March 18, 2024
Dear SAP School Families,
On March 11 while our staff was on our Lenten Faculty Retreat with Msgr. Sal and Fr. Pirrone we started with Mass and a retreat, and then saw the movie Cabrini. How inspiring St. Frances Cabrini continues to be to this day. Her statue is near the Divine Mercy Statue in the cove in our church. St. Frances Cabrini, Pray for Us. Hope you all had a beautiful St. Patrick’s Day this Sunday. We also want to congratulate our Folklorico team for representing our school at the Hermosa Beach St. Patrick’s Day parade this past Saturday. Great job!
Last week we celebrated Pi Day on 3/14 in our Junior High Math classes, our 6th graders went to Santiago Retreat Center, and our 7th graders returned home safely yesterday after being on Catalina Island from 3/15-3/17. Thank you to all our teachers for planning such wonderful experiential education lessons for our students. Today, our Kinder class goes to the Aquarium!
As Lent continues, we have our 1:30pm all school Stations of the Cross in the church each Friday. The Lenten Fish Fry and evening Stations of the Cross are also every Friday in the church during Lent, so you can attend with your family after work. Please see the church bulletin for more details. Knights of Columbus Fish Fry tickets are for sale after Mass on weekends and in the school office at $10 presale, $12 at the door.
Our 8th graders are looking towards graduation in a few short months. They have their 8th grade retreat at Thousand Pines coming up at the end of April, after their DC trip in early April. There are so many things to anticipate this school year! Once again, congratulations to all our students who have already been accepted to Catholic high schools!
Families, especially dads, grandpas, and uncles: please join us tomorrow for “Mass with Father Figures” tomorrow March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph. More info will come from your teachers. Looking ahead, our “Mass with Mother Figures” will take place on April 26.
We are happy to welcome back Monica Harmon this Wednesday, March 20, to do 3 different grade level assemblies on Bullying Awareness and Prevention in the Hall. We ask that you are also talking to your children about being kind every day to each other, and if they hurt someone, to ask for forgiveness. If someone hurts them, they can also forgive those people, as the Lord’s Prayer teaches us. Let’s continue to forgive those who trespass against us this Lent and every day. The sacraments are calling us, so please make it a point to also go to Confession as a family (preferably once a month). It’s a beautiful gift from our Lord!
Mark your calendars! Our All School Marian Consecration will take place April 10-May 12, and culminates on May 13 with May Crowning, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. We encourage you to entrust your families to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through his Blessed Mother Mary. Teachers will give you info on this beautiful activity and we encourage all families to participate at home together, for so many special graces.
Finally, please vote for St. Anthony of Padua as BEST School in the South Bay again! Voting began March 8 online for the Daily Breeze and goes till April 7. Please visit https://southbay.bestinvoting.com/ and vote for our school and the preschool across the street: St. Anthony of Padua School and St. Anthony’s Day Nursery, respectively. Remember to vote under the 3rd category of EDUCATION and you must cast a minimum of 5 votes in 5 different categories for your vote to count. It’s for adults 18 and over and you may only vote once from one email address. Thanks in advance for your support!
Finally, please note that Ms. Helen Klute, our 6th grade Homeroom and Jr. High ELA teacher just announced last week that she will not be returning next year due to health and family issues. We pray for her and all our teachers in their discernment to the vocation of Catholic education and we wish them all the best.
Many Blessings,
Angela Grey, Principal
SCHOOL CALENDAR 2023-2024
(Be sure to always check www.stanthonygardena.org, your child’s teacher’s blog, and the Parish website at www.saintanthonygardena.org/parish-bulletin/ for the most current information.)
- March 8-April 7 – Daily Breeze Voting
- March 19 – St. Joseph’s Feast Day, Mass with Father Figures
- March 20 – Anti Bullying Assemblies in Hall by grade level
- March 29-April 5– Easter Break
- April 8-12 – 7th and 8th grade Washington, DC trip (Mrs. Grey, Mr. Richardson, Mrs. Patel, Ms. Gomez, Mrs. Rubalcava out)
- April 10-May 12 – Marian Consecration All School and Families
- April 16 – 2nd Grade Reconciliation in Church
- April 19 – Regular School Day, whole staff Professional Development was canceled, this is changed on school calendar
- April 20 – First Holy Communion 2nd grade in the church
- April 23-24 – ARK testing
- April 26 – Mass with Mother Figures
- April 29-May 2 – Thousand Pines 8th grade Retreat
- May 1-30 – Hundred X EFG fundraiser for $20,000 $1.60 for each quality brand opinion
- May 13 – May Crowning, and culmination of All School Marian Consecration (starts 4/10-5/12))
- May 17-19 – Parish Fiesta (see calendar for noon dismissals and Student Free Days that week due to Fiesta set up and cleanup: )
RE-REGISTRATION INFO for RETURNING FAMILIES
Re-Registration for current students continues. If you still need to register, the fee has gone up. Open Enrollment to the public began 3/1. We have begun taking outside applications. Be sure to register if you plan to return!
INTERIOR MAINTENANCE PLC and SERVICE HOUR BUYOUT
Please sign up for the Interior Maintenance PLC for service hours that can be earned on certain Saturdays from 12:30-3:30 p.m. You can also donate Scrip at the front office for school expenses. You may buy out your service hours for $15/hour for Scrip, such as Home Depot, Office Depot, Target, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Starbucks. Next year, the price goes up to $17/hr to keep up with inflation and CA’s minimum wage.
MONTHLY EMERGENCY DRILLS
Our school has at least one safety drill per month. Please discuss procedures and your family’s plan with your children in the event of a fire, lockdown/intruder alert, or earthquake when they are at home. Thanks to all our staff members and students for preparing our students. We ask them to always act like it’s real.
VOLUNTEERS
All visitors on campus must check in and out of the office at all times and wear a VISITOR badge. All Volunteers must be Fingerprinted through the ADLA, cleared, and have a current Virtus Training Certificate. AM and PM carline and lunch yard duty volunteers (from 12-1 daily) are needed. Please email me at agrey@stanthonygardena.org if you are interested. For safety reasons, please call before you come to the office and buzz yourself in. Do not prop the door open for anyone, especially strangers. All parents are welcome to join the SAFETY PLC to increase security on our campus.
EARN ONE SERVICE HOUR FROM HOME!
Parents who review our school online on Yelp, Google, AND greatschools.org will earn up to one service hour after you send me your screenshots of all 3 sites as proof: to agrey@stanthonygardena.org.
St. Anthony of Padua – Pray for us
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