Happy Friday!  This week was packed with special experiences for our children, from Halloween, to All Saint Day, to Dia de los Muertos.

Please enjoy all of the pictures! 

Have a wonderful weekend, 
Gerit McAllister

Halloween

Dia de los Muertos

All Saints Day Mass

Parent Teacher Conferences

Thank you all who engaged in our parent teacher conference survey a few weeks ago. It was very helpful in determining how to move forward. As expected, we had a mixture of responses, some indicating that they prefer virtual, some in person, and some who didn't have a preference. In response, we are going to offer both. For most grades, we will be doing Thursday in person and Friday virtual.  Some grades, based on how many students they see, will also offer options Monday-Wednesday after school and evening. A few grade levels only had a handful of people request in person conferences. In those instances, a teacher might reach out to you separately to schedule a conference to accommodate that request. Conference sign ups will come out in my letter next Friday. 

Christmas Show

We are happy to once again be presenting all school Christmas shows!  Our Christmas shows will take place on Thursday, December 15th. 

10:00 am - Preschool Show (AM preschool will dismiss after show)
2:00 pm - Kindergarten Show 
6:45 pm - 8th Grade carolers outside church
7:00 pm -1st-7th grade show in church with a special 1st and 7th grade nativity presentation

Similarly to last year, all of our shows will be live streamed so that family and friends near and far can join in the festivities!

Covid

We had 4 cases of Covid this week.

Minted

Planning on sending Christmas cards this year?   In need of party invites or a personalized gift?   If so, a great way to save money and raise money for AACA is by ordering through www.minted.com with the promo code: FUNDRAISEALPHONSUS.  You will receive 20% off your purchase and Minted will donate 15% of all sales back to AACA.  The promo code is good year-round.

AACA Library Overhaul

4th Grade Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts Thanksgiving Food Drive

The 3rd annual Scouts Holiday Food Drive will be November 8, 9 & 10 with donations collected at morning drop off in the AACA school parking lot. Please consider donating any non-perishable items that we can give to families in need. We deliver all collected items to the Lakeview Food Pantry. We had a great response the last 2 years and would love your support this year!

Any scouting program participant that is interested in joining to collect food please contact Jennifer Stevens @ jenmolly68@yahoo.com

One Week Left to Register for Team Rockets!

The starting line is in sight, but there is still time to register for the Blessings in the Backpack DIY 5k! Save the date for a Team Rockets gathering on Sunday, November 13 at 2:00pm on the 606. Details will be emailed to all DIY 5k registrants early next week!

The “Do It Yourself” 5K is a 5K walk/run done on your own time, at your own pace, and in your own place. Register now at:  https://runsignup.com/RaceGroups/100100/Groups/1154055 and be sure to select “Team Rockets” from the drop-down. 

Additional donations are encouraged - it only costs $130 to provide weekend nutrition for a child for one school year. Thank you for your support!

Windy City Ninjas (WCN) – AACA Open Gym Giveback

Give yourself some time to relax, catch up with friends or start preparing for the holidays while the kids burn off some energy at WCN.   WCN is hosting an open gym for AACA on Sunday, November 13th from 5:30-7.   Cost is $25/child and $5/child will go to AACA.   Use the link below to register.  Space is limited so sign-up before it fills up.

https://windycityninjas.com/aacaevent/

Building Blocks AACA Giveback

Support AACA by shopping at Building Blocks between November 14th-18th and 15% of your purchase will go back to the school!   Just mention AACA when checking out.  Gift cards are included.   So if these dates aren’t convenient, you can buy a gift card and shop later.  Last year AACA earned over $500 and I’m sure we can exceed that this year.  
 
There are 3 easy ways to earn money for AACA:
 
Shop at any of the three Building Blocks locations
Order online (Just mention “AACA” or "Play it forward for AACA" in notes upon check out)
Buy gift cards (in person or over the phone)

Amazon

0.5% of your Amazon purchases can be donated back to AACA by placing Amazon SMILE orders from your phone!  In the app, tap "Settings" and then tap "AmazonSmile" and you can turn on the “mobile app-generating donations” so 0.5% of your phone orders will be donated to the school!   Select Friends of AACA
 
Or if you’re shopping from your computer, make sure you're shopping the AMAZON SMILE website when ordering from Amazon!  Visit http://smile.amazon.com and select Friends of AACA as your charitable organization and 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible items will be donated to the school. Amazon Smiles offers the exact same prices, selection and shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price. 
Only purchases made at smile.amazon.com (not www.amazon.com) generate AmazonSmile donations. 

Important Dates

November 9th: Fall Band Concert
November 15th: Hot dog day
November 18th: Pizza Lunch
November 21st-22nd: No School - Professional Development Days
November 23rd-25th: No School - Thanksgiving Holiday
December 1st: ½ Day - Parent Teacher Conference
December 2nd: No School - Parent Teacher Conferences
December 15th: Christmas Concert
December 16th: Pizza Lunch
December 20th: Hot Dog Day
December 21st: 11:45am Dismissal - Christmas Break

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