Parent Bulletin
September 24, 2020
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Last Friday you received our Reopening Plan with Precautions & Special Procedures. It addresses everything for when we reopen and bring back the grade K-5 students this Monday, September 28. If you haven't gotten around to reading it yet, it's imperative that every school parent read through all 32 pages of this entire document, so you understand our new procedures and the expectations we have of you and your children.
Let me point out some key pages that we ask you to become extremely familiar with...
- Page 22: Every morning, grade PK-5 parents must assess their children's health and keep their kids home on days any of the COVID-like symptoms we list on this page.
- Page 31: Parents of grade K-5 students who will be choosing to have their children remain home when everyone else returns this Monday will need to inform both their child's homeroom teacher and me by no later than tomorrow morning. Please email both of us and let us know if this is a permanent decision or subject to change as the days proceed. Otherwise, for the majority of parents who will be having their grade K-5 children return to school Monday there is no need for you to contact us. Instead, we’ll expect your eager kids here in just a few more days!
- Pages 11-13: On our first day of "true" school this Monday, school times will revert back to our regular school hours for grades PK-5, with tardy bell ringing at 8:30 and dismissal bell at 2:00 (Mondays) or 3:00 (Tuesdays through Fridays). One change is we will be ringing the entry bell - signaling time for the students to enter the building - at 8:15 instead of 8:20. This will help cut down on the gathering of crowds outside school. It would be helpful if you tried your best to drop off your children precisely between 8:10-8:25.
(Also regarding our first day back this Monday, to eliminate your kids carrying so many school supplies and books, along with their usual backpack and lunch, the school building is open this Saturday from 8-3 for grade 1-5 families to enter and drop off school supplies and books. Your homeroom will be accessible, and we ask you to place supplies/books on your child's labeled desk.)
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Pages 14-17: When picking up your grade PK-5 children at the end of the day, please note that the BigToy is closed and off limits after school, the 5th grade carpools have a unique parking space on the dirt soccer field every afternoon, and all parents (except PreK) are encouraged to remain in their vehicles unless they need to locate their children. Following all of these procedures will speed up the pick-up process and reduce the risk of exposure to others due to students having to wait longer times.
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Page 10: Our before-school and after-school childcare provided by our Kids’ Club will resume for grade K-5 students on September 28. Please contact Maria Zambrano if you need childcare.
Thanks for your understanding during our unstable summer with changing directions on reopening and thanks for your support during these first two weeks of online-learning. I applaud the efforts from parents, students, and teachers to make online-learning succeed! Tomorrow, we will be emailing every grade K-8 parent a survey to evaluate how online-learning has been working for you and your child. We value your input on what seems to be working well with our online-learning plan and what needs adjusting, adding, or deleting. Based on your feedback, we then can tweak how, when, what, and how often the teachers teach online in grades 6-8, and even with K-5 grade levels resuming in-person learning next week, we still want to make any needed improvements for those grade levels in preparation for future periods when we might be forced - by pandemic or snow storm - to revert to remote instruction for all.
Of course, we know that in-person learning is the best approach for the majority of kids, and I thank you for your willingness to work with our special reopening procedures, even though some may seem bothersome or unfamiliar. The St. Louise School community is comprised of such a terrific trio of students/parents/faculty that I have every confidence we can pull off a successful reopening of our building! It’s been a long six months of waiting!
As for the date our grade 6-8 children will be able to return to our building, King County's current COVID-infection numbers are trending in a good direction, and when we have 14 straight days of 25 or less COVID-cases per 100,000 of the county population, we can plan for our middle school students to return. In the meantime, grade 6-8 students will continue learning online from 10:00-4:30 daily.
Blessings on your day,
MR. FITZ
p.s.
Although we aren't having online classes for grade K-5 students today and tomorrow, we will be streaming our Mass of the Holy Spirit at 9:00 AM tomorrow, with all our faculty present in the church, and we would like all of your grade K-8 children watching live from home. See the article below about Friday's special Mass.
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CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
Today
- All online classes for grades K-5 are canceled today and Friday.
- Free parenting webinar for Catholic school parents; see article below for registration information.
Tomorrow
- All online classes for grades K-5 are canceled today.
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Mass of the Holy Spirit at 9AM; all K-8 students are asked to join by watching the live stream.
- Expect a Parent Survey today regarding parents' evaluation of our online-learning plan and daily Teams lessons; please complete the survey by Monday
Saturday, September 26
- The school buiding will be open from 8-3 for all grade 1-5 famiies to bring in their school supplies and textbooks/workbooks; please leave these on your child's labeled desk in his/her homeroom
Monday, September 28
- In-person schooling reopens for grades K-5; the tardy bell rings at 8:30; dismissal on Mondays is 2:00 (3:00 the rest of the week)
- Kids' Club resumes daily daycare for grade K-5 students; see the article below.
- Daily milk service begins (see article below).
Wednesday, September 30
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Pre-order your School Yearbook by today's deadline to receive 10% off the price.
Thursday, October 1
- Today is the deadline to opt-out of participating in Charger Cards by paying the reduced opt-out fee of $100; after today, the opt-out fee increases to $150; see the article below for more information.
Monday, October 5
- The original school calendar had Oct. 5th as a "noon dismissal day" in order to provide time for optional teacher-parent conferences; the calendar has been revised so that Oct. 5th is a regular school day; optional teacher-parent conferences will be held on October 16, which is a no-school day (no online-lessons) for all grades PK-8.
Tuesday, October 6
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Daily school lunch service with Lunch Ladies begins (see article below).
CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE SCHOOL CALENDAR HERE
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Kids' Club Starting Up on Monday |
Our before-school and after-school daycare for grade K-5 students will begin the 2020-21 school year this Monday, September 28. Parents can choose to have their children supervised in the Lavelle Center between 7:00-8:15 AM and/or between 3:00-5:45 PM (2:00-5:45 on Mondays).
Kids' Club is dedicated to providing a safe, nurturing environment before and/or after-school hours for children of working parents. Our goal is to ensure a smooth transition between the school day and the before-school and after-school program. Activities are designed to spark academic interests, recreation, physical fitness, and nurture social-emotional growth. We also provide the time, the place, and the assistance to ensure your children have enough time to complete their homework. Take a look at this Kids' Club video.
Kids’ Club is under the direction of the school, with Maria Zambrano and two other supervisors following the same policies and procedures of the school in regards to student behavior.
If you are interested in your child joining Kids' Club, please contact Maria and go HERE to sign up. For those families who have already signed up for 2020-21 Kids' Club and paid your first month's fee (last spring), your second month's fee won't be due until November.
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Join Us for a "Streaming" Mass Tomorrow |
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Traditionally, the first Mass of a new school year for a Catholic school is the "Mass of the Holy Spirit," when the Catholic school community prays for God's guidance, wisdom, and grace for the coming months of schooling. Because of the current situation with limited numbers of people allowed in churches and with online-learning, we will not be able to have an a traditional, all-school Mass of the Holy Spirit this year that the classes will attend in-person. However, we still have a special liturgy planned.
On Friday at 9:00AM, Father Gary and Father Carlos will concelebrate Mass from the St. Louise Church, and we would encourage all school families to be watching live at home over their screens. The Mass streaming link can be found that morning at https://www.stlouise.org/livestream-mass. There will be special prayer intentions for our school students, parents, and teachers. There will also be some familiar faces praying in-person in the church - all your teachers and school staff!
Grades 6-8 students should begin their learning day as usual at 10:00, logging in to their homeroom immediately after the 9:00 Mass ends. PreK will not be viewing this Mass.
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St. Louise School welcomes a number of newly enrolled school families this year!
Thank you, veteran school parents, for making the newest parents in our St. Louise community welcome by reaching out to say hello. (New school families, if you haven't yet done so, please email Julianne Read with a family photo and your bio.)
Shown above, the Brown Family tells us about themselves:
"We are The Brown Family: Jeff, Lindsay, Mia, and Maggie. Jeff is a PM at Microsoft and Lindsay is a nurse practitioner at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Mia has joined 5A and loves jumping on the trampoline and baking. Maggie has joined 2B and loves riding her bike and playing with her friends. We are excited to join the community at St Louise!"
Below, the Martinez Family introduce themselves:
"We are the Martinez family! I’m Deanna and my husband is James. We have three children. Our eldest child is JD who is 6 years old. Second child and our only princess Lian who is in Pre-K at St. Louise. Our baby boy and third child is Jacob who is just 1."
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Below, the Acosta Gutierrez Family introduce themselves:
"Hi, we are the Acosta Gutierrez family. We are from Mexico and we have been in the US since 2018. We just moved here from Portland, Oregon. We are Claudio (Dad), Veronica (Mom) and our daughters Regina and Marijo. Regina is in eighth grade and Marijo is in third grade at St. Louise. Regina trains Taekwondo and she is black belt. Marijo loves to draw. We are happy to join this community. We like to go skiing and camping. Claudio and Veronica are Electrical Engineers. Claudio works at Microsoft and Veronica is a stay -at- home Mom. Veronica and Marijo enjoy cooking for the family. Regina and Claudio enjoy watching scary movies. Regina and Marijo love Japanese food and Japanese Anime."
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We appreciate these parents who came to school last Saturday to weed and clean the landscaping during our year's first Saturday Spruce-Up: the Podaca family; the Banic family; Ken Kincaid; Victor Phan; the Sackmann family (pictured below); the Doran family (pictured above).
If you would like to earn volunteer hours by helping with our next Saturday Spruce-Ups, note the dates of October 10 and 24. Show up at 8:00 AM on one or both of those upcoming Saturdays, with your gardening gloves and yard tools, such as weed-digging tools, rakes, and wheelbarrows, and if you have teenagers who need to gather their own service hours (or just need to get out of the house), please bring them to help. If you have questions, please email Mr. Fitz. |
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Bring Student Supplies to School this Saturday/Monday along with a Spare Facemask |
For all the grade K-5 students who will return to in-person schooling on September 28, don't forget to bring all your school supplies to school that day. The supplies list may be found HERE on our website.
Better yet! The school building will be open this Saturday from 8-3. If you can come Saturday and drop off your child's school supplies and books, it will make the hectic first day back on Monday more manageable and less crowded in the rooms with so many people delivering bags and boxes! Please try to come this Saturday to drop off supplies on your child's labeled desk in the classroom.
As you read in the Face Covering section of our Reopening Plan document, besides wearing a face covering to school each day, your grade PK-5 child must have a spare facemask with him/her at all times, such as in a backpack. Thanks for making sure your child always has a spare face covering at school, and each night either discards the disposable mask or washes the cloth mask. |
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Tonight Is the Free Parenting Webinar |
Stressful current events and unforeseen setbacks can sometimes make life at home feel downright chaotic. Fortunately, families can look to our Catholic faith for ways to create calm and stability in the home. A live webinar by the Archdiocese of Seattle Office of Marriage and Family Life is being presented tonight. To join this free webinar to learn practical ways to bring peace and balance to your home life, register HERE.
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Do You Know How to Drive in the School Carpool Line? |
Our school website has a section on TRAFFIC/CARPOOL/PARKING that not only explains literally the "ins and outs" of our school carpool procedures that have you driving in from 156th Avenue and driving out onto Main Street, but you'll find a youtube video that demonstrates these procedures.
With our need to keep your grade PK-5 students distanced at carpool time, we have a few unique changes to our typical traffic and parking process, such as asking all grade 5 carpools in the afternoons to only park on the dirt soccer field. (See pages 15-17.)
Please drive slowly in our school parking lot, realizing that our young children might not be paying attention to vehicles and our student Safety Patrol are a new group of 5th graders who will be learning on-the-job starting Monday and continuing throughout all of October as new shifts of 5th graders are trained weekly.
If after going to the two links above you still have questions about how to drop-off your kids in the morning or pick-up your kids in the afternoon, please direct questions to Mike Fuerte or Chris Evans.
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Excited to Announce our New Development Director |
Most of you know Julianne Read, fellow school parent and our Auction Director. Julianne now has a third title - Development Director!
Our development director for the past eight years - Cindy Wagner - retired this summer to be a full time grandmother. Cindy will continue to provide occasional volunteer help to St. Louise, as she has been helping us for the past 28 years, when her daughter first started here in kindergarten, and says she could never totally cut ties. Cindy bleeds St. Louise-red and her weekly presence here, along with her enthusiastic attitude and giving-spirit will be greatly missed!
Julianne will continue devoting time as our Auction Director; you all received an Auction-news email from her last Thursday. Now with us adding the directing of the marketing and events duties to her auction duties, Julianne receives the Development Director moniker as her overarching title. You will find her most Wednesday and Fridays in the Auction Office in the north wing near the PreK rooms and most Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays in the Development Office adjacent to the Main School Office. Her contact email remains the same: JulianneR@stlouiseschool.org.
Welcome...to full time, Julianne!
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Charger Cards Sales Window Opens for Weekly Friday Sales |
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WELCOME BACK!
Our Charger Cards program chairperson, Marsha Rampersad Zope, will be reopening the sales window in the central hallway of the original school starting next Friday, October 2. Starting that date, you'll find the sales window open on all school-Fridays from 8:15-9:00 AM. Marsha and her sales team will be available for you to pick up preordered cards on a weekly basis or buy on the spot.
On Friday the 2nd, Charger cards will kick off the reopening of school with Credit Card fee-free Friday!
CREDIT CARD FEE-FREE ON FRIDAY
- Minimum order for credit card “fee-free” is $100 and purchase must be made on Friday, October 2.
- Cards with rebates valued less than 3% are not applicable to “fee-free”. (i.e. less than 3% rebate cards such as gas cards, Amazon, Walmart, and Target will not be included in this promotion).
- Fees waived for new orders, and not future orders.
Use your credit card to buy Charger Cards, earn frequent flyer miles, AND support St. Louise!
We have in stock a limited supply of high rebates gift cards that are perfect for back to in-person school shopping and dining.
Families who children are still learning remotely and who wish to purchase Charger Cards remotely can still do so by following our interim process. Orders placed before 9am on Monday are guaranteed to be processed and filled on Thursday for pickup. All other orders will be filled depending on the availability of inventory at hand.
NEXT THURSDAY IS DEADLINE
We are adjusting our requirement that parents participate in the Charger Cards fund raiser as explained on the Charger Cards participation form you previously completed. You either marked on that form that your family:
- Will participate by purchasing enough gift cards through June 2021, that will generate a minimum contribution to the school of $125 in Charger Card rebates
- Will not participate but instead will send in a $250 check (or $200 if paid by October 1).
The adjustment we are making for this school year is that families will have their cash amounts reduced in the one choice they make:
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Will participate by purchasing enough gift cards through June 2021, that will generate a minimum contribution to the school of $100 in Charger Card rebates
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Will not participate but instead will send in a $150 check (or $100 if paid by October 1).
Again, if you're opting out of Charger Cards, please send in your check for $100 to the school office or Charger Cards office by October 1. (Sorry, Charger Cards does not take credit cards for this opt-out fee.)
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Thanks for Following Our Hairstyle and Uniform Rules |
The “School Policies and Guidelines” section on our website lists our uniform guidelines. Whether your child is learning online or coming to school, he/she must be in the proper school uniform each school day, which includes the following pieces of the uniform described below and the appropriate hairstyle.
We value decorum and traditions, and our uniforms and appearance are our first opportunity to make an impression on those who see us. Our uniforms and appearance also demonstrate our commitment to modesty, safety, and a distraction-free learning environment. Our uniform policy contributes to an environment freer of the judgment which may be a byproduct of fads, fashion trends, or socioeconomic factors.
Although every student is required to own a sweater/fleece, a sweater/fleece does not have to be worn if the weather on a particular day is too hot. Fleece or acrylic school sweaters (either zip, button, pullover, or vest style) may be worn on any school day, whereas Charger Gear's Friday-only-wear sweatshirts and hoodies are allowed to be worn inside the classroom (or online), but only on Fridays.
Charger Gear may be purchased HERE. You may buy new uniforms and the daily school sweaters by shopping online HERE with the Dennis Uniform Store: You will also be able to purchase the pants, shorts, and shirts components of the uniform at a variety of local clothing stores, not just through Dennis.
Please note that a separate pair of “sneakers” (gym shoes) must be brought to school by every grade K-5 student in a sturdy, plastic shopping bag and kept in the classroom all year.
Besides confirming in the Policies section on our school website what pieces of the school uniform are or aren’t allowed, in this same section please make sure your children’s hairstyles follow the school rules. That specific section in our policies regarding hairstyles includes the following…
Hair for both boys and girls must be kept neatly trimmed and combed
- A boy’s hair must not hang below his eyebrows or ears and not touch his shirt collar. No facial hair is allowed
- A girl’s hair must be off her face, be it through side-swept bangs or hairclips/headbands.
Hairstyles are to be conservative, with no extreme haircuts or hairstyles allowed. The school administration is the final determinant of what constitutes “extreme.” Typically, an extreme haircut or hairstyle is one in which unnecessary attention is drawn to it because one or more of the following occurs:
- is not a natural, God-given hair color (coloring, bleaching, or streaking is not allowed);
- does not have consistent thickness but is shaved noticeably shorter in some areas (an “undercut,” a “fade,” a “mohawk.")
- is completely shaved on a boy;
- is buzz cut or completely shaved on a girl;
- has designs or lines cut into it;
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excessively uses gels or styling products.
Below are examples of a hairstyle (often called “fade” or “undercut”) which is not allowed at St. Louise Parish School.
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Order Milk for Your Grade PK-5 Child |
Half pint cartons of 1% milk are purchased only through a pre-pay process for the entire year. It is $75 for an entire school-year's supply of milk. If your grade K-8 child (or PreK extended-day child) will be drinking milk at lunch, please order and pre-pay online HERE. Daily milk service begins this Monday, September 28. If you have questions on milk or school lunches, please contact Mindy Morgan in the school office.
School Lunch orders with our vendor, Lunch Ladies, will resume on Tuesday, October 6, and will be available three days a week - Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays. Lunch Ladies has a welcoming message below....
Dear Parents,
We hope you have all been safe and healthy. Our school lunch program - Lunch Ladies - will be starting Tuesday, October 6, and we will be offering an option to order a school lunch on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays each school day throughout this school year. Registration and ordering will begin this Monday, September 28.
We will have individual, prepacked lunches both in hot and cold to reduce any unnecessary handling of food. We would like to assure you that our Lunch Ladies commercial-kitchen is meeting all of the new health department guidelines which includes masks, social distancing, reduced number of staff in areas, and temperature checks on our employees.
Once your family is registered with us, you will receive an email every Saturday on what the lunch menu is for the upcoming week and what is going to be served with each meal. This also can serve as a reminder to order for the week if you’re ordering on a weekly basis. Again, we will only be operating at St. Louise on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
HERE is the information that you will need to register for our on-line ordering system. It’s really easy to use, but should you have any questions, please contact us at 425-444-9573 or by email at w-szabo@hotmail.com.
Thank you for supporting our lunch service at St. Louise School.
Sincerely,
Wendy
Lunch Ladies Catering
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Charger Gear Unveils New Designs and New Clothing Styles
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St. Louise Parents' Club oversees the CHARGER GEAR program, which consists of uniform and non-uniform items with the St. Louise logo, that are sold for the purpose of raising school spirit ... and at the same time, raising some funds for the Parents' Club.
This fall, CHARGER GEAR is unveiling some brand new items with more variety of styles, colors, and logos! We are teaming with SquadLocker.com to offer St. Louise families some great, new products!
- FRIDAY WEAR - St. Louise-logo hoody sweatshirts, track jackets, and other tops - may be worn by all students on Fridays during the school year in place of the regular school uniform sweater.
- ADULT WEAR - Moms, dads, and grandparents can purchase St. Louise-logo tops to wear at CYO games and around town.
- BAGS & PACKS - Great ways to carry sports practice gear or to hold your PE shoes/clothes.
Go HERE to order CHARGER GEAR and FRIDAY GEAR and see all the new fall 2020 styles!
Note that you can click on whichever available logo you want, as well as which color you want! Design your favorite top! Here are the easy directions for ordering:
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Open the St. Louise link for SquadLocker.
- Click on any selection. For clothing, if there is more than one color, select your color.
- Below color choices there are logo choices; select your logo.
- Most articles may have personalization and you can select the name you want to use.
- Purchases are made online and are sent directly to you.
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Meet Your Parents' Club Board |
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The St. Louise Parents' Club is a non-profit organization which provides volunteer help and
conducts fund raising activities for the purpose of enhancing the children’s Catholic education at St. Louise Parish School. Specifically, the purposes of the Parents’ Club are to:
1) provide an organization for the common goal of the continued excellence of and parental
involvement in St. Louise;
2) facilitate communication between the parish, School Commission, parents, faculty, and
students;
3) conduct fund raising activities that help to achieve the fiscal goals of the school and
Parents’ Club;
4) obtain ideas and suggestions from parents and determine whether Parents’ Club goals and
plans are being met;
5) provide volunteer assistance with school and some parish sponsored events;
6) provide social programs and educational activities for parents, students, and teachers;
7) promote the school to the parish, parents, and community.
The Parents’ Club General Membership consists of all school parents or guardians. The Executive Board consists of six 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. Below is this year's Parents' Club Board. You may find their contact information HERE.
The Parents' Club meets virtually every-other month at 7PM on Microsoft Teams. You'll find a listing of the specific meeting dates on the school calendar. Monthly meetings are open to all parents of children attending St. Louise School. Please contact president Karen Reed for the Teams link to the meeting(s) you would like to virtually attend.
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Thursday's Theology: The Holy Spirit |
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