Category: Latest News

March 13, 2020

In accordance with the decision of Prince William County Public Schools and with the guidance of the Office of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Arlington, All Saints Catholic School will be closed to students beginning Monday, March 16 due to health concern related to Coronavirus. eLearning will begin on Wednesday, March 18.

Monday, March 16 will be an off-site planning day for faculty & staff to prepare for the launch of eLearning on Wednesday, March 18. (Tuesday, March 17 will be a non-instructional day as we finalize procedures and operations.)

As we prepare to transition to eLearning, we anticipate that there will be questions and challenges. Know that the faculty and administration will be available online to guide you and your children through this new learning process. Early next week I will provide additional guidance in regards to the structure of our eLearning program.

In the words of Dr. Vorbach, Superintendent of Schools, this is a moment that calls for prayer, agility and patience. With a commitment to each of these three, we will remain united as a community and rise to the challenge that lies ahead.

Wishing you and your families peace, good health, and a restful weekend.

Important Note:

For more information about All Saints Catholic School’s response to the Coronavirus, please the Coronavirus Updates page on our website.

All Saints Pre-Kindergarten Program (for four year old children) offers a nurturing environment and a well-rounded academic focus that includes religion, art, music, library and technology. Our hands-on, interactive learning approach will engage your child and provide a strong faith and academic foundation. Special activities throughout the year include:

• Annual Pre-K Christmas Pageant
• Friends Around the World Celebration
• Alpha Bucket Letter of the Week
• Storybook Parade
• 8^th grade Buddy Program

Before and after school care is available. Contact All Saints Catholic School for a Pre-K tour or stop by any Wednesday at 9:00 AM or 1:30 PM for a “Wednesday Walkthrough.” For additional information, please contact Mrs. Joyce D’Eugenio at (703) 393-1490 or admissions@ allsaintsva.org.

The 2020 Running with the Saints 5K has been canceled to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 especially to the vulnerable in our community. While we are saddened that we will not gather together this year to honor the Gregory Family, we know this is the right decision. And while we will not be pounding the pavement, our race has already been an incredible success. Running with the Saints has raised more than $6,000 for the Gregory Family. More importantly, 120 hours of prayer were devoted to Joe and his family. And those were the ones that were able to sign up for specific hours. We know in addition there were countless masses, rosaries, and family prayers being offered as well. We are grateful for the community’s generosity and we ask you to continue to pray for the Gregory Family and to respond as generously if they need any more assistance in the future.

Our beautifully designed T-shirts that share the message of Joe Gregory “Choose Joy” arrive this week. As this situation unfolds and the risk to our community lessens, we will be announcing a pickup time at the school to get your bags with sponsor material and T-shirts. Please support our sponsors because without them, we would not be able to continue this event year after year. We also will pool all the prizes and awards together and pick winners through a raffle system. We will announce winners through email and make arrangements to pick up prizes.

We thank you for all your support of our school and the Gregory Family. Please keep those impacted by COVID-19 in your prayers.

Running with the Saints 5K Committee

During Lent, All Saints will be introducing our students to the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, another devotion of our Church. With this in mind, we will pray the modified prayer found below at the close of the day in place of the Hail Mary on Fridays during Lent. Helpful resources and the history of the Divine Mercy Chaplet can be found at the following link: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/pray-the-chaplet

Divine Mercy Prayer
Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Jesus, I trust in you.

Again this year, our school community will participate in Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) Rice Bowl initiative, a faith-in-action program that invites us to encounter anew ourselves, our neighbors and our God.

Each of the students has received a cardboard rice bowl into which they can place their donations during Lent. All of the funds will benefit CRS Rice Bowl which is sponsored by Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Catholic Relief Services is motivated by the example of Jesus Christ to assist poor and suffering people in more than 100 countries on the basis of need, without regard to race, religion or nationality.

While the act of sacrificial giving is an important part of our Lenten tradition, the experience takes on even greater meaning when our students understand the plight of those less fortunate and recognize the difference that they can make to alleviate suffering. So that the children may develop this appreciation of the needs of those around the world, each week of Lent the teachers will lead discussions and lessons using the materials made available by Catholic Relief Services. It is our hope that these conversations will inspire sacrificial giving among our students as they place their contributions into their Rice Bowls. At the end of Lent, families will be asked to convert the contributions from their children into a check to be submitted to All Saints after which our school will forward all of the funds to CRS.

Here are some strategies that you may wish to consider in shaping your own family’s Lenten plan:

• Use your CRS Rice Bowl and Lenten Calendar each day to guide your Lenten prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
• As a family, read the online Stories of Hope and daily reflections to inspire your Lenten journey—and guide your Lenten almsgiving.
• Prepare simple meatless meals on Fridays throughout Lent, in solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the world. Recipes for simple meals can be found on the CRS website.

For more information, including spiritual reflections, short video presentations on the topic of Lent, and even virtual Stations of the Cross, please see the link below: https://www.crsricebowl.org/

All Saints is excited to announce that in partnership with The Players Sports Academy, we will be launching an after-school soccer program for 1^st and 2^nd grade students this spring.

The eight one hour sessions will take place on our soccer field from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Thursdays beginning March 19.

For more information about The Player Sports Academy and for registration information, please see the following link:

The Player Sports Academy

We are pleased to provide this extracurricular activity for our primary level students and hope to potentially expand our partnership with the academy in future years!

It was a great honor for us to welcome Mrs. Aimee Viana, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, and Mr. Michael Chamberlain, Special Assistant for Rural Outreach, to All Saints yesterday.  Joined by a number of distinguished guests that included Dr. Joseph Vorbach (Superintendent of Schools), Mrs. Renee White (Assistant Superintendent for Enrollment and Marketing), Mayor Hal Parrish (City of Manassas) and Mrs. Theresa Coates Ellis (Manassas City Council Member), it was a remarkable moment in the life of our school.

In recent days a number of people have inquired as to when I learned of the visit and how All Saints was actually selected.  I received a call from the Department of Education just last week indicating that a member of their leadership would be in the area and would be pleased to visit All Saints.  After learning of All Saints, they decided to reach out to us to inquire whether a visit might be possible so that they might learn first-hand what makes All Saints unique.

In this regard, the visit provided us an opportunity to showcase specific aspects of our school that were of particular interest to the U.S. Department of Education, namely differentiation of instruction, integration of technology, and the benefits of the tax credit program for families in our community.

There were many highlights throughout the event, such as the visits to classrooms and the one-on-one interaction that our students enjoyed with our special guests. Perhaps the most poignant was the listening session during which a small group of students, parents and faculty shared their perspective on the “All Saints experience.” Prompted with a single question as to why they had chosen All Saints and what makes our school so distinct, each individual spoke from the heart, sharing the impact that All Saints has had on their family through the years.  It was a moment of tremendous school pride and recognition of the gift of Catholic education.

I offer my sincere thanks and appreciation to all of our participants.  I wish to specifically thank and congratulate Camden (President of the SCA) and Brenda (Vice President of the SCA) who represented the entire student body and beautifully articulated the difference that All Saints has made in their lives.

Start to finish, the visit was a wonderful experience for our school community – and a great affirmation of all that we have achieved together through the years.  Indeed, with God all things are possible!