Parent Bulletin
June 10, 2020
|
|
It was both fun and sad to have our "good-bye parade" today. Fun to see you and your kids again, and fun to act silly with waving and farewell shouts. Sad to realize what a difficult position kids have been put in this spring with school-building closures. Thanks for those who were able to drive in the parade and put smiles on your kids' faces...and on our faculty's faces! (If you weren't able to drive by today, check out our videos on our
Facebook page.
)
The teachers and I loved seeing our students for one last time before summer vacation, but I need to let you know that we are worried about your children in three ways.
First, we worry that our distance learning in the 3rd trimester did not do justice to the academic knowledge and skills that would have been more fully developed had we been able to hold school as normal. We tried our best - you tried your best - your kids were troopers - but...we know online-learning isn't optimal. We will be improving our distance learning procedures and practices over the summer, so we'll be prepared for future, similar situations, should we be required to close. But because of the obvious loss of academics due to COVID-closure, please make sure your children complete these required and recommended
summer-learning lessons
from now through August.
Secondly, we are worried about your children in the area of their social-emotional health. Kids need to be active, need to socialize (and work on building their social skills), and need to feel the world can be a safe place. All of these usual acts were curtailed this spring. The teachers and I encourage you, as soon as you are able, to get your child back to "normal" - with summer outings, summer camps (don't forget
ours
!), and summer get-togethers with friends. We know that kids typically are on screens too often, and we exacerbated that in these past months due to online-learning, so hopefully your children's computers, iPads, smart phones, and video games can get "coincidentally, tragically lost"
:-)
for the coming weeks, forcing your kids to go outside and get active.
The third way we are worried about your kids is in regards to their spiritual health. In a usual spring, your youngsters would have walked the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, had a solemn celebration with their family on Easter Sunday, attended numerous Masses (including our many St. Louise School Masses), and prayed daily with their classmates and teachers. Unfortunate
ly, our
coronavirus pandemic
pushed many people's prayer lives off the radar since March. We are excited to have in-person Masses return this month, and at St. Louise Parish, that means outdoor Masses are now being held on weekends right in front of our main school building. If you aren't already on the Parish's
Flocknote-communication messaging app
, please sign up now so you will learn the details of how to attend these outdoor Masses.
A person who has been on bed-rest for three months needs to be motivated to get back on his/her feet and start moving, along with the need to develop a plan to steadily build up muscles and endurance. A person who hasn't been attending Mass or participating in other regular prayer-time for three months needs a similar push of motivation and planning. It has been too easy for your kids (and we adults) to have gotten comfortable with sleeping-in on Sundays since March, not bothering to dress up and drive to church. It has become a habit for many to push aside our spiritual well-being during the lockdowns and sheltering, and focus only on our physical health and our temporal needs. I strongly encourage you to motivate your family to "start moving" again and "get back in shape" in the areas of their spiritual health and prayer lives. Besides going to Mass again, one action you can take as the head of your household is to find movies, books, and videos for you and your children to view on the
Formed.org
site that all St. Louise families now have free subscriptions to. (See more about Formed in the article below.)
+ + + + +
In preparation for the 2020-21 school year, as new guidelines and mandates are given to schools by the state superintendent, the governor, and the Department of Health in the coming days, the school faculty and I will discuss what changes we will have to implement at St. Louise, so to keep our community healthy, to allay any concerns, and to be in concert with the state. Once procedures are finalized this summer for any different ways that we will need to conduct school starting in September, you will be notified. It's possible we may need some of your input, depending on what changes are mandated, so please be on the lookout later this summer for my emails and possibly a Survey-Monkey survey.
While waiting for our state to list the updated actions schools must take for the fall, we have already heard from the
CDC
on some health and safety actions that they ask schools to plan for in 2020-21. Some of these actions, which are what our faculty will be centering on this summer in preparation for the new school, include:
- Promote healthy hygiene practices such as hand washing;
- Intensify cleaning, disinfection, and ventilation;
- When feasible, encourage physical distancing through increased spacing, small groups, and limited mixing between groups;
- Implement procedures to check for signs and symptoms of students and employees daily upon arrival;
- Encourage anyone who is sick to stay home;
- Regularly communicate and monitor developments with local authorities, employees, and families regarding cases, exposures, and updates to procedures.
Along with following the above actions, you can be assured that there are 5
C'
s that St. Louise School has been following since before COVID-times and will continue to follow as we move forward in the COVID-times of 2020:
- C-ATHOLICITY - God is always present at St. Louise, divinely guiding our school faculty, students, and school parents.
- C-OMMUNITY - We are a school family who supports each other.
- C-ARING - Students are known by and loved by their teachers.
- C-ALM – St. Louise is a peaceful place that can help children with anxiety or unsettled concerns.
- C-ONTINUITY – Even when our building is mandated to be closed, the teaching and learning will continue.
St. Louise School has been providing an excellent education with a Catholic foundation since 1961, and even a pandemic can’t stop us from our mission!
+ + + + +
I’d like to leave you in my final “blog” of this school year with two prayers. The first is a famous prayer from Saint Francis de Sales, a 16
th
Century French priest. (If you haven’t read his famous book,
Introduction to the Devout Life
, I recommend it.) Saint Francis de Sales has some words of wisdom that I’ve always kept close to me as both a wise reminder and spiritual encouragement. His words are definitely ones I've prayed during this spring of school-closure and COVID-illness:
“
Do not look forward in fear to the changes in life; rather, look to them with full hope that as they arise, God, whose very own you are, will lead you safely through all things. And when you cannot stand it, God will carry you in His arms. Do not fear what may happen tomorrow. The same understanding Father who cares for you today, will take care of you then and every day. He will either shield you from suffering or will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.
”
My second prayer to share is from Pope John Paul II, and it's fitting to pray during this time of civil unrest and riots:
"Lord Jesus Christ, who are called the Prince of Peace,
who are yourself our peace and reconciliation,
who so often said, "Peace to you,"
grant us peace.
Make all men and women witnesses of truth, justice, and brotherly love.
Banish from their hearts whatever might endanger peace.
Enlighten our rulers that they may guarantee and defend the great gift of peace.
May all peoples on the earth become as brothers and sisters.
May longed for peace blossom forth and reign always over us all."
+ + + + +
As we close the school year, I want to say thank you to our outstanding teachers and school staff, and to you, our super school parents, for the extra effort that you all gave to make this the best school year possible under the stressful circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic. We most likely have all felt at times this spring a great strain to our psyches. A couple of weeks ago in this blog I wrote about my own frustration with school and church closures, and I want to apologize for coming across in any way that gave the impression I was not in concert with the Seattle Archdiocese. I will make sure future communication as principal displays my true spirit of unity with the Archbishop and with our pastor, Father Gary. Thanks for understanding, and let us hold in each other in prayer as we move from spring to summer, and hopefully from physical separation to rekindled community.
Blessings on your day...and on your summer!
MR. FITZ
p.s.
Just when you thought our 2020-21 faculty staffing was firmed up, I have a surprise addition! Erin Aitken will be returning to teach at St. Louise this coming school year, job-sharing with Mary Herridge in 8A. Erin will be teaching junior high religion one day a week next school year, with Mary desiring to cut back her work days to four days a week. Erin previously taught both 1st and 5th grade at St. Louise, and currently teaches part time at Bellevue Christian. She and her husband Matt have graduated two children from St. Louise, and have one daughter still enrolled with us. We’re happy to have Mrs. Aitken return to us and to add her talents to our outstanding junior high program!
|
|
CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
Today
- Every school parent is asked to please sign up today for the volunteer job(s) you would like to commit to for 2020-21; you may do so HERE; please see the article below for more information
Monday, June 22
- Report Cards mailed home; please see the article below for the instances when report cards will not be able to be released
Tuesday, June 23
- New School Parent Orientation, 6:30PM
Wednesday, June 24
- School office closes for summer vacation; office to be open limited days/hours in July; reopens daily on August 3
Saturday, July 11
- God's blessings on the wedding today of St. Louise's new math teacher, Braeden Neal, and St. Louise's new kindergarten teacher, Lauren Yount! You will be able to meet (and congratulate) Mr. and Mrs. Neal when school resumes on September 8.
August 3 through August 28
- Four weeks of Summer Camp take place at St. Louise for upcoming grade K-5 students; St. Louise School students and children from other schools/homeschooling are invited to attend one or more weeks; please find more information on St. Louise Summer Camps HERE
Wednesday, August 26
- Playdate on Bigtoy for all incoming PreK and Kdg. students and their families, 3:00-4:00PM
- Used Uniform and Charger Gears Sales from 4:00-5:30PM
Tuesday, September 8
- The 59th year of St. Louise School begins! Passport Day scheduled for this date.
CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE SCHOOL CALENDAR
HERE
|
|
Time to Sign Up for Your Volunteer Jobs for the New Year
|
We are excited to announce a new way for school families to sign up for the volunteer jobs they would like to commit to for the 2020-21 school year!
Thanks to the Parents’ Club purchasing a school-wide account to the
SignUpGenius
app, we can now use this familiar
SignUpGenius
process to list the dozens of school programs and events needing parent volunteers from anytime from this August to next June.
We ask every school family to go right now to our new St. Louise
SignUpGenius
site -
http://www.stlouiseschool.org/signup
- and scroll through all the opportunities to be involved next school year with your child’s school and to support the teachers, staff, and program chairpersons who would love your assistance.
Some volunteer opportunities are limited, due to having only spaces for a few parents to help, so it would be a good idea to not procrastinate, but to start signing up now for your volunteer positions. Later this summer, or into the fall, the staff member or fellow parent who is in charge of the volunteer job for which you signed up, will contact you.
We will continue as the new school year proceeds in the fall to also list volunteer opportunities on a regular basis in the Thursday Bulletin and via individual teachers’ newsletters or staff members’ emails. So the jobs listed currently for you to commit to will not be your only opportunities to volunteer in 2020-21. But now with our own
SignUpGenius school-wide account
, we will have a real-time method for having a continual listing of volunteer positions that have not been filled and are waiting for the generous, talented St. Louise parent community to take on.
The process for recording your volunteer hours throughout the school year will continue as always. When you are ready to log your hours as you start your volunteer position, you do this at the “submit hours” link at
http://web2.stlouiseschool.org/volunteer
. Remember, you are expected in the coming new school to volunteer for at least 40 hours from now through next June, 2021.
Thanks in advance for the time and energy you give in a myriad of ways to St. Louise Parish and School!
|
|
If you haven't yet viewed it, the 5th graders' video showing all the students acting as famous Americans in history - The History Maker Project - is on our
school's Youtube page
. What intelligent and creative 5th graders we have! Above, Dhani "becomes" Neil Armstrong in his History Maker presentation.
|
|
Please Make Sure Your Child's Report Card Will Get Mailed to You
|
Third trimester report cards will be postal mailed to all grade K-8 families on June 22. Please remember that report cards CANNOT be mailed if a family still has any outstanding commitments:
- Tuition paid (the final 2019-20 tuition payment will be auto-transferred on June 20);
- 40-Volunteer-Hours completed or a fee paid here in lieu of hours;
- Annual School Gift Campaign donation sent in.
Thank you for fulfilling your 2019-20 commitments to St. Louise! If you have questions, please contact the school office or the program/person associated with the respective bullet-point above.
|
|
What athletic, motivated, and involved students we have at St. Louise! Take a look at the
WALK-E-THON video
that Mrs. Cervantes created to show all the fun and fitness our kids had during May.
|
|
St. Louise Summer Camps Take Place on Campus this August
|
We plan on holding our Summer Camps in August. Maria Zambrano's team is coming up with sensible plans to hold four weeks of camp sessions on campus that will ensure a clean environment with plenty of hand washing and physical distancing, as well as lots of time outdoors. Camp is open to children entering grades K-5 in the fall, and each week's session will be limited to 15 children. Please go
here
for more information or email
Maria
. Remember, you may sign up your child for a single week or multiple weeks. Don't delay! Once we fill a week with 15 kids, that session will be closed to new registrants.
|
|
June 1st was the deadline to commit to your auction donation for SKYBALL! Thank you so much for your incredibly generous support! If you missed the deadline, please do the following immediately:
2.
Commit to donating and item, certificate, wish or gift list by filling out your
procurement form here
.
The minimum donation required is $225, and if you'd like your kiddos to receive the coveted benefit of Free Dress for a date TBD in September, you'll want to donate $400 in cash or item value.
Physical items and gift certificates are not due to the auction office until September 18. For more information about our November 14th event, visit our
website
! You'll find info on gift registries, sponsorships, etc.
Thank you so much for all you do !
St. Louise Parent & Auction Director
|
|
Congratulations, Extraordinary Volunteers!
|
Every June, St. Louise Parish School recognizes a few people as our “volunteers extraordinaire” – volunteers who have a long history of going above and beyond in how much time and devotion they give to the students, staff, and school programs. It has always been a difficult decision to decide which volunteers will be honored each year as our Volunteers Extraordinaire because we have so many wonderful, hard working parent volunteers throughout the school. Our award recipients are chosen from nominations we receive from school staff and fellow school parents.
For 2019-20, we were excited this week to announce and honor these Volunteers Extraordinaire:
- Kristy Charles
- Anais and JC Fawcett;
- John Perreault (pictured below)
|
|
We deeply appreciate the following volunteers for helping in the school library or computer lab throughout this school year:
Hernando Silva; Arlene Isaksen; Sharon Victor; Carolyn Yepez; Allison Weber; Kathleen Kirby; Gabby Schmidt; Fatima Cazares; Claudia Barbeyto; Angela Fernandez; Veronique Tano; Jacintha Vimal; John Perreault.
* * * * *
Thanks to these parents who assisted Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Bazan all school year as office volunteers:
Katie Barrows-Rempe; Laura Bonner; Tiffany Neuman; Kelly Miller; Fatima Cazares; Amy Wilken; Taryn Reed; Michele Rasmussen; Laura Dark; Jackie Munson; Beth O'Rourke; Monica Mora; Rebecca Nightingale; Arlene Isaksen; Rayme Teders; Sasha Moinzadeh; Shiji Varuthattil Das.
* * * * *
We appreciate these volunteers who covered in the nurse's room for Mrs. Reynolds on the days she wasn't working at school:
Maggie Samson; Carolyn McHugh; Lavina Goveas.
|
|
Summer Learning for Your Children Is Either Recommended or Required
|
|
Parents and teachers often worry about the perils of “summer slump.” Students spend 10 weeks away from school over the summer and then come back in September seeming behind where they left off in June. To try and combat this, St. Louise School expects students to do some “homework” over the summer, to keep children out of a slump in math and reading so too much time doesn’t have to be spent on review in the fall. We also need our students to practice keyboarding in the summer, as the only way to get faster with typing is to type with the proper keyboard-finger-positions.
The details of what is expected for summer learning may be found
HERE
.
And following is a summary of what we are asking of your kids, which of course will need parents’ supervision and motivation:
SUMMER KEYBOARDING
Keyboarding skills are essential in today's technology-dependent learning environment, and without proper frequent practice, many children develop poor habits which will end up slowing them down. Just as learning to play a sport or an instrument with correct form is vital, it’s also essential that students use the correct finger positions on the keyboard to build accurate muscle memory. While students are practicing, parents are encouraged to observe and guide their children.
We are REQUIRING that every St. Louise student ENTERING grades 3-7 put in a minimum number of minutes of keyboarding practice at least five days a week, using the online keyboarding programs we will give you. Students have log-in credentials on the keyboarding programs, and each student’s progress will be tracked by their computer teacher during the summer.
SUMMER MATH
St. Louise students ENTERING grades 1-8 in the fall will have RECOMMENDED math work that can be done in various ways:
- Complete free online math lessons on the Khan Academy website;
- Complete the math packets your child’s teacher sends home on June 1, and/or complete the unfinished math workbook pages your teacher sends home at the end of the school year;
- Current 6th and 7th graders should complete their current online books, which will be accessible for summer practice;
- Consider purchasing a math workbook and have your child complete one page every day or two.
SUMMER READING
Our plans at St. Louise School for summer reading this June through August is to have students ENTERING grades K-5 do daily summer reading of any kind, while student ENTERING grades 6-8 are REQUIRED to do summer reading of specific novels and complete specific written assignments.
For students entering grades K-5, we’re giving you suggestions for summer reading, including recommended books, authors, and online resources. Your teachers suggest you read 20 minutes every day this summer. For students entering grades 6-8, Mrs. Patterson and Mr. Gallant will have for you lists of specific novels from which you must choose for summer reading. The teachers have also developed written assignments, to be completed after the reading and due on the first day of language arts class in September.
Finally, if you have children who need to improve their reading skills, please consider enrolling them in the Summer Reading Skills Program offered through Seattle University, College of Education. This summer, they are offering it online for grades PreK – 8. Some of our students have attended this program, and their parents have nothing but positive feedback. For detailed information, by grade level, visit:
https://seattleu.readingclasses.org/
|
|
At Monday's end-of-year (streaming) Mass, we listed the students who have been Altar Servers at St. Louise Masses, but we accidentally left off the name of 7th grader, Ethan R. (see here as the cross-bearer).
Thank you, Ethan, for your volunteer ministry of being an Altar Server!
|
|
You Can Act Now to Support Catholic Education
|
|
As the economy has slowed during the pandemic, so has funding for Catholic schools. Many parents face difficulty paying tuition, and all parishes supporting Catholic schools are impacted by decreased collections. Click on this
action alert
to urge your US Congressional leaders to include Catholic schools in COVID-19 relief programs. Catholic schools are integral to the education system in Washington state. They provide $302 million in annual savings to Washington taxpayers, educating over 28,000 students. In comparing school district sizes, the Catholic school system would rank as the fifth largest school district in our state. Please act now to support Catholic education.
|
|
Our 7th grade parents surprised our 8th grade families last week by putting personalized "Congratulations, Graduate!" yard signs in every graduating student's front yard.
|
|
Last Opportunity To Purchase Charger Cards
|
|
Friday is the last day to purchase physical Charger Cards through website or email! We will NOT be selling cards again until August.
- June 12th is the last opportunity to order cards that we have in stock through email. Please email so we can verify cards are in stock.
- Any orders for cards placed online with PrestoPay/ScripNow/Reload or email will be left in the main school office for pick up through June 23.
During the summer, you may signup for online payments, earn rebates, and continue to support out school fundraiser. Immediately get your eGift cards, instantly add funds to your reloadable gift cards, and shop wherever, whenever on your phone — all with the on-demand convenience of online payments. They’re secure and simple to set up, so you can grow your earnings. In fact, families who pay online earn 45% more than families who don’t.
Every Family Needs to Register Online
- See the Online Registration Directions page for step by step info to register online and get started! You will need enrollment code. Email chargercards@stlouiseschool.org to receive this code.
- Online registration provides each family with ability to track their family rebates and see order history.
- Online registration enhances record keeping for St. Louise so we have easier, more accurate information.
- Ordering online provides access to full amount of gift cards available (hundreds of additional choices)!
- Rebate bonuses are available for online purchases
- Order ScripNow/printable gift cards, reloadable gift cards.
- See the video that shows you how to use MyScripWallet.com – the NEW mobile website to purchase, use and track Charger Card scrip on your phone:
Setup Online Payments and Link Your Bank Account
- Set up your account in a matter of minutes.
- Create a unique PIN to keep your account safe.
- $0.15 fee on each transaction.
- To get set up, please log in and select Dashboard > Payment Types on ShopWithScrip.com or Menu > Payment Types on MyScripWallet.com and follow the instructions.
Setup Online Payments and
Pay with Your Credit Card
- Discover, Mastercard, and Visa are accepted.
- You can choose to save the card to your account for future purchases.
- 2.6% fee on each transaction
Securely Pay Online
We want to thank our hardworking, dedicated Charger Cards volunteers who assisted co-chairs
Marsha Rampersad Zope
and
Katherine Caso
; thank you
, Chika Anyichie, Ahn Blaha, Michelle Ameen, Sharon Kussy, Gabby Schmidt
and
Berry Wilhelm
!
The Charger Card team is looking for new volunteers to join their team for the new school year! We need volunteers to help in a number of areas:
o Help with weekly card inventory and fulfillment (Fridays)
o Help sell cards on Sundays in between morning Masses
Please return Charger Card plastic envelopes to the main office once you have received your Charger Card order.
You may sign up to help with one or both of these volunteer jobs by going
HERE
and
HERE
.
Have a great summer!
|
|
Keeping Your and Your Family's Faith Strong Is Now So Much Easier
|
|
St. Louise Parish has a group subscription for
Formed.org
, and that means all of you now have a free subscription, too!
Formed
provides the very best Catholic content from more than 60 organizations to help families and individuals explore their faith anywhere.
Formed
contains
thousands of movies, children’s programs, e-books, audio, parish programs and studies direct to your browser, mobile or connected device. You can now watch Catholic movies and children’s programming, listen to audio dramas and books, study the Bible and grown in your faith.
To set up your new account, follow these instructions.
2. Select your parish:
St. Louise
3. Register with your name and email address
|
|
Saint of the Week
please read this with your kids
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
