Parent Bulletin
December 16, 2020 - early edition
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I emailed all school parents on Sunday announcing that the school is going to adjust our calendar both immediately prior to and following our Christmas Vacation. These calendar changes are being done for precautionary reasons after vacation get-togethers and travel. They are also being done for the mental-health of our teachers. As you can imagine, their daily synchronous teaching, while impressive, is very demanding. Any bit of “break” we can give our hard-working teachers is very appreciated and necessary!
Please note these special calendar adjustments:
1) The last day of school before Christmas vacation will now be TOMORROW/THURSDAY, with a 3:00 dismissal.
- Kids’ Club will have an afterschool session Thursday. This is Kids' Club's last session until January 11.
- Dismissing a day early will give families and our teachers 7 days of potential “self-quarantine” before Christmas Day. This helps those who may be getting together with elderly parents or grandparents on Christmas and want to follow the state guidelines for COVID.
2) The first week back from Christmas vacation – Monday, January 4, through Friday, January 8 – will be 100% online-learning for all students.
- This will help alleviate the concern from both parents and teachers of the student body gathering so soon after New Year’s celebrations and travel.
- Giving us this “buffer” week of staying home to learn remotely will assure parents that their children won’t be returning to their classrooms right when they might be on the verge of symptoms for the flu or COVID emerging from the holiday events.
- This buffer week will also lessen the anxiety for our teachers as they welcome back a classroom of students who only a few days earlier may have been at parties or traveling. As we know, adults are the more vulnerable for getting ill from the coronavirus, and to be frank, many of our teachers were wary of the thought of coming back to a classroom of people only a few days after the New Year’s holiday.
- Kids’ Club is not in session this week.
- Grades K-8 will use Microsoft Teams and will follow their usual school day hours, with the students logging in by 8:30 each morning.
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Grade K-5 teachers will provide some screen breaks during the day so the students will not be online for a full 8:30-3:00 timeframe daily. Teachers will be providing their students and parents with each day’s daily schedule.
- Grade 6-8 teachers will follow the same schedule they are currently following for remote learning on Teams.
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Note that grades 7 & 8 are NOT in session at all on January 4. This no-school day for junior high only has been on the calendar. It allows the junior high teachers the day to work on the 8th graders’ high school admissions paperwork.
- PreK students will connect daily with Mrs. Blank and Mrs. Zambrano on lesson plans and videos for home.
We realize these calendar adjustments will cause many school parents to have to scramble to find childcare. We very much appreciate your ability to adapt for these six days! We hope you understand that these precautionary steps we are taking are to better assure that our kids and teachers stay healthy – both physically and mentally. It has been wonderful that, unlike most all other schools, St. Louise School has been open since day one with PreK, since the end of September with grades K-5, and since November with grades 6-8. We’ve not only been open, but we’ve stayed virus-free, with no coronavirus spread! This is testament to the adherence of precautions by parents when their children have showed symptoms, to the following of our health-safety protocol by our teachers and students, and to the power of prayer!
Your child’s teacher sent you earlier this week more information about how your homeroom will be handling the January 4-8 week of 100% remote learning. Everyone in grades K-8 will begin online classes at 8:30 each day (except for grade 7-8 on Monday and grade PreK), but not everyone will end classes at the same time or have the same amount of screen-break time. The teachers will develop the lessons and daily schedules that fit their particular grade level best. The specialist teachers will all be teaching their classes, so your kids will get to enjoy art, music, p.e., etc.
That entire first week in January, your grade K-8 child will need to log into Teams by 8:30 initially, and then re-log in for the start of new class sessions after rest/snack/lunch breaks. Students also are expected to stay engaged in lessons throughout the day and to complete assignments each afternoon/evening, in order to be considered present and have the opportunity to receive the maximum marks/grades each day.
Please note that to if your grade K-5 child has not used your Teams Accounts since the last time the entire school was online in late September, it's possible Teams will force you to change your password. We recommend you have your child log into Teams now to verify all is working properly, and that the Jan. 4-8 classes/meetings appear in your Teams calendar.
It is important that January 4-8 not be treated as a bonus vacation week!
We want students to be actively engaged all day in lessons and/or homework, just as they were the first part of this school year when they were online daily. Therefore, being on a trip somewhere that week will not allow for proper remote learning. Learning via Microsoft Teams needs to be undertaken at home in an environment free of distractions and with all the necessary books and supplies.
Furthermore, it defeats the purpose of creating this buffer week immediately after the New Year’s holiday if a family is going to use it to travel. So, we appreciate you having your child stay home the week of January 4-8. Perhaps you can pretend it’s like a week where we’re all snowed in at home and are forced to remain inside and do online learning?
Again, thank you for understanding our desire to adjust the calendar this week and again on January 4-8. Please refer to your homeroom teacher’s email on how to be prepared for January 4-8 remote learning, which may include your child needing to bring home most school books and some supplies tomorrow. Some teachers may also be sending home “packets” of tangible worksheets. Please make sure by Thursday afternoon, before the school locks up at 3:30 to begin Christmas vacation, that you and your child are all set for a week of online learning at home after New Year’s.
In addition, tomorrow all grade K-8 students will be bringing home their 1st trimester report cards. (The red Family Envelope will not be coming home as previously announced.) If your child is working remotely Thursday, it would be very helpful if you could drive to school to pick up the report card and any teacher-created worksheet “packets” needed for the week of online learning. Please let the office know now if you can come in by 3:30 tomorrow or if you have to make alternative arrangements (office@stlouiseschool.org).
Finally, and fundamentally important, may you take Pope Benedict XVI's words to heart this Christmas Eve:
"The Child of Bethlehem summons us to do everything possible to make the light of Bethlehem touch the heart of every man and woman. Only through the conversion of hearts, only through a change in the depths of our hearts can the cause of all this evil be overcome, only thus can the power of the evil one be defeated. Only if people change will the world change; and in order to change, people need the light that comes from God, the light which so unexpectedly entered into our night."
Blessings on your day...and on your Christmas,
MR. FITZ
p.s.
We are happy to announce that Arlene Isaksen has been hired to be our permanent replacement in 1B and KB as our instructional assistant. Mrs. Isaksen will also be co-supervising our grade 3-5 lunch recess. Welcome, Arlene!
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CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
Tomorrow
- Special sales day! Charger Cards on sale this morning from 8:15-9:00 in the central wing hallway
- Report Cards going home today with grade K-8 students
- Sweet-Treat Sale during lunch time; all prepackaged, commercial treats sold for $1 by our junior high students, with proceeds going to junior high activities
- School dismisses at 3:00 to begin Christmas vacation!
This Friday
- School is closed - on vacation through January 3
Friday, December 25
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Christ the Savior is born!
Friday, January 1
- Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God
Monday, January 4 through Friday, January 8
- School resumes with online classes all this week on Microsoft Teams; note that grades 7-8 do not have any classes on Monday, due to that day being a high school application workday for teachers
- PreK will have daily lessons emailed to parents by Mrs. Blank
Monday, January 11
- School resumes for ALL for IN-PERSON schooling (except for families who are remaining doing remote learning at all times)
- Please return report card envelopes
Thursday, January 14
- School Commission meeting in the school library, 6:30PM
Monday, January 18
- No-School Day: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday; school office and Kids' Club both closed
CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE SCHOOL CALENDAR HERE
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Want to put a smile on your face? Watch our 2020 version of St. Louise School's Christmas Concert. Without the ability to sing, our 3rd and 4th graders still were able to recite and play their way through a telling of the First Christmas. Thanks to Mrs. LB and Mrs. Walker for directing and producing the videoed concert. They even were able to incorporate the remote-learning students into the video.
And for a bonus, our kindergarten students also put on their own concert. You may view their telling of the Christmas story here! Again, thanks to Mrs. LB and Mrs. Walker for putting this together.
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Your kids could use more supervision out at recess, and we're asking parents to consider coming once a week or once every-other week for as short as 40 minutes or as long as 120 minutes to help out. You would be working alongside school faculty, getting fresh air while you keep an eye out for safety on the playground. Times needed are for any or all of the following recess timeframes:
- 11:00-11:40
- 11:40-12:20
- 12:20-1:00
To commit to a day and timeframe, or to ask more questions about the volunteer job of an assistant playground supervisor, please contact Ann Marie Sweeney. |
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Report Cards Coming Home Tomorrow |
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First trimester report cards are being sent home Thursday with grade K-8 students. (Some grade 6-8 students should have received theirs today.) All report card envelopes are asked to be signed on the back and returned unsealed to the school office to be reused next trimester. The card itself is for the family to keep.
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Welcome Our New St. Louisers! |
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We continue to have new families transferring to our school,
and we want to make sure we give them a warm St. Louise welcome!
(top photo) Welcome the Roberts family - parents Josh & Amy, and 1st grader Quinn
(2nd photo) Welcome the Hsi family - parents Wesley & Kelly, and 1st grader Bradley.
(3rd photo) Welcome the Juhasz family - parents Tamas & Ling, and 1st grader Samantha.
(bottom photo) Welcome the Nesbitt family - parents David & Anna, and kindergartener Luciano.
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Speech Team Excels at Blanchet Tournament |
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Congratulations to the St. Louise Speech Team who performed exceptionally well at the 2020 Bishop Blanchet Speech Tournament! This tournament took place virtually via the Tabroom platform. We are proud of our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders for all their hard work. The tournament featured 227 total competitors from 15 different schools.
Congratulations to the following category winners and finalists from St. Louise:
Debu Ratnam – 1st Place Overall for the entire tournament; 1st Place in Open Expository; 3rd Place in Open Impromptu; Finalist in Open Humorous; receives a $1,500 scholarship to Bishop Blanchet High School
Ben Goett – 5th Place Overall for the entire tournament; 1st Place in Open Humorous; 2nd Place in Open Expository; receives a $1,500 scholarship to Bishop Blanchet High School
Brooke Nowak – 6th Place Overall for the entire tournament; 1st Place in Novice Expository; 2nd Place in Novice Dramatic
Eliana Estrada – 7th Place Overall for the entire tournament; 1st Place in Open Impromptu; 3rd Place in Open Humorous; receives a $1,500 scholarship to Bishop Blanchet High School
Emmanuel Vimal – 8th Place Overall for the entire tournament; 2nd Place in Novice Oratory; 3rd Place in Novice Humorous
Luke Mervin – 10th Place Overall for the entire tournament; 2nd Place in Novice Humorous; Finalist in Novice Expository
Jensen Muller – 17th Place Overall for the entire tournament; 2nd Place in Novice Expository
Blake Wilken – 1st Place in Novice Humorous
Anthony Caso – 3rd Place in Novice Impromptu
Michael Charles – Finalist in Novice Oratory
Jane Clinton – Finalist in Novice Impromptu
Christina Kehdy – Finalist in Novice Editorial Commentary
Raneisha Lagunero – Finalist in Novice Humorous
Joila Olayao – Finalist in Novice Humorous
Also, a big congratulations to the 8th grade St. Louise Speech Team members on a wonderful 2-3 year career: Isabella Barros, Matthew Brennan, Melissa D’Costa, Eliana Estrada, Ben Goett, Ellie McHugh, Debu Ratnam, and Ethan Read.
Many thanks go out to the parents who served as coaches this fall, as well as Rebecca Nightingale for her extraordinary Speech Team leadership. Thanks as well to Mr. Gallant and Mrs. Patterson for serving as Faculty Advisors. Also, a big thank you to the following people who judged at the Bishop Blanchet tournament: Kat Caso, Kristy Charles, John D’Costa, Theresa Estrada, Susie Goett, Erika Mervin, LeRoy Munar, Rebecca Nightingale, Ed Nightingale, Ellie Read, Sangeetha Kanicka Dass, Vimal Stephen, Sharon Victor.
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Tomorrow Morning Is Final Chance for In-Person Purchases
The sales window in the central wing hallway of the original school is open TOMORROW/THURSDAY from 8:15-9:00AM.
You Can Make This a Charger Cards Christmas
How much of your Christmas shopping can you run through Charger Cards and support St. Louise at the same time? Here's one suggestion...
Starbucks cards are temporarily available at a bonus rebate rate of 10.75%! Starbucks cards can help you meet your family's minimum rebate and support our school even more quickly than their usual 7% rebate. This is a great time to stock up on coffee cards! We have $5, $10, $25 and $50 cards.
Other than coffee cards, we have in stock a wide variety of brands with low denominations and higher rebates perfect for stocking stuffers and gifts to teachers, your mail carrier, your babysitter, etc.
- Amazon: $10, $25, $100 – 3%
- Cold Stone Creamery: $5, $10 - 16%
- Dominos: $10, $25 - $11%
- Taco Time: $25 - $20%
- Red Robin: $25 - 11%
- Target: $10, $25 – 2.5%
- Walmart: $10, $25, $50, $100 – 2%
- QFC/Fred Meyer: $10, $15 $50, $100 – 5%
- Safeway: $10, $25, $50, $100 - 5%
Charger Cards Make Great Christmas Gifts for Teachers
Want to treat your child's teacher or a school staff member to a Christmas gift that "fits"? Charger Card is the perfect gift idea, and you can find out which cards that teacher or staff member prefers by looking at the Faculty Wish List.
Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year 2021
from the Charger Cards Office!
For information on the various ways you can purchase Charger Cards - in-person or online - go to the Charger Cards webpage.
For more information on brands/cards available for purchase 24/7 please go to shopwithscrip.com.
Thank you for supporting St. Louise Charger Cards!
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Parishioners, Please Confirm your 2021 Stewardship Commitment to the Parish |
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If you are a school family who is paying the "contributing parishioner" tuition rate, it's important that each year at this time you renew your projected annual contribution amount to the parish. This applies if you are a contributing parishioner at St. Louise Parish, or at our neighboring parishes whom participate with us - Mary, Queen of Peace, St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Jude, Holy Innocents. We appreciate school families who are paying the "contributing parishioner" tuition rates to prayerfully participate in parish stewardship.
Here is a reminder of what our school's tuition contract states:
A family must meet the following minimum standards in order to qualify for the St. Louise Parish Contributing Parishioner tuition rate:
- Be registered in St. Louise Parish with a completed census form on file with the parish office;
- Regularly participate in Sunday Eucharist, gathering as a parish community to worship;
- Demonstrate a consistent amount of financial support to the parish by completing an annual stewardship commitment card and fulfilling that commitment through regular contributions
If you have any questions on parish stewardship, please contact Jonathan Taasan, St. Louise's administrator, or your neighboring parish's administrator.
St. Louise parishioners who are school parents are asked to please read Fr. Gary's letter below about the annual Parish Stewardship of Treasure Commitment renewal. Your financial support to the parish provides the means to operate and maintain our church and school buildings. Thank you in advance for your financial support!
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Here is the list of themes of photos we'd love to receive from you. Don't let this structure prevent you from uploading any pictures about anything at any time. These themes are a guide of what we plan to include in the 2020-21 St. Louise School Yearbook.
- December – Colorful Christmas Children
- January – Winter or Wet Wonderland?
- February - Very Very Valentine
- March - Practically Prefect (Saint) Patrick
- April – Spinning Skyball in the Spring
- May - Fantastic Flipping Flowers
- All year – Other Remote Learning
Here is how to upload photos:
1. If you don't already have a TreeRing account, click HERE to create one.
2. Load them into the Shared Photos section of Treering. Select Shared Photo Folders. All folders are there for the year. We encourage everyone to load throughout the year.
3. You must have a Treering account in order to contribute photos.
To Purchase & Customize Your School Yearbook
2) Enter St Louise passcode: 101439484318388
The yearbook will be published and distributed in June, 2021. If you have questions, please contact our School Yearbook Co-Editors, Janey Rabon and Penny Williams.
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Thursday's Theology: Christmas |
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