Crusader Chronicle

Tomorrow we celebrate Veterans Day. We honor and pray for all veterans, all who currently serve in the military, all military families, and all military chaplains.

Today, in both the First Reading and the Gospel Reading, we hear about widows. In the First Reading, from the First Book of Kings, we hear about a widow who is visited by the prophet Elijah. This widow has nothing but enough flour to make food for herself, her son, and Elijah. Even in her poverty and need, she is willing to give everything to feed others. In the Gospel Reading from the Gospel of Mark, we hear the well known story of the widow who donates a small amount of money at the Temple, while wealthier people are donating larger sums of money. In seeing this widow's donation, Jesus tells his disciples that the widow's donation is greater because she gave everything she had.

All of the veterans in our United States have sacrificed a great deal, and we show our appreciation in a special way by honoring Veterans Day. Let us also remember the spouses and families of our veterans, who participate in the sacrifice of our servicemen and servicewomen with their support and their willingness to spend many hours, days, weeks, and months away from their military spouses, military dads, and military moms for that greater cause and that great good. God bless our troops!

Father in heaven,

may the faith you have given us

in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,

and the flame of charity enkindled

in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,

reawaken in us the blessed hope

for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us

into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.

May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos

in the sure expectation

of a new heaven and a new earth,

when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,

your glory will shine eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee

reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,

a yearning for the treasures of heaven.

May that same grace spread

the joy and peace of our Redeemer

throughout the earth.

To you our God, eternally blessed,

be glory and praise for ever.

Amen.

November 12 will be our next Open House. This is for prospective families who would like to become part of our St. Ignatius Elementary School Family for the 2025-2026 school year. Tell your friends and tell your neighbors to come and see our school, talk to our teachers, and take a tour on Tuesday, November 12!

Thank you to the Home and School Board for arranging a wonderful assembly this past Wednesday. Our students enjoyed seeing skateboard stunts and tricks, hearing about the importance of wearing a helmet for skating and other riding activities, learning about goal-setting, and being reminded about healthy habits. We especially thank Mrs. Marie Tierney for researching the opportunities for assemblies, for all of her communication with Mobile Ed Productions, and for joining us for all three assemblies.

Thank you to all our Grade 2 parents who helped their children find and create costumes for the Saint Procession and Saint Presentations this past Thursday. Our Second Graders and families did an amazing job of representing their chosen saints.

Thanks also to Mrs. Ficarro, Mr. Weinert, Mr. Spadea, and all the Grade 7 Prayer Buddies who helped our Second Graders research their saints, prepare their posters, and rehearse for their Saint Presentations. Thank you to all the parents, grandparents, parishioners, and St. Ignatius students who came to the church basement for the presentations after the 9:00 am Mass.

Thank you to all of our teachers for taking the time to schedule and hold conferences with our parents on November 7 and 8. Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend conferences. We appreciate everyone taking time to work together for all of our students!

During the month of November, all of our students will have the opportunity, during Religion class, to learn about personal safety as part of our Safe Environment Lessons, which we present twice during each school year. These lessons are developed by the Archdiocesan Office for Child and Youth Protection.

Anyone who would like to read about these lessons should follow the link below:

https://www.aopcatholicschools.org/about/programs

All parents have the right to opt their child or children out of these lessons. If you want do not want your child participating in this lesson, please fill out the form below. There is no need to complete the form unless you want your child to "opt out."

Please contact Mr. Meade if you have any questions.

If you are interested in helping at the shop for a morning, an afternoon, or a whole day, please contact Jen Wiggins (jeh243@gmail.com) or Nicole Kloc (nicolekloc@gmail.com). Come help us get into the holiday spirit!

SchoolStore

Thank you to all the families who have already participated in our SchoolStore fundraiser! Many of our teachers have received generous gift certificates from their students. If your family has not registered, there is still time, prizes are still available. The SchoolStore form is below or you may use this link.

https://www.schoolstore.net/cgi/SetSchool?secheck=1&SchoolID=0000120009

Thank you to the Lower Makefield Fire Department for conducting a surprise fire drill on Tuesday, October 8. The Fire Department was impressed with our students and their response time to the drill. All of our students were out of the building and lined up in one and a half minutes!

Thank you to the Lower Makefield Department for returning to St. Ignatius on Tuesday, October 15, for a special visit to our PreK through Grade 2 classes! Our students were taught about fire safety and had an opportunity to walk through the fire truck.

Thank you also to the Lower Makefield Police Department for their visit to our students in PreK through Grade 2 this past week. Our students had the opportunity to meet their police dog and to learn more about safety in the community. The Lower Makefield police officers make frequent visits to our campus, sometimes to monitor traffic but more often to walk through our school building so that they are familiar with the layout of the school and so that our students feel very comfortable with police officers, especially in knowing they are here to help us.

Please pray for all of our police officers, firefighters, and first responders, in gratitude for their service and sacrifice. Please ask our Lord to keep them safe.

Tuesday, November 12 - Kindergarten attends 9:00 Mass

Tuesday, November 12 - Open House for Prospective Families from 6 pm to 8 pm

Thursday, November 14 - Grade 8 attends 9:00 Mass

Tuesday, November 19 - Grade 7 attends 9:00 Mass

Thursday, November 21 - Grade 6 attends 9:00 Mass

Saturday, November 23 - Crusader Cares Service Project

Wednesday, November 27, through Friday, November 29 - Thanksgiving Break

Thank you all our St. Ignatius School Homework Book Sponsors!

We appreciate your support and thank you for providing homework books for some of our students.

Ry Max Construction, LLC (Demolition Specialist)

Rymax@RymaxConstruction.net

Ken and Melissa Komar

ARO Construction Inc. (Finish Carpentry)

aroconstruction@live.com

Adriano and Priscilla Oliveira

DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies

Located in Yardley, PA and Robbinsville, NJ

Matt and Genna Longo

CG Orthodontics Specialists

Located in Yardley and Richboro

FitzGerald-Sommer Funeral Home

Located in Yardley, PA

The Recycle Club would like to thank all the families who turned in items.

Your support of our Club generated gift cards to be used throughout the school.

The gift cards have been used for Reading Olympic Books, the Faculty Wish List and Beef & Beer Raffles. Your support is greatly appreciated!

*****A Reminder Regarding Phishing Scams******

We will never request funds via email or text message from Fr. Brownholtz, Fr. Kennedy, Mr. Meade or any of our administrative staff, especially from a third party source. If someone tries to trick you into purchasing any gift cards through an email or text message, it is ALWAYS a scam. Important rule of thumb, when in doubt… ask someone before responding!

St. Ignatius School provides before and after school care through our CARES program for all students in PreK-3 through Grade 8.

Please read the attached letter from our CARES Director, Mrs. Brenda Goring. New Families needing CARES, please complete the online registration.

Our current seminarians, Matt and Jonathan, have now met all or our students. Matt and Jonathan are visiting classrooms and even teaching lessons on their Thursday visits. We look forward to our time with Matt and Jonathan this year!

St. Ignatius of Antioch Elementary School has once again been honored by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as a School of Distinguished Instruction. Schools of Distinguished Instruction are determined by their Terra Nova test scores. This year St. Ignatius was one of only three schools that scored 100% in the "Potential" category, meaning that 100% of the grade levels that took the test scored higher than expected, based on the InView scores. Thank you to our teachers, our parents, and our students for this achievement!

Please click the link below for the latest 2024-2025 St. Ignatius of Antioch Elementary School Calendar. Our initial calendar was shared with all of our families in May, and the calendar has been updated since then. The attached calendar will continue to be updated as the year progresses and is subject to change.

As we look forward to starting school again soon, we want to remind all families that if you have moved, if you have a new phone number or email address, or if you have any other changes in important contact information, we need to know. Please notify the office of any changes in family or parent email addresses, mailing addresses, or phone numbers. Thank you!

Share your summer adventures with your St. Ignatius Community. Email pictures and places to Mrs. Crozier at hcrozier@sischool.org for others to enjoy on our school Instagram!

Follow us @sischoolofyardley

Thank you to Mrs. Crozier for her great work in keeping our Instagram account up to date!

Congratulations to our November 500 Club Winners .....

The 500 Club winning numbers for November are below!

(#424) Olivia Egner ($50)

(#225) Karen Nemeth ($100)

(#376) Bridget McIntire ($250)

(#340) Joyce Bradley ($500)

Congratulations to our winners!

Thank you to all the families who purchased tickets, sold tickets to family and friends and the winners that donated their winnings back to the school.

One more drawing left in December! There are still 64 tickets left for purchase and only 4 chances left to win - one of those may be your lucky number! See below for information on how to buy a ticket and join the 500 Club.

Thank you again to all the faculty, parishioners, friends, relatives and school families who have purchased tickets. We have sold 436 tickets so far; only 64 tickets left for the 2024 drawings!

Our final drawing will be in early December, so make sure you have your ticket!

There are still 4 chances to win during 2024!!

TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK:

https://tinyurl.com/SIS500club

l.com/SIS500club

Look What's Coming Up!

(Additional Details Below)

• Crusaders Care Our Fall Community Service Event! Saturday, November 23rd at 1pm in the school cafeteria. Donations are currently being accepted! Collection bins located by both school entrances.
  
• Thanksgiving Break School will be closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday from Wednesday 11/27 through Friday 11/29.
• Santa Shop Coming to St. Ignatius! Online 11/27 through 12/6 and In Person 12/9 through 12/10. Volunteers Still Needed!
• Yardley Christmas Parade Saturday, December 7th at 3pm. See SignUp Genius for all details. Please use the link below to pre-register.
• Cookies and Milk with Santa Save the Date! Saturday, December 14th. Details and registration link to come!
• Ladies Handbag Bingo Save the Date for Ladies Designer Handbag Bingo on Friday, January 31st!
  

Active Registrations

• Yardley Christmas Parade Please pre-register so that organizers can get a headcount and plan accordingly. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040D4DADA829ABF49-53046813-yardley Please see the SignUp Genius for all details.

Donations and Volunteer Opportunities (Up-to-date Clearances Required)

• Crusader Cares! Donations are currently being collected for the Crusader Cares Community Service Event now through November 21st. For donations of items with specific quantities, please use the SignUp Genius link and indicate the number of items you will donate: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4DA9AE2CA2F85-51956429-donations?useFullSite=true#/
  • Other items being collected in unrestricted quantities:
  • Diapers (size 4, 5, and 6)
  • Baby Wipes
  • Full Size Shampoo
  • Toothpaste
  • Toothbrushes
  • Deodorant
  • Bar Soap
  • Laundry Detergent
• Santa Shop Pajama Drive NEW (with tags) Pajamas of all sizes will be collected on December 9th during the Santa Shop. Students who donate will earn a holiday themed dress down day pass!
• Santa Shop Volunteers Needed! If you are interested in helping either in preparation of or during the event, please contact Jen Wiggins (jeh243@gmail.com) or Nicole Kloc (nicolekloc@gmail.com).
• Ladies Handbag Bingo Donation Request! We are now accepting donations and gift cards for raffle baskets. Please contact Mrs. Crozier to arrange all donations.
• Lunch Duty for November and December: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0E49A8A723A7F94-52523443-lunchrecess
• Volunteers still needed for the following dates. Thank you!!
  • Wednesday, November 13th (1 volunteer)
  • Tuesday, November 19th (1 volunteer)
  • Wednesday, November 20th (2 volunteers)
  • Friday, November 22nd (1 volunteer)

Upcoming Event Details:

Crusaders Care Our Fall SIS Day of service on Saturday, November 23rd in the school cafeteria at 1pm!

Thanksgiving Break The school will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday from Wednesday 11/27 through Friday 11/29. The school will reopen on Monday, December 2nd.

Santa Shop is coming to St. Ignatius! The online shop will open on Wednesday, November 27th,and it will remain open until Friday, December 6th at 8pm. In person shopping days will be held on Monday, December 9th and Tuesday, December 10th. Volunteers are still needed! If you are interested in helping either in preparation of or during the event, please contact Jen Wiggins (jeh243@gmail.com) or Nicole Kloc (nicolekloc@gmail.com).

Yardley Christmas Parade Save the Date for the Yardley Christmas Parade on Saturday, December 7th. We will be marching alongside our chapter of the Knights of Columbus as a St. Ignatius community. Please join us! We will meet and line up on the south side of the train station, adjacent to the American Legion at 2:45pm. Participants need to be ready to walk by 3 and the actual parade launches at 3:30pm. This is NOT a drop off event, all students must be with an adult. Please see the SignUp Genius to pre-register and for all details: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040D4DADA829ABF49-53046813-yardley Please contact Amy Stewart, our event coordinator, with any questions (amya0213@hotmail.com).

Milk and Cookies with Santa Please save the date for the Annual Cookies and MIlk with Santa event on Saturday, December 14th. Details to come.

Ladies Handbag Bingo! Save the Date for Ladies Designer Handbag Bingo on Friday, January 31st! Details to come! Now collecting donations and gift cards for raffle baskets!

Important Information

Winter Uniforms Students are now wearing winter uniforms. For boys this means long pants and short or long sleeve golf shirts. For girls this means a jumper, kilt, or long pants and short sleeves or long sleeves. For gym, all students should wear sweatpants. Only the three styles of gray quarter zips may be worn during the school day.

Please note as the weather gets colder:

OptionC If you are having any issues with logging into or using OptionC, please contact Mr. Seibel (nseibel@sischool.org).

SchoolStore

Thank you to all the families who have already participated in our SchoolStore fundraiser! Many of our teachers have received generous gift certificates from their students. If your family has not registered, there is still time, prizes are still available. Here is the SchoolStore link you may use to register:

https://www.schoolstore.net/cgi/SetSchool?secheck=1&SchoolID=0000120009

Volunteer Clearances: Please visit http://www.stignatius.church/safe.html for information on submitting clearances or contact Jayne Marcinkowski

(Safe Environment Coordinator) Email: hr@stignatius.church Tel: 215-493-3377 x212

SCRIP Program Save money on SIS tuition using the shop with scrip program! 75% of the rebates you earn go back to you as a credit on next year’s tuition bill. The other 25% funds the scrip program expenses. Go to www.shopwithscrip.com to sign up for an account. St. Ignatius’ enrollment code is C26FCDC63135. The best payment method is presto pay which enables you to receive your ecards and reloadable gift cards immediately. Download the Raise Right app on your phone to purchase ecards while you are away or even shopping in the store! All physical card orders must be placed by 5 pm the previous Sunday. If you have any questions, please contact Nicole Kloc (nicolekloc@gmail.com), Coordinator.

Visit us online for upcoming events, information, school calendar, and registration forms/ links please visit the HSA school website (https://www.sischool.org/home-school and https://www.sischool.org/hs-forms-and-links)

THANK YOU!!! Thank you to everyone who supported the 6th Grade Service Project by donating extra/ leftover Halloween candy!!

Please read the flyer below and consider volunteering for the St. Ignatius Children's Liturgy of the Word. Children's Liturgy of the Word is coordinated by Mrs. Mary Alice LaMorte, who has been Assistant Director, and now the Director, of the St. Ignatius of Antioch Passion Play, which is performed by our very own St. Ignatius of Antioch Middle School students. Please help Mrs. LaMorte with this worthy and rewarding ministry.

Annmarie Flanagan is retiring from PREP at the end of June. After that she will continue with RCIA (now called OCIA). If you or someone you know (maybe your spouse) would be interested in becoming Catholic or just thinking about it, please tell him/her to call Annmarie on her cell --- 215-370-5701. The person does not have to be definite about it.

St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish has a parish-wide subscription to FORMED, a Catholic website with diverse Catholic movies, audio books, podcasts, shows, and more. You have free access to the content. Simply go to formed.org/signup, type in St. Ignatius of Antioch, look for the Yardley address on Reading Ave., click NEXT, type your name and preferred email address, and you will have access to the vast amount of content on FORMED.

This Year of Parish Revival is about falling deeper in love with the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus and following him more closely. Mirroring this internal journey with an external one is a beautiful way to connect body and soul in the pursuit of Christ.

The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is not one event or a road trip—it is an exciting opportunity for American Catholics everywhere to physically embody our nation’s journey of Eucharistic Revival. Whether you are on the shores of Hawaii or in the mountains of Alaska, needing to stay close to home or deployed overseas, you are invited to be a part of this journey.

Visit: https://www.eucharisticpilgrimage.org/plan-your-own-pilgrimage

Congratulations to three of our 7th Graders, who competed on Saturday, October 26, at the annual Nazareth Academy/Holy Ghost Math Competition! Thank you to Hayden, Annie, and Beatrice for competing, and thank you to Mrs. Casey for continuing to coach our students and prepare them every year for this competition.

At the General Assembly Meeting on Tuesday, March 19, Greg Lucidi, the St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish Business Manager, led a presentation and discussion of the budget for the coming 2024-2025 school year. The attached document was distributed as a hard copy at the General Assembly Meeting, so we wanted to share it with those parents who could not attend the meeting.

The 2024-2025 St. Ignatius of Antioch Faculty and Staff list is below.

PreK-3: Mrs. Azara

PreK-4: Ms. Tabeek

PreK-4: Mrs. McBeth

PreK aides: Mrs. Garcia, Mrs. Stasse, Ms. Herbine, Mrs. Morrison, Mrs. Beck

Kindergarten: Ms. Dionne

Kindergarten Aides: Mrs. Morrison, Mrs. Garcia, Mrs. Beck

Grade 1: Mrs. Edwards

Grade 2: Mrs. Ficarro

Grade 3A: Mrs. Montemarano

Grade 3B: Miss Lynch

Grade 4: Ms. Schmidt

Middle School: Mrs. Michel, Mr. Weinert, Ms. Hensler, Mr. Spadea, Mrs. Casey

(See below for specific Middle School teaching assignments)

Art: Ms. Murray

Music: Mr. Escandon

STEM: Mr. Seibel

PE: Miss Weight

Spanish: Mrs. Gray

Learning Support: Mrs. Hastings

Librarian: Mrs. Casey

Director of Advancement - Mrs. Crozier

Administrative Assistants - Mrs. Perini, Mrs. Chapuis

Health Room Nurse - Mrs. Kriger, RN (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday); Mrs. Barnette-Eckenrode, RN, CSN (Wednesday); Mrs. Petrillo, RN (Friday)

CARES - Mrs. Goring

Assistant Principal - Mrs. Michel

Principal - Mr. Meade

Mr. Spadea - Grade 5 Homeroom, Grades 6 and 7 ELA, Grades 5 and 8 Religion

Ms. Hensler - Grade 6 Homeroom, Grades 5 through 8 Science, Grade 6 Religion

Mr. Weinert - Grade 7 Homeroom, Grade 8 ELA, Grades 5, 6, and 7 Social Studies, Grade 7 Religion

Mrs. Michel - Grade 8 Homeroom, Grades 5 through 8 Math

Mrs. Casey - Grades 4 through 8 Math Honors, Library

Mrs. McBride - Grade 5 ELA

Mr. Seibel - Grade 8 Social Studies, STEM

Mrs. Gray - Spanish

Ms. Murray - Art

Mr. Escandon - Music

Miss Weight - PE

Here are a few reminders about the procedures we follow as students arrive at school each day:

• Kindergarten through Grade 8 students who arrive at school between 8:00 am and 8:15 am will go to the Gym and wait until they are sent to their homerooms.
• All Kindergarten through Grade 8 students should arrive at school by 8:30 am.
• PreK-4 students must be walked to the PreK building between 8:15 and 8:30 am.
• PreK-3 students must be walked to the PreK building between 8:30 am and 8:45 am.

Please read these procedures for car drop off and car pick up.

Kindergarten through Grade 8 car drop off:

• Please stay in the drop off line and do not drive around the car in front of you.
• Please wait until the car in front of you pulls forward before you pull forward.
• We ask that parents do not get out of the car; if your child needs help, one of the staff members on duty will help your child to exit the car.

Kindergarten through Grade 8 car pick up:

• Please park in one of the parking lanes between the church and the playground.
• Please wait near the lines of cars until your child exits the school building and comes to you.
• When all your children have come to you, please take them to your car and wait.
• Please wait until the school staff member gives the signal for your line of cars to pull out and drive out of the parking lot before starting to drive away.

For Pre-K drop off and pick up:

• Please use the long parking lanes between Reading Ave. and the big field behind the Pre-K building.
• Please leave the lanes with cones at the end of the lane empty for parents to drive out once they have walked their Pre-K students to the Pre-K building.
• Please take extra care as you are driving, parking, and leaving after Pre-K drop off and pick up.

Please follow these procedures for PreK drop-off and pick-up:

Upon arrival, please pull into the “Pre-K parking lot” which is directly across from the golf course and to the far left of our campus. The entrance to our parking area looks directly straight back to the yellow door of our Pre-K building. Please pull all the way forward in the designated parking lanes, leaving exit lanes empty and available. Exit lanes are marked with cones to indicate that cars are not allowed to park there. Park your car and walk your child to the Preschool yellow front entrance (“map area”).

For safety purposes, our parking area is a ONE WAY zone. All cars should exit via the

driveway to the farthest end of our campus. No car should ever back-up to exit. There is NO PARKING along the grass leading up to our building nor in the main parking area

in front of the big school. Please pass this information along to anyone who may do

drop-off or pick-up for you.

Parking Lot:

For the safety of ALL, it is imperative to abide by the arrival and dismissal procedures

stated above. All cars must enter, pull all the way forward down the designated parking lanes of the

preschool lot, and exit via the farthest driveway. We appreciate your support with this.

Please see the map below as a visual representation of the guidelines above.

Please see the attached letter below for more information on pre-school, including parking guidelines, drop-off times, and other important information.