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St. Louis Catholic School Newsletter
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September 1, 2017
A Message from the Principal...
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Dear St. Louis Families,
What a joy it was to open our doors to students this week! We have been blessed with a smooth start in each hallway, as well as in our preschool wing, which started with open houses on Thursday and Friday. Our students spent the first week learning classroom procedures and adjusting to new routines, and they quickly adapted to fire drill practice which happened each afternoon (except for our one very rainy day!). Next week will bring the remaining "new" as our Kindergarteners began full days, and our preschoolers begin classes.
I hope you were able to stop in for coffee on the first day of school to see our beautiful gym. We are grateful for the generosity of all our families through the PTO donation of wall padding and scoreboard! One week from today, all the principals of the diocese will be able to share in the space as well, as we host a professional development in-service at St. Louis. It will be the first time our new superintendent is here for a visit!
Our pastor, Fr. O'Hare, has opened our spiritual year with the first school Mass, and we look forward to having him for our first morning assembly. It is a joy to welcome him, and he looks forward to meeting our students on campus, just as he is continuing to get to know our families after Sunday Masses.
I hope you have accessed our school website at
www.stlouisschool.org. We will post the most recent electronic newsletters so that you can refer back to them when needed. As the extra-curricular activities, homework and school events begin, be sure to Praise and thank our Lord for the many blessings, opportunities and wonderful people that we have in our lives. #RaisethePraise! As we pray for all those affected by Hurricane Harvey, we should look to the beautiful example of Mother Teresa, whose feast day is this Tuesday, Sept. 5
th, as we raise each other up and do all that we can to help our neighbor. We will be brainstorming ways to help those in need, as we work on this month's virtue of focus - Charity.
Peace,
Kathleen McNutt
Principal
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Diocesan/State Attendance Policy
Reporting an absence is a
two step process:
- The first step is to notify the office by phone (703-768-7732) or email ([email protected]) prior to or on the day of the absence to let us know where your child is and the reason for the absence.
- The second step is to send written notification on the day that your child returns to school, confirming the days of and reason for the absence. This can be hard-copy written notification sent through kidmail or electronic copy sent to [email protected].
Thank you for your assistance with this policy - Mrs. Schymanski is happy to help you with the process!
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Band Night - Friday, Sept. 8th
If your student would like to participate in band this year, please mark your calendars for Band Night on Friday, Sept. 8th at 6:30pm in the school cafeteria. You will have the opportunity to sign up for the program and rent/purchase an instrument. If you cannot attend that evening, contact Mrs. Findley at
[email protected] for sign-up information. Please see the attached
flyer for more information.
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"Welcome" from the PTO President
Welcome back to a wonderful new year! As we begin this new school year, let us also renew our school spirit! A great way to show your spirit and support our school is through participation in the PTO.
The St. Louis School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) has a long standing tradition of active volunteerism, community spirit and generous fundraising. The network of parents, guardians, and faculty make up our membership, and there are no fees to join. Whether you choose to attend PTO meetings, chaperone a field trip, donate cookies for a bake sale, clip box tops, or attend our silent auction,
your active involvement helps your child succeed in school.
If you have any questions on how you can sign up to volunteer, please contact our volunteer coordinator, Vanessa Milewski at
[email protected].
We look forward to seeing you at the first PTO meeting of the year at Back to School Night, Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 7pm!
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Spirit Dinner @ Moe's Sept. 6th
It's a new year and time for Spirit Dinners! Join your classmates and friends at Moe's Southwest Grill on Wednesday, Sept. 6 from 5-9pm. Here's to a great start to a new year! See attached
flyer for more details. NEW option to get credit: simply present the flyer on your phone...the paper version still works too. It is hard enough to get in the groove of making lunches; come to Moe's and save dinner planning and cooking!
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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Parents are responsible for tracking their volunteer hours. Volunteer hours may be input online. Please contact the volunteer coordinator, Vanessa Milewski, with any questions.
Keep in mind, the following opportunities count toward volunteer hours:
- Classroom party/celebration donations = 1 hour/donation
- PTO Meeting attendance = 1 hour/meeting
- Silent Auction purchase/donation = 1 hour/$20
- Bake Sale items = 1 hour/donated item
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Extracurricular Activities & CYO
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CYO Cheerleading
Do you have Hawks spirit? If so, then we want YOU to be on the Cheerleading team this year! Cheerleading is open to girls AND boys, grades 3-8. We practice once a week on Fridays from 3:30-5:00pm, cheer at one game per weekend during the basketball season, and will perform in 2 exhibitions in the winter. No tryouts - everyone is welcome to join! Many kids do Cheer along with Basketball and/or Track. If you have any questions, or your child wants to join the team, please contact Judy Conti at
[email protected] for more information.
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Track is Back!
The CYO fall track season is here. Any student, boy or girl, in 3rd grade or above is eligible to compete. CYO track has sprints, middle distance runs, long distance runs and field events, including long jump, turbo javelin toss, softball toss and shot put. We will use practices to find the best events for athletes and are always happy to welcome new athletes to the team. You do not need to be experienced or fast to join the team.
There is just one CYO fall meet, which will be held at Bishop O'Connell H.S. on September 30th (7th/8th graders and 3rd/4th graders) and on October 1st (5th/6th graders). We will have practices on Fridays after school, beginning on September 8th and on Sunday afternoons from 1-2:30pm, beginning this Sunday, Sept. 3rd. If you have an eligible athlete who would like to practice, they can just come to practice this Sunday.
You can contact Brian Nienaber at
[email protected] if you would like more information.
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Cross Country is Back Too!
CYO cross country season is also here. Any student, boy or girl, in 3rd grade or above is eligible to compete. The CYO championship cross country meet will be on Sunday, Nov. 5th for all grades. The distances are 2K (grades 3&4), 3K (grades 5&6), and 4K (grades 7&8), so any athlete who has completed a 5K has already run a longer distance that they will run at the meet. We will also have some developmental meets, scrimmages, and the Hawks 5K for athletes to get used to competing.
We welcome and encourage athletes who want to run both track and cross country. Coach Richey can work with our distance runners to help them at both the longer distance track events and cross country. We want to particularly encourage cross country-only athletes to come to the track practices on Fridays and Sundays. We have some great plans for getting them some work in. Later in the season, we will have some cross country specific practices.
One of our coaches, Chris Richey, is an experienced and successful distance running trainer and can get athletes ramped up to their distance for the CYO meet. There is noneed for your athlete to be an experienced distance runner to join the team. We had quite a few athletes make impressive jumps in their performance last season! If your son or duaghter is interested in joining the team, or you have questions, please contact Brian Nienaber (
[email protected]) or Chris Richey (
[email protected])
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Join Cub Scouts
Boys in 1st-5th grade are eligible to become Cub Scouts. Cub Scout Pack 680 will be holding a Scouting Night on Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 7pm in the school cafeteria. Please see the attached
flyer for details.
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NEW Parish Office Hours
Starting Tuesday, Sept. 5, the St. Louis parish office will be closed Monday-Friday for lunch from 12:30-1:30pm.
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Good Shepherd 42nd Annual International Festival
Three days of celebration! Sept. 2-4
Yard Sale: Saturday, Sept. 2
8:30-9:30am $10 entry; 9:30am-4pm free entry
5K & Family Fun Run: Saturday, Sept. 2, 8am
Multicultural Mass: Sunday, Sept. 3
Festival Day! Monday, Sept. 4, 11am-5pm
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Bishop Ireton Cheer Clinic
Calling all 1st-8th grade girls! The 2016 and 2017 CCA National Grand Champion Bishop Ireton Cheerleading Team is holding its annual cheer clinic on Saturday, October 28. This is a fun-filled day, with the girls learning cheers and dances which they will perform with the BI Cheerleading Team during halftime at the varsity football game! It is also the Team's biggest fundraiser - help send them to National's again this year to defend their title! Please see the attached
flyer more more information on the clinic. If you have any questions, feel free to email Marianne Olson at
[email protected]. Please send in your completed forms and payment via kidmail to Justine Olson, Room 4-3. Go Cardinals!
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UPCOMING CALENDAR EVENTS
Please refer to the
school calendar on the website for additional information. Subscribe to the calendar to automatically receive all of the latest updates.
Sept. 4 - Labor Day, No School
Sept. 5 - First Day of Preschool (Lambs, Zebras, Pandas)
Sept. 6 - First Day of Preschool (Monkeys)
Sept. 6 - Spirit Dinner at Moe's Southwest Grill, 5-9pm
Sept. 12 - PTO Board Meeting, 7pm
Sept. 13 - New Family Coffee, 8:15am, Cafeteria
Sept. 13 - Spirit Dinner at Moe's Southwest Grill, 5-9pm
Sept. 19 - PTO Meeting & K-5 Back-to-School Night, 7pm, McClunn Hall
Sept. 21 - Middle School Back-to-School Night, 6:30pm
Sept. 21 - Preschool Parent Open House, 7pm
Sept. 22 - 11:30 Dismissal (PM EDC open)
Sept. 26 - Annual Fund Benefactors Reception, 7:30-9pm
Sept. 28 - PTO Room Parent Meeting, 6:30pm
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St. Louis Catholic School
2901 Popkins Lane, Alexandria, VA 22306
Principal: Kathleen McNutt
Phone: 703-768-7732
www.stlouisschool.org
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Copyright 2017-2018. All Rights Reserved.
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