Dear St. Andrew Parents,
Hope you are still having a great summer! Over the course of the next week, we will send some additional information home besides the start of Friday News; please be on the lookout and read through the material.
We have now received transportation information for all districts including Neshaminy. At this time, you can call the front office at 215-968-2685 from 8:00-3:00 for your student’s bus information including: bus numbers, stops, and estimated pick-up and drop-off times.
Please see the bottom of this email with important information regarding the lack of attention the Commonwealth is paying to Saint Andrew and other non-public schools throughout the state that will affect the arrival of our textbooks, workbooks, and other instructional material.
School Information
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Student Medication Drop Off-Thursday, September 1 from 10-12pm.
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Please complete this form if your child will have medication in the nurse’s office.
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Now that we have gym on Fridays students that have gym dress down Friday passes but have Gym on Friday may wear their gym uniforms on Thursday.
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Personnel Update
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Religion – We are pleased to announce we have hired Mrs. Colleen Brennan as our new 7th and 8th grade Religion teacher. She comes to us with experience teaching middle and elementary school in New Jersey as well as working with her home Parish.
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Music – Ms. Sassaman has resigned to take a job in a public school. We wish her the best of luck and thank her for her 7 years at Saint Andrew. We are pleased to announce we have hired Ms. Alyssa Wiltbank who comes to us from St. Mike’s and Maternity BVM.
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Building Sub – We are excited to let you know we have hired Mrs. Ellen Koziol to be our Building Sub. She comes to us with experience in PA and NJ.
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Repeat School Information
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Nursing/Medical Needs/Attention
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If you haven’t already submitted physicals/dental forms, please see the reminders below:
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All new student registrations (regardless of grade): Both a dental form and physical exam form (dated after 9/1/21) are required by the state of PA for all new students registering at St. Andrew.
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Existing Students Entering Grades 3 & 7: Dental forms (dated after 9/1/21) are required by the state of PA for students entering grade 3 & 7 – due by the first day of school.
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Existing Students Entering Grade 6: Physical exam forms (dated after 9/1/21) with updated immunizations are required by the state of PA for students entering grade 6 – due by the first day of school.
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*If an appointment is scheduled, please inform the nurses: stentilucci@standrewcec.com and csanchez@standrewcec.com.
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Clearance Information
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Link to Protecting God’s Children Courses – All Volunteers and Staff must complete this course.
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There is an online option on 9/13/22 and 9/20/22.
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Upcoming In-Person Classes:
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St. Martin de Tours, New Hope, 8/30/22 & 9/29/22
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Our Lady of Grace, Southampton, 9/7/22.
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St. Ephrem, Bensalem, 9/17/22
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Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Doylestown, 9/27/22
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For More information on other required clearances, please visit our website and for any questions please contact Kathy Kajmo at clearances@stapn.org.
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Band Information (4-8)
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We are happy to announce Mr. Larry Rumph will be leading our Band Program. He comes with years of experience with NE Music.
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Attached is the Flyer with Parent Information
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See below for Orchestra / Strings as this is not part of the band program.
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Band Demonstration for 4-8 students will take place 9/16 during the school day.
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Instruments will be delivered 9/22.
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The first lessons will take place 9/23 continued by Friday Lessons on a rotating schedule.
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Orchestra Information (1-8)
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Former instructor Nick Mynyk is returning, and Orchestra is not connected to Band/NE Music.
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Orchestra will take place on Tuesdays during the school year on a rotating schedule.
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Do not register for our school orchestra anywhere else.
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A demonstration will take place in September and registrations will still be accepted through this date.
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If you have any questions, please reach out to Mr. Mynyk directly at nmynyk@yahoo.com
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School Calendar/Events
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All of our school events are posted on the calendar in FACTS. If you would like to sync the school FACTS calendar to your Google calendar on your computer or phone, follow these instructions.
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Dress Code
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Please make sure that your children have proper fitting uniforms.
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Please check the length of the girls’ skorts. Skorts should be no shorter than 2 inches above the knee. Skorts should never be rolled.
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Shirts must always be tucked. If the shirt is constantly untucked, a new shirt will be necessary.
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Boys in grades 2-8 must wear a belt.
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Boys may wear the traditional dress shoes or another all black sneaker as part of the school uniform. Girls may wear the traditional saddle shoes or keds saddle sneakers. Backs of shoes should not be folded down. The entire foot must remain in the shoe.
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No sweatshirts should be on in the building except during the winter on the student’s assigned gym day. School uniform sweaters should be worn in the fall and spring if a student needs to warm up.
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Gym Day uniforms consist of Saint Andrew Gym Uniforms, Saint Andrew Spirit Sale Wear. SAS Spirit Day Shirts are acceptable. CYO shirts should not be worn.
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Nail polish and make-up including eyeliner are not permitted.
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This includes gel nail polish and paste on nails.
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Jewelry is limited to one earring in each earlobe for females. One necklace with religious implications may be worn.
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Boys’ hair must not touch their collars or cover their eyebrows.
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Summer work/assignments can be found on our website with the link below. Other than the work below we encourage your children to read! Read on a plane, in the car, 15 minutes a day or night. For our younger kids, read to them or read with them. As students get older, consider fostering a book club with your child(ren) or family. Essentially both parent(s) and child(ren) own a copy of a book that the child/student chooses, and you approve and talk about the book with each other and ask your children questions to dig a little deeper into the novel. Consider inviting a grandparent, dad, cousins, and friends. This is a great way to foster reading and make it fun.
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Order your new uniforms!
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Our school code is PA563 if needed.
Community Events
*These are not Saint Andrew School Events and do not follow our Clearance policy but generally are shared by parishioners or members of our community and may be something you are looking for your children and/or family.
High School Information
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(7-8 Girls) Mount Saint Joseph Academy
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Fall Open House – msjacad.org/openhouse
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Sunday, October 2, 2022
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10:00AM – 1:00PM (9:00AM Mass)
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Application Dates – msjacad.org/apply
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Friday, October 7, 2022 – Application deadline
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Friday, October 14, 2022 – Academic records and recommendations deadline
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Scholarship/Entrance Exams
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Saturday, October 8, 2022 – 8:00AM
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Sunday, October 9, 2022 – 12:00PM
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8th Grade Shadow Day Visits
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Begin September 19, 2022
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Letter Regarding K-8 Textbooks (Non-Religious)
Dear Parents,
We want to make you aware that the majority of our student books, instructional materials and equipment are purchased with funds provided by Section 922-A, Acts 195, 90 and 35 for children enrolled in K-12 schools in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Schools are required to obtain quotes from the various vendors, and then upload the quotes to the Non-Public Information System (NPIS). Once uploaded to the system, the orders need to be approved by the Office of Catholic Education. All of this work was completed earlier this summer. However, for some reason unknown to us, these orders have not been processed by NPIS.
Last week, Sean McAleer, the Archdiocesan representative working with the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference (PCC), spoke with the Acting Secretary of Education and the Assistant Secretary for K-12 regarding the NPIS backlog. Mr. McAleer requested that the Department of Education (PDE) reassign PDE employees to the NPIS office to ease the backlog. At this time, only 10% of the orders placed by the schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia have been processed. The rate at Saint Andrew is even lower.
More than likely, we will start school without the workbooks, textbooks and digital instructional materials that we should have already received. We have checked with several colleagues who work in public education to see if they also are experiencing delays. These educators reported they have their materials. It appears as if the delays affect only the non-public schools.
We are asking parents to please contact your local legislators asking them to help rectify this situation. You can locate the State Representative and Senator using the following link and looking on the left side of the webpage: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/
Our teachers will rise to the occasion for our kids and make the situation work like they always do. However, it does increase all of our workloads and stress to modify lessons. It also will come with additional costs to make copies, or to purchase needed materials to make up for the delay that could be spent elsewhere. At the end of the day it is a gross disservice to our students!
Sample letter to use to write your Legislator or State Representative
Month, Day, Year
The Honorable (First name) (Last name)
Street Address
City, State, Zip Code
Re: Lack of Instructional Materials for Non Public Schools
Dear Representative Last name or Senator Last name,
My name is your first and last name, and I am a community member who resides in your district. My children attend Saint Andrew Catholic School. I am aware that the Non-Public Information System (NPIS) through which instructional materials are ordered is backlogged. Many orders which have been approved have not been processed due to this delay. As a result, my child will not have the materials needed to start the school year. I am hopeful that you will investigate the delay and move to alleviate the problem.
(Include any other information regarding the importance of this matter to you. Be sure to include your name and address on your letter, envelope or email.)
Sincerely,
SIGN YOUR NAME
Print your name
Street address
City, State, Zip Code