Dear Parents and Guardians,

I am excited to share our schedule of events for Catholic Schools Week 2023! For those of you who are new to our school, Catholic Schools Week is a National celebration highlighting the many accomplishments of Catholic Schools across the country and especially our beautiful Saint Aidan School. We especially thank our students, teachers, staff, families and parishioners for their support.

The theme this year is again FAITH, EXCELLENCE and SERVICE. Our individual school theme is “We Are God’s Work of Art”. Below you will find an outline for our Catholic Schools Week Celebration.

CSW Schedule 

 Here is a more detailed look at some of the events during the week of January 29th:

• Catholic School Week Opening Mass for all who would like to attend is Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 9:00 AM in St. Aidan Church. The Mass will also be livestreamed at www.staidanparish.org. We would love all children in attendance to please wear their school uniform.
• Open House for ALL who like to attend will take place from 10:00 AM-12:30 PM following Mass on Sunday, January 29, 2023. If you know someone interested in touring our beautiful school, please invite them to attend!
• The famous SAS Book Fair is back for Catholic Schools Week beginning at our Open House on Sunday and for the students in Pre-K-8 with their classes. Nursery students are invited with a caregiver. We are working hard to keep the children reading, thanks to Mrs. Serrano. We are offering contactless checkout this year with eWallet, a digital payment account. Your child can shop the Book Fair cash-free. Cash & credit cards will still be accepted! Please see the important book fair information that is being sent home with your child this week. You can visit our Book Fair homepage to learn more and get started with eWallet and online shopping;https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/staidanschool1. This is an easy way for students to shop. SIGN UP TODAY!
• For our school-wide service project this year we will have a Dress Down Day for at least $2 per student on Wednesday, January 25, 2023 to raise money to purchase gift certificates from local businesses and these gift certificates will be given to homebound parishioners and neighbors, through Parish Social Ministry, to give them a meal during these cold winter months. This is a WIN, WIN for our entire community! Thank you for your support!
• We will participate in The Saint Aidan School Annual Day of Giving Campaign which will run from Tuesday, January 31st at 12 PM through Wednesday, February 1st at 12 PM. This year our goal is to raise enough funds to purchase FOUR Promethean Boards to complete updating technology in ALL of our classrooms in K-8 and special area subjects. As you know, continuously replacing technology is a big undertaking and very costly. We need your help! Please share our Day of Giving emails and social media posts with your family and friends who support Saint Aidan School. NO GIFT IS TOO BIG OR TOO SMALL!  Together we can make a big difference for our children.  If you have any questions about the campaign, please reach out to Nora Grady at [email protected] 
• We are providing some Catholic Schools Week Fun with “Movie Mornings for all students in Nursery-8th Grade. The movies shown will be as follows: Nursery, PreK, K and 1st- TOY STORY , 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th- MATILDA (Netflix) and 6th, 7th and 8th- DOG GONE (Netflix).
• Student Appreciation Day is a favorite during Catholic Schools Week! Students may wear St. Aidan Spirit Wear to school on Thursday, February 2nd and K-8 will participate in a school Pep Rally. There will be NO HW AND TESTS TO STUDY FOR THIS EVENING.
• We are excited to present a special choral concert for Catholic Schools Week featuring Grades K-6 in a presentation titled “We Are God’s Work of Art” International Concert. Please join us in St. Aidan Church at 7:00 PM on Thursday, February 2, 2023.
• Our First Friday Mass on Friday, February 3, 2023 will be a perfect way to close Catholic Schools Week. This Mass will be hosted by Mrs. Tringone’s Class 4-1. All are invited to attend. Students should be in FULL DRESS UNIFORM. Grades Pre-K-8 will be in attendance and the Mass will also be livestreamed at www.staidanparish.org. All students will participate in “Buddy Time” after Mass. Students in Grades 3-8 are asked to bring a small nut-free snack and drink with them to school to have a snack with their buddy. As a reminder, Friday, February 3, 2023 is also Faculty Appreciation Day and is an early dismissal day at 11:30 AM. The AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM is NOT in effect.

I would like to thank our Catholic Schools Week Committee and all our teachers and staff for working so hard to bring this Catholic Schools Week to us this year. Our school celebrates over 70 Years of EXCELLENCE in Catholic Education and we should all be very proud!

Sincerely,

Mrs. O’Connell