Important updates in this week's Tidbits:
Confession Schedule
Committee Members Wanted
BINGO!
Honey Baked Hams
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Good Afternoon St. Stephen Families,
Report cards have been sent! Please be sure to check your email for your child's report card.
This weekend is uniform weekend, and students are asked to proudly wear their uniforms to Mass. Students will receive a holy card which they may show their teacher on Tuesday and have free dress that day.
As you all know, this year has brought many challenges and some unexpected expenses. Some of the money set aside toward our new roof was used to fund expenses related to Angel's Wing and our air filtration systems. The Men's Club has graciously offered to help with the roof costs through a Honey Baked Ham Fundraiser. Proceeds from this event will be donated to the school. Please see below for more details and consider supporting the next 20 years of St. Stephen by eating a delicious ham this Easter.
Please read all of Tidbits as there is much news and information to share.
Have a wonderful long weekend!
Peace and Blessings,
Linda Umoh
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Save the date! Our 7th graders will be presenting Living Stations of the Cross on March 26 at 7 pm in the church. |
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Mar. 12 - Noon Dismissal/Parent Conferences
Mar. 13-14 - Uniform/Holy Card Weekend
Mar. 15 - No School
Mar. 16 - Holy Card Free Dress Day
Mar. 17 - Green shirt and Jean Day
Apr. 1 - Noon Dismissal
Apr. 2 - No School
Apr. 5th through 9th - No School Easter Holiday
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Lent, a time to turn away from our sins and rejoice in the healing power of God. Come celebrate the healing and loving forgiveness of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of Confession. The following is the confession schedule beginning on Monday, March 15.
- Monday morning after Mass.
- Tuesday evenings at 6:00 p.m., there will be two priests available until no one is left in line.
- Wednesday evenings at 5:30 is specifically for families to come together. There will be two priests available until there is no one left in line.
- Friday mornings after Mass.
- Saturday mornings after Mass.
- Saturday at 2:45 p.m., there will be two priests available until no one is left in line or Mass is about to begin.
Please note there will be no confessions heard on Good Friday or Holy Saturday. Please plan accordingly.
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SSCC Men's Club Supports Our Students |
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22 Days Left
The SSCC Men's Club is sponsoring an Easter Fundraiser to help support our plans to improve and grow our school community. Our School is celebrating 20 years, and over time the roof has deteriorated, and the buildings are in need of improvements. Our plan to improve and grow our school can only happen with the support of school families and community members. The Honey Baked Hams are one way you can help. Please see the flyer and purchase gift cards to support this endeavor. Kindly also send the flyer to family and friends. The 20% back to our school will continue for 22 days. Please purchase your gift cards NOW!
Thank You for all you do to support our school and our amazing students!
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SUPPORT THE NEXT 20 YEARS OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION AT ST. STEPHEN CATHOLIC SCHOOL |
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With your support, SSCS will continue pursuing excellence in Catholic School Education, focusing on faith, academics, and service in a caring, spiritual and safe learning environment.
Our school families, parishioners, and community members play an integral part in the future of our school. Your donation is needed to improve and grow our school community. Plans for the future of SSCS are in the developmental stages, with the immediate priority of replacing our 20-year-old roof. As part of our school family, we will continue to make you aware of the improvements and plans for our school’s future. Thank you for being part of our first twenty years, and we look forward to your support as we move into a bright new beginning, our next twenty!
Please download and print the donation card and send it in with your donation. All donations are important to the success of our campaign and are greatly appreciated.
We have also established an endowment fund for SSCS and will gladly provide additional information upon request.
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Covid19 Procedures Update |
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Our efforts to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 within our school community have been very successful up to this point in the school year, especially compared to the levels of community infections. In our efforts to strive to have policies up to date with the latest best practice recommendations, our local COVID-19 committee has reviewed a number of our school policies to reflect the recent update from the CDC regarding school operations; in addition, we have also routinely reviewed recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the FL Chapter of the AAP, recommendations from local health officials, and other resources to provide our students and staff with the safest and healthiest environment we can. A recent review of recommendations has shown that temperature screenings are a poor indicator of COVID-19 infection, especially in children. Children are much more likely to have mild symptoms that mimic allergies or a cold and frequently never develop a fever (in fact, less than 50% of children <18 years old with a positive COVID-19 test ever develop a fever). As a result, the committee's recommendations were to focus more on the daily symptom checker in PikMyKid, rather than temperature screens. This decision, and other recommendations adopted by the committee, are supported by the Operational Strategies for K-12 Schools put forth by the CDC and the AAP School reopening guidelines.
As we enter allergy season, we ask that you mindfully answer the screening questions daily and consult your child's healthcare provider with any questions regarding symptoms. "As a reminder, please keep your child home if he or she is sick. Symptoms of COVID-19 include the following: fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, a new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea. People with COVID-19 have a wide range of reported symptoms – from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19. This list does not include all possible COVID-19 symptoms. Children and adolescents with the virus that causes COVID-19 may experience any, all, or none of these symptoms" -CDC.
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Focus 11 Video Contest Winners
Focus 11 was held virtually on Wednesday, February 10, 2021. Sixth graders from around the diocese participate in the program that included both live and pre-recorded elements.
One new aspect of Focus 11 was a video contest. Schools and home school groups were asked to create a 60-second video using the theme How Does Christ Mold your Life?. There were many great entries and we chose the top 5 videos, with the #1 video winner receiving an ice cream party sponsored by the Serra Club of St. Petersburg and hosted by Fr. Chuck.
The top 5 winners are:
#1 - Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle Catholic School
#2 - Bishop Larkin Catholic School
#3 - Christ the King Catholic School
#4 - Guardian Angels Catholic School
#5 St. Stephen Catholic School
Congratulations to all! To view the top 5 videos, as well as all of the other videos submitted, please click on this link
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COMMITTEE MEMBERS WANTED
SSCS is seeking help from interested parents and community members with expertise in various subject areas to join our curriculum review committee. Committee members would help review current and future textbooks and curriculum programs to make recommendations to the school administration on an as-needed basis. If you are interested in applying to be part of this committee, please fill out
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Protecting our students, families, and all community members from harm is of great importance to us, and we are writing to ask your help in keeping everyone safe. In the March 4, 2021, edition of Tidbits, information was shared from an email received from Michael Flick, an engineer for the Public Works Department, regarding the requested traffic signal on Boyette Road at the intersection of Saint Stephen Circle. In his email, Mr. Flick informed us that funds are not available for the design and construction of a full signal at this time. Mr. Flick agreed that a signal is warranted, yet funding is unavailable for the safety and protection of our families and the community.
Unfortunately, our greatest fear has happened. There was a fatality from a traffic accident on Friday night, March 5, at the intersection of Boyette and Carr Road (the neighborhood directly across from the parish property). We pray for the families of those involved and pray that the County will now realize our need for a full traffic signal. Earlier this week, Mrs. Umoh spoke with Mr. Flick again. He is aware of the accident and will be conducting an investigation. He is also going to continue to discuss this project in his meetings. Mr. Flick has also confirmed that the signal is currently listed as an unfunded project for 2022. We need to work together to change this to a funded project.
We are currently working on a template for a letter to share with you to put in your information and send to county and government officials. We plan to send the template and contact list out next week and ask that you join us in sharing your concerns about the need for a full traffic signal. This will be sent by email from Mrs. Umoh.
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MARK
YOUR
CALENDARS!!!
Come join us for BINGO, sponsored by the Community for Women.
Where: St. Stephen FLC
When: March 23rd, April 20th, and May 25th
We play at 6:30 pm, doors open at 5:30 pm.
20 games of play for $15. Additional games are available for purchase. All CASH prizes!! Concessions will be available for purchase before play and during the break. Covid precautions will be in place.
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Earn a $50 Gift Card to Risse Brothers Uniform Store |
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Please like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram. When you see a post, like it, comment on it, and share the post. Ask others to share with their friends. This will help us get the word out to those who may not know about our school. We also want to thank you for these efforts. Families who refer someone to St. Stephen AND they enroll at the end of January will receive a $50 gift card to Risse Brothers Uniform Company. Also, both families will receive $50 off the re-enrollment/enrollment fee. So tell your friends and be sure to let them know to tell us how they heard about St. Stephen.
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PTCO UPDATE
Please read below for easy ways to earn funds for our school.
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Birthday Free Dress Pass
We are offering for the 2020/2021 school year the birthday free dress pass. The pass is $5, allowing your student to have free dress one day during the month of their birth. For those with a Summer birthday, the pass may be used in May. If you would like to take advantage of this, please purchase these passes at the front office.
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Box Tops for Education
Box Tops for Education has gone almost all paperless. See directions below on how to download the app and start earning money for our school. It takes less than a minute to download the app and set up an account. Once your account is set up and linked to our school, it is easy and fast to scan your receipts and start earning money for the school. Some products still have the box tops on the packaging that you may cut out, save, and send into school. However, most are digital for you to scan your paper receipts. There is also a way to earn money for the school using your digital or e-receipts from grocery pickup and delivery. See below for details. Thank you!!
- Download the Box Tops for Education app on your phone or mobile device or at BTFE.com
- Create an account and find your school (St. Stephens School Riverview, FL) - this step only takes about 30 seconds!
- Start scanning your receipts. Tip: scan receipts while waiting in carline.
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Yes, you can earn box tops on grocery pick up and delivery! The app has a short tutorial video showing you how to submit your emailed receipts or receipts from your retailer’s mobile app. Forward digital receipt to receipts@boxtops4education.com within 14 days of purchase. Tip: Make sure you send the receipt from the same email address that you use to sign in at BTFE.com or the Box Tops mobile app. Screenshots, attachments, or PDFs of original receipts will not process correctly. If your digital receipt is only available in your participating store’s shopping app, just forward it directly from there. For more information, go to BTFE.com/digitalreceipts.
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Principal's Coffee Schedule |
Join us on Facebook Live once a month for an in-depth discussion with Mrs. Umoh and Mrs. Robles. See the schedule of topics here. Submit a question to be answered at the next event here.
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The Haal Pass allows our students to access public library resources with just their student ID number and Pin. Students will use their student ID number (from FACTS) and their password of 4321 to log into the HCPLC.org site. This allows them to check out physical copies of books as well as digital books, audiobooks, and any other materials available from the public library. Students can also use this account to check out ebooks on Overdrive or Libby, the digital reader programs used by the public library.
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Students can now check out books from our school library! Students can sign into our library catalog using Destiny Discover and put books on hold. Books will be delivered to their classrooms after being checked out. Flexible learning students can have their books picked up at the front office.
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Missed a Tidbits? Find it on the school Website the school Facebook page or on our Instagram using #sscsmustangs
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PLEASE FOLLOW OUR SOCIAL MEDIA |
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