Thunder News Flash – May 14, 2022

As we move from Public Health Orders to being “Health Aware”, here are some important reminders:

• complete a daily health check with your child – please click here to see the most up-to-date information regarding this
• monitor your children regularly for symptoms of illness – if they are sick, they should stay home.  Please click here for information about testing for COVID-19
• follow all of the provincial restrictions that are currently in place – please click here for the latest information
• follow all of the travel guidelines put in place federally – please click here for the latest information
• if you would like your child to wear a mask at school, please ensure they bring at least one mask with them to school each day
• seek reputable sources of information about COVID-19, such as the BCCDC, including how to protect yourself, your family and your community, and what to do if you suspect you have the virus by clicking here

On Monday, May 16th the Grade 2 students will be receiving the Body of Christ for the first time at they make their First Communion.  Thank you to Mrs. Magel for preparing them so well, their parents for supporting their faith journey and to Fr. Ashley and Fr. Richard who will be celebrating this special First Communion Mass at 6:30pm.  As they participate in this very important Sacrament, we hope this will continue to help the Grade 2s strengthen their relationship with Jesus.  Congratulations, we are all so proud of you!

We are very happy to announce that we are phasing out the old school sweater, and replacing it with a beautiful crested sweatshirt that will become a part of our school uniform in September.  The new sweatshirt will be on display in the foyer of the school all next week, or outside the school doors if the weather cooperates, and parents are able to come and try the sample sizes on their children.  There are even adult sizes, just in case parents want to look as sharp as their children!  An order form will go home with the oldest child in each family next week, and will be due back at the school on Wednesday, May 25th.  The youth sizes will cost $46 (including tax) and the adult sizes will cost $50 (including tax).  These are crew neck sweatshirts, so if your child finds it hard to wear something that goes over their head, Neat Uniforms will still carry their remaining stock of school sweaters in their store until their current supply runs out.

On Wednesday, May 18th St. James & St. Ann’s School will be holding our Ready, Set, Learn event, from 6:00 – 7:00pm.  This evening session is for parents whose children are 3 – 5 years of age, who have not yet started school, and of course the 3 – 5 year olds are welcome to join in the fun as well.  Please click here for more information.  If you are planning on attending this fun and interactive event, please click here to email the School Office so that we can plan accordingly.  We hope to see you there!

Lifetouch Photography will be at the school on Monday, May 16th to take our class photos, and if the weather cooperates they will also take our school panorama picture as well.  Please ensure that your children come to school that day looking sharp, in their complete school uniform.

While we had a very successful re-registration of our existing students, and will be welcoming many new students to the school in September, there are still some spaces available for the 2022-2023 school year.  If you know of any families who are considering sending their children to St. James & St. Ann’s School, we have a few spaces available in Kindergarten and Grades 5 and 6.  The Application Package can be found on our school’s website or by clicking here. 

Do you have school uniform pieces that your children have outgrown, and you don’t know what to do with them?  Please consider donating them to the school to go into our consignment cupboard.  We will be having a huge sale of used uniform pieces on June 23rd and 24th – some items will be marked down to very affordable prices, and other items will be for sale by donation.  As you do your spring cleaning, we will happily take uniform pieces that are clean and in good condition.  You can simply drop them off at the school office and we will take care of the rest!

The next Work Bee will take place at the school today, Saturday, May 14th from 9:00am to 2:00pm. This is a great way to earn five hours towards your Parent Participation commitment.  Hopefully the weather will be good, so please bring gloves for both indoor and outdoor work, as well as any small cordless garden tools that you have.  Please remember to complete a daily health check before coming to the Work Bee, and stay home if you are unwell.  We are very grateful for all of your hard work around the school.

Thank you to the many families who have contributed to fundraising at our school by bringing your recyclables for deposit to the R & T Recycling Depot and donating them to our school’s account.  We really appreciate your help, and that you are practising stewardship by recycling rather than creating more garbage.  We would ask that all families who are participating in this way please ensure that all of the items dropped off are things that can be returned for a deposit.  Our account was recently suspended due to some ineligible items being in the bags that were dropped off, as well as some of the bottles and juice boxes still having liquids in them.  Our account is active once again, and we truly appreciate your help with this simple fundraiser.

Just a reminder that the school will be closed on Friday, May 20th and again on Monday, May 23rd for the Victoria Day holiday.

Our next school Mass will take place on Friday, May 27th at 9:00am at St. James Church, led by our Kindergarten class.  We would ask all students who are able to bring some fresh cut flowers from their garden at home, to place in front of the statue of Mary at the Church.  In the morning on May 27th when the students arrive at school, the flowers will be placed in vases to be brought to the Church.  Parents are welcome to attend this Mass to help us show Mary how much we love her.

ZUMBATHON 2022 has come and gone and was a fantastic day for the entire St. James & St. Ann’s community.  The students rotated through Zumba and other stations to keep them active through the morning.  It was great to see families able to join in again too!  It takes a lot of help and support to put on the Zumbathon fundraiser and the Parent Fundraising Association would like to thank all the staff, parents and students who shared of their time, talent and treasure to help make this day a success.  And a very special thank you to Liliana for stepping in to lead us all through Zumba!

Just a reminder that Pledge Collection Days continue all this week:  MAY 16 – 19.  Please bring in your Zumbathon pledge sheet and money raised on one of those days to be eligible for Zumbathon prize raffle tickets and prizes.  Our Prize Raffle Draw will happen in early June.  Check out the fantastic prizes you could win by clicking here. 

We are still accepting Zumbathon pledges online through our website until May 19 by clicking here.  Thank you for your support.  Together we can raise $25,000!

We also want to thank Big Box Outlet, Canadian Tire, Chalo FreshCo, Cineplex, Clayburn Village Store, Columbia Business Systems, Knights of Columbus – St. James Parish, Original Hot Yoga, Pet Lovers, Save On Foods Clearbrook, Starbucks – Blue Jay, Superstore, Valhalla Pure, Westlynn Meats & Seafood, Andrew Greatbanks, the Laflamme Family, the Humphreys Family, the Legaspi Family, the Rauch Family, Mrs. Sask and many more anonymous people and businesses for donating some awesome prizes and items for our event!