Saint Leo's

CATHOLIC SCHOOL / Elmwood Park, Nj

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1/11/2023

- Parent Portal

1/11/2023
1/11/2023

CORRECTION TO SCHOOL CALENDAR!!!!!

PLEASE BE AWARE THERE WAS AN ERROR ON THE SCHOOL CALENDAR. FEBRUARY 3RD IS A HALF DAY FOR ALL STAFF AND STUDENTS.

AFTERCARE WILL BE AVAILABLE UNTIL 3 PM.

Message about Catholic Schools Week

Greetings SLS Families,

Did you know that Catholic Schools Week (CSW) is celebrated Nationally every year?

CSW begins this year on Sunday, January 29 with our 10:30 Mass at St. Leo's Church celebrated by Fr. Gabriel, St. Leo's Church Administrator. All SLS families are encouraged to attend. In fact, students who attend wearing their Sunday Best or School Uniform will receive a Dress Down Pass for Monday, January 30. Students who Bring a Friend or Friends to our Open House (immediately following: 11:30 - 1:30) will receive a second Dress Down Pass to be used during Catholic Schools Week.

On this Sunday, we celebrate Catholic Education in all parishes across the United States. This is a singular opportunity to show our commitment to St. Leo's School and its future. Our attendance speaks louder than any words. As a special treat, our Student Council will hold a bake sale after mass.

As you may know, CSW has daily themes, showcasing related events and activities. Our HSA, Student Council, and staff are in the process of planning these special events and activities. You will hear more about each one as they are finalized: Sunday: Parish Education; Monday: Community; Tuesday: Students; Wednesday: Our Nation; Thursday: Vocations; Friday: School Staff and Volunteers; Saturday: Families.

Invitations to these special events are forthcoming. Please plan to attend and/or participate in as many as possible to show you support for SLS.

Scholarships for the 23-24 School Year are Now Open!!!!!

Tri-County County Scholarship Fund is currently open. Families can apply at online.factsmgt.com/aid. The deadline for applications is February 15, 2023. Remember, you must apply for this scholarship every year.

Emla Rimmelspacher Scholarship Fund (NEW SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY) - This scholarship is open for students from K-8th Grade. If awarded, students will receive $600. per year up until the day they graduate high school. The paperwork for this scholarship is attached below. Applications will only be accepted from May 1st to June 15th. No applicants will be considered after June 15th.

Scholastic Fund For Inner City Children -  https://sficnj.org/ - This application portal has not opened yet, once they open the portal, we will notify all families.

Please remember, these are independent scholarships and they have no affiliation with the school. Any questions or concerns you have should be directed to the individual organization.

Picture Make-Up Day - The photographer will be coming to the school on 1/20 to do "make-up" pictures only.  This is not a retake session. If your child missed picture day and you would like to schedule them for pictures, please email [email protected] and we will send a picture envelope home with your student.

Upcoming Events
- 1/12 - Virtual Tricky Tray Meeting via Google Meets at 7:15 pm - Meeting link: meet.google.com/zxb-bqzn-pct
- 1/16 - School Closed in Observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- 1/17 - Map Growth Winter Testing Begins
- 1/18 - DRESS DOWN DAY - Each grade will be assigned a different color. Homeroom teachers will notify students of their grade color. With a minimum $2.00 donation, Student Government will provide a breakfast during CSW for those who provide service and support to our community.
- 1/20 - Picture Makeup Day
- 1/29 - Catholic Schools Week Mass at 10:30 am - All students are encouraged to attend and staff are required to attend.
- 1/29 - St. Leo's School Open House 11:30 am-1:30 pm
- 1/29-2/1 - Scholastics Book Fair (open to the public on 1/29 only; during school hours 1/30-2/1) **volunteers needed**
- 2/3 - Early Dismissal - 12:15 pm. Aftercare is available until 3 pm.
SLS Lunch Program
Francesca's Lunch Program: https://elmwoodparkpizza.com/st-leos-lunch-program/

HSA Fundraisers

Back by Popular Demand! Paws on the Wall - see attached flyer

February Pizza Fridays (due January 25th): http://bit.ly/3iefpys

Please see the HSA January newsletter attached below

Inclement Weather

Recess - NJ Recess Law requires that education institutes provide outdoor recess for a minimum of 20 minutes unless there is severe inclement weather. SLS policy is that we will send students outdoors for recess unless the temperature dips below 32 degrees or in the case of extreme weather conditions (rain, snow, etc.). We suggest that all students dress appropriately for the change in weather (hats, gloves, etc.). Leggings are allowed to be worn under skirts during the cold weather.

Snow Closures/Delays - This time of year is fast approaching. Please be advised the SLS does not use Robo Call. In the case of school closings and/or delays, all families will be notified no later than 6 am the day of the closure by email. In addition, our website and social media pages will always have the correct information.

Housekeeping Items

Email Correspondence - It is very helpful to our school staff and teachers if you include your child's name and grade in your correspondence, many families have different last names or just provide an email, which makes it difficult to determine who the child is.

School Payments - please be sure that all payments to the school are separate, we are unable to make changes and monies go to different organizations (HSA, School, Classroom, Sports Group, etc.) Any funds received as a "grouping" or need, will be returned to the family. We will assume any extra money is a donation.

Deadlines - we can not express enough the need to adhere to deadlines and cut-off dates. Starting October 1st, any payments, notices, etc. that are received after a deadline will be returned to the student. Our school, HSA, and teachers work very hard to ensure that fundraisers, lunch orders, etc are correct, when deadlines are not followed it makes it hard to ensure mistakes are not being made.

Visitors to the school - all visitors to the school including parents, HSA, vendors, etc. are required to sign in at the front desk and receive a visitor's badge. It just provides us another level of safety for our students and staff to be sure that anyone who is visiting the school is allowed to be there and in the event of an emergency an accurate audit of who is in the building.

Late Arrivals - any student arriving after 8 am, without previous authorization, will be marked late. Parents MUST come into the building and sign their child in, students are not permitted to sign themselves into school.

Daily Drop Off - 7:45 - 8:00 AM Thank you for driving safely and being on time.

Recess Equipment: Students are allowed to bring their own recess equipment daily; however, it must be safe and approved by the student's HR teacher and shared at Recess.

Powerschool Access - all students have a PowerSchool account. This is where you will check grades, progress reports, report cards, etc...If you are unable to log in or need your information reset, please send an email to [email protected]org

Cold, Flu, and Covid: To prevent the spread of germs, SLS will continue to deep clean and disinfect all rooms monthly.