St. Louis Catholic School Newsletter
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A Message from the Principal...
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Dear St. Louis Families,
This week, we lit the first purple candle on the Advent wreath, and we began our preparation for the coming of Jesus! It is only fitting that in this season, students are working on the virtue of patience--learning to wait without complaining. St. Rita, patron saint of impossible things, provides a beautiful example of patience for each of us as she devoted much of her life to helping others grow in faith, and her own actions brought peace to her community. Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas! Students received little goodies (in their shoe!) in the true spirit and tradition of generosity and kindness. Both the lives of St. Rita and St. Nicholas offer inspiration to all of us—let us be Advent people, and in these weeks as we prepare our hearts and our minds for the birth of our Lord, let us seek to bring hope, faith, joy, and peace to one another!
Thank you to the many families who supported us on #GivingTuesday—we are one step closer to our goal and we are so grateful for your continued support of our mission to help our students grow in Christ. We are also grateful to all who supported our LEGO Replay and PJ service projects. Both of them were extremely successful and will bring joy and comfort to many in our community and to other children in need.
Our elementary grades spent the week practicing for our Christmas Program, "Lessons and Carols". They have been working very hard and look forward to performing for you this Tuesday, Dec.10th at 7pm (student arrival time at 6:15pm). Our performance will be in the church, and it will be standing room only, so be prepared to be close to your neighbor! It is always worth it, and is a beautiful way to celebrate the season!
The Diocesan CYO basketball season is underway in parish gyms all around Northern Virginia, including our own gym! We are grateful to the efforts of Judy Conti and John Bednarek for organizing our parish sports teams year-round, and we are excited to have basketball games in our home gym thanks to their planning and organizing. We are also grateful for all of the coaches who put tremendous time, effort and care into their work with the athletes. We want our children to learn about good sportsmanship, skilled fitness and the importance of teamwork, all with Christ at the center.
Report cards come home today! I am grateful to the teachers for their daily assessment of our students and their diligence in preparing grades for you. Please remember to sign report cards and return them next week.
Peace and Joy to you this Advent season,
Anne M. Dyke
Principal
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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: Graf, Grant, Griffin, Griese, Groneman, Grzadzinski, Guevara, Gull, Gursky, Haake, Hackett, Hammershaimb-Smith, Hannan, Harar and Harmon.
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January Lunch Orders Due December 15th!
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This is a short ordering period. Please be sure to get your January lunch order in
online
by Sunday, Dec. 15th. For your convenience, a preview of the January lunch menu can be found
here
.
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Share with us how your family prepares for Christmas! We'll feature your photos in our "Let Every Hawk Prepare Him Room" social media campaign throughout December.
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The final tallies are in! We raised $8600 for the Annual Fund, making this Giving Tuesday our most successful to date!
Donations are accepted throughout the school year. For 2019 tax purposes, gifts made by cash/check must be received in the school office by December 16th (download pledge card
here
). Or conveniently give
online
through the end of December - there are no fees; we will receive 100% of your donation!
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Thank you to all who shared their LEGO bricks for the LEGO Replay project! What a joy it was to witness the giving spirit of our students as we are #GrowingInChrist! We filled 15 boxes with 1000's of LEGOs and will ship them off next week to be shared with Teach for America and The Boys & Girls Club.
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PTO Christmas Shoppe - December 8th
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St. Nicholas is coming to McClunn Hall for pictures and a children's Christmas Shoppe on Sunday, Dec. 8, 9am-2pm. There will be children's activities, an opportunity for children to shop for family gifts, pancake breakfast provided by the Knights of Columbus and a Christmas Cookies & Cocoa sale from the 8th grade class. Please see the
flyer
for more information.
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Spirit Fitness at Flight - December 9th
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December Bonus!! We are introducing Spirit Fitness. Monday, Dec. 9 is a half day, and Flight in Springfield will be hosting us from 12-5. Jump for joy as Flight will donate 40% of the ticket price to St Louis. Plan ahead for a fun filled afternoon at Flight. Please complete
Waiver - New Guest
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Volunteers ~ Thank you for all you do! We appreciate your time & donations. Please note that 1 volunteer hour = $25 for donated items (class parties, bake sale etc.). We are grateful for all donations of items, service & prayer that you share with our St. Louis Community!
Don't forget!
Individual families are required to track their volunteer hours throughout the school year and to submit them in the
Volunteer Hours Log
for
credit. Questions regarding volunteering? Contact Elizabeth Moncher,
efdmoncher@gmail.com
.
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Extracurricular Activities & CYO
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CYO Spiritwear will be distributed to your children in their classes next week. If you placed an order, please be sure to let them know they will be getting a bag next week, and they should bring it home. Please check their school bags for your orders. If you don’t receive your order by Friday, please contact Judy Conti at
jconti@nelp.org
.
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VIRTUS Session Scheduled at St. Louis - March 7, 2020
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St. Louis will be hosting a VIRTUS session on Saturday March 7th at 9am. This is a great way to complete the training without having to travel to another parish. This training is required to be a chaperone or volunteer with students. Please visit
www.virtusonline.org
to register! Contact Ruthie Cody at
protect@saintlouisparish.org
with any questions.
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Boy Scout Christmas Wreaths
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St. Louis troop 680 will be selling fresh, fragrant wreaths and centerpieces for $20-30 on Dec. 1, 8 and 15 before and after the 8:45am, 10:30am and 12:20pm Masses at the Bell Tower. Don't delay; we sold out early last year! Decorate your home and support a worthy cause.
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The Alexandria Nutcracker
is this weekend! Please come see St. Louis students Nora Costello, Sarah Raetz, Kyla Conner and Julie Dunn dance in this beautiful holiday show at West Potomac High School. Shows are on Friday and Saturday at 6:30 and Saturday afternoon at 2:30. Tickets can be purchased at
www.alexandrianutcracker.com
or at the door. This is a very child-friendly production so kids of all ages are welcome!
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Sunday, Dec. 8 - PTO Christmas Shoppe, 9am-2pm, McClunn Hall
Monday, Dec. 9 - 11:30 Dismissal -
NO PM EDC
Monday, Dec. 9 - Spirit Fitness at Flight, 12-5pm
Tuesday, Dec. 10 - Lessons & Carols, 7pm, St. Louis Church
Friday, Dec. 20 - 11:30 Dismissal -
NO PM EDC
Dec. 23 - Jan. 3 - Christmas Break
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