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Cougar Paw Prints

A Publication of St. James Catholic School – 2019-2020 Edition 16

Enter to Learn. Go Forth to Serve. Visit us at: www.sjcstx.org

Est. 1878

SAVE THE DATE:

Thursday, Dec. 12th

6:00p.m. at TLU

Saint James Catholic School

presents

“Meet Me at the Manger”

Christmas Program

2019-2020 School Year Theme:

Indescribable Joy

Unshakable Faith

Unstoppable Love

“With GOD all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:26

12/12 – Christmas Program – TLU – 6:00p.m.

– Students please arrive by 5:40p.m.

– After Care ends at 4:00p.m. this day.

12/13 – Regular Friday Mass – Formal Uniforms

– VFW Awards/Recognition after Mass

12/14 – 1st Reconciliation – 2nd Grade – 9:00a.m.

12/15 – Stewardship Mass – 2nd Grade – 12:15p.m.

12/19 – School Advisory Council Meeting – 6:00p.m.

12/20 – End of 2nd Quarter – Half Day Early Release

at 12:00p.m.– NO AFTER CARE this day.

12/23-01/03 – No School – Christmas Break

01/06 – No School for Students (Teacher Work Day)

Prayer for Saint James Catholic School:

Dear Lord, bless our Catholic school. Help us to

continue to be a humble source of wisdom, always

yearning to learn more about your tremendous love

for us. May all who enter Saint James Catholic

School be filled with the gift of your Holy Spirit,

coming to know you in a more meaningful way.

Guide us as a community that respects and welcomes

everyone. May Catholic education continue to grow

so that your good news can be taught to children

throughout the world. Amen.

We are still needing donations of live and silent auction

items as well as monetary donations for decorations and

entertainment. We are also looking for bottles of wine

valued over $10 and higher quality liquor for the pull.

With this being St. James’ biggest fundraiser, we will

also be sending home (2) tickets with each student after

the New Year in hopes they can be sold. We really

don’t’ want them back! If you are unable to sell them

or purchase them yourself, then they must be returned

to be accounted for.

As for decorations, we are going to be purchasing items

soon. If you are interested in buying things on Etsy and

Amazon, averaging $5-$20, please contact Jennifer

Williams at Jennifer.l.williams5@gmail.com or via phone

at 830-491-4368 by December 15th.

For wine and liquor please email Kay Lynne Prochaska at

KayLynne_03@hotmail.com or via phone at 979-541-

3480. Thank you.

An exciting new addition is we will have a costume

contest! Come dressed in your best 70’s attire and the

winner will receive a gift card and Fr. Dennis will take

you out for a meal on him! (Thank you Fr. Dennis!)

Finally, please remember that Class Projects are past due and Class Baskets are due January 15th. Thank you.

PSIA: Unable to come to last week’s PSIA meeting?

Please contact Doctora Dana or Ron Hermes for PSIA

info: dhermes@sjcstx.org. SJCS is hosting the Feb. 29th

competitions with Mr. Hermes as the overall coordinator.

Attention SJCS Community: Please enjoy this submission provided on behalf of our PK2, PK3 and PK4…

* * * * * *

Class News

Featuring:

PK2, PK3,

and PK4

Kiddie Korner

WHAT WE’RE LEARNING – PreK-2 – Mrs. Riojas

Greetings from 2K! This past week we have been singing and dancing practicing for our school’s annual Christmas program. We look forward to seeing you all there and are excited to share what we have been working on with the little ones. Mrs. Diana and myself have been keeping the two year olds busy with arts and crafts, reading Christmas stories and singing along to holiday music! We have been going over our usual routine of ABC’s, colors, shapes and numbers. We are so proud of our babies and how far they all have come since the start of the school year. We look forward to starting off fresh in the New Year! WHAT WE’RE LEARNING – PreK-3 – Ms. Lawrence

Our focus for this month has been preparing for Advent and the coming of Our Lord. We started with the explanation of the advent wreath and a traveling shepherd figure that will move us each day closer to the miracle of Jesus in the manger. Our hosting of the Baby Jesus Mass was an extension of preparation for the wonder of Christmas, as well as, singing Christmas songs daily in preparation for the Christmas Pageant on December 12th at TLU. Academically, we have added the letter ‘M’ to our list of learning by building the letter and reviewing ‘M’ words. In math, we continue counting up to 20 in sequence and, using a graphic organizer (T-chart) to sort data. In science, we are observing, describing and investigating properties and characteristics of common objects by sorting pattern blocks by shape and size in addition to monitoring changes in the weather and how it affects our lives. We continue reading “Giant Steps for Little People” which explains scripture verses to children and how they can incorporate them into their lives. In the “Virtues in Practice” series, we are studying the virtue of “Generosity” (giving without counting the cost) for the month of December and the life of St. Nicholas. Finally, we continue to visit the library weekly, the gym for P.E. and enjoy visits from our art/music teacher and Spanish teacher. We wish everyone a safe, faith-focused and blessed holiday season. WHAT WE’RE LEARNING – PreK-4 – Mrs. Belicek

In Religion, we are discussing the beauty of the Advent Season and how important it is for us to prepare and get our hearts ready for Jesus’ birth by making good choices, loving, helping, listening and following directions. The children have been doing a great job practicing and preparing for the Christmas play. I’m so proud of their hard work. We are working on Christmas activities, arts and crafts. In Phonics, we have discussed half of the letters of the alphabet and continue to recognize the difference between vowels and consonants as well as use letter cards to build/create and read words. Students write, recognize/identify the letters in their first and last names daily. We have introduced sight words ‘the’ and ‘a’. This introduction to sight words is a stepping stone to get to our phonics reading books in the spring. In Math, we are identifying ordinal positions (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th), working with AB and ABB patterns and using pennies to identify amounts. We are also using shape pieces in a matrix to identify by attributes…shape name, color and size. We will begin telling time to the hour and recognize the hour and minute hand on a clock. Students are continuing to practice writing their numbers proficiently and draw and identify the correct number of pictures to the number. In Science/Social Studies, we are discussing that God made plants/trees special to grow differently in the winter and that different parts of the world have different weather/seasons than us. We are also discussing that different places celebrate Christmas differently.

Before and After School Care – Contact Info

SJCS has set up a cordless phone that will run off of

our school’s fax number, (830) 379-0047. Before

and After School staff member Mrs. Ophelia Arce

will have the cordless receiver with her, thus

allowing her to respond to any before or after

school related inquiries which parent(s) may have.

Upcoming After Care Reminders:

*** After Care will end at 4:00p.m. on Thursday,

December 12th

, to allow staff to prepare for and

attend our school Christmas program.

*** There will be no After Care on Friday,

December 20th

(which is also an Early Release

at 12:00p.m. day).

Congratulations 5th Grade Student Jack C.!

Jack is our first AR Millionaire of this school year.

As of Monday, December 09th

he has read

1,011,335 words, since August. Great job Jack!

Thank you to Counselor Spencer for facilitating our

school’s ongoing Accelerated Reader program.

Hear ye, hear ye… By Administrative Decree – New Saint James Catholic School Homework Policy

After thinking about homework matters for awhile, thinking about a policy I had at one of my previous

schools, and then providing Saint James faculty and staff with an opportunity to provide input, I am now

happy to inform our school community of the following new Homework Policy here at Saint James School.

* * * * * * *

No ‘regular’ homework will be given on Fridays or over the weekend. Reading time, and large assignments

such as an essay or science project – something that constitutes 10 calendar days or more of assigned time –

are still allowed insofar as a student may plan to spend some of his/her time over an included weekend to

work on the large project/assignment. However, no regular homework, worksheets, math problems, mini

projects of just a few days in duration, etc. will be assigned on Fridays/over weekends.

Saint James believes that it is important for students to spend time with their families over the weekends,

rejuvenating their spirits and pursuing their individual interests beyond the academics of school.

* * * * * * *

This policy will go into effect upon our return from Christmas Break, with the start of the 3rd

Quarter.

Thank You, Mr. Stone

Thank You Carroll and Sandra Barron

Carroll Barron – long-time supporter of Saint James

and owner of Luling Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC in

Luling, Texas – along with his wife Sandra, recently

made a generous donation to Saint James Catholic

School. We are very thankful for this donation and

we are also very appreciative of their support for

Catholic education. SJCS Community, please help

thank the Barrons if/when you get the chance.

All of us, together…

Note: Safe Environment/VIRTUS/OVASE is also

required for all employees and volunteers who work

with children here at Saint James Catholic School.

This training, along with a background check, is a

required pre-requisite before any adult is allowed to

work with, volunteer, chaperone, etc. with students

here at SJCS. If you haven’t previously completed

such then you should look to attend this Jan. 16th

session, calling the parish office and alerting our

school coordinator, Ms. Erica, in the school office.

Last Minute Newsletter Additions – Wishing to communicate to keep everyone informed!

Below is the list of Advent Reconciliation times available next week in the Church:

Monday, Dec 16th: 12:00p.m.-1:00p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 18th: 12:00p.m.-1:00p.m. Tuesday, Dec 17th: 8:30a.m.-9:30a.m. Thursday, Dec. 19th: 8:30a.m.-9:30a.m. 12:00p.m.-1:00p.m.

* * * * * * *

School Advisory Council: Posting of Minutes for Monthly Meetings

To help keep our school community informed, the minutes for our monthly SAC meetings

will now be posted via the info display board located on an exterior wall next to the walkway

to the main office. All public meeting discussion topics will be recorded and represented.

Any matters related to Executive Session or otherwise of a confidential nature will be

omitted. Thank you, -Mr. Stone