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Dear Parents,
During the summer, Mrs. Deborah Lockwood, STM Art teacher, suffered a debilitating fall that injured her right arm and wrist. For the first quarter, Art classes continued with the support of substitutes, and through teamwork from STM faculty.
Although we did hold art classes, there will be no art grades for this quarter on the upcoming report card. At this time, we now know that Mrs. Lockwood's recovery will take longer than anticipated. Therefore, we ask that you warmly welcome Mr. Hadrian Mendoza, a highly-qualified artist, who will continue art classes for students in PreK to 5th for the remainder of this semester. Middle school students will continue to attend the specialized classes prepared by both
Mrs. O'Rourke, STM Librarian, and the Computer teachers, Mrs. Laura Winstanley and Mrs. Emily Stocker. We ask that you keep Mrs. Lockwood in your prayers as she continues to recover from her injury.
God bless,
Eleanor McCormack
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REPORT CARD TUTORIAL
Parents are invited to attend a tutorial to learn the
difference in report card grading and evaluations as established by the Office of Catholic Schools. Two sessions will be held in the school library on Monday and Tuesday November 6 and 7 from 7:00am to 7:45am. Please park in the church parking lot when you arrive.
- Session 1 for students in Grades 1-3 will be held on Monday, November 6 from 7:00am-7:45am.
- Session 2 for students in Grades 4-8 will be held on Tuesday, November 7 from 7:00am-7:45am
Preschool and Kindergarten students do not receive report cards until January 2018, but parents of these students are welcome to attend.
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CHICK-FIL-A THIS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, FOR YEARLY SUBSCRIBERS
A Chick-Fil-A lunch will be served this Friday, November 3, to those students who purchased Chick-Fil-A for the 2017-18 school year.
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LEFTOVER HALLOWEEN CANDY?
STM is collecting your leftover candies to send to U. S. troops.
Please bring any remaining treats to the school office for collection. Thank you!
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HAVE YOU SIGNED UP?
Parent-Teacher conferences are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, November 9 and 10. Listed below are the links to each teacher's Signup Genius page. Just click the name of your child's teacher to go directly to the Signup.
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STM CARES - COAT DRIVE
STM is once again conducting a winter coat drive. As the weather is getting colder and we are pulling our warmer clothes out of the closet, please consider donating any extra coats, gloves, hats, scarves or boots that may no longer fit or you no longer wear. The donations will go to those in need in our community. We would be thrilled to accept your donations through Monday, November 27. Donations should be brought to Room 8, Mrs. Meehan's room. If you have any questions,
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SIGN UP FOR NOVEMBER
HOMEWORK HOUR
It is time to sign up for December Homework Hour. Hour-long homework assistance sessions are offered Mondays through Thursdays in Room 13 from 3:20 to 4:20pm. The cost for this service is $15.00 per daily session per student that is charged to your FACTS account. Students not picked up from Room 13 by 4:20pm will be checked into the Extended Day program.
Please complete the attached form and return to the school office. Confirmation of registration will be sent via email.
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LIONS VISION/HEARING SCREENING
NOVEMBER 8, 2017
The Lion's van will be at STM on Wednesday, November 8th
to screen vision and hearing for students in 1st to 8th grade. Please complete the attached form to sign up for screening.
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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED--WILL TRAIN
--If you can help, please email
Mrs. Menacho at
nurse@stmschool.org.
Training will be provided and it is a great way to earn your
volunteer hours! We are looking for at least 5-6 volunteers to assist
from 8am-12:30 or for any portion of that time. Any assistance that you can provide is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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The holidays are fast approaching so please mark your calendar now for one of the most anticipated PTO events of the year -- the STM Pancake Breakfast with Santa!
When
: Saturday, December 2nd from 9:00 am - Noon
Where
: The STM School Cafeteria and Gym
What
: Please join us for a wonderful breakfast featuring fluffy buttermilk pancakes, hot sausage, and warm beverages including hot chocolate and marshmallows! The kids will have a chance to visit with Santa, participate in an assortment of holiday crafts, win amazing raffle baskets, and shop at "The Little Elves' Christmas Shop" to pick out that perfect present to put under the tree for their Mom, Dad, or other loved ones. There will also be a photographer on-site to capture the magical moments with Santa!
Look out for registration forms coming home via backpack mail this week. Don't forget to reserve your space early to ensure your family gets a preferred time slot with Santa!
Interested in volunteering at the event? Please sign up in A to Z connect. We look forward to seeing you there!
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THE STM ARTS & CRAFTS GROUP
The STM Arts & Crafts Group will have its annual Bazaar/Spaghetti Dinner on
Saturday, November 4, 2017, 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. in Msgr. Burke Hall. Gather your family and friends and join us for a wonderful evening of good food, lively conversation and dancing, if you like, to the live music of "Nova Zanz" AND do your Christmas shopping from a selection of all the beautiful handmade items displayed. How much better can it get! We are asking for donations of baked goods to be used for desserts and for our "Baked Goods" sale table. Any questions, please call Marie Flores at 703-979-3329.
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Your Christmas Wishes expressed in beautiful cards presented by the Cathedral Council of the Knights of Columbus
Net proceeds support K of C Charitable activities at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More
Cards will be sold after the 5:30 p.m. Masses beginning Saturday November 4 and after 8, 9:30 and 11 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Masses beginning Sunday, November 5 (while quantities last)
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40 DAYS FOR LIFE CAMPAIGN
The 40 Days for Life campaign is scheduled from September 27 through November 5. Join the silent vigil at 900 S. Washington Street., Falls Church praying for the end of abortion and for the closing of the Falls Church abortion facility. Any day you can be present is a good day, but STM Cathedral parish is concentrating on the Mondays and Tuesdays in October: anytime on Mondays and 2-4 pm on Tuesdays. Your presence outside of the abortion facility does not go unnoticed by women considering an abortion and will sometimes discourage them from going inside. You can also participate in 40 Days for Life by remembering to pray daily for the end of abortion.
Clicking
here will connect you to SignUp Genius. This scheduling hardware will help us ensure that all hours during our committed time are covered.
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Parenting by Dr. Rene News
Parenting Workshop Schedule
2017 - 2018
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Join Dr. Rene for an informative parenting workshop! These workshops are praised for being engaging, thorough and full of practical solutions. These workshops currently meet in McLean at Country Day School. For more information and to register, please click here.
Managing Children's Anger & Frustration
Sat. Nov. 4 9:00 - 11:00am
Encouraging Honesty & Respect
Thurs. Nov. 16 9:20 - 10:20am
Kindergarten Readiness & Academic Motivation
Wed. Nov. 29 7:00 - 9:00pm
Positive Discipline 1-Day
Sat. Dec. 2 9:00am - 3:00pm
Managing Mealtimes & Picky Eaters
Wed. Dec. 6 7:00 - 9:00pm
Teaching Money, Chores & Allowance
Thurs. Dec. 7 9:20 - 10:20am
Tantrums, Whining & Backtalk
Mon. Dec. 11 7:00 - 9:00pm
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Tips for a Better Clean Up Time
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Your kids have been playing all afternoon, moving from one activity to the next. You realize dinner is 20 minutes away and the house is a mess. There are toys EVERYWHERE.
- Start young - I tend to think clean-up should be part of play from the beginning. Even before children can help, you can talk to them about how "we are done playing now so I am going to put these toys away." By eighteen months to two years old, give them small jobs as part of the clean up. By two and a half they should really be participating and hopefully by four years old taking ownership.
- Get organized - For kids to be able to put away toys, there should be clear places for toys to go. This means having a preferably clear bin for each type of toy, a box for puzzle pieces, a cabinet or shelf for puzzle boxes, a big basket for balls or a cabinet for dress-up clothes. It may take a few months to teach kids where and how things get put away and it is worth the effort.
- Have a consistent plan - If you find your kids do better cleaning up after each activity, make that the expectation. Better to clean up at the end of the day, that's good too. Find your plan and then stick with it.
- Everyone cleans - Everyone who gets to play, helps to clean.
- Give warnings - Clean up time is a transition. Many children benefit from having a warning before transitions. With my own kids, this is "We are done in five minutes, finish up," and "One more minute, do your last thing." It works best if you say the same things for each warning and mean the same amount of time. If sometimes when you say "five minutes" you mean two because you are in a hurry or you mean twenty because you get distracted, your warnings aren't very helpful.
- Clean-up songs - Every preschool teacher and most of the parents I know sing "Clean up time. Time to clean. Everyone is helping." That's a start. Google "clean up songs" or "clean up games," there are lots.
- Divide and conquer - Several children working together can distract each other. If this is the case, it may work best to assign each a specific job or area of the room to clean. This might also mean one cleans at a time.
- Set small goals - If there really are toys absolutely everywhere, it can be an overwhelming task to clean it all up. It may be helpful to start small and clean up the trains before snack and the legos after.
- Positive choices - Giving children choices would be saying "do you want to start with the blocks or balls?" or "Would you like to throw those in or dump truck them in the basket?" When a child makes a choices they are that much closer to doing the behavior. Here is a full blog post on how choices work in discipline.
- Challenges - Can child count all the blocks they put on the shelf? Can child pick up more blocks than you? Can child make neat stacks? Can child put all the blocks away in two minutes? Ready, go!
- Jobs - Jobs around clean up time might be the block supervisor, the doll organizer, or the art supply sorter. Give a title and a brief job description.
- Read books about it - Children's story books include:
- Pigsty by Teague
- Super, Completely and Totally the Messiest by Viorst
- The Messiest Room on the Planet by Kulling
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BLAST SUBMISSIONS
STM Blast items
must be submitted to eblast@stmschool.org by noon on Monday
in order to be included in that week's edition.
All submissions must be in print-ready form.
Items received after this deadline will be held until the following issue.
Thank you for your cooperation.
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Upcoming Events
Friday, November 3
Report Cards Distributed
Monday, November 6
Report Card Tutorial
Grades 1-3
7:00am STM Library
Tuesday, November 7
Report Card Tutorial
Grades 4-8
7:00am STM Library
Wednesday, November 8
Lions Van Hearing & Screening
Thursday, November 9
11:30am Dismissal with Extended Day
Thursday, November 9
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Friday, November 10
11:30 am Dismissal with Extended Day
Friday, November 10
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Sunday, November 12
OPEN HOUSE
11:00am to 1:00pm
STM Lee Hall/Gym
Wed, November 15
OPEN HOUSE
9:00am to 11:00am
STM Lee Hall/Gym
Tuesday, November 21
11:30am Dismissal
with Extended Day
Wed, November 22
NO SCHOOL
THANKSGIVING VACATION BEGINS
Monday, November 27
School resumes
Thurs, November 30
High School Placement Test for 8th grade
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