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PARENT BULLETIN
September 1, 2016
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DAN'S BLOG
The teachers are having a great time this first week of school getting to know your children and starting off a new school year with exciting plans and motivated students. That's what's so special about the start of each new school year. Not only do students come to school in September with freshly pressed skirts and new, blinding-white polo shirts, but they begin everything else anew too - new academic goals, their new teacher's grade book showing no missing work or no low test scores, and zero visits to the principal's office.
The parents of our 7th and 8th graders, along with Pre-K parents, have already had their curriculum meetings with their kids' teachers. Tonight it's the parents of kindergarteners who will be meeting (6:30PM in the main lobby), and a week from tonight, on September 8, we invite parents of all our grade 1-6 students to the parish hall for an important curriculum night. (Note that tonight and next Thursday are for adults only - please find childcare.)
If you were like my family, you had your TV tuned to the Olympics for much of August, watching record setting swimming, track, and gymnastics athletes from the U.S. and other countries. It was very inspiring to find out that some of the most
 famous record setters have strong Catholic faiths.
Did you know that the fastest man alive - Usain Bolt - makes the sign of the Cross before the start of each race and wears a Miraculous Medal? (See photo at right.)
Swimming sensation Katie Ledecky has said in past interviews, "My Catholic faith is very important to me. It always has been and it always will be. It is part of who I am, and I feel comfortable practicing my faith." Katie, who says a Hail Mary before each race, was educated in Catholic schools from grades K-12.
Nineteen year-old gymnast Simone Biles was raised in a Catholic family and makes sure she always has both a rosary and a statue of St. Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes, in her gym bag.
Thanks for reading,
Mr. Fitz
p.s.
The parish and school are teaming up to offer a wonderful parent class on how to handle the perils of kids using social media and technology improperly. The class is presented in a moral-values perspective by the well-known Northwest couple, Tom and Kari Curran, and there is no charge to attend. If you are the parent of a 5th grade or older child, you're especially encouraged to come to this class. It's coming up in our church the evening of September 14 (adults only; please find childcare), and you'll find more information in the article below.
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COMING UP...
Tonight - Thursday
- Kindergarten Parents' Curriculum Night at 6:30PM in the main building. Each kindergarten family should have at least one parent attend. (adults only)
Tomorrow - Friday
- Kick-Off Assembly for the Walk-A-Thon; families should start gathering pledges!
LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK...
Monday, September 5
-
NO SCHOOL; Labor Day Holiday
Tuesday, September 6
- Band assembly for 5th and 6th graders; sign up for Band
- Room Parents' meeting at 6PM
Thursday, September 8
- Curriculum Night for All Grade 1-6 Parents; Meet at 6:30PM in Parish Hall (adults only)
Saturday, September 10
- Fall Fix-Up of the Grounds; gather at 8AM outside the north wing to help spread bark, pull weeds, and start earning volunteer hours
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Strongly Endorsing this Free Class for Parents
If you have children in the 5th grade or older, we have the parent-education class for you! It's called "Engaged Parenting: Raising Morally Strong Kids in a Technologically Toxic Culture," and the presenters are Tom and Kari Curran. The Currans direct My Catholic Faith Ministries, a non-profit ministry dedicated to helping Catholics understand, explore, and live out their faith more deeply. This free class will be held in the St. Louise Church at 6:00PM on Wednesday, September 14. Parents of children in St. Louise School are encouraged to attend, and please invite as your guests neighbors and co-workers who also have upper elementary or middle school aged children
Even if your 5th-8th grader doesn't own his/her own smartphone, I-pad, or laptop, his/her friends do. And when kids get together with no parents around, you never know what could happen, as social media hijinks or danger could occur with today's kids and today's technology. We live in a technical world, and our phones and devices generally make our lives easier, more efficient, and more productive. But what are they doing to our kids' lives? What happens to our pre-teens, teens, and young adults when their forming minds are exposed to pornographic images, group chat rooms with explicit topics, and cyber bullying? Maybe you believe that your child is not exposed to these things, doesn't hang out with those kids, or knows how to turn away from temptations. Many parents assume this, but are surprised to find out just how much their child has been exposed to when they choose to "get engaged."
In their presentation on the 14th, Tom and Kari Curran will lift the curtain and expose the reality of what is happening in the world of our youth on a daily basis. Armed with statistics, church teaching, and personal experience, the Currans not only open your eyes to the dangers, but give wise, practical guidelines and tools to help parents make decisions about the use of technology that will protect their children.
Here is more on the class's presenters, Tom and Kari Curran, who live in Federal Way with their nine children.
- Tom is the host of the local radio program Sound Insight, Tom can be heard at 8 am every Mon - Fri, on Sacred Heart Radio, 1050 AM. Dr. Curran is the author of The Mass: Four Encounters with Jesus That Will Change Your Life, Confession: Five Sentences That Will Heal Your Life and Shepherd Me Lord: Daily Reflections for Your Lenten Journey. He is a popular speaker at Catholic events around the Archdiocese and the country, speaking to more than 300,000 Catholics in 30 states and 6 countries in the past decade. In addition, has spoken extensively on the Catholic Church's teaching on human sexuality as the lead trainer for the Formation for Love and Chastity project of the Archdiocese of Seattle. Tom holds a Ph.D. in Theology from Catholic University in Washington DC.
- Kari is a wife and homeschooling-parent who passionately promotes the glorious vocation of being a mother with honesty, humility and hilarity. Kari completed her B.S. in Education at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, spent a year teaching as a missionary in Nicaragua, completed her M.A. in Educational Leadership along with a Certificate in Special Education. She taught for nine years at the grade school and high school levels in both public and Catholic schools before God blessed her with children. Since then, Kari has used her educational gifts in her home to raise her kids while also homeschooling some of them. Kari is a weekly co-host with Tom on his radio program, Sound Insight, and also speaks with Tom at conferences and retreats on themes of marriage and family life.
We hope to see all our parents of upper elementary and junior high children at this important class on the 14th at 6PM in the church! Please note this is for adults only, so get your childcare set up now.
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Have You Completed this Required Process?
A required task to be completed by each St. Louise Parish School parent (and any volunteers who are not school parents) is the Volunteer Background Check process. This process - overseen by the Seattle Archdiocese and run by the company, VIRTUS - helps confirm the safety of our students when parents are helping at school, coaching a team, supervising an after-school program, or even driving on a fieldtrip. (All of our employees undergo this same background check process.)
To begin this required process, please either read the steps on the back page or go to
http://web2.stlouiseschool.org/volunteer
and click on the "Required Background Check" link on the right-hand side of the page.
Each parent in the family must complete this process separately. Besides answering questions, both you and your spouse (if applicable) will also be asked to read Archdiocesan policies on safety, and then to each register for an initial training session of "Protecting God's Children - for Adults." You may register for your training session(s) at this time, or you may defer that and take your training session(s) later, realizing this initial training session must be completed within 90 days of your volunteer position beginning or of your family's acceptance to St. Louise School - whichever occurs first.
Please note: Conveniently, an upcoming "Protecting God's Children - for Adults" training session will be held right here in the St. Louise Parish Hall on Tuesday, September 27! When you register online for your required initial class, choose the 9/27 offering at St. Louise if that date works for you. Otherwise, you'll notice 10 other King County-located trainings available this month, including one in Bellevue and one in Issaquah.
Once you have been accepted as a school parent at St. Louise, you have in turn been brought on as a volunteer within the Archdiocese of Seattle. So we want to thank you for keeping St. Louise in
compliance with the Archdiocese's required process by following all of the steps and making sure you fulfill the "within 90 days-requirement" of taking your training session!
Please direct any questions to the Archdiocese's Safe Environment Office at (206) 274-3188 or to the St. Louise Parish office through
Pam@stlouise.org
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Have Your Photos or Announcements Published
Should you ever have a possible article or topic you'd like Mr. Fitz to include in the Parent Bulletin, please email
him. This would include if your older children who are alumni of St. Louise have a high school or college accomplishment worth bragging about. The same goes for photos. If you have a fun pic of your kids at a CYO game, or doing some service/charity work, or participating in an extra-curricular program, please send it to Dan, and he'll insert it in an upcoming Bulletin.
Seventh grader Jose Luis and his sister, St. Louise alumna Maria Elena, just achieved second degree black belts in Tae Kwon Do. They're pictured here with their Tae Kwon Do Master, Joon Hwang.
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Do You Want to Earn Volunteer Hours on a Weekend
Our Adopt-a-Garden program and our occasional Fall Fix-Up Saturdays are two ways parents can earn volunteer hours at more convenient times for working parents. To join the Adopt-a-Garden program, where you 100% control what day and time you come to campus to volunteer, please contact coordinator Megan Kirk.
To help on a Fall Fix-Up, where you will work in small groups doing yardwork under the direction of head landscaper, Jeffrey Hummer, for a 4-hour time block on a Saturday morning or two (September 10 and/or October 1), please email Jeffrey. For our first Fall Fix-Up, please gather at 8AM outside the north wing a week from this Saturday - with yard gloves, yard tools (weed-digger, rake, and shovel), and a wheelbarrow if you have one.
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Here's How to Log In Your Volunteer Hours
Marinell Zevenbergen is the Parent's Club's "volunteer coordinator" - here to help all parents with completing and logging in volunteer hours. There are many opportunities to complete the minimum of 40 hours required for the school year. This weekly Parent Bulletin will have the most up to date volunteer needs, and your child's teacher will also let you know if he/she needs help in the classroom. Additionally, if you visit http://web2.stlouiseschool.org/volunteer periodically Marinell will add new requests for volunteers as she receives them from school staff or school/parish event leaders.
Here is a reminder about how to log in your volunteer hours. Please follow these steps:
2. Click on "Resources" menu.
3. Click on "Submit Volunteer Hours."
4. You will be asked for a password. Enter the email address you have registered at school as your primary email address, then click the button "send password to email entered above."
5. Once you receive the password, you are ready to start entering hours.
Please do not hesitate to email Marinell if you need additional information or help logging in. Marinell may also be able to suggest ways for parents to volunteer if they're having difficulty reaching the minimally required 40 hours per family. For example, if you contacted Marinell this week she would suggest you join the Hospitality Committee and help with next Thursday's Curriculum Night. Hospitality needs more volunteers on September 8, from 6-9PM to help set up, serve, and clean up the refreshments for the grade 1-6 Curriculum Night. If you want to earn 3 volunteer hours next Thursday, please contact Kristy Charles at kristycharles5@gmail.com.
Thanks in advance for all the volunteer hours you'll be giving to St. Louise School and Parish!
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New Hot Lunch Program Begins Tuesday
Lunch Ladies Catering will be the outside vendor our school will be using to provide school lunches for the 2016-17 school year. Registration and ordering has begun, with the first day of lunches being this Tuesday, September 6. Ordering can be done weekly, monthly or daily by 8pm for the next day.
Lunches will cost $4.50 plus tax. Each lunch will come with the main entrée and either fruit or vegetables depending on the main entrée. Lunch Ladies will be offering four cold items each day and two or three hot items each day. A large size on any of the items can be purchased for an additional  $1.00. Ala carte items are also available for $1.00.
Please visit their website
www.lunchladiescatering.com
to see samples of their food and packaging for the new school year. On the St. Louise School website under the "Resources" link, you'll find all the information that you will need to know to be able to register for on-line ordering. It's really easy to use but should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Wendy at Lunch Ladies: 425-444-9573 or
w-szabo@hotmail.com
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Up & Away Updates
Thanks so much to all who stopped by the Up & Away table Monday morning to have their passport stamped! If you are new to St. Louise, the photo of your children taken that day will be printed and made into a lovely memento at your place setting at this year's Auction, should you choose to attend! We would like to thank our terrific Memento Photos Chair for these wonderful pictures - Amy Wilken -- and her team: Alice Shaw, Rich Barth, and Robert Orleth!
We are featuring a new item up for bid this year - an all school art project! You will be able to bid on this incredible bench, with a mosaic tile placed by every St. Louise student! Big thanks to Mika Walker for her assistance in getting this idea off the ground! At right, the Barros family added their tiles to the bench on Passport Day.
Be sure to turn in any auction items promised by September 15. You may leave them in the school office or drop them off at the Auction office between now and then. Also, we will be sending out an email early next week to families who have not yet paid their grade project fee of $15 per child. After the 15th, the fee increases to $25 per child. You are welcome to send a check into the office, or pay online at https://www.osvonlinegiving.com/1369
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Summer Thanks
There were so many people working over the summer to make Up & Away a success. We wanted to take a moment to say "thank you"! We are so grateful for your support and time!
Leanne Arsenian, Mary Anne & Elwell Baradi, Wendy Blank, Tom Brennan, Margie Clinton, John D'Costa, Mike Kirby, Laura Leach, Paul McCullough, Erika Mervin, Lisa Miller, Jackie Munson, Peter Newton, Robert Orleth, Katie Rempe, Sue Richards, Anne Marie Sweeney, Mari Sullivan, Nancy Tribolet, Lori VanderZanden,
Amy Wilken.
Up & Away we go!
Julianne & Esther
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Special Event in the Catholic Church this Sunday
This Sunday, September 4, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta will become Saint Teresa as she'll be canonized in Rome.
Even in her lifetime, Mother Teresa was an icon of God's tender mercy, radiating the light of God's love to so many through the works of mercy, both material and spiritual. From heaven, she continues to fulfil her mission as she "lights the light of those in darkness on earth." With her canonization, the Church presents her as a model and intercessor of those who, like her, "long to light the fire of love and peace throughout the world." She can be taken as a patron saint especially for those who are most in need of God's mercy.
Here's a brief biography about Teresa that would be worth watching with your kids on or before Sunday: https://youtu.be/mEZGjL1akt0.
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| Can you name our "Awesome Eight" new teachers? If you are the 8th parent who correctly emails Dan Fitzpatrick , naming these teachers in order from left to right, you will win a $5 Chargers Card. |
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Begin a 'Standing Order' and Earn a Free Starbucks Card
Place a Standing Order before September 30, and include at least one "Groceries or Gas" category store and Charger Cards will send you a $5 Starbucks gift card with your first order!
Find the Standing Order Form on our webpage:
www.stlouiseschool.org/chargercards
. Start your school year well and Set up a Charger Card plan during September! You can meet and exceed your Charger Card requirement with a simple plan! Remember the goal is not to meet the minimum but to exceed so you earn tuition credit and St. Louise receives additional funds! Below is one sample plan that could work for some school families...
Place an order for basic stores you use monthly, such as grocery and gas. Send postdated checks with your order, and your cards will be delivered during the first week of each month. This is the best way to set a budget, determine your needs, and met your Charger Card requirement.
If you go to the Charger Cards webpage, you'll also see a video and step-by-step information on everything you need to know about Charger Cards. Please take some time to educate yourself on this fund raiser in which every school family is required to participate.
Thanks in advance for making Charger Card purchases a regular part of your shopping/budgeting plans!
Get Organized!
Organize your life and budget with Charger Cards online. You can meet and exceed your Charger Card requirement with gas and groceries alone!
Many stores offer reloadable credit as an online option. Some of the most popular are:
- Grocery - Safeway, Albertsons, Whole Foods and Target
- Gas - Chevron, Arco, BP, 76
Purchase a plastic card one time from the Charger Card program and reload that same card. No more wondering if you've used up the card. Purchase "reload" value online to fit your budget. This is a great option to treat the plastic card like a store credit card. It's easy to reload the cards online for everyone in your family that has them in their wallets.
With the school year beginning, Charger Cards would like to help you with plans to reach your minimum rebate and/or earn rebates to reduce next year's tuition! Email us at
chargercards@stlouiseschool.org
or stop by during office hours to make an appointment to help you understand the program and the many options to purchase. We will be happy to help you make a "plan" for your family based on your current shopping habits and budgeting!
Office Hours
Charger Card office hours this year are: 8:15-8:45 on every Friday school morning.
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