Class Letter

						December 1, 2009

Dear Parents,
	Thank you for a lovely Thanksgiving feast and party.  
	December is a very busy month, especially in Kindergarten! 
	The most important thing we’ll be doing is honoring Advent by working 
on getting ready for Jesus to come.  One of the ways we do that is with our 
weekly Advent Service, which began yesterday, and will continue each Monday 
at 8:00 in the church.  We also have a weekly Advent project.  This week, we 
will be collecting dollars to help children and families have clean drinking 
water.
	Next week, we will be collecting non-perishable food to be given to 
The Sullivan Center http://www.thesullivancenter.org, administered by Sr. 
Marie Sullivan, working to prevent homelessness by aiding and counseling 
families facing economic crisis.   Some of our faculty members have a 
personal connection with Sr. Marie and the work that she does.
	During our last week in school before Christmas, we will be 
collecting school supplies for the children whose families are being assisted 
by the Sullivan Center.
Please encourage your child to earn the money to help in this way.  During 
our class discussions, it is apparent that the children understand the need, 
and want to help. It is important that they have a sense of contribution.
	During December, we will be exploring how our Christmas traditions 
came from other countries.  We will be learning a little bit about those 
countries and their traditions.  We will also be studying other holidays, 
such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.  If you have any family traditions you would 
like to share with our 51 eager learners, please let us know.  We would love 
to have you come to talk to the children.
	You can see that December will go by quickly!  Looking ahead to 
January, STM Kindergartners are well-known for our participation in the 
Archdiocesan celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  This year’s 
celebration will be held on Sunday, January 17 at 3:00 pm. at St. Peter 
Claver School in Decatur.  While more details will come out after our 
Christmas break, please keep this date in mind and consider allowing your 
child to participate.  It is always a meaningful experience for all who do.
	Looking forward even further into the future, please be sure that the 
grandparents in your family are aware of the special Mass and Brunch for the 
grandparents of Kindergartners and 8th graders.  This will be held on Friday, 
February 5, 2010.  They might need early notice if travel plans or work 
schedules have to be arranged.  It is such a wonderful day for all of the 
grandparents who are able to attend.  (Don’t worry if your child has no 
grandparents who can attend, we have a couple of ways to help with that.)  
You will receive LOTS of information about this later.
	Oh, and don’t forget that we’ll be hosting the Epiphany Mass on 
January 6 at 9:00.  If you come to any school Mass, come to this one.  It is 
wonderful!

Homework for the week of:
	December 7 – Free choice of topic
	December 14 - Christmas