St. Mary's Visitation Parish School's Mission Statement
St. Mary's Visitation Catholic Parish School exists to direct children toward God and toward Christian Service to society through Catholic religious formation, academic challenge, and continuous improvement.
October 29, 2020 School's Virtual Backpack

NO SCHOOL NOVEMBER 2, 2020
Principal Notes
Dear Families,
Halloween is tomorrow. The children are excited and the building is alive in the holiday spirit. Even though we are not able to have our traditional Spooks and Spoofs this year, we are excited to do new things. We hope you take the opportunity to participate in the pumpkin decorating, car decorating, costume and baking contests. Look for the scarecrows that our 8th graders are creating to complete this event.

Thank you to all who sent in a dollar a few weeks ago to support Messmer High School. We were able to raise $200 for gift cards for their families in need. 

The St. Mary’s Angel Tree Ministry has already begun for the Christmas season. In past years we would ask families to take a gift card off of the Christmas tree in the parish or school atrium and buy a present for someone in need. This year we are asking families to give a monetary gift. Please see this link for more details.

The first trimester ends Friday, November 13. Conferences are scheduled Monday, November 23th from 4:00-8:00 pm and Tuesday morning, November 24th from 8:00-11:00am. The conferences will be done via Zoom. It is Thanksgiving week. There is school on Monday, but no school Tuesday-Friday that week. Watch for Sign-up Genius soon.

Recently, the Archdiocese asked pastors and principals to weigh in on our participation in basketball for this school year. In consultation with our neighboring parish schools and looking through the required procedures and costs to implement them, we have decided that St. Mary’s will not participate in basketball or provide our facilities for athletic events at this time. We understand that some of you will be disappointed. We are working very hard on our goal of keeping our students in school. We don’t want to do anything that would jeopardize that. Thank you for supporting us on this decision.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call me. I am here for you.
Ms. Gleason’s Homeroom- “Intense love does not measure, it just gives.” Mother Teresa
Faithfully,
Mrs. Mary Tretow
Principal
mtretow@stmaryeg.org
K4 students really love the Halloween decorations that Mr. Fix-It puts up near their door
Mrs. Perez's class is enjoying the Skittle graphing activity in math class.
Office Notes
New this year, SMV will be having a virtual book fair. Just in time for holiday shopping, book fair dates will be November 13-23. Watch for details next week in Virtual Backpack

The Photo re-take day is November 18th. More information will be sent home next week.

When thinking about your family Christmas card, remember to use Shutterfly. SMV gets a kickback. This is an easy way to support SMV.

Remember if you received an immunization schedule for your child, please return it to the school office.
K3 students painting pumpkins for their classroom.
6th graders reading the book Wonder in ELA.
7th graders playing shadow tag during a Math break.
Save the Date
October 30
Halloween Spooktacular

November 2
NO SCHOOL

November 5 & 6
Living Saints Muesum

November 9
Home & School/School Committee Meeting
SMV Alumni Spotlight
Samantha is a 2017 SMV graduate who is a Semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Currently Samantha attends Brookfield East High School.

‌
My SMV Family
Home & School Update

People in our family...We have 6 family members. Tony, Kayla, Vincent (5), Gabriel (2.5), Maxwell (2.5) and Sylvia (7 months)
Our family likes to...Enjoy the Wisconsin seasons outdoors, play any and all sports and spend time on grandma and grandpa's farm. We enjoy backyard barbecues and spending time with family and friends. 
Our family pet is...No pets yet, we have our hands full taking care of little ones!
Places our family has lived...Tony and Kayla both grew up in Wisconsin and moved to Elm Grove shortly after being married. All of our kids were born here and Elm Grove has quickly become home to all of us.
Our family loves being a part of SMV because...Since Vincent started 4K, our whole family has felt welcome and a part of the SMV community. The family focused events have allowed us to meet many wonderful families in similar stages of life. Gabe and Max made many visits to see their big brother in Ms.Lesnjak's class last year, and at 2 years old, already consider themselves SMV students. Upon coming to Elm Grove, we were looking for a parish our family could call home and we feel blessed to have found that at SMV!
In art, the 4th graders are working on their sugar skulls for the Day of the Dead.
 Mission & Catholic Identity
                      Effective 2016-2021
SOLES SUCCESS & EMPLOYER MATCHING!!
SMV, you raised over $33,000 for this fundraiser! WOW!! 94% of SMV families participated! Thank you for your generosity! One final Soles request: Please consider requesting an employer match! This is an amazing opportunity to double or even triple your donation! Employer matches made by November 24th count towards SMV's overall Soles total. If you do submit an employer match, please send us an email so we can ensure it reaches SMV. homeandschool@stmaryeg.org

SPOOKTACULAR EVENT THIS FRIDAY!
Are your Pumpkins Carved/Decorated? 
If so, make sure to place them on the judging table on SMV's patio by 7:40 am on Friday! If you have a battery-operated candle, please place one in your pumpkin; it will be turned on for the evening festivities. The winners will be announced at the end of the school day! You may pick your pumpkins up after the evening event ends (around 6:30pm) or early in the morning on Saturday. Any pumpkins not picked up will be discarded. 

Are you going to Dress up your Kid or your Car (or both)?
Car Decorating and Costume Contestants should email a photo of their car and/or themselves in costume to Michelle.Thomet @gmail.com by October 30th. Winners will be announced the week of November 2nd & winners' photos will be posted on FB!

Calling All Halloween Bakers
Were you able to replicate one of Pinterest's ghoulish treats or an original Halloween creation of your own? All entries for the Spooktacular Baking Contest are due via Google Form by Noon on Sunday, November 1st. 

REMINDERS: If you previously ordered the box lunch, you do not have to pack a lunch on Friday! For those of you who registered for the Car Maze in the evening, please REMEMBER TO STAY IN YOUR CAR AT ALL TIMES DURING THE EVENT!

Spirit Wear and Christmas Apron and Towel Sale! 
It’s so easy to get into the Christmas spirit with all of these great Spirit Wear options!!!!! Make sure you check out the Christmas Shirt designed by our very own Alison Pilgreen (6th grade)!  Put in your orders now! The sale ends November 5th!!! Delivery by St. Nick's Day!
Visit the website to see all the great old favorites and new choices:
In addition to these wonderful clothing options, we are also having an apron and tea towel sale. Fill out the flier and send it back to school with payment! You have until November 9th to return this form. Delivery in mid-December!
SCRIP Update: Gift Cards for Christmas and Holiday Gifting

Do you or other family members purchase gift cards for Christmas? Do you have a business or a friend/family member who purchases larger quantities of gift cards? Please consider making those purchases through SCRIP. Contact Maren Kleinmann at marenkleinmann@gmail.com or 703-862-8229. I can coordinate special orders, including for denominations not available on the SCRIP website.  

Consider asking the kids to contact relatives to make holiday gift card purchases through our school SCRIP program. It's money they are already spending, but giving back to our school at the same time. Direct them to see all the retailers available on the SCRIP website:  www.shopwithscrip.com

Reminder, weekly orders for physical cards are placed Mondays 8am. Get those orders in on Sunday night and your cards will be delivered by Thursday. Orders for e-cards or reloads to existing physical cards are instant when you pay online via credit card or direct debit. Our goal is for all SCRIP accounts to be paid online and eliminate physical checks going into the office.  




‌