Santa Claus visited our early childhood students this morning, Friday, December 6, on the feast of St. Nicholas. Santa was joined by his very helpful elves, who always know the right thing to do. Santa trained them well! Below are  photos of Santa's visit.

Under the direction of our Choir Director Patrick Connolly, St. Raymond's Youth Choir again competed in the Star Choir Holiday Singing Competition. The winning choir will perform at NBC's tree lighting show, Christmas in Rockkefeller Center. While our choir didn't make it to the final round, their Round 2 video will be featured in a commercial that congratulates the finalists. The spot will run through December 4 on NBC 4 New York and Telemundo 47. Congratulations to Mr. Connolly and to our choir for their efforts. 

The St. Raymond Elementary School community came together on Thursday, November 7, 2024 to raise money with our annual Veterans Day Dress Down for a Cause. Students and staff raised $1,701 that was donated to United for the Troops, an organization headquartered in Mahopac, New York that creates and sends care packages to our troops overseas.

Above, top row, left to right: Mrs. Tacinelli and Kindergarten West students; Ms. Brownie and UPK 4 West students; bottom row: Kindergarten East students dressed in red, white and blue for our Veterans Day Dress Down for a cause.

Above, top row: Class 1-103 and below: Class 4-204 in red, white and blue.

In addition to funds raised, we collected 473 cards (most of them made in school by our students) that will be included in holiday packages sent to service men and women overseas.

Thank you to all our students and staff who participated. 

Above, Students from Class 8-311 honoring our veterans during our Dress Down Day for Veterans. 

Yesterday, on Election Day, civics lessons related to voting, were featured in some of our classes. 

In Kindgarten East, teacher Janice Villamarin explained Election Day and what is involved in the the election process. Mrs. Villamarin gave her students a ballot for voting and set up a ballot box. Kindergarten East had a choice between two "candidates" -- popcorn and potato chips. Students circled their preference on the ballot and deposited them in the ballot box. When voting was completed, they counted the ballots together. Popcorn was the winner! It received 10 votes vs. 8 votes for chips.  

Above, Kindergarten East students made their selection, marked their ballot and put them in the ballot box. (Photos by Janice Villamarin.)

Our Art teacher Mrs. Adderley, worked with our students to create badges that said "Future Voter."  

Class 2-105 with their Future Voter badges. 

Students from Class 8-311 show their Future Voter badges in progress.

Kindergarten East is all ready for Halloween. Teachers Mrs. Casale and Mrs. Villamarin carved pumpkins for their students on Wednesday, October 30. See the happy results below.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. On Thursday, October 10, 2024, St. Raymond held a Dress Down for a Cause to help fight breast cancer. Students and staff were invited to dress in pink, if they chose to participate in the dress down day. A $2 donation was requested for students; for adults, it was $5. Together, we raised $1,146, which will be donated to the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. We're fighting breast cancer one classroom at a time. 

Fall is in the air in Kindergarten East!  Substitute teacher Mrs. Casale taught her students to make colorful apples cutouts, which they decorated. Below, the students worked on their creations and then showed their results. Good job, K East!

Photos by Josephine Casale

Please click here for Mr. Scanlon's Monthly Messages for December 2024.