February 20, 2020 Issue #26

Shamrock Newsletter

Friday, February 21st – Marian Sisters visit 9-12pm

Monday, February 24th

– Fire Drill @ 2:30pm

Tuesday, February 25th

– Burning of the Palms 1:45pm at Father Cleary Park

– Lost & Found on display after school

Wednesday, February 26th

– 2nd

Trimester Ends

– Ash Wednesday Mass 8:45am – Full Uniform

– 1:30 Dismissal TK-8

Thursday, February 27th

– 3rd

Trimester Begins

Friday, February 28th

– Stations of the Cross 2pm

Sunday, March 1st – School Mass 10:30am – Full Uniform

Monday, Mar. 2nd

- 4th

– 4th

grade field trip to Coloma

Tuesday, Mar. 3rd

– First day of Girls on the Run 3:15-4:30pm

Thurs., Mar. 5th

– Sun., Mar. 8th

– March Madness Tournament

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents, Guardians, Alumni, and Friends, Lent is almost upon us with Ash Wednesday next week, February 26th. Please join us for Mass at

8:45AM to begin our Lenten journey of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. This year the oldest child in

each family will bring home two sticks that we are asking families to form into a cross, write your

families last name and write families Lenten promise on. You may also decorate your cross if you

wish. We ask that these crosses are returned to your oldest child’s homeroom teacher by February

25th. Each morning during assembly crosses will be pulled from a basket and your family will be

prayed for. Yesterday, Father Fergal blessed our new playground. Our students were so excited to begin playing!

Thank you so much for all the dedication, time, and energy of the parents who worked on our

playground building and for the generosity of our donors who funded this amazing project. We are all

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so blessed! A great energy and excitement was felt in our community on Friday and Saturday during

the build and this is what being part of a catholic faith community is all about! It’s the time of year when registration and planning for the next school year is taking place. Typically

re-enrollment would come out the first week of March. Due to some decisions that are being discussed

on a diocesan level, enrollment for our current families will most likely come out mid-March. Please

note families must be current on all school obligations to re-enroll for the 20-21 school year. If your family is relocating or will not be returning for the upcoming school year, please let myself or the office know so that we can plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out. March Madness is just around the corner! This is the largest fundraiser of the year that helps to cover the athletic budget for the school. Please consider finishing up those parent hours that are needed by signing up for one of the available volunteer opportunities that are needed! Wishing you all a blessed and holy Lenten Season!

Mrs. Olivia Brazil, Principal

PLAYGROUND UPDATE:

It will be a long time before we forget the pure joy of all the students as they literally ran to the playground for the first time! It was like the Running of the Bulls. Whether the boys and girls were swinging, climbing, sliding, spinning, or just exploring, there was no shortage of smiles and laughter. One teacher noted, "I'm not sure if the 8th Grade is having more fun or Kindergarten!". The morning commenced with a beautiful blessing and dedication by Fr. Fergal and Deacon John Dermody. Mrs. Brazil graciously thanked those involved, went over a few rules, cut the ribbon, and then took a test run on the swings herself! It was an above average Wednesday morning.

We want to give an enormous thank you to Mr. Jim Roberts. He completed his 75th playground at age 93 which is quite an accomplishment. He loved watching all of the boys and girls playing on the new equipment and said “...this playground is so worthy of being number 75. It’s the best yet!”. We are honored that he allowed us to be #75!

We are very grateful to the team of 35+ members of Kiwanis Club of Napa who selflessly sacrificed a majority of their holiday weekend to build our children a playground. It was an incredible act of kindness. We want to especially thank the President of Kiwanis, Mr. Lance Hafenstein as well as Julie Morales for their support of this project. We were happy that they were able to attend the Dedication and see the students enjoying the fruits of their labor.

Enough good things cannot be said about the school parent crew who spent last Friday and Saturday physically working to no end...mixing over 300 bags of concrete (many by hand!), helping to dig 65 enormous post holes, shoveling and hauling away dirt, setting poles in concrete, carrying heavy equipment, etc. As hard as the work was, there was plenty of

3 Shamrock Newsletter friendly banter exchanged! There was a true sense of community and it was refreshing to see a group come together to achieve a shared goal. Thank you to these great men:

Jay Brazil, Marshall Briggs, Cruz Correa, Dave Ficeli, Tom Hershey, Steve Howard, Jonny Karpuk, Pete Munoa, Joe Ring, Chris Scaduto, Mark Nicoletti, and Loek Van Warmerdam.

While one group was working away on the playground, there was another group who kept the food and drink supplied for the hard working volunteers. Thank you to those worker bees and particularly to Nichole Peterson and Angie Ring who assisted with hospitality on Saturday.

We want to give a shout out to Mr. Jeff Parish (a St. A’s alum himself!) who brought the Silverado Snack Shack to the playground on Saturday. What a treat! I think the volunteers will be talking about those famous burger dogs for a long time. Finally, thank you to all of the parents and parishioners who supplied and/or baked delicious treats for the volunteers!

We thank everyone again and look forward to many years of fun to be had on this playground!

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Burning of the Palms will be on Tuesday, February 25th

at 1:45pm. Drop off last year’s

palms to be burned. Place them in the basket in the vestibule of the church.

Update Your Calendar! The Dine & Donate has been moved to Monday,

March 9th

. Support our school by enjoying a meal at Chipotle. Stop by from

5-9pm. They will donate 33% of each purchase! Who knew supporting our

school could take so good! Only valid at the 1715 Trancas Street Suit D

location. Show your phone, flyer or mentioned St. A’s at check out.

GOT POOL NOODLES? Physical Education is looking for Pool Noodles. We are starting a new unit and are in need of pool noodles that can be cut into pieces to use as a target. If you have any that you are not using anymore and would like to donate please let Mrs. Coakley know.

It is that time of year when we are looking for great photos for the yearbook.

We made submitting photos super easy this year. All you have to do is email

your photos to stasyearbook@sfly.com . We can never have too many to

choose from, so send them our way! We are looking for photos of ALL

GRADES from the listed events and activities:

Spring 2019

First Communion

Walk-A-Thon

2019-2020 School Year

First Day of School

Service Projects

Class parties

Catholic School League Basketball, Volleyball, Golf, Cheer and Track

Geography Bee

Spelling Bee

Art Integration

Traffic Patrol/ cones

Halloween

Catholic Schools Week

Science Fair

Decathlon

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COMMUNITY SERVICE - Our 6th grade started designing amazing dog & cat toys by upcycling the t-shirts and tennis balls that were collected. These toys will be donated to the Napa Animal Shelter later this month.

Napa Valley Music Associates (Napa Valley Music Academy) is offering all

levels of ability and ages on all instruments and voice as follows:

Violin/Viola/Cello - Guitar - Trumpet/Trombone/French Horn - Saxophone -

Drums - Voice - Piano

We are presenting our 25th Annual MidSummer MusiCamp - One Week Workshop for Strings -

Woodwinds - Brass instrumentalists on: July 17- July 20 (Monday-Friday) 9:30 - 12:30

For: Ages 10 -17 years with musical experience minimum 2-3 years of studies

Location: TBA

Further details coming soon! For interested students requiring registration information please contact:

Napa Valley Music Associates - 707-322-8402

Connolly Ranch Spring Camps: This Spring, our discovery - based curriculum will focus on new beginnings. Together we will tune

into the ever changing environment, begin planting seeds in our edible garden, care for our new baby

animals and meander the trails of Westwood Hills. Campers will also engage in projects and activities

centered around eco-art, farm-to-table cooking, music and movement.

6 Shamrock Newsletter Our unique environment and all it's loose parts provides spontaneous opportunities to learn from what

“just happened”; allowing children to become dynamic learners, divergent thinkers and mindful

leaders.

Easter Break Camp is open to children Kindergarten through 5th grade and runs from 8:30 -

3:00 pm with the option to register for aftercare until 5:00 pm.

Here is the link to registration.

https://campscui.active.com/orgs/ConnollyRanch?orglink=campsregistration#/selectSessions/2749205

And the winner is………….Congratulations to Laura Orozco! Our January Scrip Winner!

**** Are you in need of volunteer hours? If so, I am looking for volunteers to

make local deliveries. If you are interested, please email me and let me know! All

scrip volunteers must be cleared by the office.****

There are only 71 days remaining to fullfill your scrip obligation for the

2019/2020 school year. If you have an overage, 50% of this will go back to registration

or May tuition. You will be billed the buy-out fee of $600.00 if you have not made any

purchases by April 30, 2020.

Jennifer Chambers

Scrip Coordinator

scrip@stasnapa.com

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Athletics

The 7

th Grade Girls played awesome defense, which led to a 17-13 win over St. Eugene’s. The

offense is getting a lot of good shots, and the girls have been working hard on this, which will show in

our last couple of regular season games and into the playoffs. The team is peaking at just the right

time!

The 7th

Grade Boys worked hard all week in practice to prepare to take on perennial CSL powerhouse,

St. Francis this past weekend. The preparation appears to have paid off as St. A’s executed its

aggressive and disciplined full court press creating turnovers and transition opportunities early and

often. The defensive pressure coupled with owning the offensive glass allowed for St. A’s to cruise to

a lopsided victory 61-42. Balanced scoring from St. A’s led by Luke with 17, Henry with 16, Xavi

hitting three 3-pointers and Tyson, Clint, Will and Grant adding some timely buckets and

rebounds. Gino had a strong game on both ends of the floor helping to set the tone early. Next up, St.

A’s hits the road Saturday to take on St. Helena Montessori.

The 8th

Grade Boys played a strong St. Rose team on Saturday, but ultimately they were no match for

St. A’s and their ability to control both side of the ball, winning the battle 55-40. Highlights included,

excellent passes and ball distribution, strong 3-pt shooting, and defense that didn’t let up all game.

On Monday night, the boys played a double header, where they handily defeated both St. John’s

Lutheran and St. Vincent to put them one win away from their third straight undefeated regular

season. The offense took over early in both games, taking a commanding lead for their team in

scoring. The defense was relentless on the boards and controlled the pace of both games. These wins

exemplified the boys’ commitment to team play. The last game of the regular season is this Saturday

against St. Helena Montessori in their gym at 9:45 AM, be there to cheer on the boys going for their

final regular season win.

Come out and cheer our Shamrocks on this weekend:

7th

Grade Girls vs. SR @ 12:45 pm at St. Rose

7th

Grade Boys vs. SJN @ 10:15 am at St. Helena Montessori

8th

Grade Boys vs. SHM @ 9:00 am at St. Helena Montessori

St. A’s Track Season is coming up soon and we are still in need of coaching help! For our

4th

-8th

grade students, we are in need of 1-2 parents who would be willing to lead this group of kids

through the season. Practice dates/times beginning in April, TBD.

For our TK-3rd

grade students, we are looking for at least 1 parent per grade to help with this group.

We have two great head coaches in place for these students, who will practice on Wednesdays after

school beginning in April (exact start date TBD), but it takes a village to lead our littlest athletes, so

please lend a hand if you can.

For all track questions and to volunteer, please reach out to Jessica Martin at jmartin@stasanapa.com.

All volunteers must be cleared before the first practice in April.

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St. A’s Golf is gearing up for grades 6-8. Stay tuned for more information on registration and season details!

CHURCH NEWS