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St. Philip Neri Catholic School

Kindergarten Update

Dear Parents, September 11,2020

Thank you and your children for your patience as we adapt to this new way of learning (and teaching!) Students are doing well in their classes thus far. I was able to sit in with the students in  several of their Enrichment classes this week and it was fun to see them learning and engaging with their teachers and classmates.

Here are a few reminders for our week:

  1. Don’t forget to log into Daily Prayer and Pledge at 8:30AM each morning. This is a way to foster community in our school. Each Wednesday, the Student Leadership Council( SLC) will lead in a special morning welcome. You should receive an email with the video for this  on Wednesday mornings. This week the SLC leaders introduced themselves to the student body as well as lead in prayer,pledge and news.
  2. We began our “Breakout sessions” this week in Language Arts and Math. In the breakout sessions, the class is divided into two smaller groups with two teachers.The content for both groups is the same. We will keep these same groups for now and then change as we progress. Know that each teacher may have different styles of teaching for these lessons. It’s good for children to learn from different people and to be accepting of all.
  3. Please remind students that they may not always be called on in Zoom class to share. We will try to answer as many questions and listen to comments whenever possible within our time frame. Many of the enrichment teachers have back to back classes and may not be able to extend their time to get to all the children in one day.
  4. Kindergarten will NOT  be doing STAR testing. We will continue with our ESGI Testing for  Math. and Language Arts later this month. 

Action Item for Parents

SPN will be having their first Community Building Project with our Sidewalk Art Project next week-September 15th, 16th, and 17th. Please refer to the SPN Newsline to the specifics of that day. Kindergarten will come on Tuesday, September 16th so we will not have any Enrichment classes that day. I will meet the students in the Kindergarten yard at their assigned time. The Kindergarten students will not be turning in any materials or receiving any new materials on that day!

Here is the schedule and the groups for that day:

Kindergarten (24)


Meet in  K YardDraw outside school Yard
Group 1– Wyla, Henry C,Samuel, Edie, Sienna, Bea 9:00 – 9:159:15 – 9:35
Group 2– AJ, Cameron, Abby, Colton,Victor,Kai.9:20 – 9:359:35 – 9:55
Group 3-Alice, Naomi,Longwen, Elizabeth, Henry A., Olivia.9:40 – 9:559:55 – 10:15
Group 4– Anhdrew, Grace, Levi, Desi, Mya, Patrick10:00 – 10:1510:15 – 10:35

Lesson Plans for next week September 14-18 will be emailed to you instead of posting on this page.

Mrs. Foster had her baby on Thursday, September 10th and is doing well. His name is George and he was 9 pounds 13 ounces!  We join you in sending best wishes to the Foster family with their new addition!

Mrs. Halkias, Mrs. Frankel, Mrs. Hall

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What Our Families are Saying

"The supportive teachers at SPN played a big role in preparing me for high school and helping me understand what to expect. They encouraged me to ask questions and seek help when needed, which made me more confident in my learning. Thanks to them, I entered freshman year already familiar with many concepts and effective study habits that have helped me stay on top of my work. SPN also taught me valuable life skills that I still use today, helping me succeed academically, build strong friendships, and maintain my overall well-being."
— Tibby Horvath, SPN Class of 2022
"We are very satisfied with the SPN community, something that is important to our family. My children feel safe and comfortable with SPN. Our family feels connected with the SPN community from parents and families to the staff and faculty. My children and we as parents have made healthy and positive relationships with other families from school. We share time outside of school with other families which brings a level of connectedness I don't know if we would have elsewhere"
— SPN Parent
"My children are experiencing community in other ways than just friends and playdates. Faith Families is an example of community, interacting with students from all grade levels, and learning and creating for others outside of SPN. Field trips to Kids Against Hunger or the Alameda Food Bank where they work and see firsthand how their efforts help others less fortunate, for those who are in need of support. Community is not just our SPN ‘bubble,’ and that is what SPN demonstrates and provides– opportunity to explore a bigger community."
— SPN Parent since 2016