January 31, 2021
Weekly enews
Dear St. Giles Families,

Happy Catholic Schools Week! This week we celebrate all of what we do and who we are at St. Giles as part of Catholic Schools Week. Our teachers have plans for Zoom activities and other events within our COVID protocols. We will share all of the fun via social media and enews. You can find the themes for each day this week here, CSW Schedule. Thank you to PTO for helping with our planning and providing lunch for all of us on Friday, February 5th!

Today from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., we will be hosting a Virtual Open House for prospective families. Please consider sharing information about the Virtual Open House with your friends, family and neighbors who may be interested in St. Giles School. Encourage them to visit the website for more information about inquiring about attendance for 2021-22. (Friendly reminder: You can receive a $500 tuition credit for referring a new family to St. Giles who registers, is accepted and attends for the full 21-22 school year!)

Registration fee for 2021-22 school year posted Feb. 1
The non-refundable registration fee of $200 for the 2021-22 school year will be posted to your Facts account tomorrow, Feb. 1. 
  • If you have auto payments set up in your account, you don't need to do anything. The fees will process automatically on Feb. 22. 
  • If you have an invoice payment set up in your account, you will need to log in to Facts to make this payment by Feb. 22.
After this payment is made, your spot in next year's class will be secure. 

Stay well,
Meg

Important February Calendar Reminders!
Thursday, February 11th, Trimester 2 Parent/Teacher Conferences
11:45 dismissal for all students, Kids Klub will not be available
Conferences are not required; teachers will contact parents for appointments.
Friday, February 12th, Staff Development Day, No School
Monday, February 15th, President's Day, No School

Uniform Code Reminders!
We'd like to remind all families of our policy around hair and embellishments. Please consult the St. Giles Handbook for a complete list of our policies. A few reminders are listed below:

Hair:
The student’s hair must be neat, clean, and well-groomed. Hair must be off one’s face and out of one’s eyes. Unnaturally colored, severe, bizarre, and extreme styles are not acceptable. Boys’ hair may only extend to the top of the collar and to the ear lobe on the sides. 

Hats:  
Hats are to be removed upon entering the building and may not be worn inside.

Headbands and hair ribbons: Solid white, navy, brown, or black. 

Make-up/nail polish: absolutely none permitted.


We need disinfecting wipes! 
With all of our protocols and daily routines, we are beginning to run low on wipes in our classrooms. If you are able to find wipes and have extras, please send them to school with your Lion or drop them at the office. We appreciate your help and generosity! 
At school we continued to promote inclusive peace lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Children in the primary were told a story from the Teaching Tolerance Curriculum about a bird with one wing who could not reach the food from a raspberry bush. The bird collaborated with various animals to form a plan to cross a busy street to reach the raspberries. As the story is told, the children in the classroom collaborate with each other by replicating the noises of the animals and traffic. The animals in the story cooperate by balancing like acrobats in a circus to press a walk button to allow them to cross the street and reach their goal. After the Teaching Tolerance story is told, the children reflect on examples of when they cooperate together by following the Olweus rules at our school to include others who are left out and the Golden rule to treat others as they would like to be treated. Ask your children examples of the Olweus rule and the Golden rule to help us reach our combined goal of raising children with Catholic values.
2021-22 Scholarship Information
  • January 4  through  April 15 - St. Giles Scholarship Application Opens. Log on to your Facts account and click on Grant & Aid when available. All applications will be reviewed after the April 15 deadline.
We are excited to announce a new PTO sponsored
virtual 3 mile running event:

March 6th and 7th!
Miles for Giles

We hope this will be a fun incentive for our students and their families to get moving as we look forward to spring...and a healthy and safe way to support our school.

Registration is open!

Sign-up here! Registration is $25. You will receive a t-shirt before the race weekend and you will automatically be entered in a drawing to win a brand new fit-bit charge!
Train - Throughout February, our Wellness Committee will share healthy smoothie recipes and fitness strategies. Our P.E. teacher, Mr. Siwek, will help prepare our students with safe running tips and stretches during gym class.
Run/Walk - Wherever you are...on your treadmill, around the block, in your neighborhood. The goal is to walk or run 3 miles on either March 6th or 7th (or both).
Share - Snap selfies as you train and on race day! This is a great way to support one another! Use the hashtag #3milesforgiles
Win - Raffle winner will be drawn on March 7th!

Family Zoom Yoga with Muriel Quinn
Muriel is the mother of four past and current St Giles Lions. She has been practicing yoga for 20 years and teaching yoga for 13 years.
Many Lion’s have participated in her Yoga and Healthy Lunch program over the past 7 years. This year she is offering Family Zoom Yoga for any St Giles Lion in grades Pre-K through 8th grade. Students in 4th grade and older may participate with or without a parent, while younger students will need a parent to participate.

Classes will meet 10:00am-10:45am on Zoom on Saturdays Feb 6, 13, 20, 27.
The cost for each family is $20 and includes all four sessions.

  • Please register by emailing [email protected]
  • Include the names of the family members participating and ages of the children.
  • No experience or special equipment is required.
  • Payment info and Zoom link will be sent once registered.
REGISTER NOW for the Spring Session 2021 of
Chess-Ed's Virtual EnrichmentProgram!

Chess-Ed is pleased to offer VIRTUAL chess lessons to your students this Spring!

Chess-Ed is pleased to offer VIRTUAL chess lessons to your students this Spring!  
The 10-week Spring session is offered Monday through Friday at a variety of times (4, 5, and 6 pm) with Beginner, Novice, Continuing, and Advanced program levels. The chess program runs from 2/22/21 to 4/30/21 and is taught by Chess-Ed instructors using Zoom, lichess.org, and other chess software. Please refer to the Eventbee registration site for chess level guidelines.  

To register, students must have a FREE username at lichess.org so they can be paired by the chess instructor during the game playing portion of the lesson. Winter classes end the week of 2/15/21. Register for the Spring Session NOW at http://www.r-spring-virtual-chess-ed.eventbee.com. Be sure to register early to take advantage of EARLY FEE pricing. For more information about the program, please refer to the program flyer and Eventbee website. 

Chess-Ed is looking forward to seeing your CHESS ENTHUSIAST this Spring!
Catholic Campaign for Human Development Art Contest:
Rebuilding Together at the Margins
The youth of the Archdiocese of Chicago are invited to participate in this year’s CCHD Arts and Media Contest! The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a multimedia contest and virtual arts and variety show for students in grades 7-12. Through participation in the contest, students explore U.S. poverty and related issues – all in the context of their faith.

All who enter should plan to attend the Archdiocese of Chicago's CCHD Virtual Art and Variety Show on Sunday, March 21, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.
Prizes available, up to $500.

By Monday, March 1, 2021 group or individual entries need to be mailed to Sister Julia Walsh at the Cardinal Meyer Pastoral Center.

For more information contact [email protected].
For complete contest rules and information packets please visit: https://www.usccb.org/committees/catholic-campaign-human-development/creating-margins

Are you interested in getting your Lions involved in Girl Scouts? See information below about their upcoming events!
Follow and like us on social media. Stay up to date with what's going on at school and see pictures of your children engaging in educational activities with their classmates during the school day.