ST. PETER CATHOLIC SCHOOL Principal’s Weekly Newsletter

December 14, 2016

December 2016 December 15 (Thurs) Little Lambs Advent Program for Key Cottage, PreK and Kindergarten December 16 (Fri) End of 2nd Quarter, All School Mass at 9:30am followed by class parties, 11:30am dismissal December 19-Jan 3 Christmas Break

January 2017 January 3 (Tues) Faculty retreat day, NO SCHOOL January 4 (Wed) Classes resume January 5 (Thurs) Faculty Meeting January 9 (Mon) 4th – 7th Grade Virtue Awards St. Joseph Altar Meeting January 10 (Tues) 1st – 3rd Grade Virtue Awards Grandparents’ Club Meeting, 10:00am in SMH January 12 (Thurs) Advisory Board Meeting, 7:00pm

2017-2018 Registration

Registration for returning families will take place January 23rd - 27th through the FACTS online tuition system. All

accounts must be current in order to register for next year. If there is a sibling enrolling for the first time in 2017-2018,

you will need to complete the online application for admission for him/her. The application will be posted on our web-

site tomorrow.

Reminder: To be considered SUPPORTING for the 2017-2018 school year, you must give $450 to St. Peter Parish

through the envelope system by December 30, 2016. Church parishes other than St. Peter may give vouchers for your

contribution. All vouchers are due April 13, 2017. Click here for the 2017-2018 Parish Activity & Support Form.

Open House for Prospective Families - Wednesday, January 11th at 9:00 am

Dear St. Peter Families,

As we conclude our second quarter, we are praying hard for all of our students to have a strong finish to the semes-

ter. Our entire school staff also wants to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. May these Advent and Christmas Seasons

draw us closer to Christ in the joy of His birth. We also pray that we all grow in the virtues to

be more like Christ in our love for each other every day.

I also want to share an exciting update for next school year. Mrs. Nicole Siverd has accepted

the Development Director position. Mrs. Siverd has three children at St. Peter and has volun-

teered in many ways at St. Peter Parish and School. She recently was one of our co-chairs for

our Gala. She also has experience as the Director of Fund Development at St. Scholastica

Academy. She will be starting part-time in January and working with Karen Van Zandt to

help in her transition. Please join me in welcoming Mrs. Siverd to our school staff.

I pray you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

God alone,

Michael Kraus Nicole Siverd, 2017-2018

Development Director

Academic Accolades Suzanne Roth, Dean of Academics

Shop at Amazon Smile at: smile.amazon.com/ch/72-0505562 for your holiday gifts and Amazon will donate a portion of your sale to St. Peter Catholic School.

TOMORROW

Little Lamb of Love Advent Program

(Key Cottage - Kindergarten)

at 9:00am

St. Mary’s Hall

Click here for all of the Advent

happenings at St. Peter!

Car Safety Reminder

The CDC recommends

that all children under

the age of 13 should be

in the back seat of a

car. Please take a min-

ute to read this impor-

tant article on how to

keep our children safe.

(https://www.cdc.gov/features/passengersafety/)

The Annual

Pajama Day

Read-a-thon

was a success!

Pictured right: Mrs.

Nolan’s kindergar-

ten class celebrates

pajama day with a

fashion show, hot

cocoa, Christmas ice

cream, parent read-

ers, and a train ride.

Key Cottage enjoys chocolate milk and donuts

before their train ride.

A scene from “The

Spirit of Giving”

Advent Program

Faith Happenings Clint Goss, Coordinator of Religious Education

Family Virtues in Action The Jarrell Family

We are the Jarrell family - Shane, Ranie, and our five boys. Blaine is in 7th grade, Brayden is in 5th grade,

Brennan is in 2nd grade, and Blake is in Pre-K. Brooks does not go to school yet. This is our fifth year at St. Peter School, and we love being in the Catholic school setting. We feel like it keeps us on track with our faith.

Although we stay busy with school, sports, and daily activities, we make sure to create time for God in our

lives. We attend Mass weekly, and Blaine and Brayden are altar servers. We began praying with the boys at a very young age. We eat dinner together at the kitchen table with no electronics, and we go around taking turns

discussing our peak and valley for each day.

We incorporate charity all year, but especially during

the Christmas season. We know that we are blessed with so much and enjoy helping those that need some assistance. We often donate items to various organiza-tions, flood victims, etc. The older boys volunteer at the

Covington Food Bank, make cards for sick family mem-bers and friends, participate in various fundraisers, and recently purchased gifts for some kids from the Angel Tree.

Of course, we have our difficult moments, but we con-tinue to grow in knowledge

and holiness daily. It is only by God's grace that we are able to tackle our busy lives. God Bless and Merry Christmas!

Advent these last several years has been a paradox for me. Our

Church calls us to quiet, peaceful reflection and preparation for

the coming of our Savior at Christmas. Yet, as parents, I think

we all know that this is rather challenging in a society and cul-

ture that is loud, noisy, materialistic, and seems bent on remov-

ing Christ from Christmas. We just don’t live in an Advent-

friendly world.

But there is always HOPE with our Lord. We still have a week

and a half of Advent. There is still time to push through the

noise, the hustle-and-bustle, and just take time to BE with God.

Turn off the music. Turn off the TV. Turn off the device.

Step away from Facebook. Our God is longing to spend time

with us. The big day, after all, is all about Him. What do we

need to say to Him? Of course, He already knows, but He is

our Father. He really does want to hear from us. It’s all about

a relationship. As parents, we often can read our children’s

minds before they ever come running to us to make their latest

request. We still want to hear from our children, however.

We love them. It’s all about the relationship.

Where is our heart? What is the treasure of our heart? Our

Lord says that where our heart is, there also is our treasure.

What do you treasure? Is time with God priority number one?

Is our family second in line behind God? Or do other things try

to take over, such as desire for wealth, security, social standing,

popularity, perfect health, perfect body, keeping-up-with-the

Joneses, etc. Perhaps we are workaholics? Perhaps we are

caught up in gossip? Perhaps we come up with any number of

excuses for not attending Sunday Mass when we know good

and well we ought to be there each Sunday.

Keeping Christ in Christmas . . . We hear it and say it a lot.

We see it posted in front yards and even on bumper stickers,

but how does this get lived out? What does it look like practi-

cally? Are we praying daily and throughout the day? Is

Christ, the Ultimate Gift, the source of our desire to give gifts

to others? Are the gifts in honor of his birthday and out of

love? Do the gifts we give help build up the Body of Christ or

tear it down? Is Sunday Mass, Christmas Mass, and Recon-

ciliation part of our Christmas plans? Are religious Christmas

songs played just as much as the fun songs that we all know

and enjoy? Are we helping those in need? Or are we focused

only on our own needs? Do we celebrate the Christmas Season

in its entirety (Dec. 25 – Jan. 9, this year on the liturgical calen-

dar). Do we spend time reading, reflecting, and praying the

Scriptures, especially those that tell the story of Christ’s birth?

This month’s virtue here at school is HOPE. Advent is a time

of HOPE. Jesus is coming, and He is the Light that comes into

the darkness of our world. With Jesus as our HOPE, it is never

too late to start anew with anyone or anything. I HOPE that

this Advent and Christmas is truly a time of conversion and

transformation of hearts for all of us and our families.

Jesus, be born in our hearts this Christmas…and every day!

Peace and blessings to you and your families!

Clint Goss

Coordinator of Religious Education

The Spirit of Giving Advent Program

1st - 3rd Grade Students

Advancement Activities Karen Van Zandt, Advancement Director

Dear St. Peter Friends,

It is hard to imagine that we have gotten to the halfway point of the 2016.2017 school year. I think be-cause the weather keeps changing in such an extreme manner, that I am having trouble realizing we are in the midst of winter. Hopefully, we will have fantastic weather for Christmas and for our entire break.

As we look to the start of the 3rd quarter of school and the beginning of 2017, we prepare in ear-nest for the Party at the Pavilion. This event is always a favorite in our community. It takes many, many, willing hands and hearts to make it a success. I hope you will consider making one of your resolutions for 2017 to get more involved at St. Peter School. We need you!

Prayers for a season of joy and much time for you to enjoy family and friends.

Peace,

Karen Van Zandt Advancement Director

HOW THE WEST

WAS FUN! Party at the Pavilion

April 28, 29 & 30 2017

NOW WRANGLING UP: Decorators Games Grillers

Auctioneers Bakers

Contact the Mayor: kvanzandt@stpetercov.org