December 1, 2017

Dear St. Al's Families,

We had a great turnout last evening when Taylor Jannsen presented his message of optimism and making your own choice to be positive each day. He had met with the entire student body earlier in the day when he shared personal stories about himself, his grandfather and their struggles with various health issues. They both chose to meet these challenges in a positive way which, he felt, added to their quick recoveries. 


We are having our Advent wreath blessing on Monday at 8:00 AM. You are certainly welcome to join us in Church. 

The 8th grade is donning their saint costumes for the St. Nick Breakfast on Sunday, December 3rd. They will visit each table and explain who their saint was and how his/her saint gained that title. Reservations are on the parish website. 

Report cards will be issued online on Monday after 5:00 PM. Please check your Educate account. Mrs. Schwemmer will be send a separate email explaining the steps to access your student's report card. 

Next week, Dec. 4-8, will see changes in our normal schedule due to our Advent prayer service on Monday, early dismissal on Tuesday; and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception Mass on Friday. The scheduling team has worked hard to ensure that all classroom needs and courses are adequately covered. 


See you in Church!
Pat Wadzinski

REPORT CARD DATES
Report Cards will be available for viewing in Educate on the following dates after 5pm:

December 4th
March 12th
June 11th

NOTE: The updated school calendar can be accessed HERE as well as online on the school website. Please take special note of the updated early release date of January 15th instead of January 16th.

CHESS SCHOLARS WINTER SESSION
Chess Scholars is offering a Winter session beginning Tuesday, December 19th through March 6, 2018. If you are interested in signing up, please see the attached flyer and register ONLINE. Deadline is 12/9/17 for the early bird pricing. There is a flyer also being sent in the Friday backpack mail this week. PLEASE DO NOT SEND PAYMENT TO THE SCHOOL!
One More Week to Bake for Cookie Walk!
There is one week left until the St. Alphonsus Cookie Walk! Thank you to everyone who has signed up to bake or help at this fun holiday event. Even if you haven't signed up, please consider baking 4 dozen or more homemade holiday cookies. Last year we sold out of cookies after 9:00 a.m. Mass and had disappointed faces at 11:00 a.m. Mass. 

Cookie drop off is Friday, December 8th in the morning car line.  We also need volunteers to help collect and assemble cookie trays on Saturday, December 9, and to help sell cookies after Masses Saturday, December 9 and Sunday, December 10. 

Please sign up on the Sign-Up Genius here!  

Save the Date for Fun Fair  –  Friday, February 9, 2018, 5:30-8:30pm.
F un Fair is a family night at St. Alphonsus where the school gym, MPR and the Community Room have fun games, good food, prizes, and lots of raffle baskets. It is an event for all St. Alphonsus School families. 

REMINDER - For 3K through 5th Grade contributions: if you are sending in a cash contribution for the prize room instead of actual prizes, please have that money turned into the school office by  Friday Dec 8th  so our volunteers can start shopping for prizes. See attached flyers for specific information. 

We will be collecting the 7th & 8th grade donations after the Holidays, as those are food related. Thank you in advance for helping make this year’s event fun for all the kids! 

For any Fun Fair questions please contact Wendy Halser,  wendybettinger@hotmail.com  or Madeline Schmidt,  madelinedahl@hotmail.com .


IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES
12/03/17 First Sunday of Advent

12/04/17 Report Cards Available for Viewing on Educate after 5pm
*NOTE - Report cards are not printed and sent home with students*

12/05/17 NOON Dismissal

12/06/17 Panera Bread - 7840 W. Layton Ave. Greenfield 4PM - 8PM

12/08/17 Feast of the Immaculate Conception Mass 8AM 

12/09/17 Home and School Cookie Walk - Community Room

12/10/17 Home and School Cookie Walk - Community Room

12/10/17 Second Sunday of Advent

12/13/17 Mass 8:00 AM 

12/13/17 Unity T-shirt Day

12/17/17 Third Sunday of Advent

12/20/17 Cousin's Night at 7700 S. Lovers Lane 4PM -7PM

12/20/17 Mass 8AM
 
12/22/17 NOON Dismissal

12/22/17 Non-Uniform DRESS UP DAY

12/24/17 Fourth Sunday of Advent

12/25/17-12/29/17 - NO SCHOOL - MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

 SAFETY PATROL 
Cadets should report at 7:15 a.m. each scheduled day. They will have the privileged responsibility of assisting our parents and students during morning drop off. They are supervised by a staff member.  


December 4-8th
Mrs. Boyle

Austin Q.
Brady S.
Jamie Y.
Thomas Y

ST. ALPHONSUS HAPPENINGS
Taylor Jannsen came and talked to our students on November 29th. He is a wonderful motivational speaker. Our students really enjoyed having him come and visit our school. Special thank you to Mrs. Thiele and our VRBD and LIV team for hosting the event!
Congratulations to Isabelle and Mark for winning the Greendale Fire Department's "Plan Your Family's Fire Escape Plan" contest. They won a lunch at the Greendale Fire Department and a ride to the Fire Department in a
fire truck.
HOME AND SCHOOL CORNER

Looking For an Easy Christmas Gift?  
The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to St. Alphonsus in January. Home & School is selling gift certificates that will be valid only at this fair. This would make a great gift for a teacher or stocking stuffer for your student(s). To order, complete the  ATTACHED   order form. Order form must be returned by Monday, December 11th, to be able to fill the order before Christmas break.

Any questions, email Lindsay Rugg,  Lindsay.rugg@gmail.com .
SCRIP
Scrip Tips

Grow your Scrip voucher during the holidays!
Take an extra order form or two to share with family and friends. Let them know how Scrip can help with all their holiday gift card needs! We are a convenient one-stop gift card shop!
 
Does your business give a holiday gift to employees or clients? Why run around from store-to-store when you can send in your order and have it available to pick it up the following Friday. It is super convenient and makes your gift-giving even more generous by helping our school! Please order early in the month to ensure availability.
 
Don’t forget, St. Nick comes the evening of Dec. 5 th . Give him a hand by picking up a gift card or two to use as stocking stuffers!
 
When and where is Scrip available this week?
Sat. Dec. 2 nd           4:00 - 4:30pm in the Community Room
Sun. Dec. 3 rd              8:30 - 11:00am in the Community Room
Thurs. Dec. 7 th        Backpack mail (Please send orders in by Wednesday)
Fri. Dec. 8 th             7:30-8:30 am in the School Lobby
Sat. Dec. 9 th           4:00 - 4:30pm in the Community Room
Sun. Dec. 10 th             8:30 - 11:00am in the Community Room
 
Stay up to date with Scrip
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IN AND AROUND OUR COMMUNITY...
"Dickens of a Village" TONIGHT!

Please click the following LINK for the flyer about the Dickens of a Village schedule of events for tonight. There will be a shuttle St. Alphonsus to the village since parking can get a bit congested.
Greendale High School Presents: It’s a Wonderful Life
Greendale High School is hosting a production of It’s a Wonderful Life on December 7,8, and 9th. For more information, please see the flyer or call  414-423-0110  for tickets.