March 18, 2021 - News & Notes
From The Desk Of Principal Kerr
Thank you for helping us celebrate our faculty and staff on Wednesday this week. We had lunch at the Tin Shed with trivia, BINGO, and a meat raffle! Donations from Von Hanson’s Meats, Hy-Vee, Fresh Thyme and Costco made our meat raffle possible, so if you shop at any of these stores please give them a thank you! We also had BINGO prizes supplied by Jimmy Johns, Starbucks, several school parents, and the Catholic Schools Center of Excellence (CSCOE). Fr. Tom and our parish council gave all parish and school employees a gift as well, as a thank you for all the extra work that has gone into keeping us open for in-person learning. We all felt appreciated and enjoyed our time together Wednesday afternoon. Thank you all for making that possible!
Our 8th graders have been practicing for the Living Stations of the Cross, which will be presented on Friday afternoon at 1:00. We will be live streaming this meditative prayer, so please join us via the parish website. Mrs. Hinker and Mr. Dekker have been doing a great job preparing the kids. I’m looking forward to seeing the culmination of their work on Friday.
Our 6th grade robotics team is gearing up for their state tournament. This week they added a hallway obstacle course to a middle school hallway to provide and encourage movement breaks for students throughout the day. They are working on a video to share their project with other schools, as their research has shown that movement breaks improve student performance in school.
Our primary classrooms have extra hands on deck with the addition of Mrs. Mindy McCollow to our staff. She started Monday as a teaching assistant for kindergarten and first grade.

Just a reminder about travel over Easter break: The CDC is still strongly discouraging all non-essential travel. 

We respectfully request that if you are traveling, you use the recommended safety precautions of wearing a mask, avoiding crowds and keeping safe social distance (especially in airports, restaurants or public transportation), and washing/sanitizing regularly. 

We will ask families to quarantine following travel if you:
  • Have traveled internationally (CDC requirement)
  • Have traveled to a known COVID hotspot (these change regularly)
  • Have reason to believe you may have been exposed to COVID while traveling
  • Are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19
  • Have participated in high risk activities as outlined by the CDC and MDH

If none of the situations bulleted above apply to your family your children may return to school. We do require students, faculty or staff who have traveled outside Minnesota to wear both a mask and a shield (or a double mask) for 7 days after receiving a negative COVID-19 test on day 5; or 10 days if no test was taken after returning from the trip. We want to see in-person learning going all the way through to the end of this school year, and not a repeat of last spring. We will continue being vigilant with hand washing, sanitizing, air exchange and ionization, social distancing, and the rest of our COVID mitigation strategies for as long as it takes to keep us all together in school.

Enjoy the springy weekend ahead, God bless your families and go Gophers (Big 10 hockey champs!) and go Blues (especially the robotics team this weekend!)!!

Mrs. Kerr
Honoring Grandparents and Special Persons!
SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL OPEN POSITIONS
School Advisory Council (SAC) is looking to fill 2-3 open positions for the ’21-’22 school year. Applicants do need to have child(ren) currently enrolled at the school and be a practicing Catholic. Please fill out the attached application by April 30, 2021.
Scholarship Opportunity
Father John Deere Council Catholic High School Scholarship

The Knights of Columbus, Father John Deere Council 4914, is offering a total of (4) scholarships to students who will be entering 9th grade at a Catholic high school. The value of each scholarship is $250.00. You must apply no later than May 3rd, 2021. 

Your application, typed on an 8.5 x 11 sheet will include your name, address, the school that you graduated from, the school you will be attending and an essay of 500 words or less on “How will I express my love for Jesus throughout my high school career”. The application is to be mailed to: Thomas Esterl, 9233 W 123rd St., Savage, MN 55378.

Scholarships will be awarded on May 21th, 2021. The checks will be presented to you and will be made out to the school that you will attend.
Thank you in advance for applying.

Thomas Esterl
 Knights of Columbus
Father John Deere Council 4914
Wednesday Early Release Days

Wednesday Early Dismissal Care & Homework Time - May 2021

Please let us know if your child(ren) will need Wednesday Early Dismissal Care (12:15 - 2:15) in May by completing this form as soon as possible, and no later than Thursday, April 15, 2021. We are offering this for families who do not have other options available for Wednesday afternoons. If you are able to have your child come home at 12:15, please do so, as the teachers are finding the Wednesday afternoon planning especially necessary this year.

If you are picking up your child before 2:15, we ask that you call the office so that one of our staff members can bring your child safely to their car line pickup zone.

In order to ensure proper staffing and the safety of all students we request no late enrollment.

Please complete one form per student.

Order Yearbooks Now!
It's time to order a yearbook for your St. Michael Catholic School student. Yearbooks are distributed to students at the end of the school year. Don't miss out!
Order before March 19, 2021

Yearbook ID code: 12368121
Spring Picture Day is Coming!
Spring picture day is scheduled for Tuesday, April 13, 2021.
These photographs will be taken with students OUT OF UNIFORM.
Please use this link http://my.lifetouch.com/mylifetouch/pictureDayId/EVTV76DSC to order photos. Thank you!
Register for Summer Adventures Plus 2021 

Our program is open to kindergarten through eighth 
grade for our entire community.

Summer Adventures Plus (SAP)
Hours of Operation
Monday through Friday 8:00 am-4:00 pm
SAP reserves the right to close due to lack of enrollment.
SAP will be open June 14-August 20
PLEASE NOTE: SAP will be closed the week of July 5-July 9 for routine building maintenance.

Fees
Registration Fee – $60 per child
Session Fee – $50
All fees will be billed via TADS Billing Management

Why choose our program? 
Each week a new theme will be introduced. The following special events and activities will tie in with each weekly theme.
-Community service project
-Spiritual theme and bible verse
-Virtual or in-person field trips
For more information please see the Summer Adventures Plus Handbook or visit the school website. Please direct questions to Julie Herbst at advplus@saintmpl.org or 612-619-7484.

St. Michael Catholic School’s Summer Adventures Plus is waiting for new decisions or announcements from the Governor’s office to help guide our 2021 summer plans. Guidance around social distancing, group size and venue availability will be critical for our decision-making regarding the structure of our summer offerings. We appreciate your understanding and patience. Updates will be posted as soon as more information is available about the program.
Preschool Summer Program
Summer Tutors
Don't let learning stop over the summer!

  • Summer tutoring provides an opportunity to review difficult material.
  • Working with a tutor during the summer helps students retain past content for a smooth transition into the following academic year.

Teachers are available to provide summer tutoring to students. Please email them directly for more information or to schedule tutoring.

Mrs. Kelley DeGross, K-5 Math and Reading (Orton-Gillingham trained), degross@saintmpl.org
Mrs. Amy Peterson, 1st grade teacher, K-1 Math and Reading,T-W-Th, peterson@saintmpl.org
Ms. Deanna Vochoska, All Grades and All Areas, vochoska@saintmpl.org
Decision Tree
Quarantining is staying home and away from others because you may have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus. Isolating is completely avoiding close contact with others because you have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Please see the decision tree above, but these are important questions to determine close contact with COVID-19:

Were you exposed to COVID because you live with someone who has COVID? 
Yes: Quarantine for 14 days (with COVID positive individual isolating)

If you were exposed outside your household ask:
Will you test after 5 days?
If yes, return with negative result and no symptoms on day 8.
If no, return after 10 days if no symptoms develop.
COVID-19 Testing for Kids and Families

The MDH recommends that all youth attending school in-person, and their families get tested every two weeks through the end of the school year. While it is not a requirement, regular testing complements other safety measures already in place, such as masking and social distancing.

Information and resources are available here: COVID-19 Testing for Kids and Families

Getting tested every two weeks from now until the end of the school year can help keep schools open and sports operating, and ensure we are limiting the spread of COVID-19.
COVID-19 Testing for Kids and Families

Students are now able to send their Vault-at-Home tests back to the lab through St. Michael.

How this works:
  • Students or families order tests through the Vault-at-Home program (remember tests are no cost to Minnesota residents).
  • Students complete their test at home.
  • Students seal their sample tube and place it in the biohazard bag. The biohazard bag then gets sealed in the shipping bag that came with the test. The shipping label sticker is attached to the bag.
  • Students bring their sealed shipping bag with the shipping label to school on your designated onsite testing day (every other Thursday).
  • Students will test on the same schedule as staff every other week. Our next scheduled staff testing day at St. Mike’s is Thursday, March 25.
  • Students will need to have a Vault-at-Home kit on hand at home to complete and bring to school on staff testing day.
  • Once students receive notice that their sample is being processed at the lab, they can order another Vault-at-Home kit for the next screening day.
Lunch and Recess Volunteers Needed!
We still have many empty spots to fill; your help is appreciated!

  • Lunchroom and kitchen every day from 10:30am - 12:45pm. If you are available midday, please sign up using the Sign-Up Genius button below.
  • Recess from 11:10am - 1:10. Please use the Sign-up Genius button below.

All volunteers must be up to date on Virtus training.
Please visit virtusonline.org to log in or to create an account and complete the required steps to be a volunteer.
School Office: (952) 447-2124
Fax: (952) 447-2132
24/7 Absentee Line: (952) 447-2230