05-1031 Dec 25 2016

Pastor’s Perspective Dear Friends, This weekend is our reason to celebrate our Christian faith. On this day, our Savior, Jesus Christ, was born! As children open their presents, we open our hearts to welcome the newborn King. He is our Christmas present ... a true gift who keeps on giving! May the Lord bless you and your home this weekend and throughout the Christmas Season! Merry Christmas! Father John, Father Ron, Deacon Bob and the entire staff! Our longed-for Savior has arrived. Happy Birthday, Jesus! The principal, staff and students of our little but mighty school appreciate your loving and caring support expressed in so many tangible ways over this past calendar year. We would like you to know that our school is doing very well: we have a dedicated, creative and well qualified faculty. Enrollment is strong. SVS students are awesome, caring, confident, thoughtful, talented, athletic, engaged and successful. Our concern for the needs of the less fortunate is heart-warming. We donate to local and global needs. We participated in the Thanksgiving Food Drive for Catholic Charities, donated gently used blankets and pocket - size toiletries to Saint John’s Outreach Program. Students in preschool through fifth grade donated baby items to the Catholic Charities Adoption program. Students in sixth through eighth grade donated items to the Polinsky Center for children whose age ranged between 10 years and 18 years. This gift –giving effort was incorporated in an Advent prayer service. Our school is accredited by WCEA and WASC through 2022. We constantly strive to offer a curriculum that is challenging and one that keeps our students on the cutting edge. In addition to offering a solid curriculum, we are fortunate to be able to offer weekly classes to all students in music, art, physical education, computer and the Spanish lan- guage. We can do this because we have dedicated parents, parishioners and Friends of Saint Vincent who support our various fund raisers and help us stay strong in challenging financial times. The Annual Fund Appeal to help support financial aid is currently in progress. Many parents are making serious personal challenges to keep their children in our school. They deserve both our prayers and our applause. But they also need our sacrificial support. What better gift to yourself than to help a child get a Catholic education, where not only his brain will be fed, but also the soul as well. Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Nollaig Shona Sr. Kathleen Walsh Principal’s Column The learning process has another impact in each one of the lives of our young students; in preparation of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, our preschoolers have in their memory the beautiful celebration we just had a week ago. Now the time just arrives, Jesus is born! And we are all celebrating! Parents and children really embrace the opportunity for sharing at this special time of the year. The gift of love is prevailing among all the other interests that surround us. Families are united for the infinite love learned from the teachings of Jesus. We have initiated our Parents-Teacher conferences first scheduled for the PK2 Classroom. Parents signed for a voluntary conference. They really want to know about their children’s progress. This year we are using the Desired Results for Children and Families, as an assessment tool; because “Research shows that children who attend high quality programs are more successful school, have lower dropout rates, and are better readers. The California Department of Education (CDE), Early Education and Support Division (EESD), has established the Desired Results System to improve program quality in early care and education programs across the state.” PK1 Classroom parents will have their opportunity for a conference next week. On behalf of teachers, parents and children from St. Vincent Preschool, I wish the community a blessed Christmas. Yolanda Aliaga Preschool Director’s Column PAGE 2

05-1031 Dec 25 2016

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