Sunday School News - October 2026

Welcome to the 2026-2027 Sunday School year! Here is the Sunday School Schedule for September 2026:

• October 4: Worship and Classes, SPARK SUNDAY

• October 11: Worship and Classes

• October 18: No Classes, St. Luke Nameday

• October 25: Worship and Classes, Grandparents’ Sunday and Sunday School Open House

The calendar for the entire 2026 -2027 Sunday School year is posted on our website (https://www.ss.st-luke.org) and will also be emailed to all families who register their children for the 2026-2027 school year.

We are very excited to have begun the Sunday School year. As a reminder, after Holy Communion, students of all grades should go to the Education Building and join the class that matches the grade they attend at their regular school. Please see the updated chart below:

First Floor	Room Number	Teacher(s)
3 year olds	Room 103	Lisa Palmieri and Kathy Zarvalas
Pre-K	Room 101	Faithe Kalisperis and Marinela Tsapournas
11th and 12th Grade	Room 100	Danny Milinkovic and Evan Palmieri
Second Floor	Room Number	Teacher(s)
Kindergarten	Room 201	Marilena Ristas and Helen Kopitas
1st Grade	Room 205	Thomas Ristas and Phoebe Harris
2nd Grade	Room 203	Eleni Kornblatt and Evie Karros
3rd Grade	Room 202	Sophia Tsakiris and Jen Kyriakodis
4th Grade	Room 207	Marina Despotopoulou and Fotini Kathopoulis
5th and 6th Grade	Room 204	Elene Mironidis and Christian O'Donnell
7th and 8th Grade	Room 206	Art Karros and George Kevgas
9th and 10th Grade	Room 209	Peter Pavlis and Heidi Galanos

REGISTRATION

Please visit the Sunday School table at the Festival of Ministries on September 13, 2026, OR, click on the following link: https://www.ss.st-luke.org/registration

Please be sure to indicate on the registration form the name(s) of those who are permitted to pick up your child/children from Sunday School if you are not able to do so. Teachers will not dismiss a child to someone unknown to them unless you have given permission. This policy is an important facet of our Youth Safety program, which we take very seriously.

OPEN HOUSE

Please mark your calendars! This year’s Sunday School Open House will be held on Sunday, October 25, 2026, immediately following Holy Communion. Father Christ will offer a special blessing for all the Yiayias and Papous who are an essential part of our village and play such a meaningful role in our children’s lives by passing on our Orthodox faith and cherished Hellenic traditions. As we celebrate and recognize the important role grandparents play in nurturing and passing on the Orthodox faith to future generations, we warmly invite all parents and grandparents to visit our Sunday School classrooms with their children. Open House is a wonderful opportunity for our teachers to connect with families, introduce the new national Sunday School curriculum for each grade level, share what students will learn throughout the year, and establish the best ways to maintain meaningful communication between teachers, students, and families. We look forward to welcoming our families into the classrooms and beginning another year of learning, worshiping, and growing together in Christ!

DIVINE LITURGY READERS

Please encourage your children to volunteer to read the Epistle or the Communion Prayer during Divine Liturgy.  We will send you the reading(s) ahead of time so that your child can practice and become comfortable with the texts beforehand.

PHILANTHROPIC AND SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Our children’s religious education is rooted in worship, prayer, and service to others. Throughout the year, our Sunday School students and families will have meaningful opportunities to put their faith into action by serving our neighbors in need.

This summer, through the extraordinary generosity of the Saint Luke community, our FOCUS Backpack Fundraiser raised enough money to provide more than 768 backpacks and school-supply kits to local children. We distributed the backpacks to students at Chester Charter Scholars Academy, schools within the School District of Philadelphia, St. Laurence Roman Catholic School, and Stonehurst Hills Elementary School, as well as to children attending back-to-school events at firehouses throughout Upper Darby.

Our Sunday School team was grateful for assistance with distribution from two remarkable community partners: John De Massi and Tom Thornton, President of the Upper Darby Professional Firefighters, IAFF Local 2493. Both men identified significant needs in their township and personally delivered backpacks filled with school supplies to children and families at the start of the school year. They also generously shared our collaborative efforts on social media. We are deeply humbled by the response of our Saint Luke parishioners and profoundly grateful to these gentlemen for their dedication to helping our neighbors and communities thrive.

This year, our Sunday School will also coordinate monthly food donations, meal preparation, and delivery for individuals experiencing homelessness through FOCUS Philadelphia. The FOCUS Philly Center is located at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church in Jeffersonville, Pennsylvania. In July and August, we began our monthly FOCUS ministry by cooking, donating needed items, and coming together in fellowship to serve individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Norristown and Philadelphia.

Through these ministries, we hope our children will learn that serving others is an essential expression of our Orthodox Christian faith and an opportunity to serve Christ Himself. We will share additional information about serving at the FOCUS Philly Center in October and throughout the coming year in our weekly bulletins, emails to Sunday School families, and social media posts.

For more information about Open House, registration, reading in church, service opportunities, or any other programs/activities, please contact Jane Kelly, Panayota Kevgas, and Sophia Milinkovic at stlukesundayschool@gmail.com.