December 13, 2021

Dear Parents,

As we near the midpoint of our school year, I want to thank you for entrusting your children to us. On behalf of the faculty and staff, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. May this joyous season and the coming year be filled with blessings of God's peace and joy.

Our Christmas holidays will begin with our noon dismissal on Friday. Our teachers will be on a retreat on January 3, and we will look forward to welcoming our students back to campus on Tuesday, January 4th.

Sincerely,

Our Bible verse focus for the upcoming month of December is John 13:35: 

The prayer we will focus on is the Glory Be: 

We have now explored all of the virtues that fall under the Cardinal virtue of Justice. When we return to school in January, we will begin to learn about the virtues that are related to the Cardinal virtue of Prudence.

We are so thankful for the generosity of our school community. Thanks to our generous donors, we received more than $7000 during the #igiveCatholic Day of Giving Campaign.

40 Days for Life is sponsoring a baby shower for Jesus, and items will be donated to 2B Choices for Women. Our middle school pro-life club is encouraging all to participate. Students are welcome to bring any baby items to school by Friday.

Students in grades K-5 will be participating in a Christmas Musical Angel Alert this week. The performance will be held in the Banquet Hall. Please see the note below from Mrs. Gee for information about drop-off and pick-up times and more.

On Tuesday, December 14 students will need to be dropped off at 5:30 p.m. in their designated areas listed below. Students will also need to be picked up from the same location by 7 p.m.

Students' performance attire is blue jeans, black or white shoes (tennis

shoes preferred, no heels), and the program t-shirt. T-shirts will be distributed

in the coming weeks. All K-5 students will need to wear their performance attire

to school on Wednesday, December 15.

We chose to have two performances in an effort to comfortably fit family and friends in the banquet hall. The performances will be Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. and Wednesday morning at 8:15 a.m. Please choose one performance to attend. (If you are able to attend the morning performance, I encourage you to do so.)

As previously shared, our wonderful crossing guard, Ms. Voncile Smith, is retiring. December 17 will be her last day. Ms. Voncile has been keeping our students safe for 16 years, while also blessing so many parents and commuters with her contagious smile and positive attitude each and every day. We are planning to honor her the morning of Thursday, December 16 with a parade. Beginning at 8:15, students in PreK-5th grade will be alongside the sidewalk to honor her as she comes by. The 2nd part of the parade will begin at 8:45 where Ms. Voncile will be stationed in the gym. Parents are welcome to walk through and visit with her there, and our middle school students will parade past her in the gym during our exam break. We would love for our parents to join us.

Words cannot convey how much she will be missed by all of us, as I know she brightens the day of so many!

As Ms. Voncile said in an interview last year:

To read the entire interview with Ms. Voncille and how her kindness affects so many in our greater community, please click below:

Students are able to come out of uniform this Friday, December 17 and they are encouraged to wear Christmas colors. Keep in mind that we do have Mass that morning. We will dismiss at noon and there will not be after-school care.

The quarter ends on Friday; however, be aware that 2nd quarter grades are not due to be finalized until January 4th. We plan to have an awards ceremony for 2nd quarter academic honors following Mass on January 21.

Students in Grades 3-8 who meet their AR Goal for the 2nd quarter will be able to come out of uniform on Wednesday, January 5. Students who meet their percent correct goal will be able to come out of uniform on the bonus OOU day, January 6. (We realize this is food pantry day, but students with this honor will be able to come out of uniform and not be bound to wear the spirit shirt.)

We will support the Blessings in a Backpack Ministry the week we return to school in January. Food Pantry Thursday will be on January 6th. Students who bring an item for the food pantry may come out of uniform with their spirit shirts.

The following items are requested:

Our annual Spelling Bee was held on Friday, December 4th. We are proud of all of the students who competed. Congratulations to our winner - Rafaela Silva, and the 1st runner-up - Jack Baldridge. They will compete in the archdiocesan Spelling Bee that takes place in February. Thank you to this year's pronouncer, Peter Albrecht from WKRG.

The students in 2nd grade received the Sacrament of Reconciliation earlier this month. The preparation for receiving the sacrament began weeks ago with visits to the classroom from Fr. Pat, and the students have been learning about reconciliation as part of their religion lessons. Thank you for your prayers for these students who have now experienced God's mercy!

Our school is collecting Greer's receipts as part of the Apples for Students Program. If you or any of your family members shop at Greer’s, please send in your receipts. The last year that we participated we were able to earn two new printers for our teachers to use.

Gift cards are the perfect Christmas gift AND if you purchase them through SCRIP, you make money for the school and yourself. Contact our SCRIP coordinator for more information.

You can view our school calendar for the entire year on our school website (you may need to scroll down to see it): School Calendar

A printable copy of the January calendar can be found HERE.

January 3

Teacher Retreat - No School

January 4

School Resumes

January 5

Out of Uniform - AR Point Goal

January 6

Food Pantry Thursday

Out of Uniform - AR Bonus Day

January 10

In-House Registration for Current families for the 2022-2023 begins

January 17

Martin Luther King, Jr Holiday - No School

January 21

2nd Quarter Award Ceremony following Mass

March for Life

Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.- 5 pm.

Saturday Vigil Mass:

5:30 p.m.

Sunday Morning Masses:

7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m.

6:30 a.m. Monday - Friday

5:30 p,m. Monday - Saturday

Sacrament of Reconciliation - Confessions are heard 30 minutes before each Mass.

The Parish Office has moved to the 2nd floor of the Community Center.

If you would like to add a name to the prayer list, please call the Parish Office at 251-342-1852, or add the name to the list in the chapel.

Beginning on November 29, the 6:30 am Mass was moved to 5:30 pm with confessions starting at 5:00 pm

Gather Thursdays at 3 p.m. to reflect on the Sunday Gospel and pray together. Meetings will be in the Community Center, 2nd floor Conference Room. All are welcome. Contact Sister Deborah Kennedy, RSM 251-753-4872

Our purpose is to help all men become the spiritual leaders of their families. All

men are welcome to meet for prayer, gospel reflection, and fellowship.

Tuesday Mornings, 7-8 am, 2nd floor Conference Room.

Info: Jay Cox at 401-6070 or Auburn50@hotmail.com.

Wednesday Evenings, 7-8 pm, 2nd floor Conference Room.

Info: David Sheffield, 423-5666 or David.sheffield@uniti.com

Join us in service, grow in spirituality, and open your heart in friendship to neighbors in need. The St. Vincent de Paul Society responds to local individuals and families with food, clothing, and emergency financial assistance. Your help will feed children, prevent evictions and so much more. Financial donations can be placed in the brass poor box in the church vestibule, and clothing and food donations can be left at the St. Vincent de Paul Society table. If you are in need of assistance, call 251-366-6443. To find out how to join us, contact Ann Mackie at annmackie10.am@gmail.com. For more info go to www.svdpccc.org or follow St. Vincent de Paul Corpus Christi Conference on Facebook.

All women are invited to join us on Thursdays from 9:15-10:45 am in the conference room, 2nd floor of the Community Center. We will be studying Psalms: The School of Prayer, which can be ordered through Ascension Press.

Info: Patti Hughes at 251-401-9623 or pm.hughes@comcast.net

We are excited to return to providing child care for moms in need of this service in order to join us! If you are considering joining us and are in need of child care please contact Cynthia Wentworth, 251-767-0532 or cynwen@yahoo.com

Grades 9—12, meetings are on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 in the Parish House.  For more information contact Fr. Crow: frcrow@corpuschristiparish.com

Volunteers are needed to donate food, serve, and clean up. For more information, contact Millie Quinones, Chairperson, 808-425-7100 or

Ophelia Gillespie, Co-Chairperson, 251-610-6503.

All are welcome in the Atrium after each Mass for a cup of coffee and fellowship. If you would like to volunteer to prepare coffee, serve, or clean up, please call Glenna Cannon, 251-666-6552

Meetings on the last Monday of each month, 7:00 pm in the Parish House.

Contact: Chad Pugh 251-232-0648.

The CCWC is a group of women in our parish that helps our community through fundraisers which include the Angel Tree, an area nursing home, and Penelope House. We also have meetings on occasion at area restaurants to discuss ideas and planning. All ladies in the parish are welcome to attend. Contact info: Lois, 251-209-2163

6:30 p.m., Tuesdays in the Adult Ed Room, Community Center. September 21, we will begin a new series titled "A Biblical Walk through the Mass" which is a five-part video series taught by Edward Sri. Dave Burchette, 367-6660 or davebur1955@gmail.com Please join us!