Dear St. Giles Families,
I hope you are all enjoying a relaxing and safe Labor Day weekend!
This week we have our virtual Curriculum Night on Thursday, September 10th. In the past, parents have been invited to attend each of their child’s classes to meet the teacher and receive an overview of the course curriculum. Due to COVID restrictions, this will be done virtually this year. Each teacher will record a video of their introduction and presentation of their curriculum and class expectations that will be on their teacher pages for your viewing on Thursday evening. If there are questions or you would like to speak to the teacher afterwards, or at any time, please email them directly to set up a phone call or video conference. While virtual is not as ideal as in person meeting, this will give parents the opportunity to see all presentations, one that was not always available to parents in the past, especially those with multiple children. We will send a reminder when videos are available! Speaking of teacher pages, be sure to check those pages in the Family Portal regularly for any announcements and to find weekly assignments.
I’d like to include an updated At-a-Glance calendar for you. Please disregard previous versions and refer to our school calendar on our website regularly for important dates. We have added Professional Development dates for our faculty and additional times available for Parent-Teacher Conferences in October. Again, these will be virtual this year.
Last week we sent home protocols for students who may go home sick during the school day this year. If your child stays home for any reason, please call the office to let us know. If they are sick, upon their return they will need a note from the doctor’s office with either a specific diagnosis that the illness is not COVID related or that they will be tested and quarantine for 10 days. Students returning from an absence, except for PreK, will need to enter the building through the main office with their Dr.’s note. Please do not email notes to the office or their teachers, we cannot always monitor those emails in time for the start of the day and do not want to miss any communications.
Thank you again for all of your patience and understanding as we navigate this year together.
Stay well and have a wonderful week!
Meg
Updates
Masks--just a reminder that masks with outside filters/vents are not permissible per Archdiocese guidelines
Personal fans are not permissible in classrooms. Fans cannot blow directly on any one student in the event it may spread airborne germs to another student or staff member.
Volunteers for Drop off/Pick Up Needed
Are you available in the morning or afternoon to assist with drop off and pick up? We are looking for parents to help us with our morning and afternoon protocols getting our Lions in and out safely. Please sign up here if you are available.
Remote Learning Workspaces
We want to share workspaces of our Lions who are learning remotely with our in-person learners on our social media pages. Please take a photo of your home set up and send it to us for posting! Photos can be submitted to [email protected]. |
|
Picture Day!
Thursday, September 10th is picture day for all students. Students may come out of uniform for their photos but should be dressed up.
Information regarding ordering pictures was sent home on Friday and is also available online at https://vangoghphoto.com/
|
|
|
This past week we joined together as a community of parents and faculty to provide a school experience for our children whether the students were learning remotely or in person. We are not alone in navigating this new normal. CNN and the puppets of “Sesame Street” are teaming up for the "The ABCs of Back to School, A CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall for Families." The town hall will air on CNN at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday, September 12.
From staying safe in classrooms to making the most of virtual learning, the 60-minute special will provide tools and information for families dealing with unique circumstances of school in the era of coronavirus. This special is made to watch with children to provide information and promote healthy discussion within your family. Watch the “Sesame Street” puppets experience both in person and remote learning environments. More information can be found here including how to submit a question to the town hall.
|
|
Pep Rally: Monday, September 21
Lion's Leap Days: Wednesday, September 30 - October 2
More information will be coming soon from the Development Office. Click HERE for an FAQ and list of this year's sponsors.
For our new families - this is our annual runathon/walkathon.
|
|
Thank you to all our 2020 business sponsors! We appreciate your support and cannot wait to see our Lion's Leap student and
faculty t-shirts!
|
|
Introducing the St. Giles PTO Weekly Newsletter
We were excited to launch our first newsletter last week! Please look for the email every Wednesday night to learn about volunteer opportunities and other important parent-to-parent information (some emails went to spam or promotions, so be sure to check your inbox). Click here to catch up on last week's edition -- there is information about room parent sign up, fun lunch, uniform resale and our upcoming September PTO Meeting.
|
|
Fun Lunch Registration-Due Today!
Mark your calendar for 9/11 and 9/18 for our first PTO fundraiser lunches! We will safely provide individual bagged lunches to the students via a homeroom student representative, similar to Marla's Lunches. All garbage from their lunch will be put back into the bag and brought home for safety.
-
Sign up is open! Click HERE to visit the site - the deadline for ordering the first lunch is 9/6.
- Hit "Click here to register" button
- Sign up by their homeroom #/ teacher
- Pay via credit card or send check payable to St. Giles PTO via their backpack in envelope marked "Fun Lunch"
- Any questions? Click the "Help" button at the top of the lunch website
-
PTO Fun Lunch info and link will always be located in the Family Portal. Registration will take place monthly.
|
|
Chess-Ed has gone virtual! Keep your chess skills and game playing sharp and register now for our 10-week Fall 2020 session. Classes begin on 9/14 and extend through 11/20/20.
Using Zoom, lichess.org, and other chess software, our instructors will deliver organized and interactive online lessons, thought-provoking puzzles, and time for student game playing and instructor oversight/feedback, similar to our in-person programming.
Our 55-minute virtual lessons are offered every weekday after school, at 4, 5, and 6 pm with Beginner, Novice, Continuing, and Advanced program levels to appeal to students with a wide variety of chess knowledge and skills. The program is open to all students in all grades.
Chess-Ed instructors look forward to seeing your chess enthusiast in class. JOIN TODAY!
|
|
Parent Compliance
Anyone who volunteers within the Archdiocese must complete an annual CANTS form. Although we are limiting our onsite help right now, please take the time to ensure that your compliance is up to date so that you are not restricted from future volunteer opportunities. All expired accounts will be inactivated.
If you are Virtus Certified, please simply complete this CANTS form and send it back to school via [email protected] or send it with your child.
If you are NOT Virtus Certified, please go to www.virtusonline.org to register for the training. You will also need to complete the CANTS form as well as the Code of Conduct Form.
If you have any questions about compliance requirements, please contact Michele Bibbey at [email protected]
|
|
Visit the NEW Family Portal!
Visit our school website, click Family Portal on the yellow bar and enter the password "Lions123". You will find info about
- lunches
- school pictures
- archived weekly eNews
- medical forms
- access your child's teacher page!
|
|
Archdiocese Weekly Newsletter
The Archdiocese has put together a weekly newsletter for families this year. If you are not receiving it, please subscribe here to receive the latest communications from the Office of Catholic Schools.
|
|
Weekly Enews Subscription |
If you are reading this, you are subscribed to our weekly, Sunday 9am Enews - please continue to read these each week as they contain important school news. During the year, if at any time you are not receiving these Sunday emails, please email the OFFICE to let us know and we will resubscribe you.
If someone else in your family, such as a partner or caregiver, is not currently subscribed and would also like to receive Enews as well, please have them sign up - click HERE.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
