School Newsletter 8/27/21

Thank you to everyone that joined us for Parent/Guardian Orientation last night! It was a pleasure meeting/seeing all of you.  With school and home partnerships, we will make this the best year yet at St. Gerald!

Calendar reminders:

*Spirit wear day Friday, September 3 – students may wear St. Gerald spirit/athletic apparel from SGAC.

*No school and no extended day care on Labor Day, September 6.

*Out of Uniform for charity on Friday, September 17 – students may be out of uniform with a $1 or more donation. This month proceeds will be donated to the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund, which helps to provide college scholarships to children who lost parents in the September 11^th attacks. 2021 marks the 20^th anniversary of 9/11.

Morning Drop Off

In order to keep students safe, please park in the church parking lot and walk or send students to the doors.  We know it is more convenient to drop children off on South 55^th Court or Father Malcolm Way, but we are concerned that children are crossing in front of cars driving through those streets.  Please be extra careful when dropping any children off in the morning.

VIRTUS/Protecting God’s Children Program & Other Volunteer Requirements

Any parent or guardian that wishes to volunteer for any reason at St. Gerald must complete the following per the Archdiocese of Chicago:

VIRTUS/Protecting God’s Children program - This can be completed online at: https://www.virtusonline.org.

Register for an account, complete the initial training, and then you will receive monthly articles about keeping children safe from predators.

All volunteers must also complete mandatory reporter training through the state of Illinois at https://mr.dcfstraining.org.

Register for an account, complete the initial online training, complete the assessment, and then you will receive a certificate of completion.

Volunteers must also complete a criminal background check (completed at the time of VIRTUS registration), CANTS689 and CANTS22 forms for a check through the Department of Child and Family Services registry, and the Archdiocesan Standards of Behavior for Working with Minors.

Thank you for helping us keep our children safe!

Uniform

Our regular uniform will begin on Monday, September 20.  Students will then only wear the gym uniform on gym days. The first Friday of each month will be a spirit wear day when students may wear athletic/team apparel purchased from the SGAC.  The third Friday of each month will be an out of uniform day for charity in which we ask students to donate $1 or more for a particular cause.

Additional Uniform Options for 2021/2022 School Year:

The standard uniform options available through Schoolbelles remain the same.

NEW! This year, we are added light blue non-monogrammed polos to provide more flexibility for families. These can be worn by both girls and boys in all grades.

We also added:

Navy Blue Pants for Girls, All Grades

Navy Blue Shorts for Girls, All Grades

NOTE: 4th grade girls may now wear the standard skirts and polos via Schoolbelles. They may be worn a year earlier (instead of waiting until 5th grade)

Current Dress Code    (without new changes above)

Family Pledge

The Archdiocese has asked each family to sign a pledge to follow safety protocols and keep everyone healthy. Paper copies will be sent home with students. Please complete 1 copy per family and return them to the homeroom teachers. Thank you for your cooperation!

Holy Name Society Golf Outing

The Holy Name Society of St. Gerald supports both the parish and the school.  They are dedicated in their mission and incredibly generous.  We can’t thank them enough.

With that being stated, HSN needs our support.  They are hosting a golf outing on September 17.  If you are interested in sponsoring a hole in the name of a teacher, you will find a sign-up form attached to the newsletter. The deadline for Sponsorships is Wednesday Sept 1^st. Family Hole Sponsorship is $100 (hole can be split between families).  Please consider supporting and/or joining HSN. They are an amazing blessing at St. Gerald!     GOLF OUTING INFORMATION TO SPONSOR

Curriculum Fee Reminder:

If any family has not paid the curriculum fee, please log into Smart Tuition ASAP to pay.  The tuition payments will begin in September, and we don’t want families to get hit with a huge first payment because of the curriculum fees.  Thank you!

Lunch/Recess Supervision

We are looking for parents/guardians that are VIRTUS trained to join us for lunch and recess supervision.  You can earn $10.00 in tuition credit for each day worked.  If you are able to help, please email Mrs. Reynolds, [email protected].  Lunch/recess duty runs from 10:45-12:55.