Dear SPC Parents,

I hope you all enjoyed a relaxing Thanksgiving break! I was reminded this Thanksgiving as I pulled out my Christmas decorations of one of my favorite memories of decorating for Christmas as a child, unwrapping the baby Jesus from the box and placing him carefully in a tea cup in our china cabinet. It wasn’t Christmas yet, so we all had to wait for baby Jesus. More importantly, I remember the excitement when it was my year to carefully place Jesus in the nativity after my family returned from Christmas Mass. I remember feeling the excitement that Christmas had finally arrived when Jesus could be placed in the manger. Years later that tradition continues in my home and if you ask my children now, they will tell you that Jesus also is placed in the china cabinet (this time in a wine glass- please don’t judge me) until we return from Christmas Mass. The tradition is a reminder to me, and I hope one day my children, to remember to wait and patiently prepare our hearts to place Jesus in the manger. At this time of year I always like to remind all of us to take some time to reflect on the Advent season. It is so easy (and I am guilty of this myself) to get caught up in the crazy commercial Christmas: decorations, shopping, baking, cards etc. We can lose the opportunity to pause and truly appreciate the gift of Advent, the quiet waiting of the birth of Christ. My prayer for us all during this holy season of Advent is that we give ourselves and our children the gift of quietly waiting for the joyful light of Christ at Christmas, that we challenge ourselves to not run around trying to make the perfect “Christmas” rather we enjoy the quiet time with our loved ones preparing our hearts for the joy of placing the baby Jesus in our hearts on Christmas morning. May the quiet waiting and peaceful reflection of Advent be with you all the Advent Season!

Notes about Registration:
I know we have been aggressively sending reminders about registration and making sure that as we begin to plan for the next school year you are equipped with important information. This is the time of year when our attention starts looking forward to planning for next year. I know the 2020-2021 school year will see enrollment growth, the completed construction of our lower UGC and the addition of our STEM lab and library. We are also working on technology improvements across the campus. In order to allocate the necessary resources, registration numbers are important in this planning. Families across our area are recognizing that SPC is the place to be and we are seeing an increase in enrollment interest in all grades. Thank you for your re-registration information, it is incredibly important. 

Advent Reconciliation:
We will have our Advent Reconciliation on the following dates:

December 9th -- 5th and 6th Grade

December 10th -- 7th grade

December 16th -- 3rd and 4th Grade

(8th Grade has been removed from the schedule since they went to Reconciliation during their Confirmation Retreat)

Reminder: Christmas Concerts:
PreSchool, PreK and K will host their Christmas Concert on December 16th from 10:00-11:00am.
Grades 1-5 Christmas Concert will be hosted on December 18th at 6:00pm.

Tuition and Fees for 2020-2021 School Year:
The SPC Finance Committee and the SPC Administration have reviewed current school operations, financial information, budgets and projections for student enrollment in determining the tuition rates. We also benchmarked our tuition against local Catholic schools to guarantee that we ensure the most equitable tuition possible. For the 2020-2021 school year, tuition for all grades will increase 3.5%.

After careful consideration, there will be a new Technology fee charged per family that will help us continue to support technology initiatives at our school. Currently all technology initiatives are funded from our operating costs which does not allow for sustained technology improvements. In the past two years we have been faced with installing brand new servers and wireless access points to ensure that our technology infrastructure is fully functional. These replacements have been very costly. The new technology fee will allow us to plan more efficiently for technology upgrades. We are now faced with creating a plan for replacing our aging smart boards with interactive projectors. Maintaining classrooms that are equipped for 21st century learning requires allocation of resources and strategic planning around including the timely replacement of our Smartboards, upgrades to our technology infrastructure and the addition of computer carts and iPads in the EGC.
Please click here for the tuition schedule for next year.  

Financial Aid Process for the 2020-2021 School Year:
We are strongly committed to the philosophy that no family be denied the opportunity to attend our school for financial reasons. There are a number of opportunities for financial aid and tuition assistance:

• IL Tax Credit Scholarship – Scholarships are funded through private donations and are available to eligible students on a first come first serve basis. Registration is a two-part process that opens January 15, 2020. For more information please see https://empowerillinois.org/students
   
• Financial Aid - We will partner with FACTS to process financial aid applications. The financial aid information and process is not available at the moment. As soon as it is available we will announce it in the Thursday Mailing. The deadline will be April 15, 2020.
   
• If you do not qualify for the IL Tax Credit Scholarship or Financial aid we also have various scholarships through the parish. Please contact Kathy Manny for more information.

Tentative School Calendar for the 2020-2021 School Year: 
Our school calendar will remain tentative until approved by the Office of Catholic Schools. I do not anticipate any major changes to the calendar especially to the start and end of school and any major holiday breaks. Please click here for the tentative calendar. 

Extended Day Program Information:
St. Paul will be offering an Extended Day Program, which will be conducted on each full school day. There will be no sessions on half-days. Please click here for the 2020-2021  EDP information.

Re-Registration Timeline for the 2020-2021 School Year for Current Students:
As always, you are an important part of St. Paul of the Cross School and we are giving our current families the first priority to re-register your current students or submit an application if you have a new student. It is my hope that all our current families will return to SPC. However, if you have different plans we kindly request that you indicate your response on the form below: 

1. Re-registration is now open for the 2020-2021 School Year. The deadline for re-registration is January 21st.  PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE RE-REGISTRATION FORM.ALL FAMILIES MUST COMPLETE THIS FORM EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT RETURNING.  
2. Once you complete the re-registration form, the school office will register your child in PowerSchool.
3. On January 30, 2020 your Smart Tuition Account will be billed for the re-registration fees as follows:
   1st/Oldest/Only Child  $100.00
   Re-registration for 2nd Child  $50.00
   Re-registration for 3rd Child $50.00
   Re-registration for additional children after 3rd $20.00/child.
4. If you are registering a new student from the same family who has not previously been enrolled at SPC, please submit a new student application to the main office.
5. Even if the re-registration form is completed, your child will not be considered re-registered unless all this year’s (2019-2020) tuition and fees are current as of Jan. 21, 2020.    

Thank you choosing St. Paul of the Cross School for your child’s education!  

Peace, 

Dr. Erika Mickelburgh
Principal

Just a friendly but important reminder...If your child is tardy, you must come into the office to sign them in. Thank you!

Dear SPC Families,

The Holiday book fair opens tomorrow, December 6th, and we look forward to seeing you and your family there! 55% of all purchases benefit our library and classrooms! We ask you to celebrate the joy of reading together by helping your child select books to enjoy. Please consider donating a book to your child’s classroom from the Wish List area. What a great gift to give any child or teacher on your list this year! 

Click here for the SPC Scholastic Book Fair page.
These are the Book Fair dates: 
Friday, December 6th: 8:00am - 8:00pm
Sunday, December 8th: 9:00am - 1:30pm
Monday and Tuesday, December 9th and 10th: 8:00am - 4:30pm

If you would like to volunteer to help, please contact Cheryl Sorce at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Thank you!!!

St. Paul of the Cross Adopt A Family Program

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up to make Christmas a special time for our adopted families! There is still time to sign up! We only have 31 items left! If your grade list is full, please consider looking at one of the other grades lists. All items will be sent to the proper families as long as they are labeled correctly. If you do chose a gift from another grade please make sure to include the grade you chose from on your label.

Please consider sending a small unwrapped stocking stuffer to school with your child. It will be added to the stockings that will be hung in your child's classroom. Please keep the children in the families ages and genders in mind when choosing.

Gifts will be due by Monday, December 9, 2019.
Please click on the grade lists below for specific information.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Laura Mikowski & Betsy Riggs
Servants of St. Francis School Coordinators

Adopt a Family Grade Specific Lists:

Preschool         Pre-K

Kindergarten   1st Grade

2nd Grade       3rd Grade

4th Grade        5th Grade

6th Grade        7th Grade

8th Grade

Please click here for complete information about our 2019 Adopt a Family.

Celebrating the Spirit Kids' Day - Friday, December 13th!
CTS at the Oscars is not just for the parents! CTS Kids' Day is Friday, December 13th. Help us build the excitement for our biggest school fundraiser with a fun Oscar themed day for the students. On Friday, December 13th, your child can come to school dressed as their favorite movie character! We expect to see some really fun costumes! 

That's not all - you can join in on the fun by purchasing a raffle ticket for a chance to win 2 free tickets to CTS at the Oscars. 

Please click here to purchase your raffle tickets!

Important Information Regarding CTS
Parent Letter
Sponsorship Opportunities
Well Wishes
Auction
Party Boards

Also, be sure to check out the Celebrating the Spirit website for updates! The CTS website link is on the homepage of our school website, so please spread the word. Just go to spc-school.net and click on the Celebrating the Spirit link. 

Thank you,
Bob & Jeannie McNamara
George & Megan Panothiocas
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Christmas Show Save the Dates! 

Preschool - Kindergarten December 16th at 10:00 a.m.

Grades 1 - 5 December 18th at 6:00 p.m.

St. Paul of the Cross Parish

We have an active and vibrant parish and encourage everyone to read the weekly bulletins for Fr. Britto's weekly letter and to stay informed about all of the upcoming events and programs. Parish Bulletin for December 8, 2019

Christmas Shoebox Project Sponsored by St. Catherine of Siena Guild
We are pleased to invite you to participate in St. Paul of the Cross Parish's Annual Christmas Shoebox Project for disadvantaged men and women. Your boxes will be given to several of organizations serving the Chicagoland area.
Please click here for information and needs. One quick note, we are in need of more men's boxes this year.

Thank you for your generosity!

From The Community

Updates and Invitations From Our High Schools

St. Viator High School
December 15th Family Mass & Visit with Santa!

Resurrection High School
Saturday, December 14th Breakfast With Santa!

Loyola Academy
Parents Night Out December 13th 6:00 - 9:00 pm!

Maine South Hawkettes - Kick off the Holidays in Style!
Kick off the holidays with the Maine South Hawkettes! Guest performances by Orchesis and the Maine South Drum Line, as well as some special guests that you won’t want to miss! Sunday, December 15, at 3pm in the Maine South Spec Gym! Tickets available at the door or online!

https://hawketteholidayspectactular2019.eventbrite.com