Dear Parents, It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas! Angel choir, beginning band, children’s choir and advanced band…THANK YOU for bringing us all some of the joy of this special season with your performances for the school yesterday afternoon and the parents last night. It takes courage to get up and perform in front of your peers, especially when something is new to you. And, thank you to our amazing First Grade sheep and shepherds and angels as we celebrated Joram’s (the Grumpy Shepherd’s) journey from grumpiness to joy with the birth of Jesus.  Next week we will continue the tradition of ‘Las Posadas’ as our fifth grade Spanish students re-enact the journey of Mary and Joseph to find shelter. And, I can’t wait to see the Polar Express chugging through the hallways next week! We’ll end the week with a Christmas Mass that will be the perfect way to prepare for the holidays. It is a joyful and chaotic time for all of us…please take some time to recognize the joy (and the wonder and the beautiful gift that God gave us in His son), in the middle of the chaos. Faithfully, Chris Kelly

UPCOMING EVENTS Dec.22nd 12:30 Dismissal Dec.23rd - Jan.2nd Christmas Vacation Jan. 3rd Classes Resume 2nd semester lunch starts on Tues. Jan 3rd. Semester buyers must purchase by Tues. Dec 20th. To order for the week of Jan.3-6th. orders must be received by Tues, Dec. 20th Order online HERE    Click here to view the Jan. lunch menu.

We just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone in the BS community who donated to this year’s annual BS Christmas Giving Tree! With your generous support we fulfilled all of our stars (and more) and raised over $23,000 for The Spanish Cathlolic Center! The beautifully wrapped presents went to St. Thomas Moore and Our Lady Queen of the Americas. They are very grateful. We hope you realize you helped make someone’s Christmas bright this holiday season! We can’t thank you enough for your love & support. Merry Christmas! Anna Meenan, Erin Sowanick & Mary Skorny

THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT IS BACK! CHRISTMAS EVE IN THE GYM AT 4:00 pm! All parish children from ages Kindergarten and up are welcome to sign up to participate as actors or lectors by emailing Patrick at patrickjboner@googlemail.com by December 16th.  There will be one short rehearsal on December 17, at 11:30 a.m.  All children who are participating are asked to attend the rehearsal. Any parents/adults who would be interested in helping, please feel free to volunteer.  Service hours are also available for any student that would like to sign up to help organizers at the rehearsal and/or at the pageant on Christmas Eve.

Per school procedure all attendance must be reported by a parent to the school. If your child will be late, absent or leaving early please email his/her teacher AND the Health Room (heatlhroom@blessedsacramentdc.org) before 8:30 am.  An email should be sent for each day the student will not be in school for illness. In the event a student will miss multiple days due to a vacation the dates of the trip can be included in the email and no further emails required. If a child is late or absent and the teacher and Health Room have not been notified by 8:30 am the child will be marked as Absent Unexcused. If you receive a call/email to pick up your child because he/she is sick, please be advised that school policy is to pick up your child or arrange to have your child picked up within 30 minutes.

Library Announcement: As winter break approaches, the library will be undergoing a “check out freeze” in which no books will be able to be checked out from December 12th-22nd. This will allow the library to take inventory half-way through the school year. Please note: K-5 library classes will otherwise continue to take place as usual leading up to the break. All books must be returned to the library by December 22nd, 2022. Any books that remain overdue after this date will be assumed “lost” and a replacement fee will be assessed once school restarts in January.

Faith in the Marketplace Friday, January 6, After 6:30 am Mass Duffy Parish Center Explore how others live and practice their faith in the marketplace. Our speakers are John Higgins and Bill Choquette, long-time BS parishioners who have guided our parish Boy Scout Troop 90 which just celebrated its 100th anniversary of serving the youth and future leaders of our parish. Scouting is a vehicle for the development and character molding of boys as they mature. The Boy Scouts have a remarkable history of being part of our parish’s and country’s marketplace of ideas, social involvement, leadership and community service. All are invited and urged to bring a friend for a lively discussion of Scouting and its service to our faith community.

There is a new way for you to earn Box Tops for Education to benefit Blessed Sacrament School. Just download the app, then scan your receipts! BSS parents have tried the app, and the process seems to work smoothly. Don’t forget to credit your earnings to a specific grade level on the app. (A little competition never hurts!) All the information can be found at the link below, and it only takes a few minutes to register: Sign up now: (https://www.boxtops4education.com/How-To-Earn) Questions? Contact Monica Kumar (mokumar09@gmail.com), //www.boxtops4education.com/ Support Blessed Sacrament! It's shopping season and one of the easiest ways to support the HSA and our school is by shopping through Amazon Smile!      Click here to shop Amazon and be sure to bookmark the link. Amazon will donate a percentage of all purchases to Blessed Sacrament. If you use the Amazon Shopping app on your phone or tablet, go to the Settings menu and under Programs and Features click 'See all Programs' and click 'AmazonSmile'. Search "Shrine Most Blessed Sacrament" to add BSS to your rewards program. Then every time you shop Amazon on your phone/tablet, BSS will receive a percentage of your purchases, including orders from Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods! Just remember to shop through the Amazon Smile Link! You can ask friends and family to consider registering as well!

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