Parent Weekly Update 10/23/26
Parent Weekly Update 10/23/26
St. Rose of Lima Elementary School, rooted in Catholic values, strives to achieve educational excellence by facilitating the intellectual, spiritual, and physical growth of each child and promoting a community of faith, hope, love and service.
Parent Weekly Update
October 26, 2026 through November 1, 2026
Important Dates at a Glance
Tuesday, October 27, 2026 - School Pictures- all students in winter uniform
Tuesday, October 27, 2026 - Band practice and lessons
Tuesday, October 27, 2026 - Final Cross Country practice until 4:30 PM
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 - Grades 4-6 Field Trip to Nixon Park
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 - Ice Cream for sale at all lunches
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 - Soccer Club until 4:30 PM
Thursday, October 29, 2026 - Halloween themed Dress Down Day - see below
Thursday, October 29, 2026 - York Catholic Marching Band visits at 10:15 AM
Thursday, October 29, 2026 - Basketball Club until 4:30 PM
Friday, October 30, 2026 - School mass at 8:30 AM - Virtues mass - all are welcome
Friday, October 30, 2026 - All Saints Celebration at school mass 8:30 AM
Monday, November 2, 2026 - All students must be in winter uniform until April 2027
Tickets for Designer Handbag Bingo
Join us for our Bingo on Sunday, November 15th at the Shiloh Fire Hall. Tickets are $25 per person and are selling fast! Please contact Mrs. Raetz at the school office at 717-792-0889 to purchase tickets.
Picture Day
Picture Day is Tuesday, October 27! Please make sure your child comes to school dressed in their winter uniform for pictures.
Part-Time Pre-K Families: If your child attends Pre-K part-time and you would like them to have their picture taken, you may bring them to school at 8:30 AM. They will be able to have their picture taken and leave immediately afterward.
If you are unable to bring your child in just for pictures that morning, our make-up picture day is Wednesday, December 9. This date works perfectly with the part-time Pre-K schedule! Thank you for your help in making Picture Day run smoothly! We look forward to seeing those smiling faces!
Virtue of Studiousness
In the Catholic tradition, studiousness is the virtuous moderation of our natural desire to learn. For children, this means using their minds thoughtfully to seek truth, grow in wisdom, love God, and draw closer to Him—not simply collecting random or meaningless information.This month, we have learned about three incredible saints who exemplified a love of learning and the pursuit of truth: St. Albert the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (St. Edith Stein). Ask your children to share what they have learned about these inspiring saints and how they are practicing the virtue of studiousness in their daily lives. Encourage them to reflect on how they can use their curiosity, knowledge, and gifts to discover truth, serve others, and grow closer to God.
Halloween Dress Down Day
On Thursday, October 29, 2026, students and staff will have a Halloween themed dress down day. Students may wear Halloween colors (orange, black, brown, yellow, white), Halloween accessories (headbands, glasses, ties, socks) along with jeans, joggers, sweats, or shorts. Please see the dress down day guidelines in the Student Handbook.
Labeling Children’s Belongings
As the weather begins to change and students begin wearing sweaters and sweatshirts, our Lost and Found box begins to fill up. The Lost and Found box is also filling up with lunchboxes and water bottles. We ask that you please label your children’s belongings so that we are able to identify items left behind and get them back to their rightful owners.
Weis 4 School
Do you shop at Weis Markets? If you do, you can help our school by linking your Weis card to our school. This is an easy way to help our school earn money that can be used for a variety of things here at St Rose of Lima. Just log onto www.Weis4School.com, link your Weis Rewards Card and then start shopping at Weis Markets! We thank you for your support!
Chick-Fil-A Lunches
We are excited to announce that we are bringing back Chick-Fil-A lunches! They will be on the second or third Wednesday of each month, the dates will be confirmed on the lunch menus that come home with the Weekly Update. Please see last week’s update and the attached letter from Miss Duff with details on how to order and cost.
Show Your St. Rose of Lima Pride!
St. Rose of Lima car magnets are back! Show your school spirit wherever you go by displaying a St. Rose car magnet on your vehicle. It’s a fun and easy way to show your support for our school and community! Interested in getting one? Contact the school office to let us know you’d like a car magnet. Let’s show our St. Rose of Lima pride on the road!
Spirit Wear is Back until the end of October!!
St Rose of Lima is happy to partner with 2theTee for spiritwear. Click on this link https://2026-st-rose-of-lima-fall.itemorder.com/ to view all items available or go to our website or Facebook page. These items are to be worn as spiritwear only - they may not be substituted as part of the uniform. The St Rose of Lima store will be open from now until the end of October.We hope you will purchase some spiritwear and show your St Rose of Lima spirit!!
Help Make the St. Rose Gala a Magical Night!
We’re looking for volunteers to help plan and organize the March 6, 2027 St. Rose of Lima Gala, Enchanted Forest After Dark! From decorations and fundraising to sponsorships and event planning, there are plenty of ways to get involved. Whether you have a little time or a lot, we’d love your help making this special evening a success for our school community. Interested in joining the planning committee? We’d love to hear from you!
Sixth Grade York Catholic Shadow Day
The admissions team from York Catholic visited with our sixth grade students early in October to discuss the enrollment process at York Catholic. On Tuesday, November 17, our sixth grade students will spend the day at York Catholic for a shadow day. Parents should have received information from Mrs Christine Lee regarding the Shadow Day.
Counselor’s Corner
I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful Fall weather as much as I am! October is one of my favorite months for a variety of reasons. One of which is because it is National Bullying Prevention Month. Not that it is my favorite topic to cover with the students, but because it allows me to connect so many of our other lesson topics into sometimes challenging material. For example, I can incorporate information like Bucketfilling/Kindness, Empathy, Courage, and Self Awareness and Self Esteem just to name a few. This week we have started our lessons about Bullying and will continue them over the next week or so in the hopes that we can help students better understand the differences among being Rude, being Mean, and Bullying, as well as how to handle mean or bullying behaviors by others, and how to stand up for others and themselves if necessary. I am adding some links about Bullying at the end of my Column as a resource. If you have any questions, please reach out to me. I’m happy to help.
Due to the holiday, and the adjustment to the lesson schedule, our lessons have taken place in Kindergarten, and 4th through 6th grades. InKindergarten, we read “Spookley the Square Pumpkin” and began talking about bullying. Mrs. Smith’s class had a lesson to review a “Bug and a Wish” and how to use “I” messages as a conflict resolution strategy as well as a way to respectfully let someone know when their words or actions are upsetting.
As part of their continued Self Awareness lesson, fifth and sixth graders took strengths assessments to help them learn more about themselves and what makes them uniquely special. We also discussed how they can use those strengths to help others. This will lead nicely into our topic of Bullying as a way to help them “Bully-proof” themselves, and stand up for others.
Bullying can be a very challenging topic for some students, and some families to discuss. If you have any questions, or would like more resources, please let me know.
Resources:
How to talk to your child about bullying
Tips for Raising Confident Kids
Raising Caring and Compassionate kids
Have a wonderful weekend!
Regards,
Melissa Waltersdorff, M.S.
