January 31, 2023

All School Mass Friday

We will have All School Mass Friday, February 3. Students should wear their full-dress uniforms. There will be an optional daily Mass before school on Wednesday, February 1, in the Chapel at 7:10 a.m.

Saint Family Picnic

Please provide a disposable sack lunch for your student TOMORROW, Wednesday, February 1, the cafeteria will be closed.

Dad's Club Retreat

February 7, 2023

St. Jude Hall

6:00 - 9:00 p.m.

The night will include a Mass celebrated by Chaplain, Fr. Eamonn Shelly

Mom's Club Retreat

February 2, 2023

at StJPII

6:30 -8:30 p.m.

 All Saints Chapel, mass with Fr Eamonn 

Afterward, we will gather in St Jude hall for a mini-retreat with Charlene

( a consecrated woman)

The Topic is: The Beatitudes and specifically “blessed are the merciful, they will be

shown mercy”

*Click on the button below for more Faith Focus information. You can find the monthly virtue, Saints of the month, and service projects.

Guest Speaker - Jessie Funk

Please join us on February 14 for Jessie Funk. She is a therapeutic coach and the Kindness Crew director for the nonprofit organization, Think Kindness. Jessie will be speaking about emotional well-being and knowing your worth. She will be speaking throughout the day to students as well as a special lunch session cut out for parents. Her parent session will be in Saint Jude Hall from 11:30-12:30 p.m. We hope you can join us!

January Service Project - LAST CALL

LAST CALL! This Friday, February 3 will be the final day to bring in cereal boxes for the January Service Project. Pre-Kindergarten is collecting cereal boxes for local food pantries. Please help them by bringing in any unopened cereal box to school and placing them in them bins outside of the pre-kindergarten rooms.

Summer Enrichment Program

Start making plans now for the summer. Sign up today for StJPII's Summer Enrichment Program. Students going into PreK-4 through 8th Grade are welcome. Click the button below for more information.

From the Business Office

Tuition invoices are being sent to your email address. For your convenience, you can make an ACH payment with the link provided. Please note that a $3.00 ACH fee is added to your invoice. If you prefer to pay by check or cash, the ACH fee will be removed. If you would like to pay with a credit card, please email the business office at business@jp2.org (a credit card fee of 3.4% will be included in your invoice).

Looking for something fun and creative to do as a family? Try the StJPII monthly Family STREAM Challenge! On early dismissal Tuesdays or the last Tuesday of the month, look for a STREAM Challenge in Saints Weekly to complete with your family. The challenges will use easy-to-find materials around the house and follow the engineering design process to complete. 

How do you participate in the STREAM Challenge? Click on the button below to go to this month’s challenge. Complete the challenge and share what you’ve done on social media using the hashtag #StJP2STREAM  

This month’s challenge is to create a rolling shoebox Mardi Gras float. To kick off the StJPII STREAM Challenges, this month there are TWO options for sharing:

1) share what you’ve created by emailing pictures to communications@jp2.org

2) bring your family’s rolling shoebox float to your homeroom teacher by Thursday, February 16 to have it be part of a StJPII Mardi Gras parade on Fat Tuesday through the hallways of the school.

Questions? Email Dr. Hiltbrand at sehiltbrand@jp2.org  

Art Show Award Winners

The “Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Student Art Contest” is a prestigious major art contest event for the greater Houston area. Our private school division show was held on Monday, January 16th. We are extremely proud of our Middle School St. John Paul II students who through the years have consistently exceeded expectations to “high standards of performance” against the competition in this annual event. Students select their type of media which show and reflect mastery with Rodeo Themed Drawings.

Media - Ink Etching/Drawing:

First Place Blue: Mark Dominy, Olivia Hildebrand, Maxwell Quant

Second Place Red:– Huey Kim and Mateo Pruneda

Media - Prisma Color Drawings:

Second Place Red: Keira Barrios, Maite Gallart, Valeria Rodriguez, Fabiana Santana

Third Place White: Sophia Jimenez

Finalist:

This is above 1st place Blue. These students’ artworks were in the final cut to be considered for the top two spots of “Best in Show” - overall first place and “Gold Medal” - overall 2 nd place” winners for

the Middle School age category. From this group of combined 6th /7th /8th grade finalists, the top Five

artworks are then pulled to decide the top two overall winners. This year the Rodeo committee decided to honor the top three Finalist who were runners-up with a “Special Merit Award”. We are proud to

announce that two of our students achieved this award. Congratulations to Mark Dominy and Olivia Hildebrand!

What amazing accomplishments all our artists achieved! All Art work will be on Display for 2 weeks between the first floor computer labs then sent home.

8th Grade Yearbook Recognition Ad - FINAL WEEK

THIS IS THE LAST WEEK TO ORDER

Want to give your Class of 2023 graduate something to commemorate their time at StJPII? Order an 8th-grade Yearbook ad for your graduate. Flyers were sent home earlier this month. Payments and ad design will be completed through Jostens's website. You will be able to design your own ad by selecting a template and adding your own pictures and message.

A pdf version of the flyer can also be accessed via the link below.  The deadline for orders is this Friday, February 3! Thank you for honoring your 2023 8th grade Graduate and supporting The Spirit Yearbook! Questions? Contact Mrs. Abad at kabad@jp2.org.  

Catholic Schools Week is underway! Please look over the schedule below for more to come throughout the week.

Parents are invited to join us for Talent on the Plaza and All School Mass with the NJHS Induction Ceremony.

Crawfish Boil

Plans are already underway for our 7th Annual Saints @ Sunset Crawfish Boil! Mark your calendars for the evening of Friday, March 31, here on campus. We had over 800 people attend last year!

If you would like to volunteer, send an email to Communications@jp2.org. We are also looking for corporate sponsors!  If your business is interested in helping sponsor the event and receiving advertising and promotion opportunities, please contact Communications and Events Officer, Lauren Gerland, at lgerland@jp2.org. Tickets will go on sale in March!  Laissez le bon temps rouler!

Steps for Students

Come out and support StJPII on February 11, 2023 in downtown Houston at the Steps for Students 5K. This run/walking event is to raise awareness and support for Catholic Education. Click below to register.

*Any student who registers gets a free shoe pass and a chance to win P.E. Teacher for the Day! Also the price will go up after TODAY!*

**Race Day Packets and

shirts will be distributed to students the week

of the race. **

PTO Meeting

Please join us for our next PTO meeting scheduled tomorrow, Wednesday, February 1 at 8:30 am in St. Jude Hall. All are welcome! Please contact Amber Leech at pto@jp2.org if you have any questions. Go Saints!

First Friday Lunch

The PTO will be hosting "First Friday Lunch" scheduled for Friday, February 3. We are currently asking for parent volunteers to donate $20 towards this delicious lunch from a local restaurant. Please click the sign-up genius below to donate. Thank you for your generosity.

Join the Birthday Club

Click on the button below to order your birthday package, t-shirts, water bottle, or name on the marquee. Birthday t-shirts can be worn on the actual birthday, except if it falls on Full Dress day.

Volunteer with PTO

Interested in being more involved at StJPII? Scan the various QR codes above to find the perfect fit for you. Feel free to email pto@jp2.org with any questions.

Shaping Self-Concept, one of our most popular audios, teaches a very special type of love. It’s the type that allows our kids to struggle, lets them work through their trials, and guides them toward independence instead of insecurity. This love can be expressed daily by:

• Allowing kids to wrestle with tying their shoes, instead of automatically jumping in and doing it for them.
• Letting them dress themselves, even if the clothes they choose don’t match.
• Teaching them how to talk to their teachers about problems at school, rather than always doing it for them.
• Expecting that they speak up and order meals for themselves, instead of ordering for them.
• Having them call the insurance company and arrange for their own car insurance, instead of doing it all for them.
• Letting them do most of the work required to complete their college applications, rather than preparing all the paperwork for them.
• Remembering that the more things they learn to do for themselves, the stronger and more confident they will become!



To continue reading this article on self-concept, click the button below.

Elementary Athletics

Elementary athletic spring sports open February 1. Please save the date. Please click the button below to register.

Middle School Athletics

We are so proud of our Boys and Girls Varsity Basketball teams! They both have had great seasons and are finishing out strong. Please come out and support the Girls Varsity Baskeball team, TOMORROW night at St. Laurence for 5:00 p.m. as they play their second playoff game. Go Saints!!

LACROSSE TRYOUTS POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER

Hopefully yhe weather will clear up next week and we can follow this schedule:

Boys lacrosse tryout's will be held Feb. 6 & 7 from 4:00-5:30pm here on campus. We are opening Boys Lacrosse up to 5th graders in addition to 6th-8th grade.

Girls Lacrosse will tryout on Feb 7 & 8 from 4:00-5:30 here on campus as well. We are opening Girls Lacrosse up to 6th-8th grade.

Continued reminders:

*You must have your own equipment for all sport tryouts.

*You must attend both days of tryouts

*You must have a physical on file with Mrs. Aertker

*We kindly ask parents to remember that for ALL MS sports, tryouts are closed to parents attending

Spring Chapelwood Volleyball is open for registration!!!!

We are hoping to see interest from 4th through 8th grade girls to play in the league! It is run in the same format as WHCSA sports, practices are 1-2 days a week, games are on Saturdays, coaches are volunteer parents! 

Share Your Basketball Photos

We love to see your photos of our saints in action! If you get a great shot at practice or a game, please share with StJPII! Your photo(s) may be featured on social media or in The Spirit yearbook. Please upload them directly using the button below. All grade level sports pictures are needed.

STH Spring Academic Skills Camp

St. Thomas High School is pleased to announce details for its Spring Academic Skills Camp, Pathways to Independent Learning. In this course, students are given tools and strategies to take charge of the learning process. They will be able to take full responsibility for choosing effective approaches to long-term learning. Students need the skills and strategies of independent learning in order to excel in any learning environment or situation. Research has proven that the facility and practice of executive functioning skills and critical thinking are a greater predictor of student success than IQ. Students who develop independent learning skills are better able to adapt and succeed when they encounter obstacles. Click the button below for more info.

After School Activities

Check the school calendar for the spring semester schedule.

Click on the various links to see club flyers, contact information, and online registration.

•  Chess Club – register online with Think Chess