Dear Parents-
We ended Catholic Schools Week celebrating the Feast of St. Blaise with the blessing of throats at our Thursday K-4 Mass and our Friday 5-8 Mass. Fr. David mentioned prior to the blessing that the blessing of our throats is not only a prayer for protection from every physical ailment of the throat, but we should also ask for protection against any spiritual ailment of the throat including gossip, bullying and unkind words. The Feast of St. Blaise is a good time to reflect on our verbal and written interactions, and whether those actually build our relationship with Christ. We closed out the week with a Festival of Praise for students in grades 5-8. Father David planned an amazing service which included songs of praise, worship, Adoration and Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament. The students were excited for the experience and took seriously the opportunity to encounter God. We thank Fr. David, Fr. Vince, Br. Chris Curliss and Br. Reece Hoyer along with Mrs. Annie Paquette for making this possible. God is good and we worship His Holy Name!
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We were also thrilled last week to welcome Ms. Barbara Glakas, local author who wrote Hidden History of Herndon. On Friday, Ms. Glakas spoke with students in 4th and 7th grades as she shared a broad overview of “how things came to be” in Herndon, and spoke of our own SJS/SJC history, including pictures of the old church, and growth of the school. Many thanks to Ms. Glakas for her engaging presentation, as she helps us embrace the history of this wonderful town.
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Current COVID metrics from VDH show that over the last 7 days, Fairfax County has seen a change in total case rate, down substantially, but still considered high, to 293 cases per 100,000, (week ending 02/05/2022), and NAAT (PCR) test positivity in notable decline, now 10.9%. Nearby Loudoun County has a current case rate, down significantly to 311 per 100,000, (week ending 02/05/2022), and the COVID-19 positivity rate in Loudoun is well down, now 13.4%.
SJS COVID count this week has 12 student cases of COVID-19 and 1 staff member. The cases were confirmed between 01/31/2022 and 02/06/2022. Affected classes and students were notified as appropriate. With the significantly relaxed quarantine and isolation protocols that SJS now follows as recommended by VDH, please be attentive to symptoms in your children and please keep them home when in doubt.
As a reminder, vaccinating your child against COVID-19 is strictly a parent decision. SJS offers no opinion or recommendation on this issue. However, if you decide to vaccinate your child, I invite you to share that information with Mrs. Ezenwa by sending her a copy of the vaccination card after your child is fully vaccinated. All information will be kept confidential, and it will help us determine next steps in the event of COVID exposure in our school
First made available in the Bark on January 28, current SJS parents that have never been able to tour our school are welcome to sign up for a visit. Feel free to contact Mrs. Tuttle, to arrange a visit.
Parents are invited to visit the official SJS FB page to see pictures of CSW, including the mountain of items collected for Herndon Closet, images from the various dress out and the Festival of Praise. Also, many thanks to the 59 families that participated in the CSW scavenger hunt!
As always, if I can be of assistance, or you have any questions, please let me know.
Pray to St. Joseph for all your needs! (St. Teresa of Avila)
Denise Rutledge
Principal
Building Wisdom and Faith Through Service to God
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February's service project -- We will be collecting canned diced tomatoes for Catholic Charities St. Lucy's Project. Any canned tomato is appreciated but the most requested are diced tomatoes.
Donations will be collected until February 23.
Thank you for your support!
Spirit and Service Dress Out Day = February 23
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February is Black History Month -- check out these great books (and many more) in the SJS library! Every day on the WSJS news, we recognize the contributions of African American Pioneers who changed healthcare! To read more, click HERE.
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If you have never accessed Schoology or are having trouble accessing Schoology, please contact Mrs. Hatley ( c.hatley@sjschoolva.org ) for support. |
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Our wonderful lunch monitors will be handing out lollipops to the students on Monday and Tuesday of next week! For information about the lollipops and to verify that they are made in a nut free facility, please click HERE.
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Yearbook Orders - Soon!
Sales will run from Feb 14 - April 1
The online portal opens on Feb 14.
Link will be provided at a later date
Yearbooks will be available for purchase online only.
No extra copies will be purchased
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Stay Connected!
SJS Mobile App, Twitter and Facebook
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750 Peachtree Street, Herndon, VA 20170
Tel: 703-880-4350 Fax: 703-880-4320
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