WEEKLY BULLETIN - March 17, 2022 |
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From the Desk of Mike Fuerte |
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Dear Families,
March is the month when 8th grade families choose which high schools their soon-to-be graduating children will be attending. April is the month when St. Louise faculty are offered contracts and have to decide if they want to sign up for yet another year working under a certain boss. And May/June is the month when our teachers get together to create next year's grade K-8 homeroom lists.
But even though May/June is the month for finalizing next year's class lists, April is actually an important month in this process. Please see below:
This spring, teachers will create these new homeroom rosters for next year's grade levels, mixing up the current group of students in each grade and adding any newly admitted students. Let me remind you parents that, just as you are trusting the teachers this year with caring for and teaching your most precious possessions every day, so too do I hope you can trust them with making the decisions this May on which children to place in which classrooms. What will happen is the teachers of one grade level will get together and decide how best to create the next grade level's class placements for the fall. They consider many things, making sure there is a balance in each class of: boys and girls; highly verbal and low verbal personalities; kids with strong academic skills and those who need extra help; etc. They also know which students would best be served by being separated from certain classmates or grouped with certain others. Finally, they try to match each child's learning style with the teaching styles of next year's teachers.
If one little change is thrown into the mix, such as a parent requesting that her child be in a specific class, the "domino effect" takes place and more changes need to be made to keep the balance mentioned above. It's not an easy task to create new class rosters for the succeeding school year. Therefore, I need you to trust the knowledge of our teachers in choosing the class placement that will be best for your child and best for the entire class of students.
However, should you have an important point you want us to consider for the best learning-atmosphere placement for your child next year, you have an opportunity to send me this information in writing by an APRIL 15th deadline. Please do not talk to a teacher about this, as all requests must come through me, and I will then work with the teachers to do our best to meet your request, assuming we agree and we're able to work through the "domino effect." There is no guarantee. Additionally, I ask that you written request focus on what type of "learning atmosphere placement" you want us to consider; please don't just name the "teacher" you want your child to have. Furthermore, note that I keep track of the number of requests a parent has made for a child's class placement request, as it would be too complex to accommodate a family's multiple requests during their one child's K-8 era. Thanks for your understanding, trust, and support.
Speaking of an April 15th deadline, another deadline on that same date (besides the one we all dread about paying taxes) is to apply for a Father Phil Wallace Tuition Assistance Endowment Fund Grant. The online application must be submitted to the company we use to process these applications (FACTS) by April 15. Please click here for the online application and if your family will be struggling this coming school year with low earnings, please consider applying.
This Thursday is St. Patrick’s Day, and the students and staff are welcome to wear St. Patrick’s Day Green while following regular free dress rules.
We will also have a special performance in the Main Lobby/Outdoor Entrance from 8:00am-8:30am this morning. St. Louise students Evan and Emry will have their grandparents play traditional Irish music with a flute and fiddle.
Dr. and Mrs. Connor have been playing traditional Irish music for years. He plays the Irish wooden flute and penny whistle, and she plays the fiddle. Irish music is called “Trad music” in Ireland, where they lived for nearly two years. It was most notably played for dances and now is enjoyed by audiences in private homes, in concerts as well as for dances. The Connors will be playing Irish jigs, reels, polkas in the traditional Irish “session” format, casual and fun!
Parents and families are welcome to listen to some authentic Irish music.
Nominations Needed
We have wonderful volunteers at St. Louise School, and each June we honor 3 of them with the Volunteer Extraordinaire Awards. I am asking both you and the faculty to nominate volunteers to be considered for this award. Nominees should have a history of dedicated, positive volunteering for the St. Louise School community. Past recipients of the award (who are still current school parents) include: Rebecca Nightingale, Joni Hoffman, and Ingrid Flaat. Do you have a fellow parent(s) to nominate? If so, please send your nomination to Mr. Fuerte, along with an explanation of why the person deserves to be considered. Thanks for your help!
Stations of the Cross Silhouette Prayer Service – March 18th
The 4th graders will have a special Stations of the Cross Silhouette Prayer Service on Friday, March 18th in the Parish Hall. PK-3 students will be attending at 11:00AM and 4th grade parents and PK-3 parents are invited to attend at that time. Grades 5-8 students will be attending at 2:00PM and 5th-8th grade parents are invited to attend at that time.
Report Cards Sent Home – March 22nd
Teachers have been working hard on completing report cards. Report Cards will be sent home on Tuesday, March 22nd.
Blessings for the Lenten Season!
Mike Fuerte
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- Stations of the Cross - School Prayer Service
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- NO School or Kids' Club (Teacher Theological Inservice Day)
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Father Daughter Dance Returns June 4th
SAVE THE DATE!
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Summer Camp & Booster Bunch - Sign up Now! |
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Summer Learning for Students
Help prevent “summer slump” by signing your students for these two special programs in August running here at St. Louise:
Summer Booster Program: Join our Booster Bunch in August 2-4 to help your students get a head start on September’s classes. St. Louise teachers will design fun lessons to minimize summer learning loss and put students on the fast-track to fall academic preparedness. Booster Bunch students entering grades 1-5 will receive instruction on material from the recently completed school year - a terrific opportunity for more practice to confidently begin a new grade level.
Chargers Summer Camps (Weekly August 1-26)
All aboard as we embark on epic One-Week summer camps filled with fun, discovery, and excitement. Anchored in strong character and faith, we'll set a course for grand adventures as we blast through scientific discoveries, art exploration, outdoor games, and more!
Limited spaces are available in each of these programs. Please email MariaZ@stlouiseschool.org if you have any questions about these Summer programs.
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Student Learning Expectation (SLE) for March |
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Student Learning Expectations (otherwise known as SLEs) are expectations that our students should know, understand, value, and be able to do by the time they graduate from St. Louise School. |
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March's SLE is:
A St. Louise Student is An Active Christian Who…
1.2 Knows Roman Catholic teachings and traditions and
has a working knowledge of the Bible.
1.3 Actively participates in the service for which God calls us
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School Musical - Into the Woods Jr. |
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CONGRATULATIONS to Mrs. LB and her cast, crew and parent volunteers on a spectacular production of Into the Woods Jr. |
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SAVE THE DATE
SHINE BRIGHT AUCTION - APRIL 9, 2022
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UPDATES FROM THE AUCTION OFFICE:
The Auction is coming up in just a few weeks. Thanks to all who donated and volunteered for our Premium Wine Drive last week!
This week, Eugene Titov and Sharon Victor are taking pictures at recess for our Black and White Photo sale. Jennifer Little has been helping our wonderful teachers plan fun Teacher Experiences for our kids. Ashley Wojnarski has been working behind the scenes with inventory and organization.
Preview Week, the week before the auction, will be busy with raffles in the school lobby, party sign-ups, art projects on display, and an opportunity to bid on selected items, even if you are not able to attend the auction. Be on the lookout next week for the Auction Week flyer in your Red Envelope for more information.
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Pictures Needed for the Yearbook! |
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St. Louise Parish Lenten Season 2022 |
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Mark your Calendars for these upcoming events:
- March 18 - Stations of the Cross School Prayer Service
- March 22 - Report Cards sent home
- March 23 - 8th Grade Graduation Photos
- March 28 - NO SCHOOL OR KIDS' CLUB
- March 30 - Grade 3-4 Confessions
- March 31 - Parents' Club Meeting
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Stop in Tuesday afternoon from 2:45-3:30pm or Friday morning from 8:30-9:15am for all your gift card needs!
FEE FREE on credit card purchases from Monday, March 21st- Friday March 25th!
Save the 3% fee on purchases (MUST be on cards with higher then 3% rebates) when using a credit card! You can earn miles on your credit card while stocking up on Charger Cards without the additional fee.
Stock up on gas cards while prices are sky high! Earn your rebates quickly by filling up regularly at the pump. Chevron, Shell, 76, and Arco are all ready for purchase!
Need more info about Charger Cards? Check out their website here. |
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Thank you to all of our amazing parent volunteers! |
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With Gratitude
Thank you to our volunteer nurses, Colleen Mahon, Beth Kaukl, Theresa Nguyen, Stephanie Tornquist and Sara Gopsill for helping in the nurses office this year.
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If you know of a volunteer doing great work and want to recognize them, simply email their name and what they do to socialmedia@stlouiseschool.org.
Want to volunteer - check out available opportunities here!
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Dear Friends at St. Louise,
Welcome to our former pastor, Fr. Tom Belleque who is preaching at our Masses in English this weekend! I will be at Fr. Tom’s current parish and my former parish, St. Anthony in Renton. We aren’t doing this just it is a fun thing to do. We are doing it because is part of what it means to live as missionary disciples, and to join with St. Anthony in their covenant relationship with Ste. Anne de Haycynthe Parish and School in Haiti. How did this come about?
Fall of 2009: I read about Pope Benedict XVI expressing his concern that over one billion people in the world go to bed hungry each night and so he called for Catholics in first world nations to reach out to third world nations. I took this call to the St. Anthony Pastoral Council to begin a process of discernment of what we might do.
January 2010: A devastating earthquake hit Haiti and we soon learned that Molly Hightower, the granddaughter of St. Anthony Parishioners, John and Annette Hightower, was killed while volunteering at a NPH Hospital in Port-au-Prince. (Many at St. Louise are familiar with NPH, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos or Friends of the Orphans. Fr. Tom has been heavily involved with the organization. The NHP memorial service for was here at St. Louise, which I attended.) The parishioners felt the loss of Molly deeply and we felt that the Holy Spirit was leading us to Haiti. Prayer, discussion and discernment followed. The Missions Office at the Archdiocese introduced us to Catholic Relief Services in Haiti, they introduced us to Outreach to Haiti run by Fr. Frank Rouleau, who connected us with the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince, the archdiocese connected us two different parishes and schools to visit.
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October 2012: the first delegation went to Haiti and when we met Pe Josué Seide and the community of St. Anne de Haycynthe, we were convinced that this was the community that the Holy Spirit had led to have a sister parish and school relationship. Later Fr. Frank told us that this was the poorest school and parish in the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince.
August 2021: After Haiti suffered the assassination of the president, an earthquake and Tropical Strom Grace, I called Fr. Tom to say that I realize the folks at St. Anthony would be feeling deeply the recent tragic events in Haiti and if there was anything that St. Louise to do, just let us know. In typical Fr. Tom fashion, he said, “There is!” He invited me (us) to consider joining St. Anthony in supporting the school at St. Anne since the school continued to grow and St. Anthony didn’t “have the bandwidth” to make the need and had hoped that we could help.
Fall of 2021: I took it to the Pastoral Council with not so much the question of should we do this, as how can we do this. This is our mission, part of what it means to Ignite Faith and Witness God’s love. We will witness God’s love as we get to know the people of Haiti and the deep faith. This will be one of those experiences that will ignite the faith in our hearts.
May God richly bless our part of joining Fr. Tom and St. Anthony Parish in this important commitment to the people in Haiti.
Fr. Gary Zender
Pastor
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GALLERY
4th Grade Stations of the Cross
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133 156th Avenue S.E., Bellevue, WA 98007
Phone: (425) 746-4220
Fax: (425) 644-3294
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