Thank you to all the PreK through 8th grade students as part of their almsgiving for Lent and to help support the New Bethlehem Project, we raised $2,070. Thank you for all your of your support for the New Bethlehem Project.

Also a big thank you to our 7th grade teachers Mr. Gallant and Mr. Walker for cooking and leading the Ash Wednesday Lunch along with their many volunteers including: Aila Olayao; Kristina Yumul-Abueg; Claudia Tejada; Cheronne Wong; Allison Weber; Rebecca Campbell; De Wang; Ruth Kerschbaumer; Edna Hewett.

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.

For additional information or to register to Booster camp, please visit Summer Booster Program

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!

For additional information or to register, please visit Chargers Summer Camps

Limited spaces are available in each of these programs. Please email MariaZ@stlouiseschool.org if you have any questions about these Summer programs.

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.

In Mrs. Green’s K-2 Library classes, students read Unicorns Are the Worst by Alex Willan. Through this story they watch how Gilbert the goblin comes to realize that Unicorns do have some good qualities. Students learned about how all creatures in the story are important and helpful, just as we must respect and recognize the good qualities in each person in our lives.

In 1st grade, they learned about the importance of being a community member through their social studies lessons about how work together and be good sports. They practiced by working in groups to solve a puzzle together. They also learned about the dignity of each person through the story of Ruby Bridges. A story about a first-grade girl that was not treated with dignity by her community, but through her courage and love for others she changed the hearts and minds of many of those people. Then they discussed why it is important for us to treat all those in our community with love and dignity.

In Dr. Cole’s Science classes, they draw on each other’s strengths to gather data, interpret results, and draw conclusions during their experiments in the classroom. In Dr. Cole’s Technology classes, the 6th graders are beginning to learn how to code with Scratch. In each class, there are several students who are adept with using this platform and they are eager to share their knowledge to help their novice-level classmates. This is a good reflection of real-world software engineering situations where teams of people work together to solve problems.

The St. Louise Fund-Raising Auction is ONE MONTH away on April 9^th. 

We have one more day to participate in the Premium Wine Contest. 

Invitations will be sent home in today’s red family envelope. If you would like to sit with friends, please send an email to the auction office after purchasing tickets and let us know. If you would like to sponsor one of our wonderful teachers, there is an option to do that when you register.

As always, the auction depends on parent volunteers. This week I would like to thank Gretchen Wiseman and Amy Colby for their hard work on the premium wine contest.

Please reach out to Laura Bonner at auction@stlouiseschool.org with any questions!

Dear Friends at St. Louise,

Life with the pandemic has been long and challenging for everyone. Many are relieved that, beginning March 12, masks will no longer be mandated indoors. But some will feel that they still need to wear masks, for their own personal safety and/or for their household or family members who remain vulnerable. And while the state mandate is lifted, the medical community is still saying that the pandemic is not over and that wearing masks is still highly recommended for certain people or in certain situations – and may need to be required again for everyone if, God forbid, the COVID situation worsens again. In deciding whether or when we should still mask up, Jesus’ teaching – to love our neighbor – and our Catholic Social Teaching – to give preference to the most vulnerable – are important values for each of us to consider.

As pastor, I want as many people as possible to feel safe and comfortable as they attend Mass in person. For this reason, Fr. Ben and I will continue to wear our masks when we are greeting people inside the building before and after Mass, for the processional and recessional at Mass, when the gifts are brought forward, and for the distribution of holy communion. We will also continue to use our masks inside the school building. Fr. Ben and I are in contact with a lot of people, and we have the responsibility to do everything we can to keep ourselves healthy and to keep others safe. Remember, we both live in the rectory, so if either one of us were infected with COVID, then both of us would need to isolate for five days –which would not be in the best interest of the parish! I am strongly encouraging Eucharistic Ministers and Ministers of Hospitality to continue to wear masks while they are serving. At the same time, we as Christians are called not to judge anyone for their choice and, in charity, to refrain from making comments to others about mask-wearing. The parish will evaluate these practices after Easter.

I would like to remind everyone that early on in the pandemic, we installed an “air scrubber” system in the church building; that filtration system removes most contaminants, including virus particles, from the air inside the church. As a result, Mass is the safest place on our campus! We will slowly bring back serving food in the Parish Hall, starting with light refreshments, and will keep the doors and windows open to provide the maximum possible ventilation when food and drink are being served.

We are grateful that the trends of hospitalizations and deaths from COVID seem to be moving in the right direction, and we will continue to exercise the recommended precautions to protect the vulnerable.

Thank you for your patience with everything!

Fr. Gary Zender

133 156th Avenue S.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

Phone: (425) 746-4220

Fax: (425) 644-3294