Dear Families,

A Blessing for Mothers

Lord, thank you for the gift of my mother.

Thank you for her love and care for me,

for her sacrifices for me, and for all she does for me.

I ask that you bless her abundantly.

May You continue to bless her all of her days

and bless and guide her in all her endeavors.

May You grant her strength of mind and body,

peace of heart and mind,

and a faith that is strong and unyielding.

Please help her to grow in strength of body, mind, and spirit,

and to grow in wisdom and grace as the years go by.

May you protect and watch over her always and keep her safe from harm.

May she grow more in love with You each day that passes

and may she enter Your eternal Kingdom when her time on earth is complete.

Amen.

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and please enjoy your special day! God Bless all mothers and grandmothers.

Parent Survey for Accreditation

We are in our first year of the Accreditation Process. Every 6 years, Catholic Schools go through a process of Accreditation intended to help schools develop their strengths, ensure effective governance, and provide the best educational experiences for their students. The primary objective of accreditation is ongoing school improvement. Through this process, the teachers, faculty, and staff have been working hard in collecting data, evidence, and information of our school which will be put into a self-study document. Today, we ask that parents fill out the following survey that will let us know about your perceptions of our school programming. Your answers will remain anonymous and please fill out the survey by TOMORROW, Friday, May 12th, 2023. Thank you for your time and feedback.  

Parent Survey Accreditation

Walk-A-Thon – Friday, May 12th, 2023

We have had a fun Spirit Week with Crazy Hat Day, Sports Theme Day, and Colors Day. We look forward to a beautiful day for our Walk-A-Thon tomorrow. Please remind your child to bring a water bottle this Friday. The Walk-a-Thon is one of our required annual fundraisers and this year we have the goal of raising $42,000. As of Wednesday, we have raised roughly $37,000. The Parents' Club uses these funds to pay for student enrichment assemblies, curriculum additions, to sponsor parent education classes and family social events (that will be resurrected next school year!), as well as providing the faculty and staff with treats throughout the year. We can only meet our goal if every school family takes the time to contact friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers and ask if they can pledge in your student's name. Thank you for helping Parents’ Club!

Please read through the Parent Information Packet if you have questions about how and when to go about collecting donations. There are some fun prizes for students and classrooms that raise the most money or walk the most laps! 

The Walk-a-Thon is a fantastic event that raises funds, spirits, and heart rates! Thanks in advance for all of your support and participation! 

Tomorrow is the last day to contribute to our Walk-A-Thon. It is a great opportunity to ask sponsors from your neighbors, friends, family, and co-workers! Help support St. Louise School!

All parents are welcome and invited to the fun event to root students on as they circle the track!! 

Login those volunteer hours

Don’t forget to login your 40 hours of volunteering. Please make sure you log in at least 40 volunteer hours through our student management system, Skyward. Information can be found HERE. Please record your hours by June 16th. If you need help logging in, please email Mr. Kirby - dank@stlouiseschool.org. 

Every family is required by St. Louise to give 40 hours of service each school year. The cost for unworked hours this year is $21.50 for families who won't be able to log at least 40 hours of service. For example, if one family recorded 0 volunteer hours, they are expected to pay $860 by June. However, if a family member worked for 10 hours, they should expect to pay $645. By volunteering, you foster relationships with other parents, contribute to the success of activities and events at school, and help keep our tuition affordable.

Please go HERE if you will need to pay a fee in lieu of fulfilling your volunteer hour commitment. We would appreciate the fee being paid in the first week of June at the latest. 

Some available volunteer positions for the final weeks of the school year include:

• Auction Team - Our Auction Team is looking for some fun people to breathe some new life into our procurement planning. Please reach out to Laura Bonner or Amy Colby auction@stlouiseschool.org to jump on board! 
• New Family Mentor - We would love current school families to greet and mentor newly enrolled 2023-2024 families on the ins & outs of being a St. Louise parent; please let Mindy Morgan and Tracy Brown know if you can be a mentor - a volunteer job that you can mostly do on your own time from home and will involve a summer playdate with the new student and family. 
• Field Day - this annual event will take place on June 13, and Mr. Evans will need lots of help all day. 

Annual Fund, Auction, and Charger Cards

Finally, besides your yearly commitment to give volunteer hours, school families also commit to supporting the Annual Fund, the Auction, and Charger Cards. 

• If you pledged to the Annual Fund, but haven't gotten around to sending in your check or credit card donation, please give HERE now. Please contact Linda Bowers if you have questions. 
• Please complete your Procurement for the 2023-24 November Auction by June 16
• Charger Cards is considered fulfilled if you have either chosen to "opt out" and pay the $250 fee or if you bring in a minimum of $125 in rebates/profit from your yearlong Charger Card purchases. To pay the fee, please submit a check or cash (no credit cards accepted for this fee) to "St. Louise Charger Cards." If you didn't opt out and will be bringing in at least $125 in rebates/profit, please make sure you take advantage of these final weeks to purchase as many Charger Cards as needed. Please contact the Charger Cards office at chargercards@stlouiseschool.org if you need help in determining how far you are away from fulfilling your commitment. 

Staff Updates

After extensive interviews last week, I am happy to announce our new 1st grade teacher for the 2023-2024 school year. Joining Mrs. Portolese next year is a St. Louise alumni from the class of 2011, Grace Dullanty. For the last 3 years, Grace has been working at a Catholic School in Draper, UT. Grace has her Bachelor’s Degree from Carroll College in Special Education and Theology and she received her Master of Arts Teaching Degree from the University of Portland. Grace is excited to move back home and join the St. Louise Community. She will be in sometime the 2nd week of June shadowing Mrs. Portolese. Let’s welcome Ms. Dullanty. 

Have a Blessed Weekend,

Mr. Mike Fuerte

Announcements

Fundraisers

Parish

Dear Friends at St. Louise, 

Happy Mothers’ Day!

Now that I am 65 years old, I find myself feeling an even deeper appreciation for my mother. I have a heightened sense of what her gift for listening, offering words of wisdom, her faith, and yes, cooking a good meal when I visit, mean to me. Most of my friends close to my age don’t have their mothers with them any more, so I am especially aware that each day with her is gift from God. 

And this experience parallels my relationship with Mary, the Mother of God. My appreciation for her and her care for me, especially as a priest, has only grown throughout the years. Mary played a strong role in the experience of my 30 day retreat 12 years ago. The first day back in the parish I told the people, “I used to think that I loved Jesus, I used to think that I loved Mary – but I wasn’t even close to what true love from them means.” I am still growing in that love!

I found that, with Archbishop Etienne’s invitation, I turned to the intercession of “Mary, Undoer of Knots,” during the months of the pandemic shut-down three years ago. The day I wrote this column, the memory came back to me of that time three years ago, while I was praying in the very chapel from which we live-streamed our Masses when only eight people were allowed to be in the room. I hope that we never have to return to that, and I am grateful that the Lord saw us through it, with the intercession of Mary. 

I am reading a book a priest friend gave me called “The Catholic Catechism in a Year.” I was struck when I read that while we call God “Father,” the Church also believes that God’s love can be experienced as like a mother’s love. 

If that is true, and if it is also true that all of us are made in God’s own image and likeness, then the fullness of our humanity will be discovered when we seek to unite our life and love with God’s, who is both Father and mother-like in our relationship with Him. 

We sometimes refer to the Church as “Mother Church.” We experience the deep care that the Church has for all of humanity, the love of a mother if you will, in the intercessions from the Liturgy for Good Friday. In them, we pray for the Church, for the pope, for the catechumens who are to be baptized, for all who believe in Christ, for the Jewish people, for those who do not acknowledge God, for all the sick, the hungry, the imprisoned, for travelers, for pilgrims, and for the dying. We pour out our prayer for everyone, as Christ poured out his love for us on the cross and his Mother, Mary, remained at his side. The prayers are long, and they imitate the length and breadth, height and depth of Christ’s love and the love of his mother. (c.f. Ephesians 3:18 21) 

The way that we pray leads us in the way that we believe and live. Mothers can be powerful teachers of all of us who are called to live. 

Fr. Gary 

"If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire. Let the truth be your delight – proclaim it, but with a certain congeniality."

-Saint Quotes from St Catherine of Siena

Band Concert

1st & 2nd Grade Spring Concert

Spirit Week - Crazy Hat Day!

Parent's Club - Baseball Night Kate L. threw the first pitch! Wow!

Widodo Karli Family

Morris/Herber Family

Antezana Garvizu Family



Coles Family