St. Louis Catholic School Newsletter
October 6, 2017
A Message from the Principal...
Dear St. Louis Families,

On Thursday and Friday this week, I have been on retreat with all the principals and superintendent of the diocese, and I was blessed to have Fr. Tom Ferguson as our speaker.  Know that the students, staff and families have been in my prayers in a very special way!

Next week brings Fall in full swing!  We officially move to winter uniforms, and K-8 picture day is on the 12th (students do not have to be in uniform that day).  Last year's eighth graders return to us on Tuesday, October 10th for Confirmation!  Bishop Burbidge will be with us, with the sacramental liturgy beginning at 7pm.  Please keep them in your prayers.

I hope everyone is signing up for the Hawks 5K, followed by Hawks Day!  It will be here before we know it (Oct. 22nd).  And if you are a St. Louis alum, please consider joining us for the 8:45am school Mass on Oct. 21st - we are inviting alumni to school following the Mass for coffee, donuts and special tours.  How blessed we are to have so much going on in this vibrant, faith-filled community!

Many blessings,


Peace,
Kathleen McNutt
Principal

Weekly Prayer Intentions
Each day our school community prays for the intentions of our families. This week the following families were included in our prayers: Crenshaw, Crooker, Cross, Crutchfield, Cruz, Cucinotta, Cunningham, Cuyler, Dammer, Daniel, Davis (K,4th,6th) Davis (5th), and Davis (6th)
School Announcements
Winter Uniform Begins Tuesday, Oct. 10th
Students should begin wearing the winter uniform beginning October 10th. Please refer to the uniform guidelines to insure your child is in the proper uniform on Tuesday.

PICTURE DAY - THURSDAY, OCT 12
Picture day is an optional out-of-uniform day for students. Please refer to the Comfy Clothes Guidelines in the Parent/Student Handbook, p.48.
Positive Discipline Parenting Workshop
Mrs. Julianne Reilly, MSW and Mrs. Donna Zientek, LCSW will be facilitating a parent workshop on Monday, Oct. 23, 6:30-8:30pm at St. Louis School. For more information, see the attached flyer or register at https://stlouispositivediscipline.eventbrite.com.
2016-17 Annual Fund Report
A special than you to the St. Louis families, faculty and staff who gave financially and through the gift of prayer to the 2016-17 Annual Fund Campaign. The campaign raised enough money to purchase 3 new classroom carts of chromebooks (82 in total) and 35 top-of-the-line computers for all teacher and staff desks. Additional funds were set aside to provide tuition assistance. The Annual Fund Report was sent out electronically earlier this week and can also be found on the school website. In the coming weeks, we will launch the 2017-18 campaign with a focus on replacing the floor in McClunn Hall.
Help the Homeless Mini-Walk
The Help the Homeless Mini-Walk will be held on Thursday, Oct. 19 at 9am. The walk is a fundraiser as well as a prayer exercise. Funds raised are for United Community Ministries. UCM works in the local area helping those that are vulnerable, as Pope Francis would say. They help the homeless, but also have a food bank, job training service, help with bill payment and have a thrift shop.

All donations are tax deductible. Please make checks payable to United Community Ministries. For additional information, please see the attached flyer.

Tissues & Paper Towels for the Clinic
Sniffle season is approaching! If you would like to donate paper towels or tissues to the clinic, we would be very grateful! We prefer the select-a-size style paper towels in order to reduce waste when wrapping up those ice packs, although any rolls are appreciated. The small box tissues are easier to store in our space, but again, we appreciate any and all donations!

Teal Pumpkin Project
Autumn is in the air and decorations are beginning to appear in neighborhoods. As you plan for trick-or-treaters, please be aware that the number of food allergies have increased. There is a movement called the Teal Pumpkin Project that enables trick-or-treaters with food intolerance or allergy concerns to identify homes that offer non-food items either in addition to or in lieu of candy. For more information, please see the Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) website.

Crutches Collection
Many of you have asked if the school clinic can use crutches and orthopedic braces (in good condition). While we cannot use them here at school, there is a fantastic Catholic organization downtown who runs a free clinic. They will be traveling to Haiti in October for a medical mission and Sr. Dede has told us that they can use the crutches there. If you have crutches that you would like to re-home, please send them to the nurses' attention at school. Here is a little information about Sr. Dede and the clinic downtown.
PTO
PTO BOARD
Sharon Moss, President   srjones@hotmail.com
Carolyn Koch, Vice President   carolynlett@yahoo.com
Beth Burke, Secretary   burke62801@gmail.com
Melissa McGuire, Treasurer    straydog64@gmail.com
Want the right T-shirt size?
Register NOW for the Hawks 5K & Fun Run - Saturday, Oct. 21
The order for the official race t-shirts is due, so help us get it right by sending in your registration form today! Did we mention there is a discount for advance registration? Families can save up to $60 for 4 runners. Don't miss this day of health, wellness, fellowship and fun. If you have never run or walked in a race before, this is your chance to enjoy an official course in a welcoming setting. Both the 1.5 Mile walk and the 5K start and end at the school.
  • 8:00am - Hawks 1.5 Mile Fun Run/Walk (registration required)
  • 8:30am - Hawks 5K Run/Walk (registration required)
To register online for the Hawks 5K & Fun Run, visit: https://runsignup.com/Race/VA/Alexandria/StLouisHawks5K or you can print a registration form and send it in with a check. Forms are also available in the school office.

Stay for the Hawks Day Celebration! Whether or not you participate in the Walk or Run, join us at St. Louis School from 9am-1pm with games, crafts, a cake walk, community responder demonstrations, bounce houses, and food from BAREFOOT BBQ by Randy Davis. BAREFOOT BBQ is donating 100% of all receipts from Hawks Day to St. Louis School. Admission is free, so bring the whole family!
Calling All Barefoot BBQ Fans!
Barefoot BBQ by Randy Davis will be featured this year at Hawks Day. The Davis family donates all supplies for the BBQ and donates 100% of the receipts for the day to St. Louis PTO. Enjoy delicious BBQ while supporting St. Louis at Hawks Day.
Volunteer for Hawks Day!
We will host Hawks Day on Saturday, Oct. 21st. This is our big fall community event and includes a Fun Run, Race, and all sorts of fun activities for kids and adults. It's always a great event and we need A LOT of volunteers to make this day a success. We ask that you sign up for a slot or two to help with set-up, running the day's activities, and/or cleaning up. Please use the Sign-Up Genius found at this link: 
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090545a5ae2da20-stlouis1.  

Please note that VIRTUS training is NOT required for Hawks Day volunteering (except for one slot which is clearly indicated) so this is a great opportunity to get in some hours if you have not yet finished the VIRTUS process and been certified. Thanks so much for all your help and if you have any questions, please contact Judy Conti at jconti@nelp.org.
PTO Used Uniform Sale - Oct. 14 & 15
Winter Uniform starts October 10th. The PTO Used Uniform Sale will be held after the 5:30pm Mass on Saturday, Oct. 14 and 8am-12pm on Sunday, Oct. 15 in the school cafeteria. See the attached flyer for details and review the uniform guidelines on the school website.
Fall Bake Sale - Oct. 14 & 15
Calling all talented bakers and food enthusiasts!!! We need baked goods and volunteers for our Fall Bake Sale on Saturday, Oct. 14 after the 5:30pm Mass and Sunday, Oct. 15 from 8am-2pm in the school cafeteria. The proceeds will go to the St. Louis School PTO. To sign up, please contact Carolyn Fortes ( pastryred@hotmail.com) or www.signupgenius.com (Bake Sale/Bake Sale Worker). Thank you all for your continued support and hope to see you all at THE BAKE SALE!
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
Extracurricular Activities & CYO
Registration Still Open for CYO Cross Country
The St. Louis cross country team is still looking for new members. We are going to have some trail/XC specific practices at Ft. Hunt Park, Lot E, starting this Friday from 4:30-5:30pm. We will also have practices on Sundays from 1:30-3pm. If your athlete is doing Girls on the Run or Heart and Sole on Fridays, she can just come to Sunday practices. If you are interested in joining the team, you can come to practice on Friday or Sunday or email coaches Brian Nienaber ( bnienaber31@gmail.com) and Chris Richey ( cwr20878@yahoo.com).

The cross country season has its end of season championship meet on November 5th, so there is still plenty of time for new runners to train and be ready for the meet. No previous running experience needed.
CYO Basketball
St. Louis has a proud tradition for fielding CYO Basketball teams for girls and boys in 3rd-8th grade. Practices will be twice a week and begin the week of October 30th. Games will be played on the weekends in December through early March, with time off for the Christmas vacation. If you are interested, please contact the coaches for your kids' grades as named on the attached   flyer. Go Hawks!
CYO Track Meet
The St. Louis track team had an outstanding showing at the Fall CYO track meet. Over 40 athletes competed and while we are still waiting for all the results to be finalized, all of the St. Louis athletes competed fiercely while still exhibiting great sportsmanship and great team camaraderie. In addition, the whole coaching staff is so grateful to all of the parents who helped in so many different ways this season and at the meet, but most especially the parents who volunteered on the field during the meet. These efforts made the meet a great experience for our athletes. We look forward to seeing all these athletes and many more back for the spring track season in a few months. Special thanks to coaches Brian Nienaber, Chris Richey, Igor Boras, CJ Howard, Ernie Robinson and Bill Buffaloe who spent their Friday and Sunday afternoons training all our athletes and inspiring them to do so well and represent St. Louis so proudly.
Parish & Community
Columbus Day Dodgeball Tournament - Oct. 9
Teens from St. Louis and Good Shepherd are invited to enter our first ever Fall Dodgeball Tournament on Columbus Day. There are three age brackets: 4-6th grades, 7-8th grade, and 9-12th grade. Proceeds will benefit WorkCamp for both parishes. Visit here to register your team and complete your permission form.
Youth Ministry Registration
If you haven't had the chance to register for youth ministry, please take a minute to fill out a St. Louis Youth Ministry Registration Form (one per family) and a St. Louis Youth Ministry Permission Form (one per youth). This will help us stay in touch with you about upcoming opportunities and gives us emergency contacts, medical information, and other important things. On the back of the registration form you may see that we have introduced a fee. This helps cover the cost of onsite programs, but if this presents a significant burden, please just let me know when you turn the form in as we do not want this keeping teens from participating. Tiffany Lambert, Director of Youth Ministry -- youth@saintlouisparish.org
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.

Oct. 9 - No School, Columbus Day
Oct. 10 - Winter Uniform Begins
Oct. 12 - K-8 Picture Day
Oct. 14-15 - PTO Used Uniform & Bake Sales after all Masses, Cafeteria
Oct. 17 - Coffee with the Principal, 8:15am, Cafeteria
Oct. 20 - Alumni "Welcome Back" Mass & Social, 8:45am
Oct. 21 - Hawks 5K & Hawks Day
Oct. 21 - Fall Book Fair, 9am-1pm, Library
Oct. 23-26 - Fall Book Fair, 8:30am-5:45pm daily, Library
Oct. 26 - End of 1st Quarter
Oct. 27 - No School, Professional Development Day
St. Louis Catholic School
2901 Popkins Lane, Alexandria, VA 22306
Principal: Kathleen McNutt
Phone: 703-768-7732
www.stlouisschool.org
STAY CONNECTED:
Copyright 2017-2018. All Rights Reserved.