December 2021 / January 2022

STA Mission

St. Teresa’s Academy educates young women to think critically, encourages them through Catholic values to love the dear neighbor without distinction, and empowers them to change the world.

Saturday, December 4

9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Bring the kids between 10 a.m.-noon to see Santa!

Star Shop in Goppert Center

Free Shipping

Free shipping on all online orders over $100 now through Friday, December 3.

$10 off $100

Get $10 off each $100 spent on in-store purchases on Saturday, December 4.

Enjoy the beautiful sounds of the season at STA's annual Christmas concert.

• Wednesday, December 8
• 7:30 p.m.
• STA - M&A Auditorium

Watch your email for additional details.

Parents, students and their families are invited to celebrate Mass in the Chapel of St. Joseph in Windmoor Center on the following dates. Mass times are from 7:30-8:05 a.m. unless indicated otherwise.* Stay afterward for coffee and bagels!

In the event of campus closure due to inclement weather, students will follow Schedule 5/Virtual Learning Day. Students are expected to complete coursework and log into their curriculum platform every school day when virtual learning is in session, and be present for every class listed on the schedule. See additional information on the Student & Parent Virtual Learning Procedures for additional detail.

We will communicate our decision about school closures through our website, SchoolMessenger, STA's Facebook page, Instagram (sta_stars), and Twitter.

To opt in to SchoolMessenger, text "Y" or "Yes" to 67587.

The National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) recognized STA's The Dart staff as one of the top 10 in the U.S. at the Best of Show virtual awards in November. In addition, STA senior Amelia Arrieta was nominated for a Pacemaker award in photography, and The Dart was nominated in the general category.

Dianne Hirner, STA publications advisor and journalism teacher, commended staff from both The Dart and the Teresian. "The high quality of work produced by these students is remarkable," she says. "It's an honor for them to be recognized among the nation's top publications."

STA's Campus Ministry team will welcome a part-time college intern at the beginning of 2022. Thanks to a gift from a generous STA family, Katia Rubio will spend the spring semester supporting Campus Ministry's work of strengthening and spreading faith within the STA community.

Katia currently is a sophomore at Rockhurst University, where she is a Trustee Scholar, the highest academic merit scholarship awarded by the university. Originally from Mexico, Katia has lived most of her life in Arkansas where she attended public schools. Eager to attend a university that would support her studies as well as her faith, she enrolled at Rockhurst, where she is majoring in biomedical engineering.

"I am so excited to join STA's Campus Ministry team. I can't wait to meet and connect with students, parents, faculty and staff, and support the Academy's faith activities" says Katia.

Katia is president of the Student Organization of Latinos (SOL) at Rockhurst and is involved in a number of other campus clubs.

Please join STA in welcoming Katia to campus!

Photo credit: Arkansas Catholic

CANstruction project provides canned goods to feed the hungry

STA students showed their "CANstruction" skills and service commitment by building sculptures made entirely of canned goods, which were then donated to Harvesters Community Food Network.

In all, 2188 cans of food were donated by faculty, staff and students and their families to feed the hungry this holiday season, providing 1833 meals.

Donnelly and Windmoor advisories combined to create Christmas bulb and snowflake sculptures, donating more than 1180 canned goods to Harvesters.

M&A and Goppert advisories combined to build a pumpkin pie sculpture, donating more than 1000 canned goods to Harvesters.

Join the STA team!

STA is seeking qualified professionals in several areas. We also have substitute teacher opportunities available

Your Smart Tuition bill due December 10 may include fees for fall sports and travel, dance, winter sports, and interim week courses. Please log in to Smart Tuition as soon as possible to review and pay your account (and avoid late fees).

Accounts must be current through November in order for your daughter to return to class in January. 

Please contact Cheryl Givens (cgivens@stteresasacademy.org) or Kathy Rohr (krohr@stteresasacademy) with any questions.

Electronic progress reports will be sent via School Messenger the week of January 10.

The Fall 2021 Exam Schedule is now available. Fall exams are scheduled for December 13-15. Please mark your calendars with the exam dates corresponding with your daughter's classes.

Interim Week will take place January 5-7, 2022. School attendance policies apply to Interim Week dates. All students are expected to report to their course locations at 8:15 a.m. and will be dismissed at 2:30 p.m. each of the three days. Students remaining on campus may bring lunch or purchase Taher lunch. 

Field experiences are included in many courses. Please check with your daughter for the Field Trip Permission Form. She will need your signature on the form to participate in any travel/transportation related to the course. Each instructor will send home the permission form with your daughter. 

You may visit the school website for additional information regarding Interim Week. Please direct any questions regarding Interim Week courses to Kelly Finn at kfinn@stteresasacademy.org

STA hosted more than 120 colleges and universities this fall, both in-person and virtually. Spring visits will resume in late February.

Parents of seniors

To date, we have submitted over 1,000 applications to colleges and universities nationwide. Congratulations to those who have received acceptances and scholarship offers. Please see your detailed College Planning News for more information on scholarships, deadlines, enrollment details, and much more.  

Parents of juniors

• Junior Parent College Information Night (virtual) is Thursday, January 20, at 7 p.m. We will discuss ACT/SAT/test-optional admissions and other hot topics and helpful hints for parents navigating the college process. Speakers for the virtual town hall virtual are Lisa Keegan, vice president for Enrollment at Bucknell University, and Barkley Barton, director of Admissions at the University of Georgia. A link will be emailed directly.

• Registration deadline for the February 12 ACT is January 7; visit www.actstudent.org to register. When registering, look for "St. Teresa's" (school code is 261700). The ACT/SAT registration process was shared with juniors (November seminar) and junior parents in a follow-up email. Remember, STA is a national test site on April 2 and June 11.

• PSAT scores will be available online on December 7 through the College Board account. Test books were returned to juniors the week of Nov. 9 in seminar.

• During January and February we will meet individually with all juniors to discuss senior year courses, college list and how we may help with that list, testing plans, and much more. Our notes on suggested senior-year courses for your daughter will be in PowerSchool under Academics>Junior Worksheet. Detailed info will be shared later about the course registration process for 2022-23.

Parents of sophomores

Students and parents, mark your calendars for Sophomore College Planning Night on Thursday, March 24 at 7 p.m. Details and speakers to be announced.

Will you or a friend have a freshman at STA next year? If so, please add the following dates to your calendar:

• December 1 - Priority Application Deadline
• December 11 - Scholarship Exam
• January 8 & 22 - Family Meetings for Applicants

Find out more about our Admissions process, and contact Kelly McKee (kmckee@stteresasacademy.org), Admissions Director, with any questions.

Due to educational impacts resulting from the pandemic, STA initiated a three-to-five-year pilot to assess a test-optional admission policy. During this time, STA will continue to assess applicants' academic performance and growth potential with a holistic, student-based evaluation that also focuses on family meetings, essays, teacher recommendations and grades, and adjust accordingly based on findings.

Be sure to support your Stars during winter sports season! With basketball and swim & dive underway, there are many reasons to gather and cheer!

View athletic calendars, scores and standings, rosters and more.

The Stars finished second out of 16 teams at the MSSHAA Class 5 State Cross Country Championships in November.

The team had two All-State runners, Amelia Arrieta in third place with a time of 17:57 and Sydney Swan in 25th place with a time of 18:55.

Congratulations, Stars!

STA's cross country team celebrates a successful year.

Congratulations to STA's Class of 2022 collegiate signees:

• Grace Coppinger- Texas Christian University (soccer)
• Sophie Harlan - Kansas State University (soccer)
• Saige Wimes - University of Kansas (soccer)

STA is offering behavioral telehealth to STA students and families during the 2021-2022 school year. Dr. Shelley Cooper of Diversity Telehealth is providing these valuable services.

Dr. Cooper is available by Zoom every Wednesday from 1-2 p.m. for consultation. She is on campus (M&A Building, Room M210) every other Wednesday from 1-2 p.m. You may also reach her by email (scooper@diversitytelehealth.com) and phone at 913-710-3818.

Jennifer Fortin, SPA president, invites parents to contribute to the annual Christmas Fund. This fund allows the Parents Association to present a bonus check to teachers, administrators and staff to show our appreciation for providing our daughters an education that is unmatched in the Kansas City area.

Donations must be received by end of day December 3.

The Star Parents Association welcomes all parents to the following events.

Star Parents Association Meeting

• Thursday, January 6
• 7 p.m.
• Zoom (ID: 839 3024 4916 / Passcode: d5gVzk)
• All parents are encouraged to attend

Parents in Prayer

• Friday, December 3 / Friday, January 7 / Friday, January 21
• 9 a.m.
• Zoom (ID: 891 4306 4758 / Passcode: juZ42Y)
• Registration not required

SPA welcomes your involvement throughout the year. Register to volunteer.

Stop by Chipotle at 4851 Main St. for dinner on Wednesday, December 08, between 4-8 p.m. Proceeds will benefit Fund-a-Future scholarships.

Show the flyer on this link when checking out (there's also a code for online ordering) for 33% off. Then make your way to the STA Christmas Concert to round out your evening.

Get your Christmas spirit into full swing at this year's Opening Doors Christmas Homes Tour!

Thursday, December 9

Doors open at 5 p.m. and close at 9 p.m.

Gracious STA community members who are opening their doors this year include: Abby Bone (Brookside), Heather & Greg Keitges (Country Club District); Kelly & Dan Reichman (Country Club District); and Rita & John Saladino (Sunset Hills).

Tickets are available for $40 each. A limited number of VIP tickets (which include bus transportation between homes) are available for $100 each.

The STA community showed its giving spirit by uniting to help deserving students who qualify for financial need. STA thanks everyone--event co-chairs and attendees, volunteers, sponsors and underwriters, those who donated auction items and hosted/sponsored gift-giving parties, and those who bid generously.

While total income from this year's full event are still being tallied, the Fund-a-Future portion of the event raised more than $315,000, including two matching gifts of $50,000 each from generous donors.

The bidding began with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, who raised their table's paddle to donate $25,000 to Fund-a-Future. Monies raised will support the more than 50% of STA students who receive financial assistance.

STA Strong auction co-chairs (l. to r.): Gregg & Cheryl Givens; Gus & Angie Zinn; STA President Dr. Siabhan May-Washington; Peggy (McShane, '83) & Tom Rowe; Tricia (Effertz, '94) & Todd McCullough

Sister Ruth Stuckel, CSJ, (r.) led attendees in prayer. She also raised the paddle on behalf of CSJs with a $25,000 Fund-a-Future donation.

STA junior Keeley Spencer wowed the audience with her musical talents. Keeley treated guests to a special performance as well as dinner music.

STA seniors Sinai Kintchen (l.) and Hattie McLane (r.) joined Dr. Siabhan May-Washington on stage following the Fund-a-Future video. Watch it here.

More than 100 STA student volunteers helped before, during and after the event, ensuring a smooth and successful STA Strong 2021 auction. In addition, all students contributed to record-breaking raffle ticket sales to benefit student scholarships.

A very happy STA grandparent (r.) was the lucky winner of the car raffle, which generated more raffle ticket sales than any in STA history. The 2021 Toyota RAV4 was generously donated by Molle Toyota.

Support STA -- at no cost to you -- every time you shop using AmazonSmile.

Simply use smile.amazon.com the next time you shop. Sign in with your regular account information and select St. Teresa's Academy as your designated charitable organization (you'll only need to do this once). You'll find the exact same offers, prices and shopping experience, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of your spending to STA every time you shop!

Visit the STA Star Shop online or next time you're on campus to check out the latest gear, and definitely don't miss the annual Christmas sale on Saturday, December 4! The Star Shop is also your go-to-source for uniform items throughout the year. We receive new merchandise on a regular basis!

Opportunities are available for parents to staff the shop after school Mondays-Thursdays, during home games and at other times throughout the school year. Contact Kristen Walker (kwalker@stteresasacademy.org) to volunteer.

Follow us on Instagram to see the latest Star gear!

Check your smartphone's STA app to find out what's cooking in December and January!