Parent Bulletin
January 28, 2021
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Thank you in advance for taking this opportunity of national Catholic Schools' Week (which begins this weekend) to thank your kids' teachers with letters of appreciation or other kind gestures. (No hugs this year, but lattes or flowers are welcome :-) ) In the public school arena, the first week of May is labeled as "teacher appreciation week," but as this event and date were created by public teachers' unions, at St. Louise, we bypass the May event and show our teacher appreciation annually at Catholic Schools' Week during this specific January/February timeframe.
Speaking of the public school arena, how smart are you feeling right now to have your children enrolled in St. Louise School!? The local teachers' unions and district offices are fighting over whether or not schools should open their doors for children after being closed for going on 11 months! And the fight is over just allowing a small percentage of their students to return, not all the grade levels, as we have successfully been doing here. With our St. Louise community of dedicated faculty, supportive parents, and cooperative students working together, we are showing the public that in-person school is not only possible, it's what kids need and deserve! All of our terrific trio - faculty, parents, and students - deserve THIS for what you are doing this special school year!
Our teachers will be grateful to receive kind messages of thanks and support from both their students and parents next week. And while you're at it, consider emailing your appreciation to our non-teaching staff - the office staff, instructional assistants, and Kids' Club staff who have also been working extremely hard this school year!
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Do you want the good news or the bad news?
- The BAD news is Catholic schools throughout our nation plan will continue in 2021-22 to increase their tuition (in order to generate necessary revenue to continue to provide a quality education).
- The GOOD news is Catholic schools throughout our nation will continue in 2021-22 to provide this quality education at a “bargain” tuition rate, much less expensive than most other private schools.
Although Catholic schools, including St. Louise, have to be run like businesses, as evidenced by our own $3 million budget, we also realize that unlike other private schools we are not just businesses, but ministries. Our school’s philosophy statement includes these principles:
- Our primary purpose is to assist our families in the formation of their children as faith-filled people while providing a quality education;
- We celebrate the whole child recognizing that each person has a unique role in building the Kingdom of God;
- We strive to form a community in which the presence of God is deeply experienced, and to promote serving others as modeled by Jesus.
When you put together all the expenses it takes to run St. Louise School - salaries, textbooks, technology enhancements, utilities, building maintenance - and divide by the number of students we serve, the average cost to educate one of your children is over $11,000. However, most of you pay about $2,500 less than that in tuition for one child to attend our school. We work to keep tuition lower to allow families who desire Catholic education for their children, but who may not be able to pay the full tuition rate.
St. Louise School’s tuition rate is possible in large part because of our four major fund raisers: the Walk-a-Thon, the Auction, Charger Cards, and the Annual Fund (formerly called the Annual School Gift Campaign). These fund raisers, along with parish support connected to your Sunday stewardship and the many generous parents who help "Fill the Gap" with extra tuition payments each month, make up the difference of approximately $2,500 per child between tuition and the actual cost of educating your child. Each of the fund raisers is essential to the school’s well-being. If we took away these fund raisers, we would need to increase each family’s tuition substantially each year.
The fund raiser in the spotlight at this time of year is our Annual Fund. Today in the red family envelope, you are receiving the Annual Fund appeal information. It is inside the Annual Report that all school families, past donors, and St. Louise parishioners are also receiving.
After you spend time reading through the engaging Annual Report, looking at all of the accomplishments of St. Louise and our community members, and realizing how blessed we are to have such supportive donors, terrific volunteers, and fabulous faculty and students, please then take a look at the Annual Fund information.
Since, as a school family, you have already committed in your Parent Contract to donate to this fund raiser, I know I don’t need to ask you to “consider” participating, as I do with our other patrons, such as parishioners and our alumni families. Instead, I need to please ask that as a school family you thoughtfully consider how much you can give when you do participate.
If it helps to spread out your gift to the Annual Fund instead of making one payment, we offer the option of having a portion donated each month. For example, instead of paying $750 in one lump sum now, you could pay $75 over the next 10 months. And to make donating at a higher giving level even that much better for your family budget, you also have the option of charging your Annual Fund donation on your credit card. So not only will you receive the benefit of giving a tax-deductible donation, but you have the added benefit of earning mileage or points. Click here to donate.
Remember, your donation to the Annual Fund isn’t just a “bonus” gift. It supports 6% of the school's annual budget, providing enrichment programs and supporting teacher salaries. And unlike other charitable donations you may make where you never quite know how the money is used, you know your child will get the direct benefit of your donation. He/She gets to be educated by the outstanding St. Louise teachers.
Please respond to your Annual Fund appeal packet that is inserted in the Annual Report your child is bringing home today. If you have questions about the Fund or the Report, please contact Julianne Read in our Development Office. Thanks in advance for your investment in your children’s education, and for your financial support of St. Louise School.
Blessings on your day!
MR. FITZ
p.s.
Please read the two articles below which name a few important ways school parents can support St. Louise School - through volunteering to serve on one of our parent boards (School Commission or Parents' Club) or through volunteering to learn how to co-chair the Charger Cards fund raiser. And although we call it a volunteer job, Charger Cards co-chairpersons each receive 50% tuition scholarships. If you are interested in learning more about these vital positions, please contact the applicable people as noted in the articles, or you may talk directly with me.
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CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
Tomorrow
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Flavorful Friday Sale; $1 ice cream treats for sale at lunchtime, benefitting the 5th graders' support of Operation Gratitude, a charity supporting our military
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Fulcrum Foundation's annual event
Saturday and Sunday, January 30 & 31 - National Catholic Schools' Week Begins
- Eighth grade student essays being read at the St. Louise weekend Masses
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School families are encouraged to attend one of the January 30-31 Masses at St. Louise by RSVPing
Monday thru Friday, February 1-5 - National Catholic Schools' Week Continues
- See the CSW Calendar below
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An opportunity for Teacher Appreciation for Catholic school teachers
- Special fun-dress days during the week
- Appreciation for our 5th Grade Safety Patrol
Thursday, February 4
- Open House - prospective school families to sign up for a time between 4:30-7:30 to tour the school and meet the teachers; please spread the word to families you know
- Charger Cards' sales-window will be open TODAY from 8:15-9:00am (since there is no school on Friday this week)
Friday, February 5
- NO-SCHOOL DAY: R & R Day for faculty; school office and Kids' Club both closed
Tuesday and Wednesday, February 9 & 10
- School Photo Days
- All students must wear their complete uniforms to school - including the red sweater or fleece
- See article below for pre-ordering information
Thursday, February 11
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Parents' Club meeting on Zoom at 7PM; email Karen Reed for the Zoom link to join in
Monday and Tuesday, February 15 & 16 - NO-SCHOOL DAYS
- All classes canceled and no Kids' Club
- Celebrate George Washington's Birthday on Monday ...and the rest of the Presidents on Tuesday :-)
Wednesday, February 17 - Lent Begins
- Ash Wednesday Liturgies throughout the day for classes to attend; adults must please RSVP to attend a Mass; specific Mass times will be forthcoming
- Students and staff all participating in Fasting & Almsgiving; please pack a simple lunch and bring your cash donation to the New Bethlehem Project; see the article below for more information
Thursday, February 18
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Virtual Open House; please have your friends and neighbors with upcoming 4-to-14-year-olds sign up HERE to receive the link for this evening's virtual, live presentation
CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE SCHOOL CALENDAR HERE
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Please Share the News - Two Open Houses Coming Up! |
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We are preparing for both new admissions enrollment and re-enrollment for the 2021-22 school year, and as we begin reaching out to the surrounding communities to look for new students for our incoming classes, we rely heavily on you, our current school parents, to spread the word and share the St. Louise story.
Thank you not only for choosing St. Louise as your child's school, but also for sharing our story with your friends and neighbors! You are probably aware that St. Louise School provides an incentive of one-month's free tuition (valued at our in-parish one-child rate) to a current school family who refers a new family to us. There is a place on a new family enrollment form which asks if a current school parent referred them. If your name is listed as the referral-source, and if that family indeed attends here next school year, you get that month of free tuition - valued at around $750!
We would love it if you would encourage a prospective new school parent to visit one of our upcoming Open Houses, so they can tour the school and meet our fantastic faculty. Our first Open House is in one week - next Thursday, February 4, between 4:30-7:30PM. Your neighbor/friend/co-worker with an upcoming preschool to 8th grade student simply need to go HERE to sign up for their unique Open House time on February 4, which will include a private tour.
In addition, we are holding a “virtual” Open House on February 18, at 7:00PM. This one will be streamed live, and we ask that you let your neighbor/friend/co-worker know about it by directing them to this Zoom-webinar. They may sign up HERE.
Thank you in advance for spreading the word about St. Louise School!
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Chargers Are Better When We Stick Together!
Re-Enrollment for the Next School Year
Begins One Week from Today
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We are getting excited at the prospect of filling our new 2021-22 school roster for next fall! Thank you in advance for being ready to complete the re-enrollment process one week from today. Here are the approaching steps to take:
1)
Next Thursday, February 4, all school families with grade PK-7 children will receive an email from DocuSign, whom we use for our electronic-signature tuition contract. Please sign and submit the new school year contract by no later than February 23. (Check your junk-folder in case your DocuSign email ends up there.)
2)
Also next Thursday, February 4, all grade PK-7 families will also receive an email from office@stlouiseschool.org (Mindy Morgan and Tracy Brown in our school office) explaining how to electronically re-enroll on Skyward. It will be important to remember that we have a February 23rd deadline for you to please re-enroll.
3)
The February 23rd re-enrollment deadline for current grade PK-7 families does not just apply to the online contract and online Skyward document you will need to complete. In addition, there is an online re-enrollment fee of $95 that we would appreciate you paying. This is a special rate to encourage you to re-enroll ASAP. This re-enrollment fee increases to its usual $220 cost after the 23rd. It pays to not procrastinate. ;-) You can even jump the gun and pay the fee HERE now.
4)
If any current school family wishes to newly enroll a child for next school year who is not currently attending St. Louise (such as a new PreK or Kdg. student), please contact Mindy and Tracy in the school office now.
Finally, in preparation for the re-enrollment process, in TODAY's red Family Envelope, families are receiving an invitation to re-enroll attached to a new St. Louise car decal. Families who re-enroll by February 23rd, and have a STL decal on the back of their car (either this new one, or a prior year's version), will be honored with a Free Dress Day! (Date TBA. On February 25th and 26th, we will have volunteers in the parking lot collecting names of families with car decals and we'll send a list out to confirm before the free dress day is awarded.)
Thanks for sticking with us for another school year in '21-22!
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It's Time to Order School Photos |
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Our school photographer, Yuen Lui Studios, will be here for two days - February 9 & 10 - to take individual school photos of every St. Louise student. These photos are for our school yearbook, and will also be available for families to purchase. You may place your pre-order now by clicking HERE.
Usually we take group photos of each homeroom for the yearbook and for purchase. This year to be more cautious and to avoid classes grouping together on risers for a group photo shoot, Yuen Lui will create a class sheet using each individual photo made into one class composite, similar to the example shown below.
However, unlike this example, for St. Louise, of course, all students must be in full school uniform on February 9 and 10, including the school sweater or fleece (no hoody). The 8th grade students will have their photos taken in caps and gowns over their uniform.
Any students who are 100% online-learning in February will be encouraged to come to school for this brief time for their individual photo shoot. Homeroom teachers will let their online-learning families know the exact day and time of their classroom's photo shoot.
If you have questions, please contact Julianne Read. If you would like to be a volunteer to help on February 9 and/or 10 with situating students for their photo shoot, please let Julianne know.
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Catholic Schools' Week Begins this Weekend; Continues Throughout Next Week |
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National Catholic Schools’ Week is an annual celebration of Catholic education throughout the United States, observed every year starting with the final weekend in January. Catholic Schools’ Week has a threefold purpose:
1) To showcase what makes Catholic schools such excellent educational communities within faith communities; these components of our success don’t just include the people, the curricula, and the facilities, but also the mission statement and philosophy which recognize our reliance on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and stress our goal of building up the Kingdom of God.
2) To thank the teachers, staff, and parents who partner together to make Catholic schools such as St. Louise thrive.
3) To help Catholic schools connect with prospective families and donors, encouraging them to learn more about the benefits of a Catholic education.
Take a look at the calendar of events for St. Louise celebrating national Catholic Schools' Week...
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Let's All Fast and Give Alms this Ash Wednesday |
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Annually on Ash Wednesdays at St. Louise School, we focus with our students on the three pillars of Lent – prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. This has been done in recent years with an all-school liturgy and a rice & beans lunch. The money that would have been spent on a plentiful lunch is instead donated to a charity. This year for the first day of Lent on Wednesday, February 17, we are altering these annual events slightly, due to COVID-precautions:
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We will still do the PRAYER component of Lent by having all grade levels attend an Ash Wednesday liturgy. But due to the limited seating in church, we’ll have different levels attending different liturgy times during the day. As February 17th approaches, we’ll have details of which grade level will attend which liturgy. Parents may attend any parish liturgy on Ash Wednesday, provided they RSVP or sign up at the door.
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Instead of serving a communal rice & beans lunch for the FASTING component of Lent, we will be asking each teacher, staff member, and individual student (with parent's help) to provide their own simple, bare-bones meal for lunch on the 17th. Eating a smaller than normal, simple lunch on Ash Wednesday helps us develop self-discipline and makes us feel the hunger for just a few hours that the less fortunate feel every day.
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For ALMSGIVING, we suggest on Ash Wednesday that each student bring a cash donation to school that is equivalent to the amount of money “saved” by packing a simpler than typical lunch. This cash donation - a suggested amount of $5 - will be given to The New Bethlehem Project, the Kirkland day center that St. Louise Parish and School have a history of assisting, such as this past Thanksgiving-time when our school families helped in this big way.
As Ash Wednesday approaches, our 7th grade students will be helping promote our Fasting & Almsgiving activity by creating a video for grade K-8 students to view in their rooms.
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Charger Cards Seeking New Co-Chairs
Parents’ Club is looking for two new Charger Cards co-chairs for a minimum commitment of two years, to start their training now and take over from current chair, Marsha Rampersad-Zope. Marsha has been chairing or co-chairing Charger Cards for the past three years, and is ready to hand over the keys to her well-organized fund raiser.
Attention to detail and strength in working with numbers are prerequisites for this position. It's a plus to know Excel and QuickBooks. Parents' Club sponsors a half-tuition scholarship for each co-chair position. The other perks of the job are it is a great way to interact with all the St. Louise parents and to make a positive impact in an important school program.
If you are interested, please contact Marsha at chargercards@stlouiseschool.org. She can explain about the hours you need to put in each school week, and can set up a "shadowing" of her position so you are well prepared to step into the role of co-chair this summer. You and a friend can volunteer together, or you can be paired up with another parent in our community.
Charger Cards for Catholic Teachers' Appreciation Week
This Sunday, January 31, begins national Catholic Schools' Week., and part of the celebration of this week is to observe "Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week." As a Catholic school, we annually take this last week in January/first week in February to celebrate Catholic education and honor our faculty. Take advantage of Charger Cards if you'd like to treat your child's teachers and/or any staff members to a thank you gift this coming week. You'll find their school faculty's Wish List of their favorite Charger Cards HERE. Thanks in advance to families who generously appreciate the teachers and purchase Charger Cards to do so!
Small Denomination Cards Available for a Limited Time
Available now (or while supplies last), a limited run of the following gift cards will be available:
· Amazon $10
· Krispy Kreme $10
· Panera Bread $10
· Starbucks $10
· Target $10
These small denomination gift cards make thoughtful gifts! With the small denominations you can thank all the faculty who support your child! Don’t forget our amazing specialist teachers, instructional assistants, Kids' Club staff, and office staff!
Charger Card Updates and Information
Family Rebate status reports are coming home in this week’s Red Envelope. Online-learner-only families will receive their status reports with school registration documents being mailed next week. Please review your family account information and email Charger Cards with any questions!
Many families have met their rebate minimum and are well on their way to earning tuition discount for next year’s tuition! Charger Cards is happy to help you map a plan for your family to use this program to earn tuition credit and help support St. Louise at the same time! We can meet with you to create a personal plan unique to your family’s budget and everyday purchases to maximize your participation in the program.
For more information on brands/cards available for purchase 24/7 please go to shopwithscrip.com.
In-person sales every school-Friday from 8:15-9:00AM in the central hallway of the original school building.
PLEASE NOTE: NEXT WEEK, THERE IS NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY, FEB. 5, SO THE CHARGER CARDS SALES WINDOW WILL BE OPEN NEXT THURSDAY MORNING, FEB. 4.
Thank you for supporting St. Louise Charger Cards!
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Do You Know When to Keep Your Kids Home from School? |
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King County Public Health has updated the protocol for when students and staff can and cannot go to school, due to COVID-19 symptoms and/or positive tests. With this, St. Louise has similarly updated our COVID-related procedures. Please read the two revised documents on our website so you will both refamiliarize yourselves with our procedures for health-safety and for remote learning. This revision includes the new "flowchart" from Public Health seen below, that diagrams when your child can or cannot attend school.
If you have any questions about illnesses and absences, please contact our school nurse, Jane Reynolds RN, or our secretaries, Mindy Morgan and Tracy Brown. Thank you for your continued vigilance about daily checking your child for COVID-19 symptoms and leaning on the side of caution if you have doubts if he/she should come to school when not feeling 100%.
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Looking for Parents to Provide Guidance and Leadership |
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Both the St. Louise School Commission and Parents’ Club Board are now looking for new members to begin next fall to serve three-year terms. Our School Commission is a consultative body who act in collaboration with Fr. Gary and Mr. Fitzpatrick, and guide them in making decisions for the school in the areas of planning, policy development, marketing, and finance. Our Parents’ Club conducts fund raising activities, obtains ideas and suggestions from parents, provides volunteer assistance with school and some parish sponsored events, and provides social programs and educational activities for parents and families.
The School Commission and Parents’ Club Board each consist of six selected parents, and they hold meetings approximately every-other month from September through June (for a total of about 5 per year).
We know there are parents out there in our St. Louise community who have the interest in serving and would do great jobs in these parent-representative roles. Please contact one of our current School Commission members or Parent’ Club members to ask them any questions about the benefits of serving. Please attend one of the group’s next meetings to learn more and express your interest in being considered to fill one of their upcoming openings.
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The Parents’ Club Board is next meeting on Thursday, February 11, at 7PM over Microsoft Teams. You can email Board President Karen Reed to ask for the link to the meeting and log in.
- The School Commission is meeting on March 4, at 6:30PM. Their meetings are in-person, and you can simply come to school that evening and join the group.
Thanks for considering this special way to not simply earn volunteer hours, but to become more engaged in the administration of the school and the building of our St. Louise community.
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Thursday's Theology: We Are Currently in Ordinary Time; The Lenten Season Begins in 3 Weeks |
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