How to talk to students (via the National Association of School Psychologists)

Elementary school age students: These students need brief, simple information that balance COVID-19 facts with the reassurances that places like school and homes are safe and that adults there to keep them safe and healthy. Give simple examples of everyday steps to keep themselves healthy such as washing hands.

Middle school age students: These students will be more vocal with their questions and wondering if they are truly safe. They may need help separating reality from rumors. Discuss the public efforts to prevent germs and diseases spreading.

Points to emphasize when talking to children:

1. Adults at home, school and in the community are taking care of your health and safety.
2. Not everyone will get the coronavirus.
3. It is important to trust other people and not jump to conclusions.
4. There are many things to do to help stay healthy and avoid getting others sick:
   1. Avoid close contact with those who are sick; stay home when you are sick.
   2. Cover your cough or sneeze into your elbow or with a tissue, which is to be thrown away immediately.
   3. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
   4. Wash your hands often with soap and water (for 20 seconds - sing the ABCs to help time this)
   5. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces around the home.

Dear St. Christopher School Families,

It is hard to believe that September is already here! Thank you for these amazing first 3 weeks of the school year. Our students have come in ready to learn and we have settled into the daily routines. Thank you for being a great support to them!

PTO News

I want to personally thank all parents who attended our first PTO meeting on Tuesday August 27th. I cannot express my gratitude for taking time away from your everyday busy schedules to be a part of this organization in helping our school! You are such a blessing to our school!! We are very grateful for all parent support to St. Christopher School.
Our next PTO meeting will be on Tuesday September 17th 6pm-7pm I hope to see you all there!!

Congratulations to our 2019-20 Room Parents

Kindergarten - Ms. Ana Saenz
1st grade - Mrs. Katya Toledo-Diaz
2nd grade - Mrs. Christine DeVito
3rd grade - Mrs. Deisy Martinez
4th grade - Mrs. Rosy Behn
5th grade - Mrs. Yudira Gonzalez
6th grade - Ms. Yvette Cruz
7th grade - Mrs. Nohemi Saldana
8th grade - Mrs. Rosa Garcia
We are looking forward to having you this school year!!

We wish to take this opportunity to welcome everyone to the new school year and share information pertaining to the security enhancements our schools will be implementing this year. Please refer to the August 14 letter from our Diocese of Las Vegas Director of Security, Mr. Meriwether, and our Superintendent, Mrs. Thompson.

Welcome Back St. Christopher School Families,

Greetings to everyone, whether you are new to St. Christopher or you've been part of our family for a long time, welcome to an exciting new school year! This has been a busy summer for the administration and staff, preparing for the new year, participating in professional development, designing lessons for the new school year, and working hard to put the best possible staff in place for our students. I am so excited about the 2019-2020 school year.

I want to personally invite our new families to New Families to St. Chris Night August 20th 5pm-7pm, this night we invite you to meet your child's teacher and have the opportunity to learn all about out School communication system "Rediker" and use our school website as a resource. Our technology room will be available to assist any parents who will need login information.

We also have our Back to School Night August 21st from 5:00 – 6:00 pm. We have planned both these evenings to be both informative and productive since you will have a chance to visit teachers at your pace, and mingle with fellow parents. Please bring your kids with you that evening! School supply lists are available on our website. All forms are also available on our school website for your convenience.

Dear St. Christopher School Families,

Any new school year presents many new changes and challenges. I have been offered the opportunity to be St. Christopher School Counselor for the maternity leave for Sarah. We are all excited that she has the blessing to be at home with her new baby boy coming in September. I feel especially excited to be returning to St Christopher’s, because I was the previous Counselor. The parents and students warmly welcomed me.

Every Wednesday from 8 am to 3 pm, I will be your Counselor again, but just until Sarah returns. Meanwhile, you can contact me through phoning the main office and leaving a message, or sending an email on the school website. Additionally, please feel free to drop in anytime Wednesday, and I will see you as quickly as possible. Feel free to make an appointment.

I will be working with the Teachers, and Administrators like before for the benefit of your children. Please feel free to consult me about any aspect of learning or testing . I am here to serve you and your children. I am so looking forward to seeing you again.

Many Thanks,
Beverly Winterfeld.
M. Ed in Guidance and Counseling

Another exciting school year is approaching and I would like to introduce myself. My name is Lucy Alcala and I am the new Principal for St. Christopher Catholic School. I am greatly honored to have been chosen to work with you for the spiritual and academic growth of your children. St. Christopher's is a very special place for me and I feel truly blessed to continue to be a part of this wonderful family.

Aside from my appointment as Principal, you will see a few changes to our faculty. First, we would like to welcome three new members to our faculty and staff: Mr. Salvador Romero (School Office Manager), Mrs. Lauren Rusinek (Kindergarten Teacher), and Ms. Vishe Redmund (1st Grade Teacher). We also wish to give a warm welcome back to Mrs. Sara Garcia (4th-8th Science Teacher). We are looking forward to Mr. Romero, Mrs. Rusinek, Ms. Redmund and Mrs. Garcia sharing their skills with our community. We are also happy to announce that Mrs. Ornelas will now be teaching Art, Music and Technology classes. Mrs. Perez will begin the school year on maternity leave and Mrs. Janet Ronan will be the long-term substitute Teacher for our 2nd Grade students.

Finally, I would like to welcome all of our new families to the St. Christopher community. I truly hope this is a wonderful experience for you and your children. We are all very excited to have you join our school family.

I am looking forward to welcoming everyone at the start of this school year. It will be my mission to provide the best educational experience for your children. I am overwhelmed by the kindness you have shown and I am thrilled to be a part of this fantastic community. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if there is anything I can do to help with your child's experience at St. Christopher Catholic School.

The 2018-2019 school year is now 2/3 complete. I think I say this in every letter, but every time I look at the calendar I am amazed at how fast the year goes. I know I haven’t written to you since before Christmas, but so much has been happening that I’ve been trying to keep it straight. I finally have had a little bit of time to sit and process where we are at in the school year.

When we returned from Christmas break, everything seemed to happen fast. Our girls’ basketball season started off well. Both teams put in great effort and I am very proud at how they represented our school. While we did not win a trophy this year, there was a great deal of growth and I am very excited for their future.

Basketball was not the only exciting thing that happened on our campus during January. Our faculty and staff completed the writing of our self-study in preparation for our accreditation visit. The self-study was sent to the chair of the team who will visit our school. This was a giant task and I would like to thank everyone involved in writing this. Our faculty put in so much work in preparing this document that I truly believe reflects who we are at St. Christopher Catholic School. Thank you to you, our parents, as well, for your work on the surveys, the time you spend volunteering, and especially for your support while we worked, and still continue to work, together for the growth of our school. I also want to make sure that I thank Cathy Thompson, our Superintendent, for her guidance and support through this process.

December and 2018 now comes to a close. As we prepare to depart for Christmas break so we can welcome the birth of Jesus and the New Year, I have begun to reflect on my time here as principal at St. Christopher Catholic School. The truth is, I think when a calendar year is coming to an end we all have a tendency to reflect on our past experiences so we know what the next step is for our future. I find myself reflecting a great deal lately with our impending accreditation visit. The thing I keep realizing is everything we have accomplished over the past two and half years, we have done together, and I thank you for desire to see improvements at St. Chris and for your willingness to take an active part in making those improvements happen.

Gobble! Gobble! It is that Thanksgiving season when we take time to reflect on the blessings that we have in our lives. Our family, friends, and those we encounter on a daily basis and give us an opportunity to show kindness and have that goodness in our lives. For me, I am thankful for my wife and daughter, my family in New York, my home, my friends, and, without question, my St. Christopher Family!

The first trimester has been a bit of a whirl wind. First, I would like to congratulate our Varsity soccer team for their Championship! A great job by Coach Villegas and Coach Barnaby for working with this team over the past three years and building such an amazing program. Our Superintendent, Mrs. Thompson, attended the game and was just so happy for our team and coaches. I am so proud to have our school represented so well.

I would also like to announce a change in our counseling program. In September, I applied to Title I for extra counseling days. In October, the state allowed us to increase our counseling days from one to three with the two extra days to be paid for by Title I funds! What a great blessing for our kids! However, with the increase in days, we also had to have a change in our counselor. I am happy to introduce Mrs. Sarah Pecoraro to our St. Christopher family. Sarah is an alumnus of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop Gorman and UNLV. Welcome Mrs. Pecoraro!

As I mentioned in my last letter, this is a very big year for St. Christopher Catholic School. Our accreditation visit is only four months away at this point, so time is moving quickly. We have been hard at work completing our Self-Study so it can be turned in to the chairperson of our visiting team before we leave for Christmas break. At this time, we are working on the timeline for the completion of our goals and our long range plan. What we have completed at this point has been presented to Mrs. Thompson and the School Advisory Board. I will continue to keep you informed monthly.

Welcome Back! I long to say those words to all of our St. Christopher students and families as soon as the previous school year ends. Every time we say good-bye for the summer, I am ready for the new year to start so we can continue on the road to success. This is going be such an exciting year for us and for our faith community.

Things started off a little rough this year with some last minute resignations, but I am excited because I believe we have a strong staff and I am truly enjoying what I have seen in the classrooms so far. Please join me in welcoming our new teachers for this school year – Ms. Athena Figueroa in third grade, Mr. William McLain in 4th and 5th grade English, Reading and Religion, Mrs. Ana Saenz our aide in Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades, and welcome back to Mrs. Mary Gorts, who is teaching Middle School Math and Science and Mr. Jason Casper who is teaching 4th and 5th grade Math, Science, and Social Studies. I would also like to welcome our twenty-two new families to St. Chris. I invite all of you to introduce yourselves, even if they are not a part of your child’s class, and welcome them to our St. Christopher Catholic School family.