Joyful, Joyful, sounds of joy...ADVENT begins this Sunday, Nov. 29, and Mrs. Ortiz has a lot of great resources from the library to get us in the Christmas spirit! Check out some of these popular Advent books and begin preparing to meet the Christ Child...

A heartfelt thank you to all Saint Ann School families who donated to the PTA Thanksgiving food drive! PTA members have dropped off our donations to Mercer Street Friends food bank. We have collected a total of 1,331 pounds (including 10% early bird additional points). Amazing turn out amidst the pandemic and this year's donations were up by 128lbs compared to last year's 1,203 lbs. Thank you very much for all your support!

Saint Ann School Families, The Mercer County area, and the Diocese of Trenton has seen a spike in cases and closures of schools due to COVID-19. I want to remind all that you need to notify myself and the school nurse (Krista Gladney, nurse@st-ann-school.org) if anyone in the household tests positive for COVID-19. If anyone in the household or a close contact through another manner has tested positive the student is required to quarantine and take part in virtual learning for 2 weeks. They can return to school following the quarantine and with a negative COVID-19 test result. It is extremely important that we all follow these guidelines for the health and safety of our school - the teachers, staff, and students. We are relying on everybody's honesty to keep us safe. God Bless!

"Moooove" over and make some room for second grade's class pet! A virtual pet that is. Mrs. Meagher's class has adopted a calf through the Discover Dairy, Adopt a Cow program. The calf has been born on the Zahncroft Dairy in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania. Students took a virtual farm trip to the Marcoot Dairy Farm in Illinois to see how calves grow up on a farm. We can't wait to learn more about it!

Saint Ann School students and faculty celebrated Halloween in style last Friday with a costume dress down day, an indoor trick or treat event sponsored by our PTA, and the annual Pumpkin Design Contest. We are grateful for PTA members who set up the cafeteria with all kinds of treats and supervised the students who, class by class came to trick or treat. Although we weren't able to have our traditional Halloween class parties, students enjoyed their candy snacks while watching movies in their classrooms and awaited the announcement of the Pumpkin Design contest winners, who were revealed at the end of the day. Thank you to students and staff for a "spook"tacular and safe cele"boo"ration!

Saint Ann School PTA is hosting its annual Thanksgiving Food Drive now through Nov. 6. Again this year we are participating in the Students Change Hunger program to collect food for our local food bank, Mercer Street Friends. We have been Division Three heavyweight champion for the past years! We collected 1203lb of food in 2019, 1534lb of food in 2018, 2213lb in 2017. This includes poundage converted from our Dress Down Day cash as well. For more information about this program, you can visit www.studentschangehunger.org. For a list of items needed check the flyer on the online PIE page of our school website. We greatly appreciate your generosity in making this service project successful!

Make it ORANGE and make it stop! Saint Ann School celebrated National Unity Day yesterday, Oct. 21. Students and faculty wore orange to show that we are together against bullying, and united for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. Thank you Saint Ann School for always choosing kindness! Every day should be Unity Day!

Saint Ann School families, on Wednesday, October 21 we will celebrate National Unity Day. All students and staff are encouraged to wear orange to raise awareness against bullying. This "wear orange" dress down day is free. Monday, October 19 in the evening I will be sending a test message for our emergency communication system. You should receive a phone call, text message (if you are opt-in), and email. If you have any changes to your email or phone number, it is extremely important that you inform the office. If you do not receive the email, phone call, or text (after opting-in) please contact the office. Please reach out to me if you have any questions. God Bless!

Saint Ann School families, this Halloween PTA members will be helping our students to celebrate Halloween! The PTA is sponsoring events during the day on Friday, Oct. 30, Since we are unable to have our traditional Halloween activities we will be hosting a Trick-or-Treat Trail for all in-person learners. Students will come to school in costume, and please remind them about headwear not interfering with the children’s ability to wear their mask. Also, note that students are not permitted to bring in any treats for their classmates this year. The PTA will be setting up stations outside with various treats and will also have music. Stations will be attended by one class at a time. The afternoon will include the ability to eat the treats provided by the PTA while enjoying a movie. We are hopeful that this will bring a little bit of the Halloween spirit to our students and I am grateful for the PTA’s funding of this endeavor, which is made possible thanks to all of your support of the PTA’s various fundraisers. As always thank you for your wonderful support. God Bless,

Saint Ann School families, recently New Jersey have been seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases. Please continue to be vigilant with morning Genesis checks. Remember that if a child is not feeling well it is in his/her and the larger school’s best health interest to stay home. Safety needs to continue being the first priority for all. This week I will be finalizing details related to Halloween activities. I can confirm that students will be allowed to wear costumes however no costume masks will be worn except during special activities. Parent-Teacher Conference (Virtual) is scheduled for November 5th from 12:30-3:00 and November 6th from 8:00-3:00. Details will be shared shortly. The PTA continues to plan fundraisers for the year. Visit the PTA page on our website at www.saintannschool.org/pta-parent-teacher-assoc for more information. The PTA and your generosity provide support for teacher and student programs in the school. Thank you for your continuous support. God bless!

Saint Ann School Families, Saint Ann School is consistently seeking input so we can grow and provide what families need. In order to assist we are asking for your feedback. Please take the time to complete the three Family Engagement surveys that I have sent you in my latest email. They will be open until Friday evening. You can also find a link to these surveys on the home page of our website www.saintannschool.org. The purpose of these surveys is to find out a family’s beliefs and opinions about their engagement with their student’s institution; a family's opinions about their child's school, including questions about teachers, administrators, and other aspects of their child's and their own experiences with the school; a family's description of aspects of their and their child's experience with school. The term “family” refers to any adult who has some level of responsibility for the student. As usual, I thank you for your cooperation. God bless!

“What is the name of the Hispanic national holiday celebrating the heritage and cultural diversity of Latin America? What day is it celebrated on?” And the answer is... El Dia De La Raza! Observed on October 12 to celebrate Latin Heritage and cultural diversity in Latin America. The winners of this week's trivia are Ava Fallon, 7B, and Terrel Williams, 3A. Felicidades!!! This concludes our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Thank you to all who participated and congratulations again to all our trivia winners! Hasta luego!

And the Oscar for Best Actor goes to... Jose Ferrer! He is the answer to Mrs. Laccetti's trivia question for this week. in 1951, he was the first Hispanic actor to win the Oscar with the movie "Cyrano de Bergerac". Congratulations to Jilian in 7B for being the first one to guess! Next week will be the last week to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and the last week for Mrs. Laccetti's Trivia Tuesday! Stay tuned and good luck!

And the answer is... Lin-Manuel Miranda! Born on Jan. 16, 1980 in New York City, he's the son of Puerto Rican parents. He is an award-winning actor, performer, and writer known for his groundbreaking Broadway musicals "In The Heights" and "Hamilton". Congratulations to Troy, William, and Isabel who sent their guess simultaneously to Mrs. Laccetti!

Even during these extraordinary times, Saint Ann School students and families haven't stopped serving and supporting our local community. Just recently, Thanks to our PTA, SAS families have turned to local business Willis Greenhouse to welcome Fall. Through the PTA Fall Mum Fundraiser parents were able to purchase vouchers to redeem in exchange for beautiful mums, a great way to support our school and our local businesses at the same time! Thank you to all who participated in the fundraiser and happy Fall to all!

Saint Ann School families, Throughout the year, students will once again take the Renaissance Star Assessments to help teachers understand what their students know and what they are ready to learn next. These are given to all of the students in the 2nd through 8th grade. Typically, these assessments are administered in the school setting. This fall we will not just be administering this assessment in school but will also be providing tools so our remote learners are assessed. Please check my latest email to you to learn all the information necessary for your child to complete the tests. When schedules for the assessment are finalized, teachers will email them to you and also post them on Google Classroom. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me. God bless!

The answer to Mrs. Laccetti's Trivia Tuesday is... Joseph Acaba. Did you guess it? Caleb in 7B did! Bien hecho! Stay tuned for next week's trivia question!

The National Theme for the Hispanic Heritage Month and throughout the year will be "the National Park Service and our partners, share history, heritage, and accomplishments of Hispanic and Latino Americans of past and present". Mrs. Laccetti will have a Trivia question for our students each week this month tied to the National Parks. This week's Trivia question is: "This National Park was established in 1906 to preserve and interpret the archeological heritage of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from 600 to 1300 CE. Today, the park protects nearly 5,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States. What is the name of the park, Where is it located and What does the name mean?" Take your best guess!

Tuesday, Sept. 15 marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from 09/15 to 10/15. This year's theme is "The National Parks Service Commemorates the rich Hispanic history and culture found in many parks". At Saint Ann School, students will be celebrating the Hispanic culture every day not only during Spanish class with Mrs. Laccetti but incorporating activities and lessons to the general curriculum with videos and articles that the teachers will share with their classes. Check out Mrs. Laccetti's web page for more information and resources that you can share with your children at home as well!

Saint Ann School families, if your child is learning from home, fully virtual or hybrid option, please remember to complete the Physical Education Virtual Assignment which must be submitted weekly, on the day of your child's class PE day. For more information and instruction on how to do it, please visit Mr. Zimmer's webpage on the school website under the Teachers Corner tab. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact Mr. Zimmer via email at jzimmer@st-ann-school.org. Stay active SAS!