Parent Bulletin
April 23, 2020
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We are sensitive that during this time of businesses closing or cutting hours, it also means some of our school parents are seeing their jobs cut or salaries reduced. We all need to continue to keep these families in our prayers
.
We will be keeping this spirit of sensitivity and understanding while we move ahead with our already-scheduled plans for two school events - our Walk-A-Thon and our Auction. We forge ahead, but we are available to discuss privately with parents who need to ask for special arrangements because of their family budget at this time.
First, regarding the Auction...
Julianne Read has put together an informational packet that she is emailing you today. At the same time, she is putting a hard-copy version of this Auction packet in the postal mail, so expect this in your mailbox in the coming days. Our Auction will take place again at the Bellevue Westin, on November 14, but it is in the month of May when we need to gather your donations that will be put up for bid in the fall.
The Auction info-packet will explain the
why, how, when
, and
where
of donating items yourself or procuring donations. Julianne has made it really easy for you by creating gift registries set up on
Amazon
and
Pottery Barn
, so within minutes your family's required donation can be found and purchased.
(Please note: Since the school office isn’t open, we can’t receive items shipped via the registries right now. If you purchase though a gift registry, we ask that you have your ordered items shipped to your home. You can also simply commit to your forthcoming donation via our online procurement form, and in September order and ship to school via the registry.)
If you don't want to donate to the Auction via a registry, the
info-packet explains a lot of other items we would love to have at the Auction, and many of them don't have to be paid for out of your wallet.
Thanks in advance for making a plan this month of May for how your family will donate to the Auction, and sending in that plan (your procurement form) by June 1.
Now, regarding our second important, annual event, the Walk-A-Thon....
The Walk-A-Thon was originally scheduled to be held on May 1. Our co-chairs (Jim Britt & Cari O'Loughlin-Britt and Eugene & Ann Kolovyansky) were all set to send out the Walk-A-Thon pledge-collection information in March, but then school was mandated to be closed. The co-chairs are putting their heads together and coming up with a great new plan!
They will be introducing the Walk-
E
-Thon next week!
Instead of a held-at-school event, the Walk-
E
-Thon will be held at the 200+ homes of our St. Louise families. The location may be different, and the money-collection and walking will all be recorded
E
-lectronically, but the concept is somewhat the same:
- The kids get moving!
- The goal is to support exercise and support the school!
- Prizes will be awarded to students who move the most and/or support the school the most by gathering cash donations to St. Louise!
We believe that having this fun event in the middle of our school closure period will be a great pick-me-up for the students! In-between or after daily online-learning sessions, it will be good for your child's health and good for your child's spirit to get moving - whether it be by walking, running, skipping, jumping, dancing, dribbling, shooting, tumbling, or throwing.
Stay tuned next week, when our Walk-
E
-Thon co-chairs, Jim, Cari, Eugene, and Ann, will be sending out Walk-
E
-Thon information.
In this unique year, instead of focusing on raising X-amount of
dollars
through our Walk-
A
-thon
FUND
raiser, we are more concerned with raising
spirits
through our Walk-
E
-Thon
FUN
-raiser.
Thanks in advance for your support of both the school Auction and the Walk-
E
-Thon!
ALLELUIA!
HAPPY EASTER SEASON!
MR. FITZ
p.s.
I appreciate parents' and students' flexibility and teamwork as you work with our teachers in coming up with "new and improved" schedules for this second-half of the virtual-school-season. I want to apologize that there are parts of our online-learning procedures/schedules that are far from perfect. When we came up a few years ago with plans to have some online-learning days built into the regular calendar, it was to be prepared for those winters when we would have 3 straight snow days of school closure. Who would have guessed we'd have 3 straight months of closure! Next school year when we have the time, the teachers and administration will prepare a more thought-out plan for extended closure situations.
Also, we want to incorporate your recommendations into making improvements to online-learning, and so Mr. Fuerte will be emailing out parent surveys tomorrow. Each survey is unique to each grade level, so if you have more than one child at school, you'll be sent different surveys that we ask you to fill out unique to your child in that specific grade level. Thanks for completing the survey(s) by Saturday.
EASTER SEASON REMINDER
"
Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength and beauty and happiness."
~Floyd W. Tomkins
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CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday, April 27
- By today, families should be getting in the postal mail an Auction Info-Packet. Please see the Auction article below.
Friday, May 1
- Parents are asked come to school today from 8AM-4PM ONLY IF their child's teacher has informed them there are new assignments to pickup or if the parents have completed assignments to drop off. .
Thursday, May 7
- Virtual Parents' Club Meeting at 6:30PM; if you would like to join the meeting, please email Parents' Club President, Karen Reed.
Saturday, May 9
- Saturday Spruce-Up of the grounds from 8AM-12PM. (See the article below.)
Sunday, May 10
Thursday, May 14
- Virtual School Commission Meeting at 6:30PM; if you would like to join the meeting, please email Commission chair, Sean Manne.
Sunday, May 24
Monday, May 25
- Memorial Day: God Bless Our Fallen Heroes!
- No online-learning this day.
Saturday, May 30
- Saturday Spruce-Up of the grounds from 8AM-12PM. (See the article below.)
Monday, June 1
- Donations due from current school families for their 2020 Auction procurements.
CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE SCHOOL CALENDAR
HERE
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First grader Mariluz was inspired by the school staff's
video message on Easter, so she made her own heart-message to pass on.
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Check out the separate email Julianne Read will be sending all school families TODAY regarding procuring donations and/or donating yourself to the 2020 School Auction -
Skyball: Chargers Are Forever
. If you have any questions about your family's required commitment, please contact
Julianne
.
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While Samantha and Ellie work on online-learning, their dog offers support.
Emmett is hard at work on his preschool distance-learning.
At-Home Photos Needed for the School Yearbook!
Despite this unexpected break in the school year, the school yearbook is still being published this June and will contain individual and class photos of all students and well as will be full of fun candid photos from the fall and winter! In order to really represent this entire school year, we are asking for candid photos of your students at home in the spring while they are doing online learning or completing home-supported assignments.
Perhaps you can take a pic of your child reading with the family pet, or maybe you have a good shot of your child diligently using their laptop. Some PE exercise photos would be fun, as well as pics of your children completing Art assignments at home. Whatever candid shots you can take of these online-learning days, please send them to Catherine Saffel, the coordinator of our school yearbook, and there is a chance you'll see them in the St. Louise yearbook for 2019-2020!
Please email your photos to
cathsaff@gmail.com
or text them to her at 206-459-8962. Please note what grade your child is in, but no need to use names.
Books will be full-color and distributed the first week of June. Also, remember that you can add your own photos to two unique, personalized pages of the yearbook. You can add family pets, sports photos of your own child, and family travel photos ...whatever you'd like!
Students can also electronically sign their friends' yearbooks and have their friends add electronic autographs to their own yearbook. To do this, go
HERE
.
But you must hurry - time is running out to personalize your books or to e-sign autographs!
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Stir-Crazy Indoors? Come to School in 2 Weeks and Work Outside
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One of the essential services for St. Louise Parish and School is to keep the grounds clean and the yards landscaped. If you are able to come help pull weeds, trim bushes, etc., we're having a Spring Spruce-Up on Saturday, May 9, from 8AM-12PM. (A second Spruce-Up Saturday will be held on May 30.)
Volunteers will be spread out on campus, so you'll be able to be physically-distant while still earning volunteer hours and helping out St. Louise.
Please report to the north parking lot at 8AM with your own yard tools (rakes, shovels, wheelbarrows, weed-digging tools) and working gloves. if you will be helping, please email our volunteer head-landscaper,
Jeffrey Hummer
, to tell him how many adults or teenagers in your family will be attending, so he has an idea of how many landscape projects to plan.
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Perhaps It Is Time You Became More Involved in Your Child's School
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Whereas the Parents’ Club General Membership consists of all school parents or guardians, the Parents' Club Board consists of seven members who act as a representative of the General Membership and function as a governing body in matters of Club business, directly responsible to the principal and pastor. The Board meets approximately six times throughout the school year. Your Parents' Club Board has openings for three positions, to begin in the fall and serve a three-year term.
Please read more about the functioning of the Parents' Club
HERE
, and then take a look below at the current Board members and why they are glad they chose to serve. It might be your turn next! Please contact a
current Parents’ Club Board member
for more information or to volunteer to serve on the Board this coming fall.
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Volunteer While Staying Physically-Distant
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One way for parents to earn volunteer hours this month is to help at our Spring Spruce-Up on two Saturday mornings - May 9 and 30. Please see the article above. This is a perfect volunteer job that allows you to earn volunteer hours, tremendously help out the school and parish, and keep your physical distance from anyone during this time of pseudo-quarantine.
Similarly, our Adopt-a-Garden program provides a parent, a couple, or a family with their own small, specific, green area on our St. Louise campus but with no specific date to volunteer. The person's/family's job is to keep that area looking nice by weeding it, raking it, pruning it, and sometimes planting in it. You can come to campus at any time - weekday/weekend, morning/afternoon/evening - and work on your "adopted garden" on a regular basis as needed. If you are interested, please contact
Jonathan Taasan
, and he can explain which areas on campus have yet to be "adopted."
Another way to earn volunteer hours while staying away from others physically is to help us promote St. Louise School admissions. If you have a friend or coworker whom you think would be interested in enrolling their children in a Catholic school, tell them that St. Louise is still accepting applications for admissions for the upcoming school year. You can also promote us by tagging St. Louise in your posts about distance learning and by sharing
our school posts. You'll find our school posts
HERE
and
HERE
. Figure out the time it took you to email/text friends and/or to tag/post and count this as volunteer hours. We figure that connecting personally with a specific friend/coworker to discuss the benefits of enrolling at St. Louise can count as at least 1 volunteer hour, depending on how much time you spend with them. Also, each time you tag a post about our school on Facebook/Instagram, you can count this as 1 volunteer hour. So get your social media promotions going please, to help out your school and to earn some hours!
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Congratulations to our Honor Roll Students
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Last week we listed our junior high students who earned placement on the St. Louise Honor Roll for the 2nd trimester, earning a 90% grade or higher in every class, and we accidentally left out one name.
Congratulations to 8th grader,
Lucia Grisaffi
!
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The Teachers Reply, "Thank You, Families!" to All the Kids & Parents Who Said, "Thank You, Teachers!" via Posting Yard Signs Last Sunday
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Charlotte was one of the many students who helped secretly deliver signs to teachers' lawns.
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Diego made a colorful thank you sign for his teacher.
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Matilda added balloons to her sign.
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Michael and Leila delivered a number of signs.
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Ellison and Briony miss their teachers.
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Christopher thanked his teacher.
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Rex, Zach, and Anna were great sign deliverers.
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Teachers' yards all ended up looking like this by the end of Sunday morning.
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School Open Next Friday from 8AM-4PM
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Parents are asked come to school next Friday, May 1, from 8AM-4PM
ONLY IF
their child's teacher has informed them there are new assignments to pickup or
ONLY IF
the parents have completed assignments to drop off. Otherwise, there is not a need for all families' parents to come to school. If you are coming, the front doors of the main building and the PreK classroom in the north wing will be left unlocked during these 8 hours.
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Don’t Neglect Your Spiritual Lives During this Time of Isolation
This past Sunday was "Divine Mercy Sunday," a feast day that begin exactly 20 years ago, right after the canonization of Saint Faustina.
It was in the 1930's that a humble Polish nun, Maria Faustina Kowalska received private revelations concerning Divine Mercy from Jesus that were recorded in her diary. Faustina’s diary records 14 occasions when Jesus requested that a Feast of Mercy be observed. For example, in one diary entry, Faustina recorded these words of Jesus to her:
My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the Fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. … Let no soul fear to draw near to Me. … It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.
(Diary, no. 699)
Jesus appeared to Saint Faustina in a vision, with his right hand raised in a blessing and his left touching his garment above his heart. Red and white rays emanate from his heart, symbolizing the blood and water that was poured out for our salvation and our sanctification. The Lord requested that “Jesus, I trust in You” be inscribed under his image. Jesus asked that his image be painted and venerated throughout the world:
“I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish”
(Diary, no. 48) and
“By means of this image I will grant many graces to souls”
(Diary, no. 742).
Above is that famous image, and if you don't have this displayed somewhere in your home, just as you would have a crucifix or a statue of the Virgin Mary, you can get it
HERE
.
Since so many of us are prone to anxiety during these different times we find ourselves in, the Divine Mercy message is literally an answered prayer. Jesus cares and doesn’t want you to suffer needlessly. He likes you to share all of your troubles with Him and ask for assistance, and then He can work in your life. Try praying the simple yet powerful words found at the bottom of the Divine Mercy image. They represent a conscious decision for you to trust Jesus with all of your needs. Try saying it as part of your daily prayer-time, and see what happens: "
Jesus, I Trust In You!"
Read more about the Divine Mercy message from Jesus
HERE
.
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It was great to know that hundreds of St. Louise students and parents participated in the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday.
- Josh was engrossed in following Mr. Fitzpatrick's narrated Stations.
- Angel and his parents went outside to walk the Stations in their backyard.
- Christina and her brother Nicholas followed along and set up a prayer table with her handwritten list of the Stations.
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Online Payments
Can Get You Instant Charger Cards
The Charger Cards office will be closed through at least the end of May due to the impact of COVID-19. We will not be packaging physical cards for pickup at this time. We will reevaluate the situation at the end of May and keep you informed if physical cards can be picked up at the school office by late spring.
Standing-Order
families may have the opportunity to get their May orders through the postal mail. Please
email Charger Cards
if you want us to postal mail to you in May your
standing-order
cards.
Online payments for ScripNow ecards and Reloads are still available. Below we have outline instructions in how to setup if you have not done so.
When you sign up for online payments, you immediately get your eGift cards, can instantly add funds to your reloadable gift cards, and can shop wherever, whenever on your phone. It's secure and simple to set up, so you can grow your earnings. In fact, families who pay online earn 45% more than families who don’t.
Every St. Louise Family Needs to Register Online; Here’s How & Why
- Online registration provides each family with ability to track their family rebates and see order history.
- Online registration enhances record keeping for St. Louise so we have easier, more accurate information.
- Ordering online provides access to full amount of gift cards available (hundreds of additional choices)!
- Rebate bonuses are available for online purchases.
- Order ScripNow/printable gift cards, reloadable gift cards.
- See the video that shows you how to use MyScripWallet.com – the NEW mobile website to purchase, use and track Charger Card scrip on your phone.
Setup Online Payments by Linking Your Bank Account
- Set up your account in a matter of minutes.
- Create a unique PIN to keep your account safe.
- There is a $0.15 fee on each transaction.
- To get set up, log in and select Dashboard > Payment Types on ShopWithScrip.com
- Or another method is to select Menu > Payment Types on MyScripWallet.com and follow the instructions.
- Pay with your credit card - Discover, Mastercard, or Visa (2.6% fee on each transaction).
- You can choose to save the card to your account for future purchases.
- Start shopping at ShopWithScrip.com on desktop or MyScripWallet.com on mobile.
Support Your Community through Delivery or Takeout
Take a break from cooking and support your community restaurants by going through the drive-thru, ordering takeout, or getting delivery. Cooks, cashiers, and other staff at local restaurants will be truly thankful for your business, and you're able to also support St. Louise School with your use of Charger Cards.
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St. Louise School
has our own
YouTube Channel
,
and we'd love for you to subscribe to it. If you subscribe, you'll be notified as soon as the next all-school video uploads, such as the Monday Morning Announcements from Mr. Fitz, or the announcement of our Yearbook Cover Contest winners, which will happen any day now. Please go
HERE
to subscribe.
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Saint of the Week
please read this with your kids
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