Principal’s Message
Dear SPC Families,
As we continue through this beautiful Easter season, I want to thank our students, parents, teachers, and parish community for the many ways you continue to support the mission and spirit of St. Paul of the Cross School. As we enter the final weeks of the school year, there is tremendous energy and excitement throughout our building. We encourage all of our students to continue finishing the year strong academically, spiritually, and socially both in and out of the classroom.
We warmly invite all SPC families to join us this Sunday at 10:30 AM for our Family Mass in the Holy Family Chapel. This special Mass will be facilitated by our Grade 8 NJHS members, and we look forward to celebrating together as a faith community.
We are also excited to officially announce that the National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony for our incoming Grade 7 members, along with the NJHS Graduation Ceremony for our current Grade 8 members, will take place on Monday, May 18 from 6:30–7:30 PM in the Holy Family Chapel. We congratulate all of our students being recognized for their scholarship, leadership, service, character, and citizenship.
On Tuesday, May 19, at 7:30 pm, we will host an open Advisory Board Meeting in the Holy Family Chapel featuring a “State of the School” presentation. We encourage families interested in learning more about our school’s continued growth, planning, and future initiatives to attend. Earlier that morning, during our weekly 9:45 AM Mass, we will also celebrate our Grade 8 Ribbon Ceremony as we begin recognizing the accomplishments of the Class of 2026.
As we begin preparing for summer months, please note that the main office in the EGC building will remain open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8:00 AM–12:00 PM throughout the summer. A secure drop box for summer forms and paperwork will also be available outside Door D5 for your convenience.
Our next “Coffee with the Principal” gathering will take place Wednesday, May 20 at 8:00 AM in the Art Room. We are pleased to share an exciting partnership and opportunity to support your child’s success here at school. Following a recent professional development presentation: Understanding how sensory challenges can affect learning and behavior, our school is taking steps to better connect families with occupational therapy (OT) services — and the good news is that these services may be covered through your health insurance. We are partnering with In2Great Pediatric Therapy. Dr. Angie Harisiadis will host a parent info session.
On Thursday, May 21, students in grades K-8 will begin our final iReady Reading testing window. We kindly ask parents to encourage students to do their very best on this assessment. iReady data continues to serve as an important tool in helping us determine academic placement, instructional support, and inclusion services for the upcoming school year. We greatly appreciate your partnership and encouragement at home.
We are thrilled to invite everyone to our Spring Musical, “Dr. Doolittle,” taking place next Thursday and Friday evenings from 6:30–8:30 PM. Our students and staff have worked incredibly hard preparing for this wonderful production. A pre-show dinner will also be available on Thursday evening. Please see the links and additional details below in this mailing for ticket and dinner information.
Please remember there will be no school on Monday, May 25 in observance of Memorial Day as we honor and remember the men and women who have faithfully served our country.
As we continue planning for the 2026–2027 school year, we are pleased to share that teacher hiring has officially been completed at this time. We are excited to welcome three outstanding new faculty members joining our school family in Grade 2, Grade 4, and Grade 6 ELA/Reading next fall.
Additionally, summer academic packets and information will soon be posted on our school website. For students entering grades K–2, summer materials will remain optional and are intended as helpful family resources. Students entering grades 3–8 will be assigned summer reading along with a mathematics packet. Please note that summer expectations and assignments have been intentionally reduced from prior years in an effort to create a healthy balance of academic review and summer family time.
We are excited to announce the results of this year’s Advisory Board elections. Congratulations to Tiffany Braun and Ashley McNichols, who will officially join the Advisory Board beginning with the 2026–2027 school year. We thank all of the candidates who were willing to serve our school community through leadership, stewardship, and a commitment to Catholic education.
I would also like to share that the Advisory Board recently met with Dr. O and Mrs. Goldberg to discuss the thoughtful and responsible use of technology in our classrooms, including how it supports learning and student well‑being. These conversations are part of an ongoing effort to ensure technology is used intentionally, consistently, and in alignment with the school’s educational mission. As technology continues to evolve in education and in our daily lives, we believe it is important to thoughtfully evaluate both the opportunities and challenges connected to student and teacher technology use within our classrooms and school community.
To support this important work, we will be forming a Technology Team made up of stakeholders who will explore technology integration, expectations, best practices, and student engagement in the classroom setting. At the same time, the administration and administrative team are actively reviewing our current practices and procedures regarding technology use by both teachers and students.
As we move forward, our goal is to ensure that technology remains a meaningful tool that supports academic excellence, critical thinking, creativity, responsible digital citizenship, and healthy student development while remaining aligned with the mission and values of our Catholic school community. We look forward to engaging in thoughtful dialogue and collaborative planning as we continue preparing our students for success in an ever-changing world.
Up and Coming
- Friday, May 15
- Prayer Buddies Day
Home and School Dress Down Day
Financial Assistance Notifications sent via email
- Prayer Buddies Day
- Sunday, May 17
- Family Mass at 10:30 AM in the Holy Family Chapel – Facilitated by our National Junior Honor Society students
- Fine Arts Show – 11:15 am – 1:30 pm Gym
Celebrating the artistic talents of our 4th – 8th graders. **Students who show up to support their fellow classmates will be rewarded an “Out of Uniform” pass for Monday the 18th!
Looking Ahead
- Tuesday, May 19th
- Open School Board Meeting – State of the School Presentation 7:30 pm – Holy Family Chapel
- Wednesday, May 20th
- Coffee with the Principal – 8:00 AM in the EGC Art Room
Topic: Occupational Therapy and Family Access to Support Resources
- Coffee with the Principal – 8:00 AM in the EGC Art Room
- Thursday, May 21st and Friday May 22nd
- Spring Musical – Dr. Dolittle
We are excited for this year’s production! Join us for a special Thursday evening performance featuring a homemade pasta dinner before the show. Please click the link below for show dates and dinner package information.
- Spring Musical – Dr. Dolittle
- Friday, May 29th
- SPC Olympics (Preschool–7th Grade)
A full day of school spirit, fun, and community-building!
- SPC Olympics (Preschool–7th Grade)
Thank you once again for your continued support, positivity, and commitment to our SPC community. May God continue to bless our students, families, faculty, and parish as we finish this school year with joy, gratitude, and faith.
In Christ’s peace,
James White
Principal
More SPC Happenings
It’s going to be such a wonderful night! The cast has been working so hard to put together a really fun show, so get your tickets if you want to be like Dr. Dolittle and talk to the animals!
We are excited to offer two ticket options this year: Show-Only Admission or Dinner and a Show Package.
Show-Only Admission
Individual Ticket: $6
Family Package (up to 5 tickets): $20
Dinner and a Show Package (Thursday Show only) 5:00 pm for Dinner
Includes:
Pasta dinner
Reserved seating in the first three rows
Individual Dinner Package: $14
Family Dinner Package (up to 5): $70
If you would like the Dinner and a Show Package, we ask that you purchase those tickets in advance. Online ticket sales will close on May 18, 2026.
If you have unused funds in your child’s eWallet, your child missed out on the Fair, or if your child has already finished every new book, there ’s still time to shop! Our Book Fair will continue ONLINE THROUGH MAY 18TH! 25% of all online purchases will still directly benefit our school. Please note, all orders ship directly to your home, and shipping is free for book orders over $25. Buddy up with a friend. EWallets can be shared. Click below to shop our Fair:
St. Paul of the Cross Book Fair Homepage
It’s time to order ahead to save on School Supplies!
Click here for the details and payment information.
Supply packs will be in your child’s classroom at Meet the Teacher Night.
For questions, please contact Rosemary Francis
Raise Right and Box Tops Updates
Raise Right Update: I will be placing one final physical gift card order for the year on May 29th so that I can deliver cards before the last day of school. Please have any orders in by noon. I will be turning off “ship to coordinator” for the summer. You will still be able to buy virtual cards, reload cards, or have cards shipped to you. For more information on Raise Right, click here.
Box Tops Update: We have earned $225.60 so far this year with Box Tops. We have had an average of 9 parents scanning receipts each month and we’d love to have more. For more information on Box Tops, click here.
Thank you for your participation!
Carrie Jackiewicz
Volunteer Sign-Up – May 29
The time has arrived to sign up for SPC Olympics volunteer opportunities on May 29!
As a reminder, the SPC Olympics are for students in Kindergarten through 8th grade. Information regarding early childhood Olympic festivities will be shared separately by room parents.
Important Reminders:
- All volunteers must be VIRTUS trained.
- By signing up, you are confirming that you are available for the full commitment and do not have any conflicting responsibilities that day (including lunch shifts, recess duty for early childhood classrooms, childcare, or other obligations).
- New this year: To allow more families the opportunity to participate, only one parent per family may sign up for a volunteer slot. Please do not register multiple, extended family members.
Volunteer sign-up link here.
If you need to cancel your sign-up, you may do so through the registration site up until May 17.
Thank you for helping make this a fun and successful day for our students!
Spots fill up very quickly, so THANK YOU for your support in advance of this fun tradition for our students!
SPC Athletics
Upcoming Parent Workshops
Please click on this link to read about some valuable upcoming parent workshops.
From the Parish
We have an active and vibrant parish and encourage everyone to read the weekly bulletins for Fr. James’ weekly letter and stay informed about all upcoming events and programs.
Please click here for the latest bulletin.
Please click here for Fr. James’ Weekly Letters
IT’S TIME TO TEND THE GARDEN! EARN SERVICE HOURS!
Sponsor A Raised Bed in our Vegetable Garden to Feed the Hungry!
Sponsoring our parish vegetable garden means planting, watering, and harvesting your own 4’x4’
raised bed throughout the growing season. We supply the boxes, organic mix, grids, trellises, and
plants, plus all the information and support you need to make your garden grow. In keeping with our mission to feed the hungry, the vegetables we grow will be distributed through our food pantry.
Please click here to download all of the details!
Vacation Bible School – All Incoming PK 4 yr – 5th Graders
June 15-19th
Please click here for the details.
From the Community
From our Catholic High Schools
Loyola Academy Learn to Row Camp
Open to rising 7th, 8th & 9th Graders – Click here to download the details.
