St. Louis Catholic School Newsletter
MARCH 15, 2019
A Message from the Principal...
Dear St. Louis Families,

Spring is in the air! The time change and the temperature change were both causes for excitement this week. We were also busy sanitizing all week as various students and staff came down with the flu. Please know that we are cognizant of keeping desk areas cleaned at the end of the day, as well as water fountains and cafeteria areas well sanitized. 

Today is report card day! Report cards for the second trimester are coming home in folders for your review and signature. It’s hard to believe, but we are now in the third and final trimester of the school year. Thank you for all of your support from home as we remain focused on strong instruction. 

For those of you who are veteran families, you know that Spring brings chicks and chicken eggs to our preschool. This allows the whole school to celebrate the gift of life from egg to hatching – from conception to birth. Two chicks will be with us the next four weeks, showing us the stages of growth after hatching, and 7 eggs will spend their final few weeks in development with hatching three weeks from now. We had a special visitor this week, Fr. Ed Breshnahan, who enjoyed our students and our chicks! We are blessed by visits from diocesan clergy who remind us of the gift of faith and of our greater church family.

Blessings as you head into the weekend,

Kathleen McNutt
Principal
End-of-Year Dates

8th Grade Last Day of School - Wednesday, June 5
Kindergarten Graduation & Last Day - Thursday, June 6, 9am
8th Grade Graduation - Thursday, June 6, 7pm
Grades 1-7 Last Day of School, Wednesday, June 12, 11:30am
School Announcements
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: Richey, Ridenour, Rivera, Rivera-Robiou, Roberts, Robinson, Robinson and Rohde.
Stations of the Cross
During Lent, parents are welcome to join St. Louis Students at Stations of the Cross on Friday's at 2:30pm in St. Louis Church.

If you must sign your child out early on a Friday during Lent, please do so before 2:30 so our office staff do not interrupt Stations of the Cross.
The April lunch ordering period closes in 5 days!

Wednesday, March 20th is the last day to place your April order.
Please follow this  link to go directly to the online order form.
You will receive an email confirmation after successfully submitting an order.

Please be sure to complete your order!
Many of our families forget to click the "Charge Your Order" button on the last screen and their orders are not received!

Reminder:  Refunds for inclement weather days are automatically processed by the 5th of the following month. There is no need to request the refund.
Annie Jr. Program Shout-outs -- due March 29th!
Now’s your chance to show our Middle School actors your support. Purchase shout-out space in our play program for your child, your child's classmates or even a Mass partner! Check out the Annie Jr. cast list !

Reserve your space today! All shout-outs are due no later than Friday, March 29th. Order Form attached here .
8th Grade Baby Pictures for Yearbook
Attention all 8th grade families:  It’s time to submit your 8th grade student’s baby picture for this year’s school yearbook. It must be uploaded to the Pictavo website no later than March 22, 2019 (one photo per student).

No prints will be accepted this year – all photos must be uploaded by 8th grade students/parents/guardians. Participation for submitting baby pictures of current St. Louis School 8th graders in this yearbook activity is optional.

To upload photos:
  • Visit Pictavo Community at commpe.pictavo.com (use Google Chrome for best results)
  • Find your school, St. Louis School, Alexandria, ID#80012
  • Enter information and “Create Account’
  • Verify e-mail (this may take several minutes)
  • Click or tap “Upload Photos”
  • Select the image(s) for upload
  • Choose an album (8th grade baby pictures)
  • Click or tap ‘Upload Photos’
PTO
Spirit Dinner April 10 & 11
The warmer weather and longer days makes cooking less appealing! Come have dinner with the St. Louis Community at Jersey Mike's. This is a great place for subs of many flavors! April 10-11 from 5-9PM is when it will be held. Please help spread the word and make this Spirit Dinner a great success! You must being the attached flyer for the PTO to get credit.
Volunteer Opportunities
Completed Volunteer Hours as of March 8, 2019

Attached is the updated list of completed PTO volunteer hours as of March 8, 2019. If your name is on the list, that means your family has met the complete requirement of 18 hours for a two-parent family or 9 hours for a single parent family. If your name does not appear on the list, and you have met the requirement, please email the volunteer coordinators so that we can make sure we have your hours recorded.
Thank you for your time and dedication to our school. Your involvement and help are what make St. Louis School a wonderful community.
Vanessa Milewski ( vanessamilewski@yahoo.com and Elizabeth Moncher ( efdmoncher@gmail.com )
Don't forget!
 Individual families are required to track their volunteer hours throughout the school year and to submit them to the PTO Volunteer Coordinators for credit.

VIRTUS REQUIRED
Volunteers must have completed the VIRTUS training seminar AND have a background check clearance to participate in these volunteer opportunities.
NON-VIRTUS

PTO Spring Bake Sale
April 6 & 7, 2019
Bakers: Sign Up Genius
Volunteers: Sign Up Genius

Carpool Chick-fil-A
Help needed selling sandwiches!
May 10, 2019

Year-end CYO Breakfast
Help needed planning and day-of!
May 19, 2019
Contact Judy Conti, jconti@nelp.org
Questions regarding volunteering? Contact Vanessa Milewski ( vanessamilewski@yahoo.com ) and Elizabeth Moncher ( efdmoncher@gmail.com )
Extracurricular Activities & CYO
Odyssey of the Mind
Our St. Louis Odyssey of the Mind teams did fantastic at the Regional Competition this past weekend! Our Division 1 team, coached by Marcy Grzadzinski, placed 2nd in the Structure Toss/Balsa category. Our Division 2 team, coached by Al Kohler (a St. Mary's parent), also placed 2nd in the Structure Toss/Balsa category for their division. The primary teams, coached by Kimberly Crooker, were not scored but looked fantastic and had a lot of fun.
Thank you to all of our parents who generously gave their time to coach, judge, and volunteer at the regional meet.
Baroody After School Offerings at St. Louis - Ceramics
Open to students in grades K-6 who are signed up for EDC on Mondays (families must make sure that their child is signed up on the EDC system for the Mondays that they are participating in the Ceramics Club)
6-week session on Mondays from April 15 - June 3, 3:00-4:00pm, $135
Online registration:  bc-alx-stlouis.jumbula.com  (choose the “EDC” tab). See  flyer for more information.
Parish & Community
Bishop O'Connell Volleyball Festival
When: March 16th
Where: BISHOP O’CONNELL HIGH SCHOOL
Who: Grades 3rd - 8th
Cost: FREE
SCHEDULE: 3rd - 5th grades: 10 am - 11:30 am; 6th - 8th grades: noon - 1:30 pm
For more info contact coach Mehdi melalaoui@bishopoconnell.org
Bishop Ireton Theater Arts Presents Curtains
The musical comedy whodunit will be performed March 22, 23, 24, 29 & 30. See flyer for more information.
Clothing Drive for INOVA Alexandria Hospital
Serena Moss, a 6th grader at St. Louis Catholic School and a Girl Scout Cadette in St. Louis Troop 1697 is working on her Girl Scout Silver Award . She is collecting clothes for the emergency room at the INOVA Alexandria Hospital. Please consider making a donation of new or lightly used, sweatshirts, sweatpants, t-shirts and/or shorts. All donations should be clean, unisex, and preferably with no logos. Sizes XS to XXL are needed. The collection box is by the St. Louis School office through April 16th.
Catholic Schools Chess Tournament
Calling all chess players!! On Sunday March 31, St. Rita School (3801 Russell Rd., Alexandria, VA) will be hosting the fifth annual Catholic Schools Chess Tournament from 1PM-5PM; check-in begins at 12:30PM. All students in grades K-8 who play chess and have achieved a check mate against a similarly talented player are welcome to participate and play for the St. Louis Team. Students do not need to be in the Chess Club or be USCF members. All students will play four rounds of chess against players of a similar age. Trophies will be awarded to individual players and to teams in each age group. To register go here . If you have any questions, please contact Sarah Greiner, 58donahue@cua.edu or 703-931-0149.
Pre-HSPT at Bishop Ireton
7th Grade Families:  Bishop Ireton will offer the Pre-HSPT on May 18, 2019. The Pre-High School Placement Test (Pre-HSPT) is intended to help students become more familiar with the different sections of the HSPT under timed conditions. The results of the Pre-HSPT are not used in the high school admission process. It merely provides a snapshot of your child’s strengths, areas for improvement, and early feedback to identify performance gaps. The Pre-HSPT is a practice test. It is scored using 7th grade norms with all of the same scoring and reporting services as the HSPT. During testing time, parents can join administrators in the auditorium from 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. for a meet and greet and an update on our school programs and offerings. Space is Limited to 75 attendees.  Pre-registration is required.  Same day sign up is not permitted.
Upcoming Knights of Columbus Events
  • Friday Fish Fry - March 8 - April 12, 5-6:30pm. Please see flyer for more information.
  • St. Patrick's Day Dinner - March 16, 2019, 6pm. Please see flyer for more information and tickets.
  • Shrimp & Snow Crab Leg Feast - March 30, 2019, 2-5pm. Please see flyer for more information and tickets.
Upcoming Calendar Events
March 2019
Friday, March 22 - Stations of the Cross, 2:30pm
March 26-27 - Vision & Hearing Screening
Friday, March 29 - Stations of the Cross, 2:30pm