JANUARY NEWSLETTER

Dear Families,

            A New Year will soon be upon us!  We have much to be thankful for to our God.  My hope for all of our IHM Families is that our Christmas season and New Year be filled with much peace and love in our minds, bodies, and spirits.  Please be sure to share in the gift of Liturgy and Eucharist with your children over the holidays.  There is no better way to become closer to Jesus, who will lead all of us to such peace and love.

            The winter is quickly coming upon us, too.  Therefore, I would like to remind everyone of our school closing procedures.  When there is snow or other inclement weather, please listen to KYW 1060AM.  If all “parochial schools are closed,” then IHM School is closed.  If all “parochial schools are open,” then please continue to listen for our snow number, which is Philadelphia 118.  Due to our geographic location, we have our own snow number.  There are times when the city of Philadelphia public schools and the Archdiocesan schools are open, but we close, as conditions in Andorra and Roxborough are vastly different than those within other city areas.  Should snow arrive during the morning hours, I advise you to listen to KYW 1060 AM, too.  You would hear an announcement for “early dismissal of all parochial schools.”  This means, we would dismiss the students at noon.  It is in such times that we would implement our emergency phone chain in order to make you aware of your children coming home earlier than expected.  The key for all of us is to be prepared.

            I would like to offer our sincerest congratulations to the following eighth grade students who have maintained academic excellence throughout their educational journey here at IHM.  Due to their diligence and hard work, these young people have qualified to take the Neumann Scholarship test.  Should any of our students score high enough on this test, they would be awarded a full four year scholarship to the Archdiocesan High School of their choice.  Way to go:  Pamela Andreola, Andrea Campanella, Michael Cherry, Katie Dolan, Alanna Easley, Jodi Jansen, Rachel Lyons, Thomas Mahan, K. J. McFarlane, Robert Nolen, Gianna Pinardo, Frankie Rapone, and Billy Schwartz!  We wish you the best of God’s blessings while taking the test and in your High School careers.  Thank you for doing us proud!

            Lastly, I am happy to announce that in the New Year IHM School will try out a new system for our Thursday folder.  We will be doing “Virtual Thursday Folders” in an effort to go green by copying less and in an effort to cut costs down as we will not be using as much paper.  Please look for the PURPLE PAPER in this week’s Thursday folder, which will give you a full explanation and directions for the Virtual Folder. 

            May God and our Blessed Mother shower you with blessings of family time and love.  See you next year!

                                                                                    Respectfully in peace and love,

                                                                                    Mrs. Kimberly A. Szypula

Dear Families,

  The glorious seasons of Advent and Christmas are upon us!  We have so much to be thankful for in our lives.  I am very humbled by the outpouring of love and support our students showed in our recent Peanut Butter and Jelly Drive.  Over 300 pounds were collected and donated to the Nutritional Development Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia!  It is a true testament that the Good News is living within us!  Way to go!

  A big thank you also goes out to EVERYONE involved in the Home and School Christmas Bazaar.  The event was a huge success and a good time was had by all.  Our school community continues to “go green” in small, but important ways.  The paper recycling done parish wide is one of our biggest contributions.  This month we earned $68.69, so keep up the good work for our Earth and our school.

  As you know, we started implementing a program at IHM School last year, Peace Builders.  This year, our school community has fully embraced the program.  The underlying goal of Peace Builders is to help create students who become independent and autonomous adults who are able to solve problems peaceably and treat others with the human dignity they deserve.  Through making our daily, communal Peace Builders’ Pledge, class meetings, and the like, our teachers and students are working quite hard to improve the climate of our school.  You may recall that at the start of the year you, the parents and guardians, were invited to review the components of our Peace Builders’ program with your child in their Peace Builders’ folder.  Then, you signed off on these guidelines.  I seek your assistance in reinforcing the Peace Builders’ principles at home with your child.  It is only through consistency that we can help prepare them for success in adulthood.  Try to work some of our Peace Builders’ concepts into dinner conversations or when you need to correct your child’s behavior.  In working as a team and trusting each other to do our respective jobs (parent & educator), we will surely be most effective in helping our children be their best selves!

  With the winter quickly creeping up on us, I want to take this time to remind everyone about requesting and picking up work for sick children.  You can simply request the work when you call your child out sick on the absentee line.  If you or another family member is picking up the work, then please know it will be ready in the office at 2:30PM, not earlier.  If another student is bringing the work home, then it will be sent to that child by 2:30PM.

  May God bless you and your family during this time of preparation for Baby Jesus.  I will pray that you have times of quiet reflection, contagious laughter, and tranquil peace throughout the month.  Thank you for sharing your most beautiful creations with us each and every day.

                                                                                
Respectfully in peace and love,

Mrs. Kimberly A. Szypula

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

Dear Families,

                What a wonderful month which lies before us!  We have so very much to celebrate and be thankful for ~ our homes, food, clothing, families, friends, education, freedoms, and beautiful life.  Praise be to God our Almighty Father for them all!  I invite everyone to remember those who have gone before us in a very special way during the month of November and on All Souls Day.  May we also reflect on the lives of the Saints, whose lives we can try to emulate as we journey closer to Jesus.  Each of the Saints, like St Theresa of Avila, did “small things with great love.”  Imagine how much more peace and happiness would fill the world if we all lived by those words?!

                A great big thank you to Mrs. Stanczak, Mrs. Harwick, and Ms. Rayner for their hard work and dedication in preparing our sixth grade students for the Sacrament of Confirmation.  The boys and girls were thoroughly prepared, and it was evident that the Holy Spirit came down upon them.  Way to go, grade 6!  Speaking of thanks, I also want to send out sincere thanks to our maintenance staff who have been doing a tremendous job of keeping IHM School as germ free as possible.  Thank you all!  Lastly, I would like to thank you, our families, for taking heed to the earlier H1N1 papers sent home, which requested that all students with fevers be kept home or picked up promptly from school.  Your cooperation with this is helping us to keep our cases of illness at a minimum.  Bravo!  I would ask one small favor:  when calling out your child, please keep your message on the absentee line to a minimum.  Lately, the messages have been very detailed causing the machine to fill up quickly without enough room for others to leave their messages.  Thank you in advance for assistance with this! 

                We earned $72 last month from our Paper Recycling efforts!  Thank you for your continued contributions to this effort.  In an effort to go green”er” than we already are, I am requesting that any parent of family member who works for a company discarding old letterhead paper please ask to recycle the paper by giving it to IHM School.  Papers with just a company logo and contact information at the top, which has not yet been used would be a great contribution to our paper supply.    Any donations can be brought directly to the school office.  We are most grateful for your contributions!

                Lastly, I want to invite all of our students to bring water bottles with them to school in an effort to reduce the use of the water fountains during this germ infested season.  The water bottles should be filled PRIOR to the children coming to school.  I also ask that the child’s name be on his/her water bottle.  This privilege should prove to be a help in keeping everyone healthy.

                Thank you for sharing you precious children with us.  May God bless you and your family in a very special way this Thanksgiving.   

                                                                                                                                                        Respectfully in peace & love,

               Mrs. Kimberly A. Szypula