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An Advent Message from our Principal, Dr. Hoeffner
Happy Advent to you and to your family. He is here! Although we symbolically wait for Christmas and prepare our hearts and our homes, the reality is that Christ is not coming on Christmas. He is already here. He is in our classrooms, in our children, in our teachers, in our love for one another, at our dinner tables, at our churches, and most especially in the holy Eucharist. We are not waiting for his coming. He is waiting for ours. He is waiting for me to ask for his help. He is waiting for my special prayer. He is waiting for me to say hello and recognize his presence. He waits patiently for the same kind of "yes" that Mary gave 2,011 years ago. May your family have a holy Christmas! Although I hope that your Christmas will be merry, happy, and full of joy and peace, I pray that you find holiness this Christmas above all other virtuous rewards. You and your family are loved! Christ came so that we could understand what love is. I hope that you and your child(ren) will look for Jesus and that He will find you for Christmas. |
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New Year's Resolution
|  The new year is upon us and we wanted to share our school's New Year Resolution. In an effort to be good stewards of our earth, we will begin a recycling program in the spring that will allow us to recycle plastic goods. We currently recycle paper in the big, red receptacle in our parking lot, but wanted to add the plastic recycling, too. We will have recycling bins on campus for everyone to participate in this program.
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Anti-Bullying Program and Parent Survey
| St. Anastasia Catholic School, along with all of the other schools in our Diocese, are participating in an important initiative within the Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach to further our commitment to teaching positive Catholic/Christian values in our schools while promoting the safety and well being of our Catholic school students. As co-partners with you in the education of your children, we constantly strive to provide an environment for learning which reflects the Gospel which we strive to imitate.
Across the country, public and private schools alike are combating a growing problem among young people -- that of inappropriate social and Internet behavior. Recognizing the challenges we face in dealing with this dangerous trend, the Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach is seeking to implement a comprehensive bullying prevention and response program in all 21 Catholic schools within our five-county diocese. A team comprised of leadership from around the diocese has been established to work together on this critical initiative and to collaborate with diocesan leadership staff. This staff includes the Chancellor, the Superintendent of Catholic Schools, and the Coordinator for the Office of Serving Children, as well as an outside professional expert, Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D., Co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University.
The initial step in this process is the administration of a survey to better understand the prevalence of bullying and cyberbulling behaviors, and to help inform where we need to direct personnel, resources, and expertise as we work to enhance student safety and well-being while also promoting safe learning environments. This survey will serve to collect quantitative and qualitative data, which will then specifically guide the prevention and response initiatives and strategies we implement. Without the data, we cannot make meaningful improvements in the areas that are revealed to need it.
Over the last several months drafts of the survey were pilot-tested at different grade levels, and the survey was revised accordingly. The age appropriate surveys have recently been administered across the diocese for students in 4th through 12th grade. Now we are ready to administer the parent and teacher surveys.
The purpose of this survey is to find out about bullying/harassment experiences of your child at school. This information will be used by the principal and teachers to help them understand where vulnerabilities are and help them promote an environment of respect, safety, and belonging for all students. We are not collecting your name or any identifying information from you, and the answers you provide to the survey questions cannot be linked to your child or anyone else in any way. We are simply interested in learning the perspectives of our parents.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this survey, please contact:
Mr. Gary Gelo
Superintendent of Schools
Diocese of Palm Beach
(561) 775-9547
ggelo@diocesepb.org
Mrs. Kit Johansen
Coordinator, Serving Children /Safe Environments
(561) 775-9593
kjohansen@diocesepb.org
Please click here to take the Parent Survey. |
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Open House
| We will host a school-wide Open House on Friday, Jan. 20 from 8 a.m. until noon. Please invite potential new families, friends, students and parents to join us on this day for tours and informational sessions. The Pre-K will have their Pajama Day on this day with special guest readers entertaining the children throughout the morning. For more information, please contact the school office at (772) 461-2232.
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Pre-K Post
| Attention Pre-K parents! Pre-K has its own class page on our website that gives you important information and updates about all the happenings in Pre-K. Click here to go to the Pre-K Post!
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Kindergarten News
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On December 9, our kindergarten classes celebrated the Feast Day of St. Juan Diego. The students portrayed his life during a skit for their classes and learned the story of St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadeloupe.
Pictured left to right: Anthony Vercillo, Mason Blackwell, Mary-Alice Lott and Allie Yacucci.
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First Grade News
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On her feast day of December 13, Mrs. Bush's first grade class learned about St. Lucy, the patron saint of the blind. They "flew" to Sweden to celebrate her day. In Sweden, the oldest (or youngest) daughter in each household traditionally carries a tray of coffee and traditional pastries called lussekatter (Lucy cats) to her parents before they wake up in the morning. She wears a white gown, scarlet sash, and a crown of greens and four, seven, or nine lighted candles. In many towns, a St. Lucy is chosen to carry coffee and buns to each house. She and her followers, each bearing a lighted candle, sing carols as they travel the dark streets. The procession is done in memory of St. Lucy's traversing darkened woods to bring bread and other food to the poor.
These two first-graders, donning St. Lucy crowns, delivered cookies to staff members on campus. Pictured left to right: Lilly Demarais and Gianna Morales.
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Fourth Grade News
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On Tuesday, our fourth-graders took a field trip to the ZEP 4-H farm in Fort Pierce. This farm excursion is an educational program provided by the St. Lucie County Oxbow Eco-Center. Students visited the farm to reinforce and extend the Florida Grade 4 Science Objectives surrounding the life cycles and habitats of Florida animals and plants. Students also extended Social Studies Florida History objectives as they learned about how the Native Americans and early settlers lived and worked on a Florida farm. The students enjoyed a hands-on presentation and were able to pet pigs, chickens, goats, turkeys, ducks, donkeys, sheep, horses, and also planted radish seeds! They definitely fulfilled their learning goal which was to better recognize ways plants and animals, including humans, can impact the environment.
Kyle Trabulsy, Shannon Leon and Kaitlyn Mathey make a new friend.  Alex Giraldez and Mrs. Odom enjoyed picking vegetables at the farm.
Colton Hamilton sees "eye to eye" with a white turkey.
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Seventh Grade News
| Last week, our seventh-graders made care packages filled with hand-made cards, letters and artwork made by all of our students for home-bound parishioners from St. Anastasia Catholic Church.
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Lunch News
| Monday, Dec. 19 will be a Pizza Day.
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PTO News
| Merry Christmas from the PTO!
Please be sure and mark your calendars for the next meeting which is on Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 7:45 a.m.
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Scouting News
| Our St. Anastasia Girl Scout Brownies generously filled Salvation Army stockings for less fortunate girls. Each girl brought in gifts for a girl their same age. We are proud of our Brownies for their thoughtfulness.
 _______________________________________________ Despite the bad weather on Saturday, our St. Anastasia Catholic School Boy Scouts and both Girl Scout troops came together this past weekend and sang Christmas carols for two local nursing homes. Then they handed out homemade gifts and wished the residents a Merry Christmas.
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Sports News
| The Junior Athletic Sports League had to cancel its first day of soccer this past Saturday due to bad weather. The first day of the season is this Saturday, Dec. 17. There will be no soccer on Dec. 24 and Dec. 31. We will resume play on Jan. 7.
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Magazine Drive News
| We have heard from a few parents and friends who ordered magazines but have not received them as of yet. Mrs. Trabulsy is working with the Magazine Drive representative to make sure all orders are in and are being processed. We used a new publishing company this year, QSP, and their processing times are 12-14 weeks, which is different than the publisher we used last year. At this point, we are about 10 weeks from when the first round of orders were processed. Please allow for at least two more weeks for processing. If you haven't received your orders by Jan. 13, please contact Mrs. Trabulsy by e-mail at ltrabulsy@stanna.org. Thank you for your patience and support.
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Class Big Apple Fundraisers
|  Big Apple Pizza has graciously given our families an opportunity to participate in their own classroom fundraisers. Each class or group that chooses to participate can earn 50% of the proceeds from the evening to use to help parents offset the cost of field trips or programs.
The sixth-grade Big Apple Night will be on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Mark your calendars for a fun night to raise funds for their field trip to Medieval Times in April.
Big Apple Pizza is located 2311 South 35th Street in Fort Pierce across from Indian River State College. Take out is available. |
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Protecting God's Children Workshop Information
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The location for volunteers and employees to have their fingerprints scanned for their background check is Holy Cross Catholic Church in Vero Beach. The address is 500 Iris Lane and the phone number is 772-231-0671. Please call to make an appointment.
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Protecting God's Children Workshop
St. Sebastian Church (Sebastian)
Thursday, January 12, 2012
7:00 p.m. (2½ hours)
Adults only - please do not bring children
You can also go to www.virtus.org to register for a workshop.
Click on "Registration" to begin the registration process.
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St. Anastasia Catholic Church News
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An Invitation from St. Anastasia's CCW
Dear St. Anastasia Women,
Have you been looking for a ministry to join and get involved in at St. A's? The Council of Catholic Women (CCW) is a national group of women held under the high esteem of the Diocese, and our St. Anastasia council could really use some new members! This women's group meets only once a month in our Parish Center to support, empower and educate women in spirituality, leadership and service using Biblical principles.
Not only does the CCW function as a resource for our Church as well as for the surrounding community, but extends its reach far beyond our borders internationally, and it always welcomes new members. In our weekly bulletin, any upcoming events are announced along with the President's contact information. Our president is available to discuss opportunities or even just where you should begin. There are many opportunities to use the gifts, talents and time that God has blessed us with. Whether it is taking on a leadership role, working behind the scenes, making crafts or baking goods from home; the door is open for all women of our parish to join.
Some upcoming events include the famous Fashion Show as well as the Victorian Tea, a Spiritual Spa Day and a Day of Reflection. A recent mandate from the Diocese was to help provide gifts to more than 200 children and young adults for Christmas. As you can see, none of these are small tasks and definitely not meant for only a handful of people!
We hope that you consider taking this opportunity to attend the next meeting on January 8th at 9:00 a.m. in our Parish Center and are able to get involved, even if it is in a small way. We have one of the largest and close-knit Catholic Parishes in our area, let's try to keep it that way. Like you, we love our St. Anastasia community, the education that it provides and especially our Priests, as the CCW is under the watchful eye of our very own, very Holy, and most loved Father Mark!
We encourage you to contact our President, Mrs. Karina Priest at 561-329-4515 or at karinapriest@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Peace and Love Always,
Karina Priest & Gina Daigle
St. Anastasia's CCW
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Congratulations to the newest Altar Servers at St. Anastasia Catholic Church.
Pictured left to right: Markesha Thompson, Dylan Seissiger and Veronica Beckford with Father George.
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Anastasia's Attic Thrift Store News
| Be sure and stop by Anastasia's Attic Thrift Store for unique gifts and decorations for Christmas. Our Thrift Shop helps St. Anastasia School in many different ways. Funds from the Attic help with the school's budget, provide scholarships and help the teachers with items they would otherwise have to purchase.
The Attic is doing great because of you! Your donations keep the Attic in business. Please continue to donate your gently used items.
There are many other types of items available at the Attic, too. Shop for furniture, clothing, kitchen ware, linens, books (thousands of them), patio sets, electronics, jewelry, fine china and crystal.
The Attic is located at 3901 Okeechobee Road across from Dale's BBQ West in Fort Pierce. Pick up service for large items may also be arranged. The shop is open 7 days a week. For information or to schedule a pick up, please call 467-1444.
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St. A's Wish List
| With the help of Santa's elves, we have completed the purchase of the wireless presenters for the teachers who have the new AV technology in their classrooms. Thank you!
We are still making progress on our "Wish List," but still need additional AV systems in several classrooms. If you are interested in donating items to your child's classroom, please contact either Mrs. Trabulsy at ltrabulsy@stanna.org or Dr. Hoeffner at khoeffner@stanna.org to discuss.
- Five (5) Polevault (AV) systems for Ms. Smith, Mrs. Odom, Mrs. D'Amato, Ms. Fitzgerald, and the Multipurpose Room (M-211 in the Media Center) at $25,000.
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Find Us on Facebook
|  St. Anastasia Catholic School is now on Facebook. If you use Facebook, then be sure to "like" us and keep up to date with daily updates.
Click here to find St. Anastasia Catholic School.
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December 2011
| December 16 - Christmas Pageant
December 20 - End of 2nd Quarter, Noon Dismissal
December 21-January 2 - No School, Christmas Break
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January 2012
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January 2 - No School
January 3 - Classes Resume
January 6 at 7:30 a.m - School Advisory Council Meeting
January 10 at 7:45 a.m. - PTO Meeting
January 11 - Principal's List Free Dress Day
January 13 - 7th Grade Retreat
January 16 - No School, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 20 - Pre-K Open House & Pajama Day, Pep Rally
January 23 - 7th Grade Parent Mass
January 27 - New Student Registration
January 28-February 3 - Catholic Schools Week
January 31 - CSW Grandparent Mass (Pre-K -4)
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Join Our Mailing List!
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| Feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone who might be interested in the information by clicking on the "Forward this e-mail" button on the left. To sign up for this newsletter, please e-mail me at LTrabulsy@stanna.org or click on the "Join Our Mailing List!" tab on the left. |
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Thank you for your support of St. Anastasia Catholic School. We appreciate your support and feedback! Be sure and visit the school's website where all previous newsletters are archived for your reference at www.stanna.org. God Bless!
Sincerely,
Linette Trabulsy
Development Director
St. Anastasia Catholic School |
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