May 1, 2020 - News & Notes
Dear St. Michael Catholic School Families:
Join us this next week in thanking our teachers during National Teacher Appreciation Week! We are blessed by dedicated, loving teachers who are the heart of our school. The St. Michael Catholic School PTO is delivering special "thank you gifts" to teachers this week, thanks to all of our parent support. We are proud of our St. Michael teachers!

In addition, we will be honoring our staff who have served St. Michael Catholic School for 20 years or more. Join me online in congratulating these teachers and staff online as we celebrate them, or sending a card to school!
  • Mr. Olson - 37 years of service (Sunday)
  • Mrs. DeGross - 28 years of service (Monday)
  • Mrs. Casey - 23 years of service (Tuesday)
  • Mrs. Rausch - 22 years of service (Wednesday)
  • Mr. Farnquist - 21 years of service (Thursday)
  • Mrs. Olmanson & Mrs. Peterson - 20 years of service (Friday)

United in Christ : During this time it is more important to continue to lean on God for guidance, support and direction. Join our school in daily prayer during BNN announcements, weekly live streaming Masses, and our Diocese in various offerings. On the calendar below are state and national links for May 1st and May 3. Here is the link the parish Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/StMichaelCatholicChurchPL/

GRADUATION: This weekend our teachers delivered graduation signs with a party parade! A committee is making special plans to honor our graduates and their families in creative ways this Spring!

SUMMER CARE : Our summer preschool and Adventure's Plus staff are reviewing possible summer programming. We plan to offer summer programming, but please know that this will look very different than years past as we follow state and county regulations for child care. We may also be partnering with the Archdiocese and Catholic Schools' Center of Excellence for programs that can be brought to our school and families. If you are interested in our summer offerings, regardless of the changes that are necessary, please register. Due to size limitations due to COVID-19, registrants will be limited by date of registration. Details will be out by mid-May. (If you've already registered, no need to register again.)

KUDOS: To Gabi Adams for helping with BNN this week and congratulations to our 6th Grade Girls basketball team, see their honor below as well as all of our 7-8th Grade High Honor recipients, noted below.

SUPPORTING OUR SCHOOL : Connect with us to support our school and possibly receive $10,000 through CSCOE.
  • MAY 2-CSCOE BASH: First-Sign up to attend the CSCOE Virtual Bash, they will be donating money back to our school! Register: (CSCOE BASH)

Blessings,  Mindy Reeder Principal   reeder@saintmpl.org  
St. Michael Catholic School student, Scarlett, dressed in her uniform for her online and distance learning classes!

 POSITIVITY PROJECT
Week 33: Leadership


  • Calendar
  • St. Michael Preschool to Grade 5 Summer Care Sign up 
  • Picture Challenges

Parent Link:  Growth Mindset

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS:
Absent: 952-447-2230
School fax: 952-447-2132
Federal tax ID: 41-086790

 School Calendar:  



SUMMER TUTORING :
Kelley DeGross- degross@saintmpl.org
Deanna Vochoska- vochoska@saintmpl.org


#inthistogether
#everykideveryday
#stmplproud
#stmplexcellence




School Week Ahead : May 1- May 8

  • Friday, May 1: Homework is due by 3 p.m. or earlier.
  • Today Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, announced that the United States will consecrate the United States of America to Mary, Mother of the Church Friday, May 1. More details about how to participate will follow in the coming days. See The Catholic Spirit for more.
  • It's May Day! Bring back the sneak "May Day Basket" delivery to your neighbors. Drop off a May Basket of treats, ring the doorbell, and hide! (May Day historical tradition story) (Make a basket)
  • Sunday, May 3: THIS YEAR’S ROSARY PROCESSION GOES LIVESTREAM- The 72nd Annual Rosary Procession with Archbishop Hebda and Bishop Cozzens from the Cathedral of St. Paul at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 3. Tune in, download a worship guide, and find more info on the event page. Contact MNRosaryProcessions@gmail.com
  • Tuesday, May 5: "Cinco de Mayo" - join us in celebrating with our Spanish Teacher and students. Student Video and Article
  • Thursday, May 7: Wild Hair Day! Join classes with "wild hair!" Of course, we love photos from our families and students.
  • Friday, May 8: Homework is due at 3 p.m.

Specialist Links for K-5:
Art
  • Primary Art grades K-5: Students continue to work on their Service Marathon t-shirt designs that I shared/assigned on Monday this week. The details of the assignment were shared in Seesaw (K-4) and Google Classroom (5). When finished, students should take two pictures of their design (one of the student holding their artwork and one of just the artwork with nothing around it). Students in grades K-4 should upload the photos of their artwork to the Art folder in Seesaw by May 8. Students in Grade 5 should upload the photos of the work to the Art Google Classroom site by May 8.  
  • Middle School:Students in grades 6-7 continue to work on their Service Marathon t-shirt design assignment that I shared in Google Classroom on Monday this week. When finished, students should take two pictures of their design (one of the student holding their artwork and one of just the artwork with nothing around it). Students should upload the photos of their artwork to the Art Google Classroom site by May 8.  Students in Grade 8 continue to work on their Still Life drawing assignment that I shared in Google Classroom on Monday this week. Students should upload the photos of their artwork to their Art website or their Art Google Classroom site by May 8.   
MUSIC
  • Prek-5: This week students will make their second choice lesson in their Music Choice Board. These simple and educational lessons are geared to each individual grade level to engage and teach basic elements of music. Students should only do ONE task to master each week. Once the task/lesson is mastered, they should make a recording, send a picture, or write something sharing what they learned that week into their SeeSaw or Google Classroom.  
  • Grades 6-7: Students continue their study of Music Appreciation with their focus on Musical Theater. This week they will look at the history of music theater, why and how it was created, why it is important in today's culture. Students will then write an essay on their findings and make a simple video sharing their knowledge.
  • Grade 8: Students will complete their study of the History of Rock and Roll in the 1970's and put their research into an artistic and creative presentation with google slides. They are learning that history affects the genres of music and speaks to the generations of that decade.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
  • Prek-4: NEW exercise board will be posted in Seesaw, ALL EXERCISE related!! Minimum requirement will be to complete one task a week and send a picture or video to Mrs. Shimek a week (through seesaw). There are many options on the exercise board, if you'd like to do more than one a week you sure can!! I will be posting videos to help explain activities each week! 
  • 5th grade: NEW exercise board as well, but you will also have some additional options to choose from to make it a little more challenging and exciting for some! Please be sure to check google classroom for updates and new assignments!
  
ONLINE LINKS:

7-8th Grade High Honor Awards
PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION-We Need You!
As part of our restructure of the PTO, we are in need of leadership and team members for our Faculty Appreciation Team. We also need team members for our Parent Enrichment and Event Team. Planning for the 2020-2021 school year will begin this summer. Please contact Maggie Stack at  mmstack4@gmail.com  or 952-452-3485 with any questions.
SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL SEEKS MEMBERS
The St. Michael Catholic School School Advisory Council provides guidance and leadership for the vision of the school, supporting leadership, teachers and staff as we continue to plan for excellence. All applications are due May 8, 2020. You can complete the online google form, or download and email your application to our School Advisory Council Chair, Molli O'Halloran.

6th Grade Girls' State Award Winners - 2020
St. Mike's 6th grade girls- were selected for a Youth 1st Team Award following our participation in the State Tournament. The "Youth 1st Team Award" selections are based on votes and comments from the Officials and input from the Tournament Directors. The Director specifically recognized our whole team in the email, including players, coaches, parents, and fans. The award is recognition for exhibiting good sportsmanship and positive conduct during the 2020 Grade State Tournament. 

Our coaches, teachers and staff are really proud of our team for being one of the teams to earn this award. We worked hard and played the game the right way- win or lose - and really, this IS the most important award we could receive.  
MENTAL HEALTH & SPIRITUAL SUPPORT
Mental Health Support: Please be aware that at this time our children are also feeling the anxiety of all that is happening around them. While school is closed, a routine is a healthy way of structuring your days. Included scheduled time for school work, outdoor play, free-choice reading, unstructured play and rest time. Address children's questions directly and honestly. Continuing with regular bed and meal times is also helpful. Limit exposure to media and screen time as well. Our School Counselor : Dr. Keri Brenden

Additional resources that you may find helpful:

Additionally, as a parent at this time, you need support. Here are parent support resources:

Act of Spiritual Communion
My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there
and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.
©2012 EWTN. Used with permission.

Join the parish in prayer, spiritual communion and virtual Mass
through Facebook or the parish YouTube channel.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel:   Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so that you can stay up to date on Masses, Prayer Services, and other St. Michael Catholic Church videos. Click here to subscribe
REGISTER FOR SUMMER CARE-PreK to Grade 5
SUMMER CARE : We know we are all experiencing uncertain times and it's hard to know what the future will hold, but we wanted to share that St. Michael Catholic School plans to offer our summer programming for both preschool and Summer Adventure's Plus (SAP). Staff are researching best practices outlined by the Archdiocese and the State of Minnesota to ensure everyone's safety while still providing this care including, but not limited to, cleaning standards, check in process, illness procedures, class sizes and structures.

We look forward to offering a rich summer program and are praying that with the proper guidelines in place, we will be here to serve your family with your summer care needs.

SCHOOL AGE: CLICK HERE for more information

Click on the Preschool Summer Care graphic
for preschool summer information.