It has been a long time since our school has had a PTO. It is vital that parents are involved in school activities. This year we are starting a parent group for SAS. This group will meet once a month to discuss activities and events that will be held throughout the year. The group will also look at different types of fundraising and ways to help the school community. The next meeting will be Thursday, September 23 at 6:30 in the school cafeteria. We hope to see you there!

Students have done a terrific job of coming to school with a mask. A mask helps prevent a person who is sick from spreading the virus to others. Appropriate and consistent use of masks is most important when students, teachers, and staff are indoors and when social distancing is difficult to implement or maintain. If we can all wear masks consistently and correctly, then we could reduce not only the spread of illness but also reduce the number of individuals who may need to quarantine. Now more than ever, it is important that we reiterate the proper way to wear the mask. Please make sure your child has the proper sized mask; the mask should fit snugly and cover the bridge of the nose and stretch under the chin. The mask should stay in place and not fall off of the nose. Many students are wearing the same mask each day and the mask are stretching out and not fitting properly. We must continue to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 by doing our part and properly wearing a mask.

The first birthday party of the school year is Friday, September 24th. The party will honor the students who have birthdays in June, July, August, and September. For those of you who are new to St. Anthony, the school celebrates the birthdays in groups three times a year. Students who have a birthday during these months may be out of uniform on this day and are recognized at the class party. Room mothers will provide a treat for the class on these special days. Treats will be individually wrapped and teachers will hand them out to the students. Room parents if you are bringing in items please clearly mark them with the room number so that we know who the items belong to.

We will also be bringing back our Scholastic Book Fair this year. The Fair will be held during the week of October 18. This event is an opportunity for students of all ages to build their home libraries and further their love of reading. As always, all purchases benefit our school. After missing out on many beloved traditions, our Book Fair will be a familiar, welcome, and safe event for our students. Students will visit the Fair during Library class and the Fair will be available during our Parent Teacher Conferences.

I want to thank everyone for helping pay it forward with The NED Show! We were blessed to be able to have The NED Show for free here at SAS. Our families did a great job of purchasing yoyos to make sure that another school will also be able to have The NED Show. We will continue to share NED’s message of Never Give Up, Encourage Others, and Do Your Best.

You may be aware that Governor Holcomb issued a new Executive Order on September 1, 2021 that references important updates to school quarantine guidance. Based on the Executive Order, those individuals identified as close contacts do not have to quarantine if they are symptom free and the school requires all individuals to wear a mask. These new guidelines are only for the school day and take into account that masks are worn consistently and correctly. Protocols for lunch, extracurricular activities and athletics will remain the same. As a school, we have done a great job of mitigating the spread of COVID within the building. I strongly believe this is because of masks and quarantines. While I understand that the new Executive Order could cut down on the amount of time students are out of the building, I want to ensure that we continue to keep our school community as safe and healthy as possible. With the new Order, we will look at each identified positive case on an individual basis. Any individual considered a close contact will receive a phone call and will be notified if a quarantine is necessary. In the classroom, close contacts will be identified as those individuals that sit within 3 feet of the confirmed case. If we can determine that mask were worn consistently and correctly, then the close contact may not need to quarantine. Because masks are not worn in the cafeteria, a close contact is anyone who sits within 6 feet of the confirmed case and will be required to quarantine. Again, I appreciate your continued support as we navigate through this ever-changing pandemic.

If a child stays home from school due to illness, the child MUST have a doctor’s note or a negative Covid Test result to return to school. I understand this can be an inconvenience, but it is important that we keep our school community safe and healthy.

After consultation with the Clark County Health Department, we are not able to accept “At Home” Covid Test results. The CCHD and the IDOH state that a PCR or Antigen test from a controlled environment are the only test results that we can accept.

We will not have school on Monday, September 6. We hope you enjoy the three day weekend, stay safe.

It is hard to believe that today marks the halfway point of the 1st quarter. Teachers and students have settled into the new year routine. Students are adjusting to new classroom expectations and teachers are getting to know each of their students. Please make sure to check Jupiter and review your child’s progress for the start of the this year. Take the time to have a discussion with your child about their grades, progress and effort for the beginning of the year. Talk about strengths and weaknesses and ways to improve. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the progress of your child, please contact your child’s teacher.

A huge shout out to our Athletic Committee for hosting our 1st annual Bear Nation BBQ. It was a wonderful event and a great way for our school community to come together. Everyone enjoyed the evening and the delicious food. Thanks to everyone who pitched in and put this event together.

We would like to thank everyone for supporting our school for the 1st Zesto night of the year. Unfortunately, Zesto’s is not able to provide Zesto Spirit Nights for the remainder of this season. We appreciate the support of Zesto’s. We are grateful for this fundraising opportunity. We hope that we will be able to have more Zesto Nights in the future.

Please make sure students are ready to exit the car when you arrive for morning drop off. We want to make sure that the drop off line moves as quickly as possible. Students should have backpack and all items ready to exit the vehicle. Parents should not exit the vehicle when dropping students off in the drop off line. If a child needs help exiting the vehicle, then you may park in a parking space and walk the child up to the door.

After consultation with the Clark County Health Department, we are not able to accept “At Home” Covid Test results. The CCHD and the IDOH state that a PCR or Antigen test from a controlled environment are the only test results that we can accept.

Our school is hosting The NED Show a live streaming all school event. A world-class performer takes our students on an interactive educational journey filled with storytelling, illusions, yo-yo tricks and humor. NED’s message inspires students, promotes academic achievement, and supports our school goals. Never give up Encourage others Do your best® Our school received this program at no-cost because another school community has paid-it-forward to us. Now it’s our turn—you can help by purchasing a NED-messaged yo-yo and accessories. A yo-yo is both a mindset tool and tangible reminder of NED’s message. While learning to yo-yo children will make mistakes, try again, and improve. Read more at http://www.mindsetmission.com/yoyos.html.

Students in Grades 4 through 8 are required to wear a uniform for P.E. class. This uniform, which consists of navy shorts and gold shirt, must be purchased through the school. Uniform sweatshirts and sweatpants may be worn in cold weather. All PE clothes must be purchased from the school office. If you need to purchase a PE uniform, please contact the front office. Students in grades 4th through 8th will wear their PE uniform to school on the day they have PE. This will eliminate changing in the restrooms and allow more time for PE. Students MAY ONLY wear the designated PE uniform on the designated PE day. If they do not have PE clothes, they may not come out of uniform and they will lose points for that day in PE. Points will be deducted beginning on the week of September 13.

We are off to a great start this school year. The first week of school has been filled with excitement and enthusiasm. All of our teachers, students, and families are working hard and getting back into the school day routine. Even though we are still following many health and safety protocols, there is a sense of “normalcy” in the building. A huge shout out to everyone for making the start of this year a huge success. By working together and supporting each other, I know it will a great year.

Our Jupiter system was recently updated and families will need new logins for this school year. Jupiter is our grading system, along with a communication tool. The new login instructions will be sent out through Jupiter email and also a paper copy will be sent home. It is very important that you sign up for Jupiter as soon as possible.