Advisory
Council
An elected/appointed School
Advisory Council (SAC). In its capacity as a policy-making body, assists and
advises the Administration. This body
works to ensure the financial and physical well-being of the school. Unlike government bodies, it is not
responsible for hiring and supervising teachers or disciplining children. Meetings are open, and interested parties are
welcome to attend. Meetings are
typically held one Thursday night of each month. See weekly newsletter and the school calendar
for dates.
Altar Servers
Boys and girls, third grade
or older and a Catholic in good standing, have the opportunity to train to be
an altar server. Training is done
through the parish office. Information
is sent home prior to training sessions.
Birthday Celebrations
Parents may choose to
provide cookies or cupcakes for a child’s class on the occasion of his/her
birthday. Drinks or favors are not
permitted, nor is a party in the classroom.
Summer birthdays may be celebrated on the “un-birthday” of your child’s
choice coordinated with the teacher.
Students are not allowed to hand out invitations at school – no matter
what – due to liability issues.
Blessing of the Pets – Saint Francis
Feast Day
In the month of October, the
children of SPS celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis with the Blessing of the
Animals. Bring your pet, or a picture of
your pet to the back parking lot (back door of Junior High) at 7:30 a.m. for a special blessing by
Fr. Steve. All pets go home after the
blessing. Check the calendar for the
exact date.
Books
Hardbound books need to be
covered by paper covers at all times during the school year. Parents and students are responsible to
provide book covers and to keep them securely in place. Textbooks are among the highest expenses a
school incurs, and keeping them in usable condition each year helps keeps cost
down.
Book Fair
Book Fair is held every
spring in the library as a fundraiser for the library. It gives parents an opportunity to purchase
books for their students, for the school and for summer reading.
Campbell Soup Labels, General Mills Box Tops,
Tyson Project A+ Labels
During the school year, soup
labels, box tops and proofs of purchase for certain items are collected,
allowing the school to earn money to purchase supplies for the classrooms. How can you help? Just save your Campbell Soup Labels, Box Tops
and Tyson Labels and send them to school in a sandwich bag with your child’s
name and class written on it.
Catholic Schools Week
Catholic Schools Week is a
nationwide celebration of Catholic schools and is held during the last week of
January. The diocese holds the Catholic
Schools Celebration honoring school volunteers and staff for their hard work. We also hold special days for our parents called
‘Donuts for Dad’ and ‘Muffins for Mom.” Our annual Open House is held during
the week. All classes are open and
guests may enjoy refreshments and entertainment in the gym. Please refer to the school calendar and
weekly newsletters for more info.
Christmas Craft Day
Students celebrate the
season by making crafts and participating in class activities. Parents are encouraged to volunteer to help
on this fun day. Please contact your
room parent to volunteer.
Dismissal Procedures
All students are walked to
their car, unless picked up by a parent at the classroom door (parents must
park in the front lot and walk through to get their student). Older students may be sent to stand with
their younger siblings to save time. All
children will stay inside the school, unless in the company of a teacher. Please ask the office for a diagram of the
pick up procedure, if needed.
If you plan to park in
front and come in to get your child, please do not plan to be at the school
more than 5 to 10 minutes early. School
gets out at 3:30, and both the students and staff are working right up until
that time. Too many parents in the front
of the school can prove to be distracting to all.
Please do not park your
car in the driving lane and get out to get your child. This only results in holding up the
line. The staff will bring the child to
you, or again you have the option of parking in front lot and walking in to get
your student. Also, in the mornings,
when dropping off please do not park your car in the driving lanes and leave
your car. If you need to go into the
school or walk your child in, then please park your car in a marked parking
space.
Rainy day dismissals may
take a little longer. Your patience and understanding
is appreciated.
Extended Day
St. Peter’s Extended Day
program is under the direct supervision of the principal; there the students
receive the consistency of both the guidelines and the staff that he/she is
familiar with throughout the day. The
Extended Day program is not a day care program, and legally cannot operate like
one. Extended Day may only be open on
school days and will be closed on school holidays.
Extended Day is open to only
registered St. Peter’s students. There
is no additional fee to register for the program.
The After-School times are
from 3:45 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. The children are supervised at all times,
with the schedule including a snack time, a play time and a study hall period.
The Extended Day program can
be used on a weekly as well as a drop-in basis.
For specific fees and other details, please contact the school office
(817-246-2032). When leaving payments,
please be sure to clearly detail the payments and enclose in an envelope with
your child’s name and the week the payment is being made for. The school will be notified of any
non-payment and the charges will be added on to school fees.
At dismissal, children are
supervised by school staff until 3:45.
(See Dismissal Procedures). Any
students left after 3:45 are placed under Extended Day supervision. A parent occasionally running late can be
assured his/her child is safe. At the
first occurrence there will be no fee charge.
Subsequent occurrences will accrue the drop-in Extended Day rate. Though a parent may incur a small unexpected
fee, this is a desirable alternative to the vulnerability of having your child
wait unsupervised.
Field Trips
Most grade levels will have
field trips during the school year, with the younger levels usually attending
more than the older grades. You will receive
a field trip permission slip with your child that gives the details of the trip
along with a section for Driver Information.
Parent volunteers are needed
to drive for field trips. To drive on a
field trip, you must show proof of a current license and current car insurance
(minimum $100,000/$300,000 liability) before every trip. You must also have enough working seat belts
to house the number of children assigned to your vehicle and you must help
supervise students, following the rules of the school and the teacher. Parents driving on a field trip may not make
unscheduled stops for refreshments or any other reason during, on the way to, or
on the way back from a field trip.
Parents participating in
Field Trips must also have completed Keeping Children Safe through the diocese.
Due to safety concerns and
supervisory obligations, siblings are not permitted to attend field trips.
First Communion and First
Reconciliation
The First Communion and
First Reconciliation preparation is coordinated with the Religious Education
Department of the Parish. Candidates for
First Communion and Reconciliation may be required to attend special classes in
addition to the religion instruction received at SPS. The second grade SPS religion teacher will
inform parents of candidates of any additional requirements
Grocery Store Cards
What easier way to help out
your school than shopping? Each time you
use one of our frequent shopper cards, a percentage will be given to SPS! There are 4 frequent shopper cards that pay
SPS each time you shop at these stores:
Ö
Kroger
Pick
up a card in the school office and show it each time you shop. SPS receives 1% of sales.
Ö
Tom Thumb
The
SPS # you need to use with your Tom Thumb Rewards Card is #11232. Tom Thumb donates 1% of aggregate SPS
purchases quarterly
Registration
forms available in the school office.
Ö
Albertson’s
Link
your Albertson’s card to SPS Community Partner #49000900401 Albertsons donates 2-5% of aggregate SPS
purchases quarterly. To register your
card online go to www.albertsons.com/cp/
login using Albertson's Preferred Card number. Then select My Account to add
SPS as a Community Partner. You may also
obtain a sign up sheet in the SPS Bookkeeper’s office.
Ö
Central Market
You
can pick up a Central Market SPS donation card at the front office. Central Market donates 5% of purchases
monthly to SPS. If you wish to receive
credit towards your Scrip account, be sure to turn in your receipts from
Central Market so that your share of the monthly contribution will be credited
towards your account.
Grandparents/Grand-Friends Day
All grandparents are invited
to attend our annual “Grandparent’s Day”, which will be held this year on April
30th. Grandparents will be able to attend
our May Crowning ceremony, tour their grandchild’s classroom, enjoy
entertainment, crafts, activities and visit the book fair. If your grandparents are not able to attend,
feel free to invite a “Grand-Friend”.
Half Days or Noon Dismissals
During the school year,
there are several half days or noon
dismissals. On these days, school is
dismissed at 12:00 p.m. If your children attend after school care,
please remember to send a sack lunch on half days.
Home and School Association
The Home and School
Association fosters greater interest, understanding and cooperation among
parents, teachers and students. It also
contributes greatly in fundraising to keep down operating costs and in
providing teaching aids. Every family
sending a child to Saint Peter’s Catholic School is considered a member of the
Association after having paid the dues during final registration (part of
classroom fees).
The Executive Committee is
made up of a group of individuals who have been highly involved in the activities
of Home and School, and are nominated by a committee, with final approval from
the standing Executive Committee. The
current Executive committee is listed at the back of this book.
Lunch
Hot lunches are provided by Mrs.
Lourdes Medrano. Lunches can be
pre-purchased on a monthly basis. Order
forms are sent home in the Wednesday folder a week or so prior to the upcoming
month. Forms and payment need to be
returned by the date indicated on the order form.
Parents are welcome to have
lunch with your child in the cafeteria.
We ask that you sign in at the office upon arrival at the campus, and
sign out as you leave. We ask that no
fast food be brought to your child at school.
If someone other than a parent or guardian will be having lunch with your
child, we ask that a signed note be sent to your child’s teacher.
Mass
Children attend Mass on
Friday mornings and often participate in the liturgies. Parents are always welcome to attend Mass
anytime, but are especially invited when your child’s homeroom is involved in
the service. Also, during each Mass, the
children will present their weekly offering of food, which is collected for the
Saint Peter’s Food Bank. We ask that you
send non-perishable food items. The Food
Bank services those that live same zip code as St. Peter’s.
Medications/Medical
In order for medications to
be administered to your child, you must fill out the diocesan form and have it
signed by both the parent and doctor.
This applies to both over- the- counter and prescription
medications. Parents must bring the
medications to the nurse’s office.
National Junior Honor Society
The NJHS is a nationwide
organization whose purpose is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to
stimulate a desire to render service, to promote leadership, to develop
character and to encourage citizenship.
The selection is a privilege and is not solely based on academic
achievement.
Students having a cumulative
GPA of 3.5 for the previous 6 quarters are invited to become members.
Applications are given out
and must be retuned by a specific date.
The final decision is made by the Faculty Council based on the qualities
of scholarship, leadership, service and character.
To remain a member in good
standing of NJHS, students must maintain a scholastic GPA of 3.5 and perform 12
service hours each year. These standards
are aligned with the national criteria.
Membership is open to those
students in second semester sixth, seventh and eighth grade.
Parade of Lights
The Fort Worth Parade of
Lights is held downtown the day after Thanksgiving. Traditionally, the SPS second grade class
designs and builds a float for the parade.
The entire school is welcome to participate by walking the parade route
with the float.
Parent/Student Handbook
All guidelines are outlined
in the Parent/Student Handbook, which is sent home with your child at the
beginning of the school year. This
handbook outlines all specific guidelines and policies of Saint Peter’s School. Parents are required to go over the
guidelines with their students and sign the last page of the book recognizing
they understand the enclosed guidelines and return.
Room Parents
Each homeroom class has a
room parent or parents who helps coordinates activities and provides
information. Contact your room parent to
get involved.
Spirit Days
The 1st Monday of
each month (or as designated on the calendar) is ‘Spirit Day’ and children may
wear a SPS spirit shirt with blue jeans (no shorts). Jeans should be clean and in good shape and
fit appropriately (no holes, etc.).
Tennis shoes that do not roll, or light up, or make noise, are also
allowed on Spirit Day.
Spring Festival
The Spring Festival is a
wonderful family day that allows the school, church and the rest of the
community to come together. The outdoor
festival will have something for everyone with contests, crafts, games,
carnival booths, bounce houses, food, a talent show and more.
Booths and food are paid for
with tickets, which can be paid for in advance or on the day of the Spring Festival
at the ticket booth. Each grade sponsors
a booth and will require each family to work a specified time slot. Bring your
friends and family to share in the fun.
Tardies
The school opens @ 7:30 a.m.; children can wait in the
hallway until their classroom’s are open (7:45
a.m.). The bell rings at 8:00
a.m. and children should be in their classroom by the time the bell rings. Help your child’s day get off to a good start
by allowing time to get in the class on time, not stressed out by running late.
Tours
Prospective parents may
schedule a tour of SPS through the front office. If you know of someone who may
be interested in SPS, a co-worker, neighbor or someone new to our area,
encourage them to come see SPS. Tours
are guided by Mrs. Jongewaard and held at their convenience. Please call the school’s front office at
817-246-2032 to set a time.
Tuition Troubles
If for any reason you are
having difficulty with tuition payments, please don’t hesitate to contact our
bookkeeper, Mrs. Sylvia Mendez.
Visitors/Volunteers
When visiting your child
or volunteering at the school, we ask that you always check in at the School
Office, where you will sign in and pick up a name badge upon entering the
building, and sign out upon exiting.
This is important every time
you visit SPS, even for short visits or lunches.
Web Page
Check out the SPS web
page, http://stpetercatholicschool.org
where you can find photos, information on upcoming events, volunteer opportunities,
supply lists, contact info and more.
Viva Las Vegas and Silent Auction
This is the biggest
fundraiser event of the year for our school and definitely one of the most
exciting. There will be live
entertainment, food and drinks, Vegas-style games, door prizes and lots of
great items to bid on. Each class
prepares a basket of items relating to a theme, and creates a project for the
auction. All donations and sponsorships
are welcome .Typically held the first weekend of November, but please check the
calendar for the specific date. Please
invite all your family and friends (must be 21 years of age or older to
attend).
Volunteer Opportunities
There are so many ways
that you can help out your child’s school, please look at the list below and
find one that is right for you!
Ö
Make a donation
for the Casino Night auction
Ö
Restock library
books
Ö
Save soup labels
Ö
Send food/unneeded
clothes or toys for the Saint Peter’s Parish food bank
Ö
Work on a class
project
Ö
Read to the
preschool classes
Ö
Donate items for
the General Store
Ö
Drive for a
field trip
Ö
Buy and sell
raffle tickets
Ö
Coach a sports
team
Ö
Help decorate
for school events
Ö
Buy a teacher a
gift from the “Wish List”
Ö
Volunteer to
work for casino/auction night
Ö
Be a greeter for
Catholic School Open House
Ö
Cook/provide
food for Teacher Appreciation luncheons
Ö
Save General
Mills Box Tops and Campbell’s
labels
Ö
Pray for the
children, teachers, and administration of SPS
