Saint Peter’s Postings — Happenings at Saint Peter School in Somerset

St. Peter School recently held its 8th annual Fr. Gartland Memorial Walk on Wednesday, May 1st on the school and parish grounds. With the help of all of our teachers and staff and so many volunteer parents and family members, we celebrated the past, present and future of our school with a PTA Hot Lunch Picnic, walking and running as well as games, snacks and making Ministry Cheer Cards for parishioners. Facing the threat of rain, the sun began to appear from behind the clouds and it was a glorious day. Pastor Fr. Angelo Patti, led the opening prayer and the our friend and classmate, Ian Rosenbaum, had the honor of declaring the Walk OPEN by tearing the ribbon. Ian was also able to hang out with all of us for the day which was a beautiful blessing since he has been absent during his medical treatments. But his smile couldn’t be denied and neither could ours! And if the day couldn’t get any sweeter, about half way through the afternoon a rainbow appeared around the sun in full color! There is no doubt in the hearts and souls of our school family that Fr. O’Neill was looking down on us with a smile. Thanks to all teachers, staff, Fr. Patti, Mr. Sanner, parent volunteers (and siblings!) and our PTA Crew for a wonderful day! Funds raised from this fundraiser will help purchase additional student Ipads for the school. Donations can be sent to the school through May 10th.

St. Peter School participates in the Renaissance Place “Accelerated Reader Program.” Each grading period students conference with their teachers and set point goals for themselves. Students accrue points by reading books of their choice and then taking online AR tests on the computers at school or during Family Reading Night. At the end of end of each grading period, students are given incentive prizes for getting very close to, reaching or exceeding their goal. We also recognize students who attain 100 points or more. They are given a certificate and treated to lunch with the principal. There are often school-wide incentives as well including extra recesses, pop-sicles and student/faculty baseball games. While the games and prizes are fun, it is our deep hope that this program will above all instill a passion for books and reading. It is well-known and documented how important reading from a very young age dramatically impacts not only students’ writing and vocabulary but their overall academic achievement throughout high school and college. Studies show that especially reading aloud to children from infancy exposes them to thousands even millions more words than a child receives just listening to people talk or watching tv. This results in children starting Kindergarten with a much larger vocabulary – one of the main dimensions of reading fluency. We will be sending home our “Summer Soars” Reading packets in the next few weeks and we hope that you will fill a bag with books and magazines and pack it up with the sports equipment and snacks when you head to vacation or the ball field. Above all we also hope parents will read in front of their kids and talk about what they are reading as it is not the school’s job alone to teach a love of reading. We’ve listed below a few links to some great articles about reading and its direct impact on student learning. Happy Reading!

http://mentalfloss.com/article/579224/kids-whose-parents-read-aloud-to-them-understand-a-million-more-words

https://edsource.org/2015/study-says-reading-aloud-to-children-more-than-talking-builds-literacy/82045

https://www.annabelkarmel.com/reading-to-children-vocab/

Watching God work in our school is always a privilege. To see how He cares for us and who He brings to our school each year, in new students and teachers, and watch them become beloved members of our school family reminds us how much God loves our little school. This year we welcomed Mrs. Cassandra Burke to our school as our third grade teacher and she easily and joyfully committed herself to our school and her third grade students. Bringing technology to the forefront and inspiring all of us to try some new strategies, she balanced the demands of her job and her very young family at home. Recently she was afforded the opportunity to stay home with her 1 year old son and after prayerful discernment (and a fair share of tears) she will leave us at the end of the year to be with her son at home. Please read her letter below:

Dear Parents and School Family,

Moving back to my hometown and having the opportunity to spend my sixth year of teaching at this magical school that inspired me to become a teacher has been a literal dream come true. My whole life I always told my mother that “I want to be a teacher and I will teach at St. Peter’s.” So you can imagine how excited I was when a position became available this past school year. Being a part of this school and getting to know my students has been every bit the blessing I always dreamed. As we all know, sometimes God has other plans for our lives despite what we think we want. Last April I had my first child and he has brought immense joy into my life. At this season of life I feel God is calling me to be at home with him and to leave teaching for now. I am sad to give up my place here at the school, but I know He is guiding me on the right path for my family. This school has and will always be so special to me and I look forward to a future not without St. Peter’s, but a future where I play a different role here other than classroom teacher. I will remain a part of the school as a substitute, after school tutor, and who knows what else! Thank you, especially to my third grade parents, for your kindness, patience, and trust this last year.

God bless,

Mrs. Cassandra Burke

We plan to add Mrs. Burke to our substitute teacher list and she may also be available for private tutoring as needed. She will continue to be active in the St. Peter’s Parish as well as the choir so we are sure to see her around. We will begin interviewing for our third grade teacher position after school lets out for the summer and we extend blessings and much thanks from all of us to Mrs. Burke and her family.

Many of our seasoned volunteers who have been around for awhile will soon be notified that they need to update or renew some of their clearances and background checks to continue to volunteer at our school. It has been almost five years since many of us completed these and the state extended the three year expiration to five years in 2017. So if any of the required clearances are older than 2014, they will need renewed. Since 2014 there have been many changes to the requirements including the addition of Act 126 Mandated Reporter Training and the return to the “Virtus” diocesan format. If you are notified that any of your clearances or trainings need to renewed or completed, please try and do so before the beginnin of August. There are many new people trying to get clearances completed in August before school starts which can cause delays in getting the needed paperwork which then results in parents or family members not being allowed into school events. We also ask that if you are renewing clearances of any kind, to please submit any and all paperwork or certificates to the school office or at least copies to the office. We will then submit them to the diocese after making copies for our records. Very often throughout the school year, parents will call and ask for a copy of a clearance for volunteer coaching or other activity then we have copies here. It is also a good idea to keep copies for yourself when and if possible. The new Act 126 Mandated Reporter Training is now required for all volunteers (only when it is time to renew clearances.) The free video course is quite lengthy but can be paused and completed at different times. Again, volunteers will be notified by email or other means when and if clearances and trainings require updating or renewal. As always, we thank our volunteers for their efforts in acquiring all the needed clearances and for their valuable time and commmitment to ur school. Feel free to always call the school with any questions or concerns.

In 2018, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed Act 44 mandating the establishment and use of the “Safe2Say Something” (S2SS) anonymous reporting system by every PA school entity. This was rolled out in all schools on January 14th. S2SS is a life-saving and changing school safety program that teaches students, educators, and administrators how: 1) to recognize the signs and signals of individuals who may be at risk of hurting themselves or others and 2) to anonymously report this information through the S2SS app, website, or 24/7 Crisis Center. Submitted tips are triaged by the Crisis Center then delivered to the impacted school via a diocesan S2SS Team. School authorities as well as emergency personnel are dispatched as needed to intervene with the at-risk individual and his or her family. Schools close out tips with any resulting actions. During the 2019-2020 school year, each diocesan school will activate their own team for interventions as needed. St. Peter School students in grades 5 & 6 received training on many topics from recognizing behaviors and communications that could indicate someone is at risk to hurting themselves or others (especially using social media platforms) and what to do if they suspect this kind of situation. S2SS strongly recommends that students relay this information to a trusted adult, or call 911 if there is a sense of imminent danger and use the S2SS tipline when they don’t have access to or can’t talk to a trusted adult. Tips can be submitted using the S2SS website (www.safe2saypa.org) or call the tipline at 1-844-SAF2SAY or use the mobile app available as a free install for both ios and android phones.