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This Summer, Camp GSC is the place to be for preschool children (ages 3 and 4) and for students entering kindergarten and grades 1 and 2. Click here to go to the online registration form.    Earth Day may not be a holiday in the same ranks as Christmas or Easter, but it is an important holiday nonetheless! All of us share the Earth, and it is worth celebrating everyday, and on April 22 (Earth Day).
As a Catholic elementary school, Good Shepherd, we would be remiss not to mention St. Francis of Assisi, who is known for his love for nature, animals and the environment, preaching about the beauty of God’s creation. Furthermore, Pope Francis penned Laudato si' (Praise Be to You), the second encyclical from him in 2015. In this encyclical, Pope Francis discussed the moral importance of protecting God’s creation and that we can work towards fixing it together. He further states his belief that much of the changes in our climate is man-made, and that we must find alternative solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change. Earth Day was first held on April 22, 1970, and has grown from there with various international events and local activities for communities to come together and honor the Earth. You can even do some activities as a family! Here are some ideas for ways to celebrate Earth Day that you can enjoy for years to come:
 Raising kids during a pandemic has been challenging for several reasons. One way to keep children and families focused on the positive is by helping others, from small acts of kindness to larger efforts that impact those in need.
At 7 p.m. Thursday, April 29, a range of committed and compassionate advocates will join the Webinar panel, “Community Outreach: Engaging Your Family To Help Others.” The panel is sponsored by the Home and School Association of Good Shepherd Catholic Regional School (GSC), which nurtures students’ commitment to God, Scholarship, Community, and Service. Panelists include a volunteer coordinator for a local nonprofit that engages children in supporting individuals suffering from addiction; a human capital consultant and mother to a child who has led her own efforts to feed homeless people; and a clinician for individuals in early recovery from addiction, who is also raising daughters dedicated to causes like type one diabetes and wildlife preservation. The panel will be moderated by Josephine Gandolfo, who is a member of the Good Shepherd H&S Board and Director of Pallottine Ministry at Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in South Jersey. Queen of Peace Parish Secretary Patti M. Duff serves as Volunteer Coordinator for Angels in Motion (AIM), where she participates in street outreach and organizes events to prepare for that outreach. Founded by a mother looking for her son in Kensington, Angels in Motion began from her witnessing of many individuals suffering from the disease of addiction. The local nonprofit continues to provide numerous “blessing bags” which contain food, clothing, hygiene products, and recovery resource information. In her role, Patti has organized collections for Angels in Motion, including rallying kids to make hundreds of sandwiches and loving pieces of art. “We meet people battling substance use where they are literally and figuratively,” she says. “The Blessing Bags helps us make a connection and our continual presence helps them understand that there are people who care. By donating to AIM you can provide individuals, who are less than 10 miles from our homes, food to put in their empty stomachs, a pair of mittens for their frozen hands, hope that they can change their circumstances, and the knowledge that someone does care for them.” Nikki Gillum-Clemons, SHRM-CP, currently works for Exude, Inc., and has recently been involved in cultivating COVID-19-safe workspaces. Previously, she worked in human resources for Marriott Hotels, where she organized large-scale events dedicated to various charities. Her daughter Reina is a student at GSC, where she has been involved in several service projects. In second grade Reina began feeding homeless people she observed in Philadelphia and still is finding creative ways to support others in need. According to GSC parent and therapist Andrea Gahagan, “Helping others allows us an opportunity to give what we are fortunate to have, to learn from other experiences, and to get to know people we many not have a chance otherwise to interact with due to societal boundaries.” A mother of three daughters, Andrea is also a new therapy practice owner of Sage Therapy Group that promotes peace and safety for clients to become their best possible selves. “Giving the gift of community outreach to children helps them build compassion and resilience to adversities they see others facing and may face in their own lifetime as well.” To join the free and public webinar, click on the graphic at the top of this story, or log in to https://zoom.us/j/96695682113. Happy Easter to our Good Shepherd Catholic School and Queen of Peace Parish community! This is a time for hope and renewal brought to us through Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. We wish you an abundance of happiness and beauty as we continue through Spring.  Since March 13, 2020, students from pre-kindergarten to doctoral candidates have taken to remote schooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Philadelphia region, public school districts are just now – a little over a year later – opening their doors back up to in-person instruction. Luckily, Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia returned to in-person instruction in September, 2020, with no in-school COVID-19 spread. This proves to those looking for in-person instruction that Catholic schools successfully met the COVID-19 educational challenge with the answer to families in need of an open school.
Parents looking for in-person schooling should look no further than a Catholic education at Good Shepherd Catholic School. We offer a well-rounded, challenging curriculum, and our faculty and staff ensure a safe learning environment. The end of the school year last year, from March to June, our teachers worked tirelessly to provide their students with lessons each school day. Catholic schools provided the best education when in-person learning was not an option. Unfortunately, many Catholic schools have been hit hard by the pandemic, having to close their doors entirely. However, with the hard work and planning of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Catholic schools can bridge the gap for students from public and other schools that cannot provide the same resources and ability to re-open for in-person instruction. Furthermore, Catholic schools are affordable for all. Our Catholic schools have shown that not even a pandemic can stop our ability to educate students effectively. Enroll your student at GSC for the upcoming school year! We accept students from all backgrounds! The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has proved over the last year their ability to provide the best education to students despite the unprecedented obstacle of COVID-19. The last year certainly has been a year of challenges, simply put. While public school districts in the surrounding area have debated how and when to reopen, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia developed and followed a plan, successfully making the return to a full week of in-person instruction (with a virtual option available) since September.
Check out the full details of what reopening our Catholic elementary schools involved here. Schools have practiced social distancing, increased cleaning and sanitation, limiting visitors to the building and more. A centerpiece of the plan entailed putting students into a “cohort.” Students within a cohort are in class together, eat lunch together and don’t interact with students outside of their cohort. “That allowed us, if there was a child who caught COVID, then we just had to try to do the tracing within that group and we didn’t have to shut the whole school down,” Archdiocesan Superintendent Dr. Andrew McLaughlin said. If a child within a cohort was exposed to or tested positive for COVID-19, the entire cohort would move to virtual instruction until it was safe to return back for in-person instruction. Philadelphia Catholic schools have maintained in-person learning thanks to the cooperation of students, parents, faculty and staff at each school respecting and following the plan set out by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Education is a pivotal and foundational piece of each student's life, a fact the Archdiocese fully understands. Many students across the country are missing out on their education due to the pandemic, but Philadelphia Catholic schools have never missed a beat on keeping students on track in their education path. Good Shepherd School will be conducting Terra Nova testing starting Thursday, March 11. These tests will be held each morning (except Wednesday) until the following Friday, March 19. Terra Nova Testing is a standardized achievement test to measure a student’s performance in reading, English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. The publishers of Terra Nova, McGraw-Hill, assess students’ results based on a norm-reference scale. Instead of students receiving a grade, scores of all students participating in Terra Nova are compared. Each student is then placed in a national percentile.
In an effort to provide a virtual dialogue on issues impacting families, especially during the pandemic, the Good Shepherd Home and School Association has launched a free monthly Webinar series.
After polling parents on preferred timing and topics, the Home and School Board coordinated with local leaders and members of the school community to serve as panelists on topics that include wellness, engagement, outreach, and bullying. The series takes place at 7:00 p.m. on the last Thursday of each month (February through May) via the Zoom Webinar platform. The first session – "Family Wellness: Coping During a Pandemic" – premiered on Thursday night, February 25. All Webinars will be recorded and uploaded to school channels. You can find more information about the series on the Home and School Association's "Webinars" Webpage: https://gschomeandschool.weebly.com/webinars.html. |
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