October 8, 2020 - News & Notes
From The Desk Of Principal Kerr
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Wow, what an awesome fall week we have had! Beautiful weather, marathon goal busting celebrations, and so much great learning taking place, indoors and out.

We blew the roof off of our Marathon goal! The final, final number has not been calculated exactly, but it looks like we will come in over $80,000! That is amazing, and we are so blessed by the continued generosity of our St. Michael community. While the Marathon does raise much needed funds for our school, it also reinforces the Gospel values of service to others. The kids had a great time with their service projects, and the drive through celebration with root beer floats, Wildcat Mike and Mini Mike, and cars decorated with school spirit! We will continue to celebrate all year, with every Friday a spirit wear day!

The Catholic high schools usually visit our 8th graders every year, but this year we had virtual visits instead. The Academy of Holy Angels, Chesterton Academy, Holt Family, and Unity all sent videos and swag for our 8th graders. There are so many great options for high school in and around Prior Lake, both public and Catholic. What a great place to raise kids!

Next week is a short week, and we have heard many families are planning some fun vacations. Please be safe and if you feel you may have been exposed to COVID-19 or are experiencing any symptoms when you return, follow the quarantine protocol. We understand the fatigue around all the lifestyle changes we have been forced into, AND we really want to stay open for in-person learning for everyone.

The teachers have a scheduled professional development day Wednesday, and time to work on their own projects, planning and prepping for conferences Thursday and Friday. Monday the 19th is a day off for the teachers because of the long conference days on Tuesday and Thursday.  

I have the pleasure of observing the teachers in action, and began formal observations last week. I have seen 4th graders doing scientific research and creative problem solving; second graders making math vocabulary and concepts fun while reviewing for a test, and kindergarteners learning letters and sounds with hands-on experiences. It is also great to see the classroom routines are in place so we do not lose learning time in transitions. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, again, I am so impressed with our teachers!

Enjoy this unseasonably beautiful weekend, God bless your families, and go Blues!

Mrs. Kerr
Fall Conferences 2020
It's time to sign up for Fall Conferences with teachers. All conferences will be scheduled through Sign Up Genius - click here

Click on the link above to sign up. Click on the tabs at the top of the page to find the teacher you would like to conference with and schedule your conference day/time. You will need to do this for all teachers you would like to meet with. Make sure you do not choose the same time slot for all conferences. You will need to schedule each teacher for a different time slot. Conferences are 20 minutes for Preschool-Grade 5 and 10 minutes (8 minutes per conference with a 2 minute travel time) for Grades 6-8. Please be respectful of the time limit per conference.

Please contact Darlene Casey at casey@saintmpl.org or 952-447-2124, Ext. 135 with any questions or concerns. Thank you!
PTO Needs Your Help!
St. Michael's PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) is looking for your help to provide meals for our teachers on conference nights. A huge thank you to those who have already signed up to donate food to nourish our teachers on Tuesday, Oct. 20 and Thursday, Oct. 22. Additional items have been added to the sign-up. Please help if you can!
Congratulations to our
Marathon Family Fun Night Winners

Thank you to all who participated in our Marathon Family Fun Night Activities last week!
Prizes were awarded to the following families:

Decorated Cars - Won a prize bag!
1st- Joseph, Theodore, Elliana Walgrave Family  
2nd- Madden Marshall Family
3rd tie- Blake Losen & Lincoln Power Family
3rd tie- Layla and Bella Legler Family

Trivia Winner - Won a prize bag!
Hannah and Emily Larson Family

Sucker Winners - You won your jar of suckers!
Jar 1: Mallory & Wyatt Stack Family 
Jar 2: Katelyn & Kelsey Webb Family
Jar 3: Abigail and Wyatt Christens Family

It's Time to Order
Spirit Wear!
Students have the option of wearing St. Michael Catholic School Spirit Wear EVERY FRIDAY this school year as a reward for meeting the school's 2020 Marathon goal! Please see the attached order form if you would like to purchase items. All spirit wear must be branded with the school's logo. The gray sweatpants/joggers will be the only acceptable spirit wear bottoms for Fridays, otherwise uniform bottoms must be worn. Please return your order form and check payable to St. Michael Catholic School by Friday, October 16, 2020. Thank you!
Wednesday Early Release Day

Wednesday Early Dismissal Care & Homework Time - November 2020

Please let us know if your child(ren) will need Wednesday Early Dismissal Care (12:15 - 2:15) in November by completing this form as soon as possible, and no later than Thursday, October 15, 2020. We are offering this for families who do not have other options available for Wednesday afternoons. If you are able to have your child come home at 12:15, please do so, as the teachers are finding the Wednesday afternoon planning especially necessary this year.

If you are picking up your child before 2:15, we ask that you call the office so that one of our staff members can bring your child safely to their car line pickup zone.

In order to ensure proper staffing and the safety of all students we request no late enrollment.

Please complete one form per student.

Please note there is no school on November 26.

In order to ensure proper staffing and the safety of all students we request no late enrollment.

All 6th, 7th & 8th Grade Students are invited to
Join the Yearbook Committee


All 6th-8th graders are welcome to join the yearbook committee at St. Mike's!

The first meeting will be held on Thursday, October 22nd after school 2:30 - 3:30pm in room 231A (across from the art room)

Please join us to find out more details and hear about the future meeting schedule.
4th through 8th grade - Band
Band started at St. Mike's! We are so excited to be playing music in person together again. We are taking precautions to ensure that we are playing together safely.

It is not too late to join band! Registration is here: https://www.88notesmusic.com/sign-up-for-band.html

Please refer any questions to band director Laura Thompson at concertbands.88notes@gmail.com.
Volunteers Needed!
LUNCH AND RECESS VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:
We still have many empty spots to fill; your help is needed!

  • Lunchroom and kitchen every day from 10:30am - 12:45pm. If you are available midday, please sign up using the Sign-Up Genius button below.
  • Recess from 11:10am - 1:10. Please use the Sign-up Genius button below.

All volunteers must be up to date on Virtus training. See section below for more information. Please visit virtusonline.org to log in or to create and account and complete the required steps to be a volunteer.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO SANITIZE CHURCH

We are looking for volunteers to sanitize the church after school Masses on Wednesdays. If you are able to help please click on the link below to sign-up.
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Purchased Scrip online before? Pick up right where you left off. Sign in with your same ShopWithScrip username and password. Access your gift cards right away. And check out with payment information already saved to your account.

New to Scrip? Visit https://saintmpl.org/give for all the information you’ll need to get started.



We're Hiring!
Lunchroom Helper
Lunchroom helper wanted for scanning barcodes for student lunches and washing tables in between lunch groups . Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 10:30 am - 12:45 pm. Wednesdays 10:30 am - 12:00. 10 ½ Hours Per Week.

For more information or to apply please contact Sue Kerr at (952)447-2124 or kerr@saintmpl.org
Preschool Substitutes Needed
Faithful Beginnings Preschool at St. Michael Catholic Church is looking for qualified subs for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year.

Substitutes are required to have the following in order to sub in preschool:
 -Essential 3 through the Archdiocese
  -DHS background study and fingerprints
  -Pediatric first aid/CPR
  -Child development training
  -Orientation/policies/procedures/allergies
  -Abusive Head Trauma
  -Cultural training
  -Disability training

Full job description available by contacting our Preschool Director Ashely Lind. To apply, please send your resume to ashleylind@saintmpl.org

Greetings from Academy of Holy Angels! Academy of Holy Angels is hosting two small gathering Open Houses on Thursday, October 22nd and Thursday, October 29th. We ask interested families (2 parents/guardians and student) to pre-register by following this link https://forms.gle/7UQnyqfPYayFaPWbA also found on our website. To keep our families safe, we are limiting our attendance and are asking parents to sign up for only one of our 4 times each Open House (4:30 PM, 5:00 PM, 5:30 PM, 6:00 P.M.) If an evening event doesn’t work, we will be offering parent mornings in November as well—details to follow on our website. We look forward to welcoming you to campus!
Questions: Please contact Meg Angevine, mangevine@ahastars.org or 612-798-0764.