St. Louis Catholic School Newsletter |
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SEPTEMBER 11, 2020
Dear St. Louis Families,
We are grateful for you, for your children and for the joy they bring to our classrooms. It has been a wonderful week of getting to know your children, hearing about their summers, and beginning to guide them in the understanding of new processes and procedures. We are easing back into the school routine and learning new ones as we become accustomed to the return to school guidelines. The students have done a great job of following the directions and we were able to get a fire drill in this week—socially distanced of course!
Scantron assessments will begin next week for our students in grades 3-7 who are participating in the hybrid model of in-person instruction. Because of the intention of the assessment and the need to uphold the integrity of the assessment as an indicator of progress and growth, students who are all-virtual will not engage in the Fall Scantron assessment per the Diocese of Arlington Office of Catholic Schools. Teachers will use other means to establish a baseline for us to direct our instruction. These assessments are 25 questions each in the subject areas of Language Arts, Math, and Reading. The data from them will help teachers identify areas of strengths and weaknesses for individual students so we can create an instructional plan to meet those needs. Please know these are not intended to induce any anxiety or stress, they are simply a means for students to show what they know. Students in K-2 will begin with their fall assessments the week of September 21st.
I am particularly grateful for your patience as we make daily tweaks to the morning drop off process—recognizing that we took a process that normally occurs over the span of 30 minutes and condensed it into 15 minutes, there are obvious areas that we still need to address. I appreciate families working with the school staff each day as they will be directing you with safety in mind. Carline is fluid right now as we sometimes need to make adjustments in the moment in order to get everyone on their way safely. I have adjusted the tardy time to 8:15am because of the longer process for right now. School-Pass is coming soon---they are experiencing some data integration issues but hope to have them resolved quickly. Again, thank you for your patience.
We are blessed to have a community where grace is offered daily towards one another—please continue to do so—you never know the burden someone is facing. I wish you all a happy, healthy weekend with your families.
Peace,
Anne M. Dyke
Principal
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Recess Volunteers Needed
We're looking for parent volunteers to help supervise small outdoor group recesses one day a week from 11:30am-1:30pm, weather permitting. Volunteers will be assigned to a K-8th grade class which may not necessarily be their child's and will be asked to commit to a weekly schedule. Parents must be VIRTUS certified and will receive PTO volunteer hours for their time. If interested, please contact Mrs. Fiesel, [email protected] or 703-768-7732 for consideration.
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Monday Assembly & Morning Prayers
Beginning Monday, Sept. 14th, a pre-recorded Monday Assembly will be emailed to all families. Please plan to "attend" the start of our week with us if you are at home. For the reminder of the week, morning prayers may be viewed daily by our virtual students via Zoom:
Meeting ID: 857 2979 2792
Passcode: Hawks
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September Spirit Lunches for Students!
In partnership with the PTO and local restaurants, we are pleased to offer a variety of Spirit Lunches for students each month. Orders must be placed online and received by Thursday, Sept. 17th. These meals are pre-packaged and will be distributed to students in the classroom at lunch.
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September 22 & 23
Student's may pre-order a burrito or quesadilla boxed lunch from Moe's Southwest Grill. Moe's will donate 15% of all proceeds to the PTO.
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September 29 & 30
Student's may pre-order a chicken sandwich or nuggets boxed lunch from Chick-fil-A.
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Spirit Lunch Drive Thru!
St. Louis School virtual families, St. Louis Preschool families and parents who want to support the school from home can join in on the lunch orders too! We will offer a contactless drive-thru pick up on September 22nd and 23rd for Moe's and September 29th and 30th for Chick-fil-a.
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Picture Day September 16 & 17
Great American Photo is pleased to have the opportunity to provide portraits for your students this year. We will be adhering to all safety protocols provided by local and federal health guidelines, including social distancing, face coverings, use of hand sanitizer, staff temperature checks, and the use of UV-C light sticks for disinfecting purposes.
Students are not required to pay for any portrait packages before they are taken. All students will be photographed. Families will be able to review private online proofs of the portraits before selecting which photos they would like to purchase.
Students may dress out of uniform only for the day that they have their picture taken (noted below). Please adhere to the dress code in the parent/student handbook.
Wednesday, Sept. 16 (White)
- All students who attend 5 days in-person or are in-person on Wednesdays
- All students who are on the White team
- Virtual students may have their photos taken at 2:40pm*
Thursday, Sept. 17 (Blue)
- All students who are on the Blue team
- Any student who was not in-person on Wednesday
- Virtual students may have their photos taken at 2:40pm*
*Virtual students who are unable to attend at this timeframe may contact Mrs. Fiesel ([email protected]) to schedule another time on Wednesday or Thursday
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Calendar Events Week of Sept. 14, 2020 |
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Monday, Sept. 14
Tuesday, Sept. 15
Wednesday, Sept. 16
- White (Mass: K, 6-107, 7-104)
- Picture Day
Thursday, Sept. 17
- Blue (Mass: 2nd, 5-7, 6-106)
- Picture Day
- Spirit Lunch Orders Due
- PTO Meeting - Zoom Recording
Friday, Sept. 18
- White (Mass: 1st, 5-5, 7-105)
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Virtual 2020 Hawks 5K & Fun Run
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Virtual PTO Meeting - Send in Your Suggestions!
Due to COVID and social distancing guidelines, the St. Louis School PTO board will be sending out a recorded PTO meeting in place of the general meeting scheduled for September 17th. The PTO still wants to hear from you! Please share your questions and suggestions, and they will be presented to and addressed by the PTO board during this virtual "meeting." We appreciate that parents keep these questions to those that may benefit the wider audience. If you have a question of a personal nature, please email Kieran Mitchell, PTO President.
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Room Parents Needed!
While the classroom celebrations will look different this year, our fantastic teachers still need your help. We are looking for 2 room parents per class. If interested, please email our room parent coordinators: Erin Elhihi, Tina James and Michelle Buffaloe.
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Band Registration
Parents' Registration Night and Instrument Rentals will take place on Monday, Sept. 14th at 6:30pm in the St. Louis School parking lot.
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