January 13, 2020

by Sheila O'Callaghan

We celebrated the Baptism of the Lord on Sunday. This celebration ended the season of Christmastime.  Now, we go back to Ordinary Time.  This means that the church is in between seasons.

We do not forget about God during Ordinary Time.  We continue to pray, care about each other, do our school work well, reach out to help the poor, the sick, the lonely and the homeless.

Let us not forget the saints we will celebrate during Ordinary Time.  On Monday, January 13, we remember St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church.  His name means "cheerful".  Bishop Hilary was a great writer.  He helped people understand that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Remember St. Hilary every time you make the Sign of the Cross, and ask him to help you love God.  On this day, schools in England used to begin winter classes after the Christmas break.  So the winter term is called "Hilary".  If people ask you what time of year it is, you can say that it is "January", "winter", "Ordinary Time", or "Hilary".

Please pray for the sick, especially Father Mink, Ms. Carmen, Mrs. Walker's great-nephew, Miss C's brother Jack Conaty, Mrs. Bradford's mother, for the intentions of Pat and Judy Colonna, and all the sick and injured of our parish.  Baby William Kelley is now doing very well.  Thank you for all of your prayers.

Our Armed Forces and First Responders need our prayers everyday.  Please pray for them.

Please take a moment to return re-registration applications and the $100 non-refundable deposit for the 2020-2021 school year.  They were sent home on Friday, 1/3/20, and due on Friday, 1/10/20.  If you haven't returned yours, please do so now.  We want to ensure that we reserve a place for your child(ren) and want to notify new families of acceptances in a timely manner.

This year St. Ann School will participant in Catholic Schools Week Many Gifts, One Nation: A Day of Giving to Catholic Schools. This online give-a-thon will take place for 24 hours from noon on January 28 to noon on January 29.  We ask that you give to our school at this time to help us continue our 120-year tradition of outstanding education —strong in academics, values, and community.  All donations will directly benefit St. Ann School. This link will go live at noon on Tuesday, January 28. Help us spread the word about this exciting opportunity to do great things for our school!

St. Ann's came home laden with medals from last Saturday's Rustin Invitational Science Olympiad. This is a highly competitive regional contest that serves as preparation for the DE State Science Olympiad at the end of March. Our Rustin results bode well for our team. Thanks to all the volunteers who are guiding our students to success; special thanks to Ms. Julie Dugan and Mrs. Paranzcak for their dedication.

We got some more good news from our eighth graders last week. Daniel E and Ben D earned scholarships at St. Mark's High School and Mauro C earned a scholarship at St. Elizabeth High School. Congratulations! Stay tuned for more good news as our 8th grade class continues to make us proud. 

Nurse’s Notes:

Nurse Kerr is beginning to see an increase in illness as we move deeper into the winter months.  While there is no need for alarm, it bears reviewing a few illness management guidelines. 

Please keep your student home from school if they have the following:

• A temperature of 100 degrees or higher (students should not return to school until the temperature is normal for 24 hours without medication).

• Vomiting or diarrhea more than once in the past 24 hours. The child should be able to keep down both liquids and solid foods before returning to school.

This policy is essential for your child’s wellness and that of his/her classmates. We will be taking extra measures at school to sanitize and clean. Together we can keep our St. Ann School community as healthy as possible.

More Reminders

More Useful Information

Winter weather: We get our closing and early dismissal direction from the Diocesan Catholic Schools Office. We use the School Messenger system to alert St. Ann families. You can also subscribe to WDEL SNOWATCH if you want text messages sent to you. Sign up for CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS-New Castle County. 

2019-2020 St. Ann School Calendar: Attached here is the detailed St. Ann School Calendar for 2019-20. Please note that changes may occur to this calendar during the course of the year, so check back periodically.

2019-2020 Diocesan Calendar: Attached here is the Diocesan School Calendar for the 2019-2020 school year.

Amazon Smile: Amazon Smile is a simple and automatic way for you to support St. Ann's every time you shop, at no cost to you. Next time you want to make a purchase through Amazon, sign up for Amazon Smile via this Amazon Smile link. Save it to your favorites or bookmark it.  That way, every time you buy, Amazon will donate 0.5% to St. Ann's. It's just that simple!

Volunteers needed

Background Checks: We need background checks on any adult who wants to spend time with our children in school or at a school-sponsored off-campus event. The cost is $30 and they are good for 5 years. Please contact Pat Walker at pwalker@stannwilmington.com if you are interested. 

Lunchroom:  We can always use volunteers. Please consider if you or another family member can help out. On the job training available! Contact Brook Rowe at bepers@gmail.com if you can help.