The Cornerstone Catholic School of the North Boroughs

RAFFLE!

Our toy raffle is going strong.  We have over 40 toys to raffle off!  The 3^rd graders have written entertaining advertisements for this event.  A partner group gets to read their commercial over the loudspeaker each afternoon.   The raffle will end next week.  The proceeds help families right from our school!  Please continue to be supportive.

                         INTERNATIONAL CHRISTMAS

Mrs. Rubolino has transformed our school hallway into a winter wonderland.  Trees representing 9 different countries will be on display and a cookie sale will be held!  The Drama Club will perform the religious version of “The Night Before Christmas”. Join us after the 4:00 Mass on Dec. 10^th. 

FAMILY TREE

We would like to include a family tree in our International Christmas display.  Please send us a family picture to hang on this tree.  Your picture may not be returned, so we would prefer a copy.  It would also be nice to have an ornament from each family with their name prominently written on it.  We would save these ornaments and use them year after year!  Please send one in!

                                                                                            NATIVITY PRAYER SERVICE

Our Intermediate Department invites you to their annual ABC’s of Christmas.  This prayerful service will take place on Dec. 20^th at 1:15 in church. 

PARISH CHRISTMAS CONCERT

The combined adult/children’s choir will perform their Christmas Concert on Sunday, December 11^th at 3:00 in church.  What a great way to get into the true holiday spirit.  Members of the Children’s Choir should be in McGovern hall by 1:45 for robing and warm up.  Please remember your cookies for the reception after the concert.  The Children’s Choir will sing at the 4:00 pm Mass on Christmas Eve as well.  The children in this choir are to be commended for their dedication and hard work. 

SPAGHETTI DINNER

The Dads, with Chef Saylor at the helm, will be preparing a wonderful dinner for us next Tuesday, the 13^th for our annual Spaghetti Dinner.  After dinner, entertainment will be provided by our Kindergarten and 1^st grade, our 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th grader carolers, our children’s choir and our Drama Club.  On top of all that fun, our 8^th graders will present their slide show entitled:  “Life at Assumption School”.  Join us for an evening of community fun. 

PARISH PENNANCE SERVICE

The Parish Penance Service will be held at 7:00 in church on Dec. 14^th.  Our students will also have the opportunity to go to confession on either Wed. Dec. 14th or Wed. Dec. 21^st. 

MARKET DAY ORDERS

Pick up is this Thursday, the 15^th.

PPG

Our Parent Prayer Group will meet in Dec. 14^th at 10:00 in the office.  Please join us as we pray for our school, our students, our parents and our church.  Prayer is powerful!

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME

Preschool Story Time will take place on Thursday, Dec. 15^th at 1:00 pm and again on the 16^th at 10:00

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS COLLECTION

The children are being asked to bring in loose change and contribute to the Knights of Columbus collection for the Bishop’s Fund.  The class who brings in the most money will win a pizza/bowling party courtesy of the Knights.  The Knights are a church organization who often helps the school. 

MUGS!

Don’t forget to order you Assumption mug or water bottle!  They make great stocking stuffers!  Please see the order form in today’s folder. 

SHOP ‘N SAVE RECEIPTS

Please keep saving your Shop N Save receipts.  We need them to bring free assemblies to our school!

(And don’t forget to cut out your boxtops and save your Campbell’s soup labels too!)

CAFETERIA KINDNESS

The kindness winners for November were Emma Courtmanche, Claire Babicz, Noah Casey and Jimmy Entz.  It’s great to get caught being nice!  Thanks to Mrs. Bosetti and Mrs. Kuntz for watching for and rewarding kindness!

FRUIT BASKETS

                Don’t forget to order your fruit basket!  Who wouldn’t appreciate such a thoughtful gift?  Hosts, hostesses, clients, neighbors – all would be thrilled to receive a fresh fruit basket!

Orders must be sent in by Dec. 14^th.  The baskets are $25 each and can be picked up at Produce Plus

On Lincoln Ave on Dec. 21^st, 22^nd, 23^rd from 11 -6.  or on the 24^th between 11-2.    Please let us know which day you will be picking up your basket. Thank you to Mrs. Garcia for organizing this sale!

STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS

All money made through Student Council this month will be split between our school raffle and our Knights of Columbus collection.

COLORING CONTEST

The winners of our Design your Own Coloring Page Contest were:  Maddy Quolke, Emma Ficorilli, Lily Smith, Finnian Sweeney, Anna Plazek and Colin Kyle!  All of the entries were wonderful and are hanging in the front hallway. 

DOOR DECORATING

Under Student Council direction, all rooms will be decorating their doors for Christmas.  A voting day will be held during which the children will choose the prettiest door.  Votes are .10 each.  The price of votes has been lowered so that the children can vote for more than one door if they want to!

HOT CHOCOLATE/POPCORN SALES

Our last hot chocolate sale will take place next Wednesday, Dec. 14^th.  Thank you to all who supported the hot chocolate and popcorn sales last week!

5 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

The Student Council “5 Days of Christmas” will begin on Dec. 14^th when the 7^th and 8^th graders will visit New Hope Nursing Home to distribute cards and presents from our students. Dec. 15^th – Student Council led prayer service   Dec. 16^th – Christmas movie day  Dec. 19^th – Pajama Day   Dec. 20 – Ugly Christmas Sweater Day

RETREAT

The 8^th graders participated in a wonderful, uplifting retreat on Wednesday.  Jamie Dillon led them in song and prayers.  They made sacrifice beads, made up commercials, wrote petitions, decorated prayer cards, learned about the 7 gifts of the Spirit and attended Mass.  Thank you to Mrs. Taylor for organizing the retreat.  Please keep our confirmation children in your prayers. 

USED BOOK SALE

We will hold a used book sale in January.  Please save your “like new” used books for this event.  If you would like to send a box or two to school, we would be happy to store them for you!

THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS IN PICTURES

We have started this project as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the school.  We need your help.  If you have any pictures of the early days of our school, please copy them and send them to office!

MARCH FOR LIFE 2012

While we are waiting for one child to be laid in a manger, it is sad to remember that there are tens of thousands for whom life is not a choice that they will be permitted to enjoy. Would you stand with us in defending the unborn? The Assumption Respect Life committee and the Bellevue Knights of Columbus are sponsoring a bus to Washington DC on Monday January 23.Seats are $20 each with limited financial aid available.    As is our tradition, the bus will leave Assumption at 6am in the morning, and return around 11pm.

Please return today’s flyer if you are interested in attending this important event.

‎"Remember, this all began with a child. Because it took nothing but love to begin it, it's not really Christmas if love isn't in it."

AR

Is anybody reading?  Our AR display is not filling up with names as quickly as it should be!  Maybe we will get some books for Christmas?

FORE!

The Athletic Association is selling Golf Coupon Books for the 2012 golf season. Each book offers 382 discount coupons from 135 golf facilities. This is a great Christmas gift for the golfer in your family. We are requesting that each family sell one coupon book. The cost of the book is $25.00. We are distributing a book to each Athletic Association family. After selling the book return $25.00 to your coach in an envelope marked with your name and golf coupon book. If you are not a member of the Athletic Association, you can still purchase these wonderful books for $25!  Just send the money to the office.  Thank you for your assistance.

ALUMNI NEWS

Sal Valeriano, a recent Assumption graduate will soon be inducted into the Northgate National Honor Society.  Nice job Sal!  You deserve the honor.

SECRET SANTA

Thank you to Mrs. Hugney and the many parents who helped with the Secret Santa Shop yesterday.  We ran a little low on selection for the last 2 classes who shopped.  We are purchasing a few more items and will allow those classes to have another chance to shop on Monday morning.  Anyone who was absent yesterday will also be able to shop in Monday. 

ADVENT

All of our classes are learning about the season of Advent and the importance of getting ready for Jesus in our hearts and in our homes. We are encouraging the students to do nice things for others and to pray more.   Mrs. Heinle’s students were giving away smiles all day Tuesday!

 WHAT HAS 4th GRADE BEEN LEARNING?

The 4^th graders are learning so much!  In social studies, they are studying lines of longitude and latitude and are learning about different Native American tribes.    In math, they are beginning a unit on multiplication and in science they are learning about photosynthesis.  They just completed time lines about their first 9 or 10 years of life!  Next week, they will be brushing up their math skills when they help Mrs. Reisinger run the school Christmas raffle. 

FA LA LA LA LA

The 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th graders entertained Bellevue shoppers this afternoon!  As part of Light Up Night celebrations, our students sang Christmas carols at the corner of Sprague and Lincoln.  Mrs. Bankowski led them in a fun rendition of Jingle Bell Rock,  Feliz Navidad and other Christmas favorites.

 No-one can change the past, but it's never too late to improve the future.

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA

Breakfast with Santa will be held in McGovern Hall this Saturday at 9:00.  Tickets must be purchased in advance.  Thank you to Mrs. Diecks for setting up this fun event and to the older students who volunteered to help with the program:  Connor Penn, Megan Zahren, Brianna VanVolkenburg, Kathryn Human, David Hahner, Bridget McCole, Alex Parker, Lauren Kennelly, Kristen Collins, Luisa Valeriano, Olivia O’Brien and Tori Oberst.

                              ELF ON A SHELF

The Elf on the Shelf is back and he is visiting the first grade classroom.  On Wednesday, the students returned to their classroom after Mass to find that the elf had brought them breakfast!  They had snowballs, reindeer kisses and hot chocolate!

SELLING SCRIP AFTER MASSES

We will be holding a MANDATORY meeting for ALL new and returning parents who wish to sell SCRIP after the weekend masses this next sign up session.  The meeting will be held on Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 9:15 - 9:50 a.m. in the RCIA room, Old School.  This is a mandatory meeting if you plan to sign up for mass sales in the new year.  The meeting will be over in time to attend 10 a.m. mass.

If you have questions please feel free to contact Barbara Diecks @ 412-734-3644.

SAINT NICHOLAS

If we are all very good, St. Nick just may stop by for a visit next Tuesday, his feast day.  If we are very very good, he may fill our shoes with candy.  Thank you to all of the little elves who contributed candy for this fun event.

FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

The students will attend Mass on Thursday next week so that they can celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  They will not attend Mass on Wednesday the 7^th.

BAND CONCERT

The Band Concert will be held on Thursday, December 8^th at 7:00 in the RCIA Room.  Please note the correction to the date listed on the monthly calendar!

SECRET SANTA SHOP

Mrs. Hugney and the elves have been shopping and planning so that our Secret Santa shop will be successful again this year. The children can shop on Thursday, Dec. 8^th with makeup shopping on the 9^th.  Please remind your child(ren) who they should shop for and about how much they should spend.  Parents and older students will assist the little ones in making their gift selections.  We will wrap the gifts too!  We could still use donations of tape, and gift bags. 

RAFFLE!

Our toy raffle will begin next Monday, the 5^th.  Please see the flyer included in today’s folder.  All proceeds stay within the school.

                                                                           RETREAT!

Our 8^th graders will spend next Wednesday at the Martina Spiritual Retreat Center praying and preparing for their upcoming Confirmation.  Please keep them and all of our parish’s confirmation candidates in your prayers as they get ready for this important step in their faith development.

A MUSICAL CHRISTMAS CAROL

It looks like our 8^th graders have a busy week ahead.  After their retreat on Wednesday, they will be travelling to the Hazlette Theatre on Friday morning to see a presentation of A Musical Christmas Carol.  They are reading the book in preparation for the event. 

All of the 8^th graders have also joined up on a volunteer basis to participate in the English Festival which will take place at Duquesne University in May.  They have agreed to read 6 books in preparation for this competition.  I am proud of you 8^th grade!  Way to read!

INTERNATIONAL CHRISTMAS

Mrs. Rubolino is already hard at work transforming our school hallway into a winter wonderland.  Trees representing various countries will be on display and a cookie sale will be held!  Join us after the 4:00 Mass on Dec. 10^th. 

FAMILY TREE

We would like to include a family tree in our International Christmas display.  Please send us a family picture to hang on this tree.  Your picture may not be returned, so we would prefer a copy.  It would also be nice to have an ornament from each family with their name prominently written on it.  We would save these ornaments and use them year after year!  Please send one in!

PARISH CHRISTMAS CONCERT

The combined adult/children’s choir will perform their Christmas Concert on Sunday, December 11^th at 3:00 in church.  What a great way to get into the true holiday spirit.

Members of the Children’s Choir should be in McGovern hall by 1:45 for robing and warm up.  Please remember your cookies for the reception after the concert. 

The Children’s Choir will sing at the 4:00 pm Mass on Christmas Eve as well.  The children in this choir are to be commended for their dedication and hard work. 

NATIVITY PRAYER SERVICE

Our Intermediate Department invites you to their annual ABC’s of Christmas.  This prayerful service will take place on Dec. 20^th at 1:15 in church. 

SPAGHETTI DINNER

The Dads, with Chef Saylor at the helm, will be preparing a wonderful dinner for us next Tuesday, the 13^th for our annual Spaghetti Dinner.  After dinner, entertainment will be provided by our Kindergarten and 1^st grade, our 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th grader carolers, our children’s choir and our Drama Club.  On top of all that fun, our 8^th graders will present their slide show entitled:  “Life at Assumption School”.  Join us for an evening of community fun. 

No-one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.

PARISH PENNANCE SERVICE

The Parish Penance Service will be held at 7:00 in church on Dec. 14^th.  Our students will have the opportunity to go to confession on either Wed. Dec. 14th or Wed. Dec. 21^st. 

BETSY ANN CANDY DELIVERY

The candy will be delivered on Dec. 7^th.  Thank you to all who participated in this sale.

MARKET DAY ORDERS

Market Day orders are due on the 9^th.  Pick up is on the 15^th.  Market Day has some great choices for your holiday meals and gatherings!

PPG

Our Parent Prayer Group will meet in Dec. 14^th at 10:00 in the office.  Please join us as we pray for our school, our students, our parents and our church.  Prayer is powerful!

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME

Preschool Story Time will take place on Thursday, Dec. 15^th at 1:00 pm and again on the 16^th at 10:00 am.  We are so grateful to Mrs. Marge Plichta for preparing for our story times every month.  If you know any preschoolers who would like to hear stories, make crafts and have a snack, please pass the word. 

We had a “frequent flyer” who was delivering the flyers to the neighboring preschool, but that person now has other commitments.  Could anyone else take on this job?

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS COLLECTION

The children are being asked to bring in loose change and contribute to the Knights of Columbus collection for the Bishop’s Fund.  The class who brings in the most money will win a pizza/bowling party courtesy of the Knights.  The Knights are a church organization who often helps the school.  Let’s return the favor!

MUGS!

Don’t forget to order you Assumption mug or water bottle!  They make great stocking stuffers!  Please see the order form in today’s folder.  Orders are due by

SHOP ‘N SAVE RECEIPTS

Please keep saving your Shop N Save receipts.  We need them to bring free assemblies to our school!

(And don’t forget to cut out your boxtops and save your Campbell’s soup labels too!)

STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS

All money made through Student Council this month will be split between our school raffle and our Knights of Columbus collection.

COLORING CONTEST

All “Design your own Christmas Picture” contest entries are due on the 6^th.  You can still enter the contest for .50 on Monday!

DOOR DECORATING

Under Student Council direction, all rooms will be decorating their doors for Christmas.  A voting day will be held during which the children will choose the prettiest door.  Votes are .10 each.  The price of votes has been lowered so that the children can vote for more than one door if they want to!

HOT CHOCOLATE/POPCORN SALES

Our Hot Chocolate Sale went very well today.  We will repeat this sale on Friday Dec. 16^th.  Popcorn sale after lunch will take place next Tuesday.  Popcorn is .25 a cup.  Tickets for the popcorn will be sold on Monday. 

5 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

The Student Council “5 Days of Christmas” will begin on Dec. 14^th when the 7^th and 8^th graders will visit New Hope Nursing Home to distribute cards and presents from our students.

Dec. 15^th – Student Council led prayer service   Dec. 16^th – Christmas movie day

Dec. 19^th – Pajama Day   Dec. 20 – Ugly Christmas Sweater Day

FRUIT BASKETS

                Don’t forget to order your fruit basket!  Who wouldn’t appreciate such a thoughtful gift?  Hosts, hostesses, clients, neighbors – all would be thrilled to receive a fresh fruit basket!

Orders must be sent in by Dec. 14^th.  The baskets are $25 each and can be picked up at Produce Plus

On Lincoln Ave on Dec. 21^st, 22^nd, 23^rd from 11 -6.  or on the 24^th between 11-2.    Please let us know which day you will be picking up your basket. Thank you to Mrs. Garcia for organizing this sale!

ASSUMPTION SCHOOL IS A NO BULLY ZONE

Yesterday, Alex Parker and Brianna Benson, along with the other 7^th graders, created a prayer service centering on “No bullying”.  They made posters to hang in the prayer room and ribbons for each student to wear.  They explained bullying and how we can stop it in our school.  They prayed and we related it all to the Advent season.  All students in our school are being asked to be extra kind this season and to see Jesus in everyone – especially in those who get on our nerves, or who we do not like.  This will help stop bullying and prepare us for Jesus’ birth at the same time.  The lesson will continue next week. 

BASKETBALL

Basketball practice is in full swing and Section games are beginning.  If your child is playing, please keep track of your scheduled day to work at the concession stand.  Our stand is ideal since you can sell candy and still see the game.  Thank you to our coaches who give unselfishly of their time.  Let’s show them our support and our gratitude!  Let’s help them teach our players what true teamwork is all about. 

USED BOOK SALE

We will hold a used book sale in January.  Please save your “like new” used books for this event.  If you would like to send a box or two to school, we would be happy to store them for you!

THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS IN PICTURES

We have started this project as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the school.  We need your help.  If you have any pictures of the early days of our school, please copy them and send them to office!

The only person we have to be better than is the person we were yesterday.

                                                         Assumption School Newsletter

SCRIP ALERT!

Rebates for the first quarter are being sent home today. 

Help increase your school tuition rebates – sign up to sell SCRIP following the weekend masses.   A meeting will be held on Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 9:15 - 9:50 a.m. in McGovern Hall.  This is a mandatory meeting if you plan to sign up for mass sales.  The meeting will be over in time to attend 10 a.m. mass.

Christmas is coming!  Buy scrip!  Give scrip as a gift or buy a gift with scrip!  Either way, you win, our school wins and whoever gets your present wins!  Go Team!

If you have questions please feel free to contact Barbara Diecks @ 412-734-3644.

PLAYGROUND MONITORS NEEDED

We are in need of a playground/cafeteria monitor.  If you have the hours of 10:45 – 12:15 open and enjoy the company of children, you are the person we are looking for!  Please pass this word on to anyone you know who may be interested in the job!

APTG NEWS

We need as many parents as we can get to help with the Secret Santa Shop on Dec. 8^th and 9^th.  We also need gift wrap, gift bags, ribbon and tape.  Please help!  This is a great event, and the kids love it.  It helps teaches them the joy of giving instead of receiving.  If you can help that day with wrapping presents or helping little shopper choose just the right gift, please let me know.  If anyone would like to contribute a bag of wrapped, peanut free candy for our St. Nick’s Day visit, please send it to the office by Dec. 2^nd.

If you do any of your Thanksgiving shopping at Shop N Save, please give us the receipts.  We need them for our free Science Center presentation in the spring.  If we get enough receipts, we can have the zoo come too!  Have your relatives and friends save their receipts as well! 

Finally, we are still looking for cookie contributions for the Cookie Walk during the Christmas International Day celebration on Dec. 10^th.  Many thanks to all who volunteered their baking skills for that day.   Please join them!

CALENDAR

Be sure and hang our monthly calendar on your fridge!  It is jam packed with activities!

Mugs

Please read the flyer that went home earlier concerning the mug sale.  These Assumption mugs make great stocking stuffers and even greater mementoes for you and your child.

ADVENT SEASON

Please remember to Keep Christ in our upcoming Advent (Christmas) season!

R&R

We need more members!  You do not have to attend meetings!  We will help you choose a small, yet important task! Please volunteer!

ENTRYWAY

Did you see the new bench, flower arrangement, and coat rack in our entryway?  Many thanks to Marisa Tomesic and her sister Alison McMillian Goodman for making this area so welcoming!

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