To volunteer and have fun helping out, click here!
Beautiful Advent Wreaths!!
Thank you to everyone who supported our PTO Advent Wreath Kit fundraiser! The kits from Tommy's Garden were beautiful and just look at a couple of these beauties!!
4th & 5th Grade Book Club!
Mrs. Clark will host an after-school book club for students in the fourth and fifth grades. We will meet twice a month on Mondays from 3-4pm in the school library. If your child is interested in participating, please sign up HERE. The introductory meeting will be held on Monday, January 10, 2022.
Substitute Teachers Needed
Saint Benedict School is looking for substitute teachers. Applicants should have their college degree and will have a background check performed as part of the application process. Please contact Sean Cruess or Pam Autry at 804-254-8850 if you are interested. Thank you!
Lost & Found
Parents, please encourage your child to check our Lost and Found closet in the Cafeteria. It is filled with water bottles and uniform fleeces. We will be cleaning out the Lost and Found closet over Christmas break and donating all remaining items to charity.  
Growing in Our Faith
Yay Lunch Gift Cards
The Perfect Holiday Gift: Yay Lunch Gift Cards
If you are looking for a holiday gift for your child’s teacher, your friends, or yourself this holiday season,Yay Lunch has just the thing for you! You can now order holiday gift cards in quantities of $15, $35, and $50 + write a custom message for your recipient. You can purchase them directly on yaylunch.com and you can order until December 22nd.

Give the gift of lunch this year! Find out more on how to give the perfect gift on yaylunch.com
Reminders & Up and Coming...
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For the Health of Our Community
Mask Policy (as of 8/13/21):
The statewide public health emergency order requires the wearing of masks in K-12 schools when indoors regardless of vaccination status. This Order was effective immediately and shall remain in full force and effect until the CDC guidelines for K-12 schools change, or unless this Order is sooner amended or rescinded.
• Indoors: Masks are required for all individuals aged 2 years and older, including students, teachers, staff, and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.
• Outdoors: Masks do not need to be worn when outdoors.

And remember...
ONLY COME TO SCHOOL IF….
  • Your temperature is under 100.4 degrees.
  • You do NOT have other symptoms of COVID-19, without an alternative diagnosis. Other symptoms include chills, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
  • You have NOT had a positive diagnostic test for the virus that causes COVID-19 in the prior 10 days.
  • You have NO known exposure to a COVID-19 case in the prior 14 days.
  • Please notify the school about a positive COVID test or possible exposure by sending an email addressed to pautry@saintbenedictschool.org, dlawrence@saintbenedictschool.org, and scruess@saintbenedictschool.org.