St. Agnes School
Family Newsletter
December 15, 2010

Mission Statement of Saint Agnes School
Saint Agnes Elementary School strives for excellence in providing a Catholic education that inspires and empowers our students to embrace the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ as compassionate and faithful Christians, who continue to pursue their spiritual journey, their highest academic potential, and stewardship to others.

Merry Christmas: This is our last newsletter before the holidays. I want to take this opportunity to wish all our families a Merry Christmas and a Blessed Holiday! I wish you joy, and peace and a great holiday. Thank you for all you do for us at St. Agnes School throughout the school year. We are blessed by you and will keep you in our Christmas prayers this season!

Advent Sock Collection:  We have received 1200 pairs of socks so far!  The last day to turn in your donation of new socks is on Friday.  We appreciate your generosity!

Vacation: We will have a full day of school on Tuesday, December 21 and then break for Christmas vacation. School begins again on Monday, January 3rd.

Holiday Accessories: Students may wear holiday accessories with their uniforms on Tuesday, our last day before Christmas.

Spiritwear Day Tomorrow: Students may wear a St. Agnes spiritwear shirt/sweatshirt with gym uniform pants/shorts or regular uniform pants/shorts tomorrow.

K-3 Christmas Program: The K-3 Christmas program will be tomorrow evening, December 16th, at 6:30 in the gym. Students need to arrive between 6:15-6:25. Students should wear "dressy" clothing that would be appropriate for a church service or concert. NO blue jeans and avoiding athletic tennis shoes would be preferred. Student's should feel free to wear Christmas colors but do not have any specific costumes or colors to adhere to. If your child cannot attend the performance, please e-mail Claire Miller ASAP at cmiller@saintagnes.com so she can appropriate correct seating arrangements. WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

In case of inclement weather if the concert is cancelled tomorrow, it will be rescheduled for Monday, December 20th at 6:30. We are hoping for the best, but rescheduling just in case.

End of Second Quarter: Tuesday, December 21st, marks the end of second quarter and the first semester of this school year. Report cards will be sent out in early January.

Cafeteria: After the holidays, beginning January 3rd, school lunch prices will raise from $1.50 to $1.75 per student lunch. Adult lunches will be $2.15. We do have the cheapest lunch around, even among the schools. We can keep the prices low because of the good use of the government commodities we are sent. It is necessary at this time to raise the prices. The lunchroom must be completely self-sufficient; no school funds go to the support of the lunchroom. Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions, please call or email me at lgroh@saintagnes.com. If anyone needs free or reduced lunch forms because of a loss of job, or other situations, they can be processed anytime during the school year.

Gym Uniform and Shoes: Please make sure the students are wearing their gym uniforms for gym days. They can be purchased from the school office.
     Some of the girls are wearing a converse-type shoe with elastic, but no laces in them. These shoes are not good for gym class, as they will slip off their feet when they run. When you are purchasing shoes for school, please purchase a running type gym shoe with laces or Velcro. Thank you. Mrs. Garwood

Virtus Updates: All Virtus accounts will be unsuspended from December 1st through December 25th. If you wish to volunteer during January, February and March of 2011 please take time during December to make sure all your bulletins are completed by December 25th. If your bulletins are not complete by December 25th, you will be suspended and will not be able to volunteer in January, February or March. If you have any questions, please contact Beth at the rectory office, 431-1802 or bnagle@saintagnes.com

Library Books: ALL library books need to be returned back to the school library immediately. If your child still has a book out, please see that he/she returns it right away. Thank you for your help!

PTO News:

365 Lotto Deadline: December 20th is the last day to buy your lotto ticket. Please consider buying at least 1 or 2 tickets to help us make our goal. Tickets are $20 and here is the link for the order form.
Buy a 365 Lotto ticket to help support St. Agnes School and use them as gifts for those special people you like to remember at this time of year. Here are some other gift ideas:

 Teacher/priest appreciation gift
 Stocking stuffer
 Employee/employer gift
 Perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for person
 Hostess gift
 Coach or assistant coach gift
 Secret Santa
 Surprise your child and put one in his/her lunch box
 St. Nick gift
 Gift exchange
 Babysitter gift
 Friend or neighbor gift

Plan ahead this holiday season and let us do the work for you. See order form in this week’s bulletin for more details. Buy your ticket now! Enjoy a Snappy Tomato coupon on the back of your ticket.
Any questions email Heather Teller at hteller@fuse.net  or Tish Bright at tish.bright@insightbb.com.

Market Day: Market Day Order Forms are coming home today!! Free Book Bag Buddy with any purchase! The Market Day Sale deadline for this month is 1/6. Orders can be kidmailed through Aidan Mast – 2W. Order online at www.marketday.com and get access to special Web Clearance only items. Pick Up will be on 1/11 at 5:30 in the school cafeteria.

Eat Out Night: A reminder that Sub Station II Eat Out is tonight from 5:00p to 8:00p at the Ft. Wright Sub Station II. Please keep this in mind if you are eating out tonight.

Boosters News:

Spring 2011 Soccer Registration: Registrations are being accepted now through February 7, 2011. There will be no in-person registration. Unfortunately, NO REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER FEBRUARY 7, 2011 and there will be NO EXCEPTIONS! Click here for a registration form and for more information.

Booster Updates: There will be no Booster Meeting this month. There are currently spots open on the Booster Board. If you are interested in serving on the Booster Board, please contact Jason Collins at 331-9668.

NKYVC "Big Chill" Winter Volleyball Camp: FREEZE out the competition over Christmas Break! December 28th, 29th & 30th
3rd, 4th & 5th Graders 12:30-2:30 p.m.
6th, 7th & 8th Graders 2:30-4:30 p.m.
9th, 10th, 11th & 12th Graders 4:30-6:30 p.m.
3 day camp that provides 6 hours of core skills training, technique correction, game play drilling, intensity and endurance training. The cost is $75 and also includes a camp t-shirt. All sessions will be held at Town & Country Sports Complex, 1018 Town Drive, Wilder, Ky. 41001. Please visit www.nkyvc.com to sign up & register - Space is Limited

Around Our School

Did you know…on December 20th sixth graders will be sharing their joy and Christmas spirit as we go caroling to the homes of some of our parish members. We will be bringing homemade cards and poinsettias as we bundle up and sing from our hearts!

Did you know…the fifth graders have been studying the rock cycle? They were interested in how the rocks change from one type to another over long periods of time. They used food to make sedimentary rock and metamorphic rock and finally after melting the rock with extreme heat, they made igneous rock. They were so pleased with themselves, and in the end, they ate their igneous rock --- which tasted alot like s’mores.

Did you know…in music class we changed the words to the popular carol, "The 12 days of Christmas." The students came up with some pretty funny lyrics. One of the best was 2L who had the idea to sing "5 Onion Rings" instead of "5 golden rings." Many classes wished for "an XBOX under the tree" instead of "a partridge in a pear tree." It's amazing the creative minds in our school!

Did you know...the first graders in1C have been learning about the Jesse Tree and the ancestors of Jesus? Each day we read from the Bible and then color a symbol to remind us of the character. Today we were talking about where each family was putting the symbols, most said the Christmas tree or bulletin board, but one child answered "the recycle bin."

Did you know… 7th graders in Religion learned about an organization (Heifer International) that sends livestock to third world countries to sustain families? The animals provide milk (yogurt, cheese, and butter), transportation and a means to plow their land. Some seventh graders took it upon themselves to bring in their own money to buy an animal for a needy family in a poor country. What an amazing gift! This is also a great Christmas gift to give in someone else's name, for the person who has everything. Way to go seventh graders!