Saint Leo the Great Catholic School

PLEASE REMEMBER-
RE-REGISTRATION FEE IS DUE JANUARY 10th, 2009. PLEASE USE THE NEON YELLOW COUPON IN YOUR TUITION BOOKLET WHEN YOU SEND IN THE RE-REGISTRATION FEE. THANKS!

PARENTS PLEASE NOTE:
Letter days for the last two weeks of January have been changed due to the Federal Holidays. Please make adjustments to your daily planners/calendars. Thank you so much.

OPEN HOUSES
are going to be held at Saint Leo the Great School on the following days:

A tour of the school will follow all presentations. Please call 703-273-1211 x645 for a reservation. Please let your friends and neighbors know our new dates.

COLD WEATHER IS HERE!
Now that the cold weather is definitely here, please ensure that your child wears warm outer clothing to school, appropriate for winter temperatures. We all want them to stay warm when going outside for morning or lunch recess. Thank you!

Saint Vincent de Paul Pantry News
For the month of December, we continue our focus on the Catholic Social Teaching of “Rights and Responsibilities” by assisting others. As a caring community, we can show our concern for others by participating in a very special “Gift-Giving Mass”, an activity to be held on Friday, December 5 during the 9:00 am daily Mass. At this activity, we ask our Saint Leo students to bring small unwrapped gifts for those children of our St. Vincent de Paul families. These presents will be given to children who may not experience the joy of receiving a present this holiday season. This small gift should be placed in a gift bag and tagged with an appropriate age & for a boy, girl, or either.
Gift suggestions include:

Any gift will be greatly appreciated. **Gifts can not be wrapped because SVDP Society must check each present before delivery. Our Catholic Social Teaching is one that was practiced by Jesus. Showing concern and thoughtfulness towards those in need is the true meaning of the Christmas season.

EXTENDED DAY PAYMENTS
ARE DUE FOR EXTENDED DAY BY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19TH AT THE 11:30AM DISMISSAL. LATE FEES WILL BE APPLIED AT THAT TIME. THANK YOU.

BAND CONCERT, SUNDAY, DEC. 14 AT 3:00pm
there will be a 50/50 raffle to benefit the band, and the 8th grade will be hosting a bake sale. (Beginner Band should arrive no later than 2:15 and Advanced Band no later than 2:30. Concert attire - black pants/skirt with white shirt/blouse, dress shoes - no sneakers.)

PM CARPOOLING PARENTS:
For safety reasons, parents who are parked behind the chain at PM carpool are asked to remain in their cars and wait until the chain is removed before pulling into the carpool lot and picking up your children. Children may be picked up at the gym entrance after initial cars have left the parking lot. Please form one line closest to the gym entrance. Thank you for your cooperation.

FROM THE LIBRARY
Thank you so much Colleen Ferlotti (7th grade) for your birthday book donation of “If You Give a Cat a Cupcake.” It was very kind of you to think of our younger readers! And thank you also to Zoe Shook (4th grade) who donated “Animals Gone: The World’s Rarest Animals.” What a great addition to our non-fiction wild animal section!
For more information on how to donate a birthday book, please contact Mrs. Craven or Mrs. Ruta or follow the library link on the school website.

PTO NEWS!!!!!
Christmas is coming and the PTO is offering the perfect gift for everyone on your list! How about a $10 Starbuck gift card for your child’s teacher? Or a $10 Panera gift card for your neighbor? $15 iTunes gift card for your babysitter or $10 Borders gift card for your carpool partner?

For a limited time, the PTO is offering gift cards to over 70 stores! For each gift card, the PTO will receive a portion of the proceeds. The gift cards are obtained thru a mail order process, and the turn-around time is about one week. So, the PTO is accepting all orders through December 5th for delivery the week of December 15th! The list of the 70 stores can be found on our website: www.saintleothegreatschool.org. Return the form and check to the school office as soon as possible. Give a gift card to your friends and family and support the PTO at the same time. Any Questions: Call Niamh Lowry, 703.277.7072.

Mothers' Prayer Group
Please join us for a Mothers' Prayer Group Meeting on Thursday, December 11, right after morning drop off, in the St. Mark's Room (Parish Hall). We will follow readings from the liturgical calendar, reflections from the book "The Better Part" and prayers for our school, teachers and families. We will end praying The Rosary. For questions, please contact Marcia Capizzani at mloureiro2002@aol.com. All are welcome.

2009 Yearbook
Ordering: It's time to order your copy of the 2008-2009 yearbook, "The Pride". Once again the yearbook will be in full color and will capture all the fun and memories of this year's events. New this year is the personalization options. You can personalize your copy of the yearbook with your name, a special phrase and/or up to four icons. The cost of the yearbook remains $25. Order forms are being sent home with all students and additional order forms are available from the front office. You can also order on-line at www.shop.jostens.com. Any questions: contact Mary Beth Crosson at Crosson46@yahoo.com. Orders must be placed by Friday, December 12, 2008. It is extremely important that you order now as no additional copies will be available for purchase during distribution in May 2009.
Pictures Needed -- We are in need of pictures from Field Trips and 8th Grade CONFIRMATION, tennis, basketball, cheerleaders. Each grade, preschool through 8th grade, also has a "candid" photo page and we will need pictures for those pages throughout the year. You can put pictures on a cd or email pictures to Joanne McCarty at jmccarty1@cox.net or Katie Blanchard Katie_Blanchard@verizon.net. Thank you!

Inclement Weather/School Closings
When the Fairfax County Schools are closed because of hazardous road conditions, Saint Leo the Great School is also closed. If Fairfax County makes a change in the opening or closing of school due to weather conditions, Saint Leo the Great does the same. It is the parent/guardian's responsibility to consult the school website, or listen to the radio or T.V. for this information. PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE SCHOOL. In cases of inclement weather, or other non-weather related emergencies, and the cancellation of classes once school is in session, calls from the children to the parents/guardians will be discouraged. Since our school is air-conditioned, we DO NOT FOLLOW Fairfax County School closings due to intense heat.

If Fairfax County Schools are not in session and Saint Leo the Great is in session, consult the school edline website or listen to WMAL 630 AM or WTOP 103.5 FM, channel 4 and channel 7 for any school closings or adjustments in opening times.

Delayed Openings
Kindergarten through Grade 8

Extended Day Program
The Extended Day Program always opens one hour before school:

When school closes early all children must be picked up from the Extended Day Program within two hours of dismissal. Parents/guardians are responsible for listening to the radio or T.V. for announcements.

If Fairfax County cancels after school activities, the Extended Day Program will close within two hours of dismissal.

Saint Leo the Great CYO Tennis
Congratulations to our St. Leo CYO Tennis teams and players for another terrific season. This is our second year of participation in CYO Tennis and our program has grown to be one of the leagues largest and most successful. We had over 80 St. Leo students play among nine different teams. Four of the nine teams went to divisional playoffs. One team came in third and three teams won second place trophies for the school. We thank all the parent volunteers who run this program, especially, Celeste Bauer, Jen Aguila, Melissa Riley, Terry Kelly, Morillo and Pilar Pacheco, for their dedicated efforts in making this a fun and exciting program for the kids. A special thanks to all the new parents who stepped up to work as coaches and assistant coaches this year. Without your help, this program would not have been possible.
Wimbledon 1 – Team 1 Coach: Barbara Bruno - Players: Alexis Bruno, Schuyler Corrigan, Domenick DiFalco, Sydney King, Brian Manning, Bradan McBurney, Stephanie Neves, Sharon Plata, Libby Salewski
Wimbledon 1 – Team 2 Coach Vicky Toenshoff, Assistant Coach Katrina Funkhouser
Players: Peyton Dudley, Grace Dunleavy, Christine Faunce, Kylie Funkhouser, Gabriella Gordon, Isabella Gordon, Cooper Guiffre, Mary Helen Storey, Alex Toenshoff, Nicholas Toenshoff
Wimbledon 1 – Team 3 Coach: Laura Potter - Players: Tyler Aucoin, Michael Cena, Jessica Le, Gary Liske, Julia O’Toole, Allison Potter, Brigitte Richter, Ryan Williams, Karl Enriquez, Kevin Canoy.
Wimbledon 2 Team – Division Finalist Second Place
Coaches: Celeste Bauer, Jen Aguila Assistant Coach Terry Hope - Players: Thomas Aguila, Alyssa Bauer, Amanda Hope, Kathleen Hope, Spencer Notarianni, Stephan Roxbrough, James Wilkins, Michelle Yu
US Open 1, Team 1 Coaches: Debbie Kidd and Ron Villa - Players: Brendan Burke, Chris Issing, Laura Kidd, Yeon Kim, Austin Lee, Liam Loftus, Caroline Miller, Teresa Neves, Julianna Villa
US Open 1, Team 2 – Division Finalist Second Place Coaches: Gary Joyner, Abe Perez and Raymond Morrough - Players: Roni Cena, Ciara Corcoran, Anthony Golesorki, Gary Joyner, Nicholas Kin, Ray Morrough, Frankie Toole, Ashley Perez, Siegfried Richter, Kelvin Simmons
US Open 1, Team 3 Coaches: Jun Tirso and Susan Mangin - Players: Kaitlin Jahn, Cullen Lowry, Seamus Lowry, Beth Mangin, Nadine Rozell, Carlo Tirso, Jerome Tirso, Kenneth Zamora
US Open 2 – Division Finals Third Place Coach: Melissa Riley, Assistant Coach Cindi Harkes - Players: Genesis Aguila, Ian Harkes, Lauren Harkes, Sarah Morillo, Jessica Ong, Giancarlo Pacheco, Mary Ellen Potter, Bobby Riley, Christine Yu
Federation - Division Finalist Second Place Coaches: Terry Kelly, Luis Morrillo Assistant Coach Heather Davies - Players: Collin Baldacci, Brandon Bauer, Roy Davies, Joey Kelly, Ben Utley, Mark Wenner

St. Leo’s PTO Gives Thanks….
St. Leo’s PTO would like to thank the entire St. Leo community for their continued support and assistance. We are grateful for your generous contributions of volunteer hours – specifically for your help with the vision and hearing screenings, assistance with Family Fun Night, donations of baked goods, and help with the school photographs. Family volunteer hours should continue to be tracked and will be tallied. At the start of the new year, notices of total hours volunteered to date will be sent to all families.

We also thank all of our families, teachers and staff, and friends who helped to make our Restaurant Fundraisers so successful! We earned $633 from the Fuddruckers night in September, and we will receive $298 from the Chick-fil-a event last week. The money that St. Leo’s PTO earns from fundraisers like these provides money to enhance classroom activities. Some of the purchased made so far this year include:

Please remember to check the PTO Page on the school website for information on upcoming activities, fundraisers, meeting minutes, budget information, and forms. As always, if you have any suggestions, questions, or an interest in joining one of our committees, please contact any PTO Board Member.

AROUND THE COMMUNITY