Parent Weekly Update: 11/10/25
Update for the week of 11/10 - 11/14
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
November 10, 2025 through November 14, 2025
Important Dates at a Glance
Sunday, November 9, 2025 - Holy Sprouts at 10:30 AM in the Parish Center Basement - free to all!
Monday, November 10, 2025 - Students bring in pictures for our Wall of Heroes
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 - Veterans’ Day
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 - Ice Cream for sale for $1.00 at both lunches
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 - Band practice and lessons
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 - Dance Club until 3:45 PM
Friday, November 14, 2025 - End of Trimester I
Friday, November 14, 2025 - School Mass at 8:30 AM
Sixth Grade York Catholic Shadow Day
On Wednesday, November 19, our sixth grade students will spend the day at York Catholic for a shadow day. Parents should have received information from York Catholic about this exciting day.
Dressing Warmly
As the weather begins to change, please make sure your child has the appropriate outerwear for recess. Students should bring jackets with them to school. Additionally, remember that sweatshirts may only be worn with the gym uniform. Students must wear the royal blue St. Rose sweater with their daily winter/spring school uniform.
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.
The St Rose of Lima Gala Returns!
The 8th annual St Rose Gala will take place on Saturday February 7, 2026 at the Yorktowne Hotel. Additional volunteers and helpers are always needed. Anyone who would like to help out with the gala committee can contact Neal Liptak at 717-676-7853. Tickets will be available for purchase soon.
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!
VIRTUS
Training/Safe Environment Training
St Rose of Lima Elementary School is now in year three of our VIRTUS training/Safe Environment program. The Diocesan Safe Environment program offers age-appropriate personal safety instruction to students in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs for students in grades K - 6. The Diocese of Harrisburg uses the VIRTUS Empowering God’s Children® annual training for all children enrolled in our Catholic Schools and religious education classes. Today, parents are being given information about this program, including an”opt-out” that must be signed and returned to the school by Friday, November 14, 2025 only if you choose NOT to have your child participate in this program. If you do not sign and return the form, your child will receive the training . If you have questions about this program, please do not hesitate to reach out to Mrs. Johnston at 717-792-0889.
Potato Packing for Catholic Harvest Food Pantry
During the week of November 17, 2025, St Rose of Lima Elementary School students will be packing potatoes for families served by the Catholic Harvest Food Pantry. This is an annual tradition at St. Rose of Lima Elementary and our students look forward to performing service for others in the spirit of love and generosity.
Discover Catholic Schools Week
During the week of November 17 through November 21, St Rose of Lima Elementary School will celebrate Discover Catholic Schools Week. The following events will take place at our school:
- Monday, November 17 - Catholic Identity Day - students in grades K-6 will be working to pack potatoes for the Catholic Harvest Food Pantry. Additionally, they will work on activities that will enhance their Catholic Identity.
- Tuesday, November 18 - Open House from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM for prospective families only. We encourage all families to invite friends and neighbors to come see the wonderful things that are happening at St Rose of Lima Elementary School. There will be student led tours, time to speak with a member of our School Board, and time to stop into our classrooms.
- Wednesday, November 19 - PreK Story Day from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM - come in and visit our PreK classes for story time and an activity led by our PreK teachers. All guests must register by phone at the school office by calling 717-792-0889 by Monday, November 17.
- Thursday, November 20 - Open House from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM for prospective families only. We encourage all families to invite friends and neighbors to come see the wonderful things that are happening at St Rose of Lima Elementary School. There will be student led tours, time to speak with a member of our School Board, and time to stop into our classrooms.
- Friday, November 21 - School Mass and Virtue Awards at 8:30 AM. We welcome family members of our St Rose of Lima community to join us in celebrating mass. Activities for the students in the afternoon.
School Supply Collection for Christ Our King School in Nigeria
During the months of November and December, our school will be collecting school supplies — pencils, erasers, pens, glue sticks, paper, notebooks, backpacks, and more — for Christ Our King Primary School in Nigeria. This school holds a special place in our hearts, as our Pastor, Fr. Celestine, once attended there. We are excited to support these students by sending supplies they can use to learn and grow. Once all the donations are collected, we will pack and ship them to Christ Our King Primary School — along with handwritten notes from our students wishing them a very Merry Christmas. It is our hope that the students at Christ Our King will write back to our students, helping to create lasting pen pal friendships and connections across the world! Thank you for your generosity and support in making this project a success!
End of Trimester I
The first trimester of the school year will come to a close on Friday, November 14, 2025. Students are encouraged to submit any outstanding assignments and make up any missed tests or work prior to that date. Report cards will be distributed on Friday, November 21, 2025, at the end of the school day for students to bring home. Thank you for your continued support in helping our students finish the trimester strong!
Veterans’ Day Wall of Heroes
Once again, St. Rose of Lima School is honoring our heroes by collecting pictures of family members who have served in the armed forces for our Veterans Day Wall of Heroes display. If you would like to participate, please send in a photocopied picture of your family member, along with the following information:
- Their name
- Their relationship to your family or student
- Their branch of service
Please note that photocopies will not be returned, so we ask that you do not send original photos. We are deeply grateful to all the brave men and women in our St. Rose of Lima community who have dedicated themselves to serving our country. Thank you for helping us honor them in this special way.
Thanksgiving Break
School will close on Tuesday, November 25, 2025 at 11:30 AM for the Thanksgiving Holiday Break. School will reopen for all students on Tuesday, December 2, 2025. We wish you all a very wonderful holiday break!
Counselor’s Corner
As we wrapped up October, and are now heading into November, we have been covering a wide range of topics in our class lessons. In Kindergarten and First grade, students listened to stories about having a lot of different feelings, and how we can tell how someone else might be feeling by reading their body language and facial expressions. Kindergarteners read A Little Spot of Feelings: Emotion Detective, and listened to All Our Feelings are Okay. Mrs. Kipple’s class listened to the story The Way I Feel and did an activity with feeling faces.
In Second grade, we wrapped up Bullying with an activity that explained the differences among Rude, Mean, and Bullying behaviors. Mrs. Smith’s students started a two-part lesson about Perspective Taking to try and understand and navigate friendships and relationships with others.
Fourth and Fifth grade students learned about
Empathy and ways to practice having empathy for others. We discussed why this is an important skill to help them get along better with others.
Finally, Sixth graders finished up their Executive Function lessons with an
Organization video and activity. Then we followed that with a lesson about
Bullying and
Cyberbullying to finish out National Bullying Prevention month. Please refer to my last Counselor’s Column for additional information about Bullying.
If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about our lesson topics, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’m happy to answer any questions, or provide additional resources.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Regards,
Mrs. Melissa Waltersdorff, M.S. (a.k.a. Mrs. W.)
School Counselor
