Parent Bulletin
October 1, 2020
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Last Friday you were sent a parent survey regarding how well online-learning went in September. The teachers are sitting down with Mr. Fuerte and me to to go over the results of those surveys, and I'll get back to you soon with the overall results and how we'll use your feedback to fine-tune how we teach remotely.
Speaking of remote learning, our grade 6-8 students continue to use that as their only way to do school for now, but we hope later in October to figure out how we can see them return to campus, if only for a "hybrid" model of having half at a time in school on any given day. The reason it's different than how we brought back K-5 is that 6-8 have the largest class sizes in the school - averaging over 20 in a class - and it makes the state's physical-distancing requirements difficult.
For grades K-5, this week saw their return to campus, and just like the Pre-K students who have been coming to school since the first week in September, our K-5 students have been doing fine, with no medical concerns and with the teachers' and staff's ability to keep them safe. And as importantly, the kids have been enjoying the physical, social, emotional, and mental-health benefits of being back to "normal" with their friends on the playground and with their teachers in the same room to instruct and guide them.
Thanks to all you PreK through 5th grade parents for your patience and for trusting us (and trusting God) by having your children return to school in-person! Monday was such an exciting day!
Blessings on your day,
MR. FITZ
p.s.
We have enjoyed the addition of our "Sensational Seven" - the new teachers and staff who joined us this August (with one of them - secretary Tracy Brown - having joined us last March just when the pandemic closure hit). They are pictured below, and in no particular order you have standing with Mrs. Brown - Mr. Neal (math specialist), Mrs. McKenna (gr. 2 teacher), Mrs. Aitken (gr. 8 teacher), Miss Doggett (K&1 assistant), Miss Crosby (gr. 4 teacher), Mrs. Neal (kindergarten teacher).
If you can try and put them in order for me - from left to right - and email me with the correct order, I will give a Charger Card to the first parent who responds AFTER 7:07 THIS MORNING with the correct order of the SENSATIONAL 7. (Guesses that come in prior to 7:07 aren't eligible.) Good luck!
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CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
Today
- 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).
Thursday, October 8
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Parents' Club meeting on Teams at 7PM; email Parents' Club President Karen Reed for Teams link to the meeting; all parents encouraged to log in and join.
Saturday, October 10
- Saturday Spruce-Up from 8-11AM; please meet outside the north wing of the original school with your work gloves and own yard tools.
- Bartell Drugs will be on our campus to give Flu shots to school families (parents, students, siblings, extended family); see the article below.
Thursday, October 15
- School Mass on the Feast of St. Theresa of Avila at 9AM; more information forthcoming on which classes will be able to attend in-person; Mass will be live-streamed for all others; volunteers needed to assist with welcoming/seating (see article below)
Friday, October 16 - NO-SCHOOL DAY
- No in-person or online school today; all PreK-8th grade classes canceled; Kids' Club is closed.
- Teachers available to meet for optional Parent-Teacher Conferences; contact your child's teacher(s) in advance if you would like to set up a conference for this day - which may be held virtually over Microsoft Teams.
- Teachers are also participating in theology classes today for their professional education and faith formation.
CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE SCHOOL CALENDAR HERE
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Kids' Club Has Space for More Students
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Our before-school and after-school daycare for grade K-5 students began the 2020-21 school year this week, supervising children in the Lavelle Center between 7:00-8:15 AM and/or between 3:00-5:45 PM (2:00-5:45 on Mondays).
We have spaces available in both the morning and afternoon sessions, so if you are interested in your child joining Kids' Club, please contact Maria Zambrano, program director, and go HERE to sign up.
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.
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Volunteer to Help at Our Next School Mass |
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We are excited to be able to have some of our classes attend our next school Mass - on Thursday, October 15, at 9AM - the Mass on the Feast Day of St. Theresa of Avila. Because of the restrictions of how many people can be in the church at one time, and needing to have 6-feet of distance between all attendees, we will only be having a select number of classes attend each school Mass. If a grade level isn't chosen to attend this Mass in-person, they will get one of the next opportunities - which will be the November 2nd All Souls Day Mass and the November 11th Mass on Veterans' Day. For those classes who are not attending a school Mass (and for those students doing distance learning from home), the Mass will be live-streamed. Teachers will show the Mass live in their classrooms.
In order to welcome approximately 100 of our students to church to attend these school Masses, we need to have volunteers help with greeting people at the door and then leading them to their unique seats in the church. We are looking for at least 4 volunteers to assist at each school Mass during these months of distanced-seating requirements.
You will be trained for this simple but important task; no experience is necessary. For this first Mass on October 15th, we'd ask our volunteers to arrive at 8:30AM and remain until 10:00. You will be able to participate in Mass yourself!
If you can help us with this vital volunteer position on October 15 (and/or at other school Masses each month), please email Dan Fitzpatrick. Thanks! |
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Time to Get Your Flu Shot...and StL Families Can Get It at St. Louise School |
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Bartell Drugs will bring their mobile flu shot clinic here for our St. Louise School families - on Saturday, October 10, from 9:00-12:00. The clinic will be set up in the St. Louise Room of the original school building. Click here to reserve your appointment time(s). Your whole family can receive their influenza immunizations! Sign up today because spaces are limited! If you have questions, reach out to Jane Reynolds or Julianne Read. |
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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 throughout all of October as new shifts of 5th graders are trained weekly.
Furthermore, remember our school rule that once you see the Safety Patrol students on duty, you (students and adults) may only cross the parking lot, from your vehicle to and from the school, by using a yellow-marked crosswalk. Please do not park in a central parking space and then walk directly across to the school without using a crosswalk.
If after going to the two links above you still have questions about how to drop-off your kids in the morning, how to pick-up your kids in the afternoon, or where to cross, please direct questions to Mike Fuerte or Chris Evans.
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Charger Cards Has a Special Deal for You Tomorrow Only |
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The Charger Cards office will be reopening the sales window in the central hallway of the original school starting tomorrow! You'll find the sales window open on all school-Fridays from 8:15-9:00 AM. Families may pick up preordered cards on a weekly basis or buy on the spot. Charger Cards will kick off the reopening of school with a Credit Card fee-free Friday!
CREDIT CARD FEE-FREE TOMORROW
Use your credit card to buy Charger Cards tomorrow and earn frequent flyer miles while supporting 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.
- 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.
CARDS MAY BE PURCHASED REMOTELY
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.
CHARGER CARDS OPT-OUT DEADLINE IS TODAY
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 by today if you'd like to save $50. (Sorry, Charger Cards does not take credit cards for this opt-out fee.)
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School Lunch Program Begins on Tuesday |
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 began this Monday. 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 this 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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Thursday's Theology: 8 Keys to Strengthen Your Prayer Life |
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